Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-11-29
Lost Johnny-A True Story. :.

The little village Of C is situated
eighteen miles from Boston. Quite
number of years ago there went
through it's quiet streets and into, the
houses the cry: ga child is lost! lost!
lost!'' Yes, little johnny, four years
old, had disappeared from that part of
the face of the earth. There is so much
room and there are SO many places;
how children and things will sometimes
vanish from sight!G One so young as
the boy just named could not have
strayed far away, But, "Oh! where is
he? where is hep' was the wall wrung
from out the hearts Of the. family. ~,
Now it is to be remembered that no
tramps were ever seen around in that
quarter If SO, one such vagabond
might have caught UP a darling, small
fellow when he was out at play a short
distance from the door, and clapped
him under Ills 3tunic in order to sell him
back to his parents in few days, if
such piece of traffic could be effected.
If such a thought was born in the
minds of the afflicted household or of
same instant. Again, bears and woods
were no more in that region. The
wells! the wells! All the people Of
c. looked into their holes in the
ground made for holding water. Nobody
was hid away. there. (. 1t was not the
custom of johnny to put the cat in the
well, neither had he on this occasion
dropped in there himself. . :,,~ ais
Sometimes, on board of a ship at sea.
the shout goes ups, "A man overboard!'
There he is, plain to be seen, struggling
in the slippery waters and bufieting
with the hungry waves. There is no
doubt where he is So, as quick as
flash, or Before many flashes could oc-
cur, the boat is lowered and pushed to
the tumbiing ocean waves where the
man overheard is. But how different
is the case Of the lost baby in the viii
lage of CT A dreadful uncertainty
overhangs his Whereabouts. Whittier
shall the runners runp There is hurry
ing to and fro that all ends in nothing.
Though scores of anxious voices call
again and again, no answer comes back,
any more than if Johnny were at the
bottom eff q fifty-barrel cistern of water,
or were whisked off by tornado to
Nova Scotia. s+s'17 .i'"' - 4ttu@t
There is aistory in scbool-book, used
| fifty years ago, Of a. little child restored
to her distressed mother by the aid of .
dog. His master, an old Indian, hap
pcucu dlOtiS uuuCI clIulIdI ClICuIu-
stances TO those connected with this
true incident, :, The Indian, called for
| the shoes which the child had last worn.
He then put the leather trotters ia con-
tact with the dogs nose, That was
enough. He took the scent and followed
the steps of the little wanderer to tho
other end of the Line Of pursuit. But
perhapsJo hnny. had no other shoes than
| those then on his feet. So, in that case,
I'LL the dogs and Indians in America
| could not help the searchers. ., Sf
Well, was Johnny ever found in tho
land of the livingi Yes, that terrible
commotion in the streets, like everv-
thing else, came to an end with the hap
py discovery of the ,curly-headed, dim
ple-cheeked four-year-old. While fam
| lily and friends were looking all, about
the neighborhood, in pig-pens, stable,
cistern and welf-were peeping into
every corner of his home respectfully, the
preserve closet, making sure that he
was not curled up in the rocking-chairIs
| nor on the capacious sofa Johnny Law
fast aleep usder the sofa, where he was
found aristiqY Union, ,vf