St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-09-12
LOST IN THE WOODS.


were going on their business of char
presume bly, followed them again lat
er, disappeared, and nothing was
known of his whereabouts until long
afterward. About p. m. his broth
ers returned and inquiry was made
at once for little Emil. AS he had oc-
casiOnally gone with them before, his
sister, the only one of the family re-
naming at home for the day, sup
posed he had been with them. To
the horror of all it was reported that
they had seen nothing of him. The
child had been lost sight of for nine
| hours.
The Bonhatels live on the top of
| the Taconic range, near the line, be-
tween Mount Washington, Mass,
and Salisbury, CT. 1t is densely
wooded and sparsely inhabited for
miles in every direction. The town of
Mount Washington itself contains
neither doctor, lawyer nor minister,
so few are its citizens. Salisbury, the
nearest village on the Connecticut
side of the line, is seven miles away
over rough mountain road, with
steep climb in many places. The
| woods are the home of wildcats, fox
es and occasional wolves, who might
readily modest a child wandering in
these wilds The writer saw a pile
of 4S such pelts brought down from
that region a few weeks ago, the
product of winters catch by one
man. 1t was in this locality, one of
the widest i'll New England, that a
bare-headed and bare-foOted child of
two years and nine months was lost.
The father and mother were at
work two miles from home in an
other direction that day. They were
at once alarmed, and the entire fam
lily set out upon the search before
night closed in A mile and a half
from the house little footprints made
by child's bare feet in the mud by
the roadside was found, and that
was the only trace of him discovera-
BILE. All the night through the family
sought for him with lanterns. They
had no neighbors and SO were alone
in the search. 1t had rained steadily
from the morning, and at night it
poured in torrents What might be-
come of a child chilled through with
a storm at night? Their anxiety in
creased with every hour.
The following day so men were en-
listed in the search. The rain contin-
ued and cold, dreary mist hung up
on the mountains, making many
strong man numb with the wet and
cold The woods were searched in
every quarter without discovering a
the lanterns were in use Prepare
tons were made for dragging GER
tain of the mountain ponds into
which the child might have fallen.
The third day opened with 800 men
in the field. BY this time the news
had spread to many settlements, and
the road was lined with wagons that
had brought searching parties. The
rain still continued, and high wind
accompanied it. The mist hid every
object 20 feet away. Every road
and clearing was infinitely searched.
Men plunged into swamps that
hardly a wildcat even could pene-
trate. Several of the party lost
themselves, and had to climb trees to
find their way out. The third day
closed with all hope abandoned of
finding the child alive The only
thought now was of discovering the
body and relieving the agony of the
parents, who were well nigh dying of
suspense and sleeplessness.
The fourth day opened with sum
shine for the first time. The mist
rolled away at 10 o'clock. Five hun
dred men were now assembled. Long
lines of searchers, 10 feet apart, were
were formed, and every foot of
ground infinitely inspected. The
party satisfied themselves that the
child could not possibly be in the ter
ritory thus gone over. The feeling
was general that day that the body
would now be found, no hope being
entertained that the boy could have
survived the storm and hunger for
three days. On the afternoon of this
day two men from Salisbury, Martin
Harris and Samuel Rossiter, were
making an independent search on the
side of Bear mountain. With light
blackboard wagon they plunged into
the woodcart paths that led down
into Salisbury valley Both were
experienced woodsmen and knew
every foot of the ground. Bear
mountain is the highest land in the
state of Connecticut (2354 feet), and
is aside from where the main body
was searching, being also in another
direction from where the footprints
were seen. About 1 o'clock Rossiter
thought he discovered something
moving down the bed of the stream.
1t almost took his breath away, on
coming nearer, to make out the fig
ure of child. 1t was the lost bOyl
Choked with emotion Rossiter ut
tered a cry. Evidently the unusual
noise frightened the little fellow, for
he threw up his hands and started
on a run. Rossiter, now thoroughly
excited, ran after him, calling to him
that he would take him to his papa,
and finally captured the little fellow,
more wild with JOY than the discov-
erer of the Kohinoor. The boys
limbs were swollen with the rain, re-
sembling parboiled flesh; his clothes
were torn almost away; his flesh
was scratched with many a thorn.
His fingers were sucked to point
in his childish eagerness for food.
How he ever lived through those
chilly nights, all unprotected as he
was, with only bush for roof and a
root for pillow, will never be known.
Traces of leaves were found in his
mouth, and he said himself that he
ate them. He may possibly also
have found May apples in his ram
bles and lived upon them. The place
of his discovery was two miles from
his home.
AS soon as Rossiter held him in his
arms a shout was raised, and in a