Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1873-05-02

| SNOt ~ hiBut Dos WIN hhu buCu
suggestion. He expressed the conviction
that the fortune woman had her foot In II
In some way. Superstitious fools, he said,
were likely to be suspicious.
But Dams anathemas did not stay the ris-
ing tide. As the searchers came back, sus-
ricious glances we're turned upon the ia
ther, who sat with his afflicted family at
The house. Some of the searchers stealth
ny examined under the barn, believing
that Willie had been "knocked on the
head" with fail and concealed under the
door.
But John, the father, was no coward, and
he had neigbbors and friends who believed
In him. They told him Of the suspicious
arising against him. On the instant he
called meeting at the little hovel of
school house, few rods down the road.
The hundred searchers gathered there and
hlled the room, sitting, lolling, and lying
upon the benches. The father OF the lost
child, almost a stranger TO most of the
searchers, took his place at the teachers
desk and confronted his accusers.
1t was plain, direct work. Here were a
hundred men who had exhausted all
known means Of finding the lost boy; and
more than fifty of them had said In effect
to the man before them, 1--WE think you
killed him." All were looking at John;
he rose up and, facing the crowd with a
dauntless eye, he made speech.
III this were a story told by Homer or
Heroditus, 1 suppose Johns speech would
figure as wonderful piece of eloquence;
for man never had grander opportunity
try strength in persuading others than
John had. But in fact there was nothing
| grand about the matter, except that here
was straightfoi ward man, with nerves of
steel, who had been "hard hit," as Dan
said, by the loss of his boy, and was now
repelling with courage aud almost scorn
thrust that might have killed a weaker
man.
His speech was grammatically correct.
cool, deliberate and dignfied. He said he
had no knowledge of the black hearted
man who had originated so cruel a suspi-
cion at such time, and he did not wish to
know who he was. He asked his hearers
to consider how entirely without support
in the known facts OF the case the accusa-
tlons were that had been suggested against
him. 1t was purely gratuitous assump-
ton, with not particle of evidence of any
kind to support it. He had understood
that he was supposed to have killed his
child in anger, and then concealed the body.
Such thing could not have happened with
him as killing his own child, or any other
child in that way, and If it had so happen
ed he would not have concealed it. He on
ly wished to brand this creation of some
vile man, there present, probably, as lie.
That was all he had TO say upon the point.
In continuing his speech, when he allud-
ed to what he had suffered I'M losing the
boy he loved the best of anything on earth,
there was twitching of the muscles of his
face, which, however, he instantly control
led as un ortby OF him. He closed his
speech by appealing to his friends, who had
known him long and well, to come
forward at this time and testify to his in
tegrity. -''-
AS he ceased, the men rose up from the
benches and conversed together freely of
the probabilities about John. A group of
three or four gathered around, and, plac-
ing their hands upon his shoulders, told
the crowd that they had known John for
twenty years, and that he was incapable OF
murder, or perfidy, or deceit, and as hon
est man as could be found in the county.
1t was decided not to search any further
that day, as there was no prospect now that
Willie would be found alive. The men
went home, agreeing to come again after
three days, by which time the sleet and
iuhf hot 10 HalI
melted, and search for the body might be
successfully made.
John went to his house. AS he met his
afflicted family, and realized that little Will
lie was now gone, that the search was CIV
en- up and his child was dead, his Spartan
irmness yielded, and he wept such tears
as strong. proud men weep when broken
on the wheel of life. The last cruel stab
at his moral nature and integrity hurt
hard. He was pure, upright man. a
church member, and without reproach.
AS the three days were passing away that
were to elapse be fore the search for the
body should begin, 1t became apparent in
the community that Johns Homeric speech
had done no good. The wise heads of
Whiskey Hollow declared that at the next
search there would be, first of all, thor
ough overhauling about the immediate
premises. Some were discussing indig-
nantly, and some tolerance, the probabili-
lies of Johns guilt. Even good Deacon
Beezman, magistrate who ''lived out on
the main road" and who was supposed to
carry in his own person at least half the in
tegrity and intelligence of the neighbor-
hood, declared that he would not spend
more Of his precious time searching for the
boy. He made it the chief point in the
case that John 'acted guilty" He had no.
ticed that this rustic Spartan sat in his
house and read his newspaper with appar-
ent interest, as in ordinary times, on the
day of the last, and this Indifference was
evidence of his guilt. 1t was apparent that
any color Of proof, If there had been any
such thing, might served as a pretence for
an arrest of the afflicted father.
The morning appointed as the time to
seek for the body arrived. The excitement
was high, and men came from great dis
tances to join in the exploration.
Eight miles away, up across the river
that flowed through the forest, dwelt Lo-
gan Bill, a hunter. At an early hour he
left his cabin and took his course down the
stream toward the gathering point There
was an April sun shining, but in the will
derness solitudes 1t was cold and dreary.
He kept along the margin Of the stream,
to avoid the tangle OF brush and fallen
trees.
AT nine o'clock Logan was still three miles
from Johns clearing. He was then pass
ing through a hollow where the black
spruce and pine made the forest gloomy.