The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-10-12
A Maine Romance.

ii''iiiSt' f.iDtSii. iiG ntuG Il clearing, It
was called built q log hut, married, and
commenced life in earnest
The Indians were troublesome. driving
OFT cattle, burning crops, etc, but as vet
had not Ventured very near the settlement
openly. Two children. twin sisters, were
born to them. While they were babies in
the cradle. their mother went into the cow
yard one morning to milk the cows, when
She was seized by an Indian, her handk er-
chief torn from her neck and ammed into
her mouth to keep her from screaming so
as to rouse the neiehbors, and her hands
tied behind her, preparatory to carry ing
her away.
Next, II whoop was uttered, to attract
the husbands attention. lie seized his
gun and ran to rescue his wife, only TO be
smitten down by u blow from u tcmahawk,
and lett ior dead, They next ransacked the
house, taking what they wanted, such as
blankets and provisions, but omittnp to
kill, or overlooking the babies in the era
die. They then set fire to the house, which
was seen by the settlers. who immedi;lte-
ly went to Furbish's relief, They found
him still living, though senseless They
staunched his bleeding wounds, then went
to the bi;tning h0t5o, and i'll the midst oi
fire and smoke they could see the cradle
with its living household treasures IN it.
With almost superhnman efforts, and at
the risk of their own lives, the cradle was
rescued from the burning house. The
children had been tucked So closely untler
the covers that they We're still sleepino
securely where their mother had placed
them Their names We're DOROTHY and
ph,,,I,n L'n,i,ict, No oI;
grew up to womanhood. and wears after
the terrible event above narrated they
were married, Dolly, as she was called to
John bennett, and Phmbe to Elisha Lit
tlelield
After twenty years absence, the poor,
weary, worn mother OF the little twin
girls made her appearance at the same
spot where she had been captured. But.
oh, how changed.
Instead of the dense forest or huge
stumps around the door, beautiful mead
ows waved their golden grain, and 4 good
substantial house covered the same cellar
where her own had formerly stood As
she gaZed intcntly on the scene before her.
the well with its tall sweep and oakcn
bucket caught her attention-the same
.JIr-rli- n, 49, l..l.. ~. "."i7 - .s~u
little rivulet that flowed along ut the foot
81 the hill on which the house stood, there,
also changes met her view. \ large saw
mill had been erected and immense piles
of lumber, with their uncouth dimensions.
adorned what was the beautiful green hill
side of her giriish fancy.
But she. thinking that her husband aud
children had gone from her sight forever.
yet knowing that the lands before her
were her own by right. gathered courage
to knock Ut the door. A modest neatly
dressed young woman came to the door,
holding in her arm 4 babe Ohe babe was
Joseph Llttlelield and the mother Of the
child was Phoebe Furbsh LittIeeld. and
lived on the old place. On seeing the
babe all the mother nature was at once
aroused and she cried out in bitterness
of spirit;
Its my child, Give it to me- Give
me both Of themN
At the sound of the well-knoWn voice,
a shattered premature old man came hob
bling to the door, with the exclamation
"lt is her My wife! The dead has
truly come to life again The graves are
opcncd''
The scene beggars description There
band and wife, young no longer, each
looking intently in the others face, try
inc to gather some faint resemblance to
the young husband and wife who had
separated long years ago. The daugh-
ter, also, who had heard the oit-repeated
tale Of her mothers captivity and sup
posed death, was not less interested.
After the first surprise, and order had
been restored, the neighbors came flock
inc into the house to hear of her wonder
lul escape from her captors. Strange as
it may seem. she had lost much of her ma
tive language, which she had not heard
spoken for many years. His story was as
follows: After tying her hands and s,-
fling her cries for help by filling her
mouth with her handkerchief, the Indians
showed her tomahawk and performed a
iesture Of scalping This was done to
scare her into silence. They had no
thought of killing her. Her extreme
beauty saved her life. The old Indian
chief who had planned her capture was a
widower of a few days, with a little baby
boy to be cared for, the mother squaw
having died on her way to the settlement
So this dark savage came TO the conclu-
sion that it would be best to secure this
tair white woman for bride. The baby
was brought to her by the nhuman
wretch, whom she had seen prOstrate her
noble Youthful husband to the ground,
and then had seen him set fire to the hut
| in which her own darlings were happily
sleeping face to face. The poor mother
could not at first touch this little black
thing; but its lies soon brought her to
herself. She saw in it !; dclivcrance from
present death at least, and accepted it as
sent from Heaven-tor hard as her lot
| seemed. still she could not but believe
that God was over all
While the settlers were trying to save
what they could from the fire and all were
busy. the Indians skulked back into the
deep forest, taking her along with them
They turned westward, and commenced
their weary march through the wilder
ness, stopping by night only long enough
to cook what venison they could trap OF
otherwise secure on their way After long
months of weary travel over broad forests
whose silence had never been broken by
the sound of Il human voice, save by the
Indian whoop, and where railroads and
canals now carry their thousands. crossing
streams of water in canoes where steam
boats now 60, they at last reached the
great lakes, their home.
There. then, must be her future home
After she had learned some of their Ian
guage, enough to understand what the ole
savage meant. he came to her and de
manded of her to become his wife. Thi
she refused to do, and preparations were
made to roast her alive. Still she wa
firm. After frightening her all they coult
they released her to endure still create
sufferings But time passed on and th'
aged chief fell in battle. His sons hunted
tor her and treated her kindly, but the,
refused to grant her liberty.
The baby boy, her adopted child, grew
to be man in stature, obeying and low
ing her as son. 1t was the bright spo