Milford chronicle., 1888-02-24
BABES IN THE WOOD.

: ,
! ND 100 feet, and even more, toward the
/ blue sky and God who made them, aud
( here and there a madrona tree grows,
with its bark peeling of in its own peculiar
I way, leaving the tree bright red and
! as smooth as satin; now and then the
/ bark clings in flakes of pale yellow. Close
7 by We find the beautiful bay tree, with its
/ long, pointed, fragrant leaves, and all
/ about such lovely ferns. Beyond the
woods is a mountain very steep and
rugged.
These woods were a great temptation to
I the boys. Stuart was so anxious to 90,
I and Herbert and Romney came running
in and added their pleading to his.
Their mamma decided that they could
90. but said: 1T is too warm for you to
walk all the way, so you had better take
Old John" He was a steady old horse,
who had done his share OF work, and the
children were allowed to ride him about
/ the ranch.
At this the boys clapped their hands
and shouted: 'Ohl that's finel We can
have Old John and take turns riding"
So their mamma put up some lunch for
them. She knew boys have n way of get
! ting hungry, whether walking or riding.
They kissed her good-by, and started off
in merry glee.
Old John looked at them with his gentle
eyes, as much as to say, "Do you really
think this is fun, boys? l had much
rather lie down under a big oak tree in
the pasture and take nap until dinner
time. But, nevertheless he went along
in his careful way, and as their mamma
watched them go down the hill she caught
a glimpse of a hat waved in the air, heard
the sound of their last "Good-by, man.
ma" shouted with the full force of sound
lungs, and the echo across the hills caught
it, and back it came to her as she turned
away with u glad heart to see her dear
boys so happy, and went about her morn
ing duties.
The hours passed without her realizing
how long they had been gone, and they
did not know how long it was, either.
They went to the woods, and, after rum
ming about awhile, decided to eat their
lunch, and then went up to n spring to
get drink of clear, cold, sparkling water.
They caught it in their tin cup as it
trickled down over the rocks and passed
through a bed of green ferns that left it
clear and cold.
Just as they finished drinking Stuart
said;
'Say, boys, let's climb the mountain.
L IL
can take turns on Old john"
"All right, answered the others; ''but
what if Old John can't climbg"
"Oh, 1 guess he can, " said Stuart. So
the others got on the horse, and he trudged
along beside them.
Old John picked his way very carefully
over the stones and through the brush.
After awhile Stuart was so tired the boys
got down and he took his turn on Old
John, and so they pushed on and up.
AT last they reached the top Of the
mountain. 1t was very nice to be so high
up. They could see the broad Pacific
sparkling in the sun. They were tired,
but didn't mind, and thought it was fun.
Somehow little boys can do so much for
fun and play, but get tired very quick
when it comes to working. 1 wonder
why it is.
Well, by this time it was after 10, and
their mamma began to feel uneasy, be-
cause they didn't come home; but grand
pa said:
81 expect they have found nice, cool
place under a tree, and, being tired, have
fallen asleep. They will be home in lit
tie while. "
But alas! they were anything but
asleep. They now became tired looking
and leaves and all at once found they
were very hungry, and tried 20 find the
path they had gone up by, but couldn't
find it. They hunted and hunted, and as
they looked down the mountain il seemed
so much sleeper than when they went up
in the fresh morning air, with light
hearts. 1t seemed to them so steep that
if they tried to go they would just fall
over and roll down and down over the
stones, and they didn't like the thought of
that In little while more they lost all
their courage, and sat down and cried
then, as they became more and more lone
some and afraid, their cries became
screams At last they were worn out,
and so were forced to be quiet for while.
Old John kept eating in q contented
way. 1t did not matter to him now
whether he was on the mountain or in
the pasture, for he found plenty to eat.
After time the sun went down, and it
began to grow dark; then the boys broke
out crying again. Old John looked at
them as if to say: 'What is the matter?
Pm going to lie down under this big tree.
There are lots of dry leaves and shall
have n nice bed" So he lay down and
stretched out his legs and made himself
very comfortable.
would have to stay in the woods all night,
so when they had exhausted themselves
second time with crying and shouting,
they were so sleepy they couldn't keep
their eyes open; so they lay down between
Old Johns legs and put their aching
heads against his body and pushed their
feet down in the warm leaves.
All at once Herbert called out: "Boys,
we must say our prayers" so they got
down on their knees, folded their dirty lit
tie hands, and with trembling lips said;
''Now lay me.n It seemed to comfort
them, and telling ROmney to lie in the
middle, because lie was the smallest, they
nestled up close together and were soon
sound asleep, worn out with their long
tramp and crying.
Old John, too, fell asleep, unheeding
the weight Of their heads, which by
degrees slipped down to the ground, they
were so tired. They tossed about, and
each turn made few more leaves fly up
and fall dot1 over them; so they were
well covered from the night air.
Wen, all this time their mamma had
been very sad. Grandpa went away right |
after dinner, never doubling the boy1
would be home in a little while.
Just as the big moon came up from be-
hind the very mountain where the BOYS
lay asleep, grandpa and the men drove ia |
the yard. When they found the boys had |
not come home they all started out to
hunt for them. The moon was so bright |
that they did not need any lanterns. They |
hunted all through the woods and then /
grandpa said; 'They must have tried to /
climb the mountain and lost their yvay;i' /
so they all started up, following the trail,
but no boys could be found.
At last they reached the top and began |
to hunt about. All at once they found /
Old John, lying under the tree fast asleep.
but the boys were so covered with leaves
they didn't see them. Grandpa was very
tired, and said he must rest, while the
other men looked about still more, SO he
sat down by Old Johns feet In mo-
ment something moved under him; he felt
about and found little foot. He started
up and called the men. They pushed the