Weekly Trinity journal., 1875-05-01
THE LOST CHILDREN.

Born, as the writer was, in sight Of
" John Browns Tract, on the farther
eastern edge Of his memory there are in
cidents Of strange excitement. One Sum-
mer afternoon the Rev. John Blodgett
was preaching his second sermon when
man stepped quickly in at the door. and
said, 1.-TWO children are lost" The ell
der halted in the midst Of his discourse,
laid of his coat, and with Come
brethren and friends, it is everybody's
business to seek and save that which is
lost" down he came out of the pulpit.
and the able bodied of the flock followed
him cut into the sunshine, like sheep that
know their sh pherd. A few short words
told the story.
Two little children, brother and sister,
had gone out on Saturday morning t.
pick berries. Night came, but not the
children, and think that of all nights
in the week, Saturday night without
the gathered household is the most lone
~ and dismal. A few of the neighbors
had gone out with lanterns and horns and
guns, and the mother had accompanied
them. They had beaten up the adjacent
woods, and had worn out the weary
night, and the Sabbath dawned upon
eyes dry with nsmeless fear and hearts
bitter and sad with anguish. Many a
time during the dark hours had some
lanterns deceptive ray fallen upon pile
OF leaves half covering some broken limb,
and shout of Found =, had only
plunged them into deeper sorrow. And
so the Sabbath dawned upon them, and
messenger came to the village and gave
the alarm.
The campaign was soon organized.
Nearly two hundred men were enlisted,
and the plan WAS to attack certain piece
OF woods, marching up to it in extended
line, at such distances apart as TO COM
mand the whole space between every
two, and so fairly harvest the ground of
anything upon it of human interest
Guns were distributed, and the order was
that no cry should be raised, no piece dis
charged, but all move in silence; that,
should the children be found, one gun
should be fired if dead, two; if alive,
three in quick succession. But they were
not men alone who joined the mercifu
brigade, but mothers and springy girls,
and they proved the most observant and
vigilant OF all, for nothing SO quickly
sharpens woman's wits as love and
grief. AnC. SO they set forth. The boy
of that day remembers the scene as if it
were now before his eyes. Groups of the
infrm, the women and the children, spot
ted the picture like leopard's skim
The tones were subdued, there was a list
ening, longing look on every face. Some
OF them followed out to the edge Of the
village and stood and listened. The set
tlement could not have been stiller had it
been graveyard instead Of an aLode Of
the living.
The shadows were travelling eastward
iy. The sun showed a golden rim over
the Western hill and was gone. The
stars came peacefully out over the whole
heaven as if there was no such thing as
grief in the universe. Nine O'Clock and
no signal. Eleven and not shout
Midnight, but no gun. The slow clocks
licked slower and slower. Stars went
down one after another, and those who
tarried grew paler. There was a suspi-
cion Of dawn above the woods. And
then, faf off, faint and yet certain, there
was a report. The line came to an in
slant halt. The lifted foot was let down
softly upon the fallen leaves, lest there
should be second sound and they should
miss it, and so be wrong in their count
A half minute and another signal. -
- Found and dead" so far they read -
Was that all 4? Was tie story COM
pletely told? 1t is at such times that we
think fast. The electric flash is dull
traveller beside a quick thought. "A few
seconds and third gun broke the still
ness and cut the tense cord of suspense
and let human nature down, fearful,
Sidbciuli ONeTuONlHS. FOunu ana
alive" was the story the rifles told and
then arms licked like clocks all along the
line and shouts rang as if an army had
won victory and foated into a CLEARING,
and reached the watching, waiting, sleep
le village, and they took up the cheer,
and men broke down in the midst Of it,
and women hid their faces and sobbed.-
Then Lack they came, the glad brigade,
in the gray Of the morning, with their
dim liant rms and smoky torches and
their rifles in their hands bearing the
wanderers, feeble, but alive and unharm-
ed stained with berries but not with
blood.-B. r. Tdytor.