The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1878-12-25
had just discontinued crawling and taken to

si .:M up STAIRS ana tumbling him down aga
Win much greater rapidity. BERTHE, in shor
had Just got to that age that when In sight /
was IN everybody's way, and when out Of siel
he was cause OF constant terror lest he shonl
come TO mischief. 1t was only when he We
asleep That he was considered safe. and th
ms hurse.mad dared to turn her ewes fro,
nlln. ana now he had effectually given he
ana an OF us the slip. At first, of course, W
l w. OF US, except Helen, made light of the miss
ing DaDy, BENG sure enough that he would h
= found in some ridiculously safe corner r ;
large house with many spare room an
closet in which child could hide. and f tool
us some time to look through them all. Bn
through them all we looked not once. no
twice, but many times, without finding trae
Oh MN. Then through the barns, the COW
houses, the stables. the very pissties. an,
every out office Of the place we went witt
lanterns and candles, seeking BERTHE and find
ing him not, calling BERTHE and getting M
answer IN
Then we set ourselves to scar Oh 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 down the road we followed them
always tracing them easily amongst mems
1eet 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.
sell down to rest, and there, alas! we found
| II l..
from that point forward could trace the Httie
footprints still, the mark of the boot and the
mark OF the wee naked toes now side nv side
some fifty yards or so, however, from where
we 1ound the boot there were signs of his hav-
ing wandered from the road into the deem
snow; there were signs of tramplins there nv
other feet and there all trace was lost. MOI
another footmark could we find beyond This
point, nor any footmarl that indicated that he
nad turned to go home again. 1t was clear
that our little man had first wandered. outside
the gate, had been at once confused hy 1he
snow, ana LOST his way; had wandered on and
on, further away from home 1--WE faucied how
the poor little thing cried, heartbroken) and
had at last lain down overcome with cold. and
slept. '''- 00'&' 'Ao
And all this while the poor mother was
with US. But now at last by main force she
t nao 10 De taken home, andl with her, while
the search was continued without US.
At every neighboring house our peop]e
cailed' hoping to gain some clue, but gaining
none At every house, as soon as il 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 AN
bow wearisome was that search. and how
eagerly conducted; or how much more weari-
some the terrible waiting at home. to me. to
5 Heien, and to the aged men who had with
dihlculty been kept at home, I need not tell.
God forbid that I should ever again ha VII.
ness to such agonizing distress as that Of NV
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
t her kneellng at her bedside-better, + hoped.
1or inc tears which had come, but little short
OF craZed with grief
And so the two weary hours-seem;no o
whole Ms ut 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
looked into each others faces with dull. lead.
en- eyes, and no one rose to 90 out and ask the |
news. VIZ
1t was like house into which death has
entered with the unwonted silence and quiet. |
Inc very dog shared in the gloom, and allowed |
any one VINO liked to pass and repass without |
a bark OR 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.
-, Ihen came in my husband and Edwin.
lher news was soon told. They had driven
along the south road fof about an hour, till
questioned as to whom had passed her. It
proved to be our poor French woman, and as
EDWIN talks French tluently, they soon learnt
rom her that nc one had passed her who
eonld by any possibility know anything of the
;hlld Inc poor creature had to stay and rest
'ess on her journey, and was already long
ne for any place where she could stay the
hight. She soon gathered from Edwin that
The lost child was he whom she had fondled
n the morning, and then she forgot her own
care ana eage1ness to pursue her way, and
SO they had brought her with them, and she
vas wandering about alone with a lantern,
lot content till she had looked for herself into
Ill the places where we had all looked before
Ter.
The sad summary of it all was that no one.
u al VINO had been searching, had gained the
llShtest trace OF Door, lost BERTHE.
CHAPTER III.
MARROW ESCAPE OF MADAME GUILLoT.
l hoe the reader will never make one to
it in so sad a circle as that which gathered
bout our fire when the search was STAYED.
The big Christmas tree stood in it's pride,
licked with all its fruit of toys and presents
nd loving Inscriptions. Tables groaned uu
Ter the jolly Christmas cheer that waited for
he oven.
You are not to suppose that search was
bandoned. We ~ere sitting only while we !
ouc decide what to do next Not one of us
ut felt it would be more endurable to wan
er searching, even against hope, amongst
he snow through all the livlong night than
0 sit there nursing our own sad thoughts.
We might 1ave sat in this way perhaps
alf an hour-allof ustogether except Davie +
nd Frank, who were still out with the
rrenchwoman- when suddenly we were star
led by a loud scream of fright, repeated two
r three tilnes,hnd each time checked, as it
cemed, by force, and accompanied by
harp, savage growl.
Rushing out to the door, whence the sound
anne, we found poor Madame Guillot (for this
7as her name) on her back, securely held
own by Fury, whom DAVE and Frank were
rying to remove, without success. Fury's
eavy paw was flung across her throat, and it
1as only when he raised it for an instant that
1adame was able to scream. When she did
cream, she was at once checked by the
owncoming of the Aeavy paw, accompan.
I'd by terrible grOWl and an admonitory
baking of her ample petticoats. Beyond her
light and her shaking, the good woman was
one the worse, and of these she seemed to :
link little, for the instant we had her on her
let, she broke from us and rushed again into
ne very jaws of Fury. The dog, however, was
90 many for her, and instantly had her on
er back as before. But Helen had seen some. !
ling now. There it was indeed, the s'little
hoe"-the second red shoe, companion to the
ne found in the lane. 1t was lying Just out
de Fury's kennel, and the light fell full up
II it from the lantern in an in
tant Helen had in her hand and found that