The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1874-10-15
A HARD RIDE.
BY MRS. ANDERSON.

i -IHUu = f'ulF.
A HARD RIDE.
BY MRS. ANDERSON.
A HARD ride and strange one you
will say, am sure, but assure you the
story is quite true, for know the little
rider myself, and know him now that he
is a man, and one of the Oldest and most
/ respected inhabitants of fiourishing
Western city.
| There was nothing little Jamie Brown
loved so well as old Daisy, the pet cow
Every morning he bade her goodby be-
fore she left for the days feed in the
woods, and every night he welcomed her
home
Early one midsummer's day, without
waiting to eat his breakfast, he ran as
usual to the barny yard and found her
ladyship lying in one corner He
threw himself on her back, finging
his arms around her neck, but had
hardly bestowed upon her one good hug
when, without one "word of warning"
she sprang up with a bound and joined
the drove of cows that were just then
passing. Clinging tight to her neck the
boy was in the way of free ride much
against his WILL for Daisy's friends had
the start, and she ran as fast as she
could; Jamie, afraid to get oft, clung still
tighter, calling in vain for help, and was
carried a long way. When at last the
old cows stopped to eat of the grass and
drink at the spring the memory of the
stories of children lost forever in those
Ea Eea4ng M9at ast tsd Jasy Jh Te msnt aSgs and and
alone he did not dare to jump down; he
forgot his hunger and kept the closer to
old Daisy's back, who whisked her tail
against his legs, never seeming to mind
him any more than she did one Of the
big flies that were constantly buzzing
about.
In the meantime what hubbub at
Mr. Browns. The breakfast was cold
and untouched on the table; such call
ing and hunting and searching in proba-
bic and improbable places, till in two
hours time the whole town knew
that Jamie was missing Every
one came to help find him; chill
dren neglected to go to school,
for the lost child was IA general favor
ite, and the faces of old and young grew
long as the day passed on and no signs
or tidings came to throw the least light
upon his most unaccountable disappear
ance The men dragged the river; the
women, followed by his distracted
mother examined cisterns and wells,
more than fearing sad fate for the little
fellow.
Jamie, child that he was, knew as well
as if he had been there all the trouble at
mothers grief he was half mind to try
and find his way back, running the risk
of never finding his way home or OF being
discovered by wild beasts or carried into
captivity by the Indians. These were
| not childish fears, the result of foolish,
exaggerated tales to be laughed
at as unreasonable, for this hap
pened years ago, in the city OF
Buffalo, when it was only small
village, and its most elegant suburban
residences we're wigwams, and the yelis
and war-whoops of the savages resounded
where you now hear sounded the shrill
whistle of the locomotive; Jamie was
sensible as well as timid, and did not
| venture.
The only chance he had to obtain any
thing to eat was when old Daisy, with
out any intention of doing kind act,
stopped to Craze near some raspberry
bushes; he could manage to hold on with
one hand and gather some ripe fruit with
the other.
As the day wore on, and the heat be
came uncomfortable, the cattle waded
into the river; and Jamie's heart sank
within him when he saw old Daisy fol.
lowing where many of them were already
standing, some more than half-cOvered
with water. Here was new, unlocked
for danger; the current was swift; il
made him dizzy to look down into the
water, and the cows steps were unsteady
on the stony, irregular bottom.
Through that long summer day
Jamie was not forgotten for one mo
ment at home. No one tended his
fathers shop or cared whether a pins
worth was sold or not; no ont
minded that his mothers bread-dough
grown too light and "airy" to stay within
bounds, was running all over the kitcheI
floor. What mattered it if the beds were
-unnlade, the dishes unwashed. the ligh
was gone out of their hearts, the 10.
from their home, perhaps never to re
turn. Their only child might even thel
be suffering more than they could bear II
think of, for the men who had been scour
ing the woods all day had come back ant
brought no tidings of the lost child
Strangely enough, none in all thei
search had chanced to go to the spo
where Daisy was walking leisurel.
farther and farther into the deep watel
Jamie, headed, faint and weary
had hardly strength to hold on. 4
The sun was down far in the ives
when we gathered, grown people an
children, one and all, at Mr.. Browns
There was no need OF asking q question
|, the only one we cared to ask was aske
and answered when we looked int
: the tear-staincd face of his mothe
) and saw the sad, discourage
j Hook Of his father. But not one w
]. disposed TO give up. The women wei