St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-05-28
ST. JOINSBURY. VT, FRIDAY, MAY % 1875

/ lovely. fair little infant. with Archie's
! blue eyes and tiaxen hair. and he was,
il possible more pasSiouately fond of 1t
| than KirStie herself.
kirstie thought of her happy lot with
Il deep unntterable thanktulness. as she
sat ahsently rocking the cradle. She
Was one of those women who have great
difficulty of utteramce. whose words are
few but their thoughts many, and above
all, her religion was truly part of her
self and OF her daily life. The sun had
now set. and darkness WAS coming on,
while the wind whiStled more shrilly
| than ever. and with an eeIie sound
which made her Shudder. She was be
coming really anxious about Archie's
long continued absence. He had left
home in The morning with the first peep
of daylight to climb the hill. according
to his custom. and intended to come
home. as he usually iii B., about eleven.
She tried, meanwhile, to calm her
anxiety 10y thinking that something
might have happened to one of the
sheep. or that he might have been
detained gathering them into the folds
liz preparation for an approaching storm.
]
at the door, and JOY fully she said to
herself lie Gamma he far off moo :"
hul on opening the door. the dog. in
stead of running ,ioytully To the fire, or
curling himself up beneath one of the
beds. aS he usually did. began to jump
tawningly upon her. and to whine pitt
| fully !: she could not understand the
reason of this at all. when suddenly an
idea burst upon her mind. which speed
| lily beCanIc Il certainty. Archie was i'll.
had hunt himself perhaps, somewhere
"h the hills. aud the dog had come for
/ help. She shook of Il deadly taintncs>
/ which crcpt over her at the thought {:
and r"u>ing herself she drew the tire
/ together III ease of sparks, placed the
cradle Oh one of the beds tor safety
and tin"wln Il plaid about her follow
! el the dog.
/ During these preparations ''Laddic"
/ had stood still and motiunlcSs a> Il stat
ne: but when She moved towards the
4 door he jumped with delight. tawurd
( upon her. and licked her hands. and
thcu bounded hastily forwards in the
direction oI the glen. The ordn-
AIRY route alom" Glen DN ne WAS to
climb the steep hill which rose behind
Dlnct"ot. and then 1" keep 10y Il foot
path " lich w"uud along the top of the
glcu iuI about Il mile. There WAS NO
fence oi protection WhdtcNrr; and
I there were several sad stories told of
people h" had missed their footing
or. in the darkness. had wandered too
near the edge. and 81 had come to Il
Violent end. just tW" winters before
this, IN unfortunate mau had pelishcd
not tar from the mouth of the glen.
He WAS Il pdchmau with Il donkey. who
Was we'll knuWn at all the tarm houses.
and WIS. Ia his way. Il Wcll-to-do man.
with Il we'll assorted pack. the contents
oi winch ranged from ribbons and Jew
cl\ /" note paper. hIIr-pInS. and stay
ldCc>. In fact, II was Designed to sup
ply all the little Wants at Il female pop
ulntion. VIII" We're seldom able To in
dnl@r III HE luxury at going i shopping.
Tom Carson the parhrnan WAS therefore
/ great faNorItc, and not only because
of his wares. bur because hc Wasa chccry. .
pleasant fellow: aud kIr>ti" rrmcmher-
cd well what CONSERVATION WIS caused
III the klt'iIrh At AuchcnsaCk Whcu Il
rumor arose that Ium Carson had dis
appeared and II was thought that some
one must have made away with him
for the SAKE of his pack. which aS il
! VAS new Years time was unusually
heavy. Ii was only conjecture. how
ever. tur nnihiug could be heard Oi
7 him. hut when At last the SNOW had
melted. III" my N>trIN was ~ulICd. and
poor Tom Carson. with his donkey and
pack. were found at the h"trnm OF Glen
plue. II WAS surpassed bat he hai
been coming Ia AuclIrn>irk. Where hr
WAS Il great tlN"r'tc hat hc had been
oVcltakru bN til" Storm that the don
krl had lost It's footing. and in his rt-
fonts To SAY" the poor animal. he had
prri>lcd alou" with it. 1t MAS IL sad
story. and east u drrp,.r gloom over
Glen DNur. which indeed bore no good
name alrcadN. ~ kir>tir toilcd up the
hill. it all came back appallingly attc>h
To hcr memory.
Ah"ut halfway up the steep prccip-
ii"u> side of the glen there ran very
narrow. Insecure f""tpatll called the
"T"d's Path. owing t" Il fox hurrow
near the head of the glen. Few people
ever Ncuturcd along il except the game
keepers and shepherds. and even they
did not care t" try it except in broad
+ daylight. At the point where this path
''I.lddic" began again To- lump upon
his mistress. then running along the
path for Il few steps and coming back.
he wagged his tail and looking up at
her with bcsecchiug eyes. saving. rs
plainly as dog could say, in his mute but
expressive language: Come this wav'
kir>tic did not hesitate to follow. bad
though the way was. for it led. she WAS
sure. to hcI husband. and hc>idcS. as Il
little child she used often to come with
her father before She knew what fcaI
WIS. and therefore knew every turu and
bend in the path. Toiling up the wild
solitude, her feelings uvcrcame hcl
and uncomsciou,ly forced from her lips
the cry 80 Archie. Archie. my man
. where are Nc
} just at this point. Il little runlet OF
water which came down from the hill
+ had spread itself across the path in {;
solid sheet of ice. kirstie hesitated
but there was no other way il wa'
life or death, and she must hasten on
81 she did cross. but her foot slipped
. and she narrowly escaped falling Th,
: SNOW now began to fall more quick l>
= and i'll large flakes. and she had to trust
nrolc To memory for the path than t.
actual sight. On and on she went, how
ever. till she had gone nearly mile NJ
, the glen, when suddenly "Laddic" CAV,
Il short joyful bark, and she SAW IL dark
object stretched across the path. Ii
was indeed Archie. He was leaning
against Il large stone which seemed Il
; have broken his fail. His hair wa,
=. powdered with SNOW: his face was white
. and rigid, and his lips were livid. Kirs
: tie never doubted but that he WAS dead