The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-12-07
LOST ROSIE
KOUNTZ THEICOMJURER
From the Sunny South.
~ MARY Z. BRYAN.

and crimson, ycllow.throatcd blossoms of
the Trumpet vine, that it seemed pnrt
of the wild, beautiful nature around it.
Out ofits low door stepped u slender girl,
with the olive skin, the black eyes and
black waved hair Of the native Louisan-
ian. Over The !uSi:Eiance of the hair was
thrown red barred kerchief, and the girl
farther shaded her eyes with her hand as
she stood and looked first around the ward.
then over into the fields and across TO
the grand open woods tllat surrounded
the clearing, all the time calling Rosie"
in shrill but not unmusical voice. She
stood still a moment, and then lcaping
the low fence as lightly as q fawn, ran
down to the tiny runlct at the foot
of the little rise on which the house
stood, aud searched &, ong the bushes.
whose grccnness betrayed the waters
course 4 noisy crow Knocked her call
overhead, and scattered handful OF pe-
can nuts open her from the boughs he
was robbing; an criole flow out from Il
scarlet haw bush and flashed away, star.
tied by her cry of "Rosie, "ibut no pretty
treble pippcd, "Here am, sister," in
answer to her call.
Returning to the cabin, she took a
horn from over the door and blew a blast
rpon it that set half dozen dogs to
yelping, and after the lapse of few min
utcs, brought her brother, boy of fif-
teen, from the field.
"Hayc you seen Rosie 2" WAS her oucs-
ton as he stood before her, his homcspun
clothes spotted with cotton flakes, and
further ornamented by two or three
,riped caterpillars, which were industri-
ousy measuring the length Of his panta-
looms.
"Seen Rosie No, not since she brought
me my canteen of fresh water this morn
ing. She came back home though.
saw her runnin' II race with Wolf clear
up to th: turnip patch"
"She did come back, but she slippcd
away awhile ago when 1 was talking to
some one, and haven't seen her since"
"Talkin' to Zumy Karlse, 'spose.
saw him comm this way, riding that
mustang like tho mad devil he is."
"It's no matter whom was talking to :;
Rosie is gone, and she must be found
right away. We must go and hunt her.
Take Wolf with you, he will help us
find her."
where is Wolf? He must be with
the child. He always follows her, you
know. On, she is safe enough; if any
thing had happened to her, you'd have
Wolf back here bowling like pack of
his namesakes."
~ cannot trust to that; fee! s= e
something was wrong with her. She
never does 60 farther than her little
always comes when call. You remem-
Der little Pierre Verne, who was missing
last year and never found, and the couple
of little darkies that disappeared the year
before and nobody ever saw ilaif or hide
Of them afterwards"
"They went down the throat of the
Black Devil" Jules said, referring to an
overgrown alligator that was known to
haunt neighDoring bayou, but whose
scaly hide, messed and thickened by
many winters, seemed bullet-proof, since
frequent shots from rife and mus
ket had no other effect than to render
him more cunning and more rarely to be
seen. "But Rosie would never GO so FAR
as tie bayou more likely she's dropped
asleep over her play under some pecan
tree" the boy added hastily, seeing the
CHASTITY terror that oversprcad his sisters
face at the mention of the alligator
In an hour they had searched the open
woods for half mile around, making
them echo with the child's name, and
looking carefully for little tracks, which
they found in plenty around the house
and in the patches, but the freshest we're
near the bank Of the little stream close to
the childs grapevine swing. But the
tiny thread OF water was too shallow to
drown even fiye-year-oid Rosie, who of
tel waded in it ankle deep. The brother
and sister now carefully followed it,
course for several hundred yards up and
down, but could not see no further sign
Of the little bare feet they were in search
Of
The nearest neighbors lived Il mile
away, but Maline had faint hope that
The child had gone to the house of one OF
these-a hope that was disappointed
when they reached the first cabin, where
The cows %erc being nilkeji for the even
,ng, and the children and dogs were
lighting over the formers supper Of clab-
ber and bread poured into cotton wood
trough IL he yard, to be scooped up with
wooden spoons and dirty palms.
But if these people had rough cxteri-
OTIS, their hearts were tender, and they
reused at once with keen interest and
pity at the story that orphan Rosie was
missing. Remembering their own little
rierre, who went out last year to gather
dew6errles and never was heard of after
ward, the Fernes turned out their whole
capable force, male and female, to hunt
ior the lost child, followed bv q small
army of dogs, and intending ID collect
pine Knots, as SOON rs it became dusk,
ana continue the search until the lost
was found.
;. Ihey went at once to the bayou, and
GiVided so as to search both its soft, mud
dy banks up and down for footprints or
other signs. In little while they were
joined by other neighbors and formed
themselves into Il Gordon, searching the
woods in every direction within circuit
OF several miles around Rosie's home.
NO Wild beasts other than harmless rae
coons and 0possums were known to lurk
IN the neighborhood, but the party OF
aearchssss stepped iiung anu i,eiIi their
I1a'hing torches of rcsinOus pine over tue
ueep, black water.hole under = s.eep,
usefhanging bank, where the alligator
.hey called the Black Devil wis known
70 nave his hiding-place. AS the day
approached, the Gordon gradually mar
iowed until, as the sun rose, they stood
nelore the lost child's cabin home, still
ana smokeless, and with no sign of life
ABOUT it. Again the woods rang with
.ne name they hnd echoed SO often du-
ii,,ng the night, and Maline went up to
,h ,he ee6ln, scarcely daring to hope that
.ne enid might have returned during the
little bed.
But the bed was untouched, the little
;oon' empty, and Rosie's wooden doll ly-
.hhs on the floor, brought fresh pang to