Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-09-08

I
child, or make any discovery that seems to
throw light on her disappearance. And be-
fore light Of day is gone, the child hunters,
under the direction Of Littlejohn, are scat
tered all over the eastern slope Of Wachusett.
/ Can there be any doubt that they will find
Lucy now "Of course we shall find her"
said the people. "But hark" says one, "do
/ You hear that barking Is it dogs or
wolves y It is wolves" says the captain.
/ he short twilight is attended with the deep
/ gloon peculiar 10 mountain forests and is
[ very shortly followed 10y total darkness. The
/ squads collect material for lights, and con
/ unue the search 10y the aid OF lighted torches
| carried in the hand and after a little while
| the captains big fire begins 10 be visible
| Soon cry Of "child foundl" is raised.
/ which causes rush Of all the hunters TO
| headquarters. But it is a mistake, due TO
some ones overzeal and the squads all de
| part again, with instructions to build fires
all over the mountain. The fires will show
what ground they have been over. They
will light up the woods and perhaps the
child will see them, aud come to them. And
they will scare away the wolves
The tedious night wears slowly away, and
morning comes at last but no light dawns
yet upon the mystery of the lost child
and barking in the distance, but actually
| seen skulkiug away before the advance Of
! the hunters, and lurking around as near as
| they dare TO the fires The opinion gener-
| ally prevails that the child has been de-
youred 10y wolves aud the captain thinks
II is certain. The evening before some
persons had urged Littleiohn to get his fox
hounds aud see if they would not take scent
from some article o, the child's clothing, aud
trace the direction that she took in the
woods. That would never do" was the
reply, In the night they would soon get out
of sight, and he would lose control over them
They We're savage dogs and ii would be
dangerous TO let them loose on the child's
track, unless he were close with them. Now
that morning has come, he thinks il will do
no harm to try them, and goes for his hounds.
After a brief absence in the morning, to
get breakfast, aud attend to such domestic
affairs as need some brief daily attention,
the chid-hunters returned again with re-
Inducements Littlejohn, also, soon returns
with his fox-hounds and all the Keyes
family watch with gratitude and hope his
attempt to make them trace the little steps
The intelligent brutes evidently understand
well enough what is wanted, and do their
best TO find them. They follow the scent
then appear TO lose ii nor are they able to
recover it again, though making many in
ettectual attempts to do so. Whcreupou
littlejohn announces that he has changed
his mind from the wolf theory to the Indian
theory. The reason why his dogs cannot
follow scent farther is because the child was
lifted off the ground, and carried off in some
ones arms. Meantime the news has spread,
aud is spreading TO neighboring towns; and
before ten o'clock more than n thousand
people have arrived; and fresh arrivals are
constantly coming. All the different theories
are discussed. Against the wolf theory it is
urged, that, if correct, some fragment of the
child, or certainly of her clothing ought to
be found. And this argument, together
with Littleiohn's experiment with the
hounds, as explained 10y him, causes general
Abandonment Of the wolf theory in favor of
the Indian theory. And so a strong party is
organized, and placed under command of
Captain Lttlejohn, to start off with guns, in
search of Indians.
But Robert keyes, with the assistance of
the greater part of the people, proceeds to
carry into effect plan which he reverently
believes to have been suggested TO him in
answer to his prayer for divine guidance.
lie VIII form the people III a great circle
shall advance slowly up the mountain, search
ing every foot of the ground as they GO
Whether his child be living or not, he will
solve the mystery of her Disappearance, God
willing, and the people assisting him. And
the day is spent in attempting to carry out
this plan But it is less perfectly carried
out than he could wish, for want of sufficient
men to completely surround the mountain.
and have them as near together rs they
should be- Ii would be tedious TO dwell
upon the details OF this and other plans and
their rcpcttions on this and subsequent days.
On the third day there was no lack of men.
Thousands OF people were there-al the able
bodied men and boys within thirty miles
ware there From Lancaster and Worcester
aud Barre, and all the neighboiing towns
they came, and continued to come day after
day. Many plans were tried, but all in vain
Aud In the course of another dav or two,
public opinion changed again from the In
dian theory TO the pond theory. Boats and
hooks were procured, and Wachusett Pond
was thoroughly dragged, and sentries, Iegil-
lnrly relieved, carefully watched the pond
day aud night for the body to rise 10 the
surface. The hunt was continued with
great zeal for several weeks, by great mum
bers of people-some at the pond, others on
and around the mountain, and others still at
places lar remote Rumors of some fact or
discovery at long distance away would
come and, seeming worthy of investigation,
parties would start off to investigate them.
None Of these investigations ever resulted
in finding anything. But the news
spread all over New England aud New
York, and became the common talk OF peo-
pie living hundreds Of miles from Wachusett.
In the course of time, however, everybody
gave up the search as hopeless, except the
Reyes family, 1t was Of no use TO tell Rob
ert keyes or his wife that their child could
not be found. They continued the search
for thn rest of their lives. Robert lived
forty years aitenyard and died at the age
of eight -four; aud his wife lived to nearly
the same age. 1t is said that no day of all
those years ever passed that she did not 20
out into the woods, and hunt behind rocks
and trees. Just at nightfall she would 90
to the edge of the forest behind the house.
where her child passed out of sight forever
call her name three times, aud add Why
don't you come home ?" The next morning
after the chlld's disappearance, il was OBJ
served that her hair turned from black to
gray and in less than two weeks it was
white as snow. 1t is not for mortal tongue
or pen 10 describe that mothers woe. If
lci 'litu hsti ulcu III hef arms, ana Shc nad
laid her in the grave with decent burial, Il
would have been no more than other roth
ers have endured without becoming insane
But the unfathomable mystery of the chld's
fate was too great burden for her intellect
TO survive,
Robert did not lose his intellect but a
deep sadness settled down on the rest of his
life lie did not continue to search in the
woods behind the house, as his wife did
but in pursuit of his purpose, he travelled
far aud long, tracing rumors-some of them
extremely wild, and all of them baseess-to
their sources. Recital of his different Jour
neys aud adventures in pursuit of these ru-
mors would fill volume. | will mention
but two of them. There came story of
white child having been seen in possession
of Indians in Canada. With strong hopes,
the father started off TO search for his child
among tribe of Indians reported to dwell
in some remote wilderness, somewhere north
of the St. Lawrence River, and was gone a
year upon the fruitess journey. lie found
the Indians, and was not unkindly received
by them; but could learn nothing of any
white child. Another story of Young
woman living with the Indians at Niagara
Falls, who could speak English, and remem-
bered living, when child, on CAusei HH.
Aud the fathers hopes again revived. lie
would find out about this young woman.
And he went Ia Niagara and fnun1 bar h,,t