Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-02-22

her hands ioyously, as if they had said
to her: ''He is all right You will see
him again" All. how she hoped to see
him. Then she suddenly recollected the
morning on which her father had said to
her:
'T will not die without letting you
know"
1t only needed that to give her the Ger
tainty that he was living.
A child's faith IS strong. It is not
easy to drive out an idea which has once
taken root in its mind. So, when the
next morning-she had remained there
all night-they tried to make her under
stand that there was no hope, that she
would never again see her father, that
they had explored all the galleries,
searched every corner and had not found
him, she shook her head and began to
weep, saying: Seek for papa"
They paid little attention to her. For
forty hours had they not exhausted
every means? There Was, doubtless,
something strange in this disappear ance
Living or dead Michel ought to have
been found, ana they had not found
him.
The chief engineer had himself di-
opinion of ali nothing more could be
done, and it was possible that, by the
force of the explosion, the unfortunate
man had been buried by the falling de-
bris, and it was impossi BILE to tell her
when and how.
For forty eight hours little Miss Papa
waited anxiously, but without manifest
ng the slightest uneasiness. At every
ioh oro1 al the
opening she started forward, and, not
recognizing him for whom she waited,
she sank back upon the ground with a
deep sigh. They tried to take her away,
and she uttered such piercing cries that
they considered it best to leave her
there. They thought that she must
soon yield to fatigue.
Whence comes to the weak and feeble
Ask God; it is His secret.
The third day the child was still at
the shaft.
81 must put an end to this" said the
engineer, approaching her. "Come, my
little one, be reasonable!"
''Papa! seek for papa"
''Aas he is dead''
ono"
She uttered this ''no'' with such
energy that the engineer was struck by
it.
"Why do you say no" he asked.
Gle would have told me-
"Poor little one," murmured the
engineer.
And he made sign to the men to take
her away. But she chung desperately to
him, crying:
"Papa is not dead. want to go down.
I will find him."
They bore her away and left her with
the school teacher. An hour later she
was back at the shaft, and, clinging to
the engineers knees, she kept repeat
ing:
81 want to go down! I will find him /"
He was a tender-hearted man, that
engineer, and he took pity on her.
"After ALL" he said to himself, ''that
will, perhaps, be the best thing. When
she has seen with her own eyes, she will
believe. This excitement, if it lasts
much longer will kill her."
And, taking her in his arms, he bore
her to the car and gave the signal to de-
scend.
She shuddered when she felt beneath
her the yawning pit, from which arose
foul air which almost suffocated her.
The engineer felt her little arms enclose
his neck, and her curly head Was pressed
against his own.
When they reached the bottom she dis
engaged herself, sprang to the ground
and rushed forward, calling:
''Papa, papaw
The engineer, who could hardly keep
with har tiro1 Of loin RI
her twenty times what he had already
explained-how the explosion had oc-
Cured and what they had done to find
the victims, and the child kept ques-
tioning him, and repeated:
Gle is living Seek for him"
She would have remained down there
in the mine three days, as she had already
done at the surface, if they had not
taken her by force and carried her up.
The engineer gave orders that she
teacher, and also orders that if she reap
vented from going into the mine.
All his measures had been carefully
taken, and the next day, no longer think
ing of her, he was inspecting one of the
galleries, when he felt himself seized by
the arm of his coat. It was Miss Papa.
She had escaped from the school
second time. Repulsed at the shaft, she
had slipped into an empty coal car and
had thus descended into the mine
She told all this to the engineer and
obtained his pardon. Five minutes later
she again began her search, still full of
undiminished faith. The miners followed
her with plying eyes, struggling their
shoulders. saying:
Poor little Papa
:rAlo