Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1878-12-22


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 pissties, and
every out-otiice of the place We went with
lanterns and candles, seeking BERTHE and find
| 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
sell down to rest, and there, alas! we found
one OF his little boots, with sock in it. and
from that point forward could trace the little
| footprints still, the mark of the boot .nd 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 nome again. 1t was clear
| that our little man had first wandered outside
| the gate, had been at once confused by he
snow, and lost his way; had wandered on and
gu, further away from home 1--WE fancied how
the poor little thing cried, heartbrokenl and
| mao at last lain down overcome with cold, and
/ slept.
And all this while the poor mother was
WIN US. But now at last by main force she
had to be taken home, and with her, while
the search was continued without us.
at every neighboring house our people
called, hoping to gain some clue, but gaining
none. Al every house, as soon as it was
known what the trouble was which sent these
Whlte 1aces from nelghbor Gordon's TO break
IN upon their happy Christmas eve, some
stout-hearted fellow was ready to rise and
join the searchers.
How Wearissme was that search, aud how
eagerly conducted; or how much more weari-
some the terrible waiting at home, to me, to
Helen, and to the aged men who had with
q Difficulty been kept at home, | need not tell
God forbid that should ever again be wit
ness to such agonizing distress as that of my
poor sister! She sat and swayed herself to and
lro, moaning low, and refused to be comfort
ed. Then she left us, and by-and- by found
her kneellng at her beoside--better, I hoped,
lor inc Tears which had come, but little short
of crazed with grief
And so the two weary hours-seemng a
whole M ut rather-Wore away, and at last
we heard our friends at the gate again, talk
ing low, as if i'll consultation, and then we
he a quiet good nights" aud heard Kitty
two or three coming into the kitchen, quietly
ana not speaking to each other. And we
looked into cacn 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
Dark 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 fos about an hour, till
lhcy had OYertaken poor woman whom they
questioned as to whom had passed her. 1t
proved to he our poor renchwoman, and as
Edwin talks French fuently, 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 was 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, aud then she forgot her own
care and eageIness to pursue her way, and
begged to be taken back to help in the search
So they had BROUGHT her with them. and she
was wandering about alone with a 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 poor. lost BERTHE
CHAPTER III.
MARROW ESCAPE OF MADAME GUILLOT
l hoe the reader Will never make one to
sit III so sad q circle as that which gathered
about our fire when the search was stayed
The big Chris is tree stood in its pride,
-liJ oil re t(,.-C Il
and loving inscriptions. Tablrs groaned I'M
der the Jolly Christmas cheer that waited for
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
to sitthere nursing our own sad thoughts.
We might nave sat in this way perhaps
half an hour--ail Of Us together except Dilvie
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 it
seemed, by force, and accompanied by a
sharp, savage groWl.
Rushing out to the door, whence the sound
came, we found poor Madame Guillot Cor this
was her nancy on her back, securely held
down by Fury, whom DAVE and Frank were
trying to rem0ve, without success. Furys
heavy paw was flung across her throat, and it
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, accompan-
led by a terrible growl and az admonitory
shaking of her ample petticoats. Beyond her
fright and her shaking the good woman was
none the worse, and of these he seemed to
think little, for the instant we had her on her
no INV, n
the very jaws 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 lare. It was lying just out
on it from the lantern. in an in
slant Helen had in her hand, snd found that
not only was it 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 leg! 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 q 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
lot of his own accord, and pushing his big
nose in amongst Us, began to assist BERTHE to
wake, by vigorously licking his face, till Hell.
en-, snatching him up rushed with him into
the house.
We, looking into the kennel, saw whore he
had made his little nest Il was in the corner,
completely ont of sight, and sheltered from
the wind. He had nestled into the clean
straw with which Fury is always we'll supplied,
andthen it was pretty clear that Fury had lain
down beside him, if not upon him. ard had
cudded him up warmly as if he had been
in his mothers arms. We understood
now why tue dog had refused to go out and
search with u, and why he had barked SO
little all thr ugh the night.
1t was not so easy to understand now the
child had got back and got into the kennel,