Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-09-20
Little Arminda started. and opened

i Little Arminda started, and opened
her eyes, too, in daze. ''Why, ]
slept all night with my dress on! Why,
we've ruined away" she exclaimed.
That's what the folks IL say, ]
s'pose," replied her practical brother,
jumping up cheerily now that daylight
was at hand. And they'll say we
ought to be whipped, too, guess. But
I'd be willin' to be whipped when get
home, if ! ,only'cou get there. And
oh, but Amt hungry?''
$50 am t. said Arminda.
''Well, let's have some breakfast,
Them suggested Theodore. ''There
are nice. big berries al round here. [
see some. Just you wait.
! He soon came back with an armful
of branches from the heavily laden
bushes, and they both devoured an I'M
lawful quantity.
Il guess they'll make us sick, such a
lot" said Arminda, in a cheerful tone;
''but there's lot more in the pals; and
we mustn't lose our pails," she added.
"And if we carry 'em home full of ber-
ries, then they'll like it better"
1--WE must pick our pals FULL said
Theodore, $50 that, if we don't find any
more, we won't starve.' And he pro-
ceeded to till the pals.
''rm all skeeter-bites!' sobbed Ar
minda. And the spiteful insects had
indeed cruelty wounded the little girl 5
face and neck and soft, round arms;
and Theodore, too, bore many q mark
of their sharp stings. ''Well, we must
hurry and get home" said he, and
mother'll cure 'em. -
So they set out on their journey, eat
4 L L. II L IL
bushes as they walked, filling their pals,
in case they should come to places
where there were no berries and quench-
| ing their thirst at the creeks and small
! streams which they Glanced upon at
intervals. This day, too, wore slowly
away, and once more they made rude
| took them, and slept as best they could.
Sunday came and passed The little
ones, walking hand-in-hand through
| the dense underbrush. could find
no clue to guide them out of the
wilderness. Yet all day they kept NOV
| ing on. When they looked up to the
! tops of the tall trees, they felt lost and
lonely; and when they grew tired, the
| great stiffness subdued them, like the
height of the trees. Now and then, the
chirp of a bird or the crackle of dead
branch made little Arminda SILVER and
| sink her voice to a low whisper. /
! But that night-the third which they
had passed in the woods-they heard
another sound far away in the dis
lance. -.e ~
"O-ho! O-ho-o! O-ho-o-o"'
Theodore recognized his brothers
voice and shouted loudly in answer, Ar
minda joining. They called again and
again. But the wind was against them.
The sound they had heard grew fainter
their brother was evidently moving
away, At last only a little echo an
sweTed their cry, and then the great
woods seemed more silent than ever.
The next day, while they were walk
ing along, Theodore thought he heard
call, and they stopped to listen.
"'Twas over yonder," said the boy.
You wait here a minute, and I'll go
and see if L can get sight of 'em.'' He
rushed through the brake few rods,
shouting and calling. and at last thought
he saw man moving among the trees
in the dim distance. But the figure
soon faded from sight, and, as Theodore
turned to 90 back to his sister, he found
that. in his eagerness, he had gone
much farther away from her than he
supposed. He called and called, but
got no answer. He looked about him,
faltered and stopped short. How far he
had run he could not tell, and the way
back to his little sister was lost COM
pletely in the bewildering sameness of
the forest. He plunged into the bushes,
first in one direction, then in another,
but seemed to get no nearer to the spot
he had left. He leaned at last against
a tree, dashed his fist across his eyes,
and with great gulp cried hoarsely,
Il have lost hern'
But he would not give up; and he set
to work to find the path he had taken
through the thicket after leaving her.
/ While seeking this, he caught sight of
tluttering bit of rag on bush few rods
away. 1t flashed upon Theodore that
here was n guide; these bits of calico
had only to follow their lead to find his
sister. He took the poor little rags ten
derry from the bushes, and when at last
soul insisted on putting them, with 9th
err pieces that she had preserved, in her
own pocket, ''as Mother would need
them when she mended the dress"
In the early dawn of the next morn
ing Theodore leaped suddenly from the
bed of leaves where he was lying, and
looked wildly about him in every direc-
ton He had heard it again, that far
off ''O-ho-o! O-ho-o-or' And what was
that, now up, now down, dancing in
and out among the dark trees? Could it
be light? Could it be the light of his
fathers lantern? Yes, it was! AS the
daylight grew he could distinctly see
his father with a lantern in the distance
But all his frantic shouts failed to reach
the searcher's ear, and, in his terror at
losing his sister the day before, Theo-
dore had resolved that nothing should
tempt him to leave her again. And this
determination he kept now, since he
preferred to starve in the terrible woods
rather than save his life by deserving
her.
In the evening of the next day came
the storm. The stiffness of the forest
hacrop RI no brcl-nr nv tho Stirripr and