River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1878-12-26

: our fingers till they bled in doing so. Sud-
denly Frank called out to Helen: but, aunt,
where's Bertie-I have not seen himG
"0h he's asleep" said Helen; you'll see
him and hear him too by-and-by.n Then as
If reminded by this, she left her holly-wreaths
and ran upstairs to see if all the recent noise
had not walked him. In minute she was
down again, and said: "He's not in his cot;
some of them have got him In the kitchen;
run, Frank, and fetch him"
Soon Frank was back again, and back
without the baby. Then the mother began
to RIM about the house searching, and 10 grow
uneasy. One Of the maids, however, had been
sent some-half hour ago to neignhors :, ana
was expected back directly. It was presumed,
though no one had seen her take him, tnat
she had the baby with her. In few minutes
she came inland knew nothing OF baby Bertle:
Baby Berthe was eighteen months old, ana
had just discontinued crawling and taken 10
walking. His little feet were forever patter-
ing from room to room. His little hands were
forever laying hold of friendly skirts and coat
tails His little legs were forever carrying him
slowlyup stairs and tumbling him down again
with much greater rapidity. BERTHE, IN short,
had Just got to that age that when In sight ne
was in everybody's way, and when out OF sight
he was cause of constant terror lest he should
come to mischief 1t was only when he was
asleep that he was considered safe, and tina
his nurse-maid dared to turn her eyes from
him. And now he had effectually given her
4 anu dill III uo TIC bllp. at uAoes Vi SOdloOf w
all of us, except Helen, made light OF the miss
ing baby, being sure enough that he would be
found in some ridiculously safe corner. III IS
a large house with many spare room and
closet in which child could hide, and it took
us some time to look through them all. But
through them all we looked not once, nor
twice, but many times. without finding trace
of him. Then through the barns, the cow
houses, the stables, the very pigsties, and
every ut-office of the place we went with
4 and ftah
ing him not, calling BERTHE and getting no
answer.
Then we set ourselves to search outside the
gates, holding our lanterns carefully to the
ground, and all at once in the deep clean snow
we saw the print of little feet amongst larger
feet Away dewn the road we followed them,
always tracing them easily amongst mems
feet and horses feet for full two hundred
yards away from the house There we found
the mark of where our little man had set him
self down to rest and there, alas! we found
/ one of his little boots, with sock III 1t, and
| from that point forward could trace the little
| footprints still, the mark of the boot end the
| mark of the wee naked toes now side by side.
| Some fifty yards or so, however, from where
| we found the boot there were signs of his hav-
| ing wandered from the road into the deep
| snow: there were signs of trampling there by
other feet, and there all trace was lost Not
| another footmark could We find beyond this
point, nor any footmark that indicated that he
had turned to go home again. 1t was clear
| that our little man had first wandered outside
| the gate, had been at once confused by the
| snow, and lost his way; had wandered on and
| on, further away from home 1--WE faucied how
| the poor little thing cried, heartbroken), and
I had at last lain down overcome with cold, and
slept.
| And all this while the poor mother was
| with us. But now at last by main force she
| had to be taken home, andl with her, while
the search was continued without us.
| At every neIghboring house our people
called, hoping to gain some clue, but gaining
none. At every house, as soon as it was
| known what the trouble was which sent these
white faces from neighbor Gordon's to break
in upon their happy Christmas eve, some
stout-hearted fellow was ready to rise and
| join the searchers.
| How wearisome was that search and how
eagerly conducted; or row much more weari-
some the terrible waiting at home, to me, to
| Helen, and 70 the aged men who had with
difficulty been kept at home, | need not tell.
God forbid that l should ever again be wit
ness to such agonizing distress as that of my
| poor sister! She sat and swayed herself to and
| fro, moaning low, and refused to be comfort
ed. Then she left us, and by-and-by found
her kneeling at her bedside-better | hoped,
| for the tears which had come, but little short
of crazed with grief.
And so the two weary hours-seeming a
whole nig ht rather-wore away, and at last
we heard our friends at the gate again, talk
| ing low, as if in consultation, and then we
heard quiet good nights" and heard Kitty
led slowly away, and heard the footsteps of
two or three coming into the kitchen, quietly
and not speaking to each other. And we
looked into eGeh others faces with dull lead
en- eyes, and no one rose to go out and ask the
news.
1t was like house into which death has
entered with the unwonted silence and quiet.
The very dog shared in the gloom, and allowed
any one who liked to pass and repass without
bark or a motion, as if it knew that the
house had lost its treasure, and that there was
no need to keep watch and guard any more.
Then came in my husband and Edwin.
Their news was soon told. They had driven
along the south road fof about an hour, till
they had overtaken poor woman whom they
questioned as to whom had passed her: III
proved to he our poor Frenchwoman, and as
Edwin talks French fluently, they soon learnt
from her that nc one had passed her who
could by any possibility know anything OF the
child. The poor creature had to stay and rest
so often that she had made hardly any prog
ress on her journey, and vas already long
ing for any place where she could stay the
night. She soon gathered from Edwin that |
the lost child was he whom she had fondled |
in the morning, and then she forgot her own
care and eagerness TO pursue her way, ana
begged to be taken back to help in the search. |
So they had brought her with them, and she
was wandering about alone with lantern, |
not content till she had looked for herself into
all the places where we had all looked before |
her.
The sad summary of It all was that no one |
of all who had been searching, had gained the |
slightest trace Of Door. lost BERTHE.
CHAPTER III.
NARROW ESCAPE OF MADAME GUILLoT,
hoe he reader VII never make one to |
sit IN so sad a circle as that which gathered |
shout our fire when the search was stayed. |
The biz Christmas tree stood in its pride, |
decked with all its fruit Of toys ard presents |
and loving inscriptions. Iabl groaned I'M |
der the Jolly Christmas cheer that waited Tor
the oven.
You are not to suppose that search was
abandoned. We we're sitting only while we
coulc decide what to do next. Not one OF us
but felt it would be more endurable to wan |
der searching even against hope, amongst |
the snow through all the livlong night, than |
10 sit there nursing our own sad thoughts.
We might nave sat in this way perhaps
half an hour-all Of US together except Davie |
and Frank, who were still out with the |
Frenchwoman--when suddenly we were star !
tied by loud scream Of fright, repeated two
or three times, and each time checked, as 1t
seemed, by force, and accompanied by a
sharp, savage growl.
Rushing out to the door, whence the sound
came. we found poor Madame Guillot (for this
was her name) on her back, securely held
down by Fury, whom DAVE and Frank were
irving to remove without success. Furys
heavy paw was flung across her throat, and 1t
was only when he raised it for an instant that
Madame was able to scream. When she did
scream, she was at once checked by the
downcoming of the heavy paw, accomp2n-
led by a terrible growl and an admonitory
shaking of her ample petticoats. Beyond her
fright and her shaking, the good woman was
none the worse, and Of these che seemed to
think little, for the instant We had her on her
feet, she broke from us and rushed again into
the yery laws of Fury. The dog, however, was
too many for her, and instantly had her on
her back as before. But Helen had seen some
thing now. There it was indeed the little
shoe''-the second red shoe, companion to the
one found in the lane. 1t was lying just out
side Fury's kennel and the light fell full up
on il from the lantern. in an in
slant Helen had in her hand, and found that
not only was ii the missing shoe but that one
OF the missing feet was inside it-nay, that
one of the missing legs was attached to the
foot, and the whole OF the rest OF the missing
BODY attached TO the legl By the leg, IN fact,
the missing BERTHE was dragged out, covered
with straw, busily rubbing his eyes with his
little fists, and just waking up from very
sound sleep in which he had been indulgiug
in Fury's apartment. Fury, seeing that he had
lost his ward, at once liberated Madam Gull