San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-02-28

81 will not die without letting You know.
1t needed only that to give her the Ger
tainty that he was living
A childs faith is strong. It is not easy tC
drive out an idea which has once taken root
in their minds. So, when the next morning
she had remained there all night-they
tried to make her understand that there was
no hope, that she would never again see her
father; that they had explored all the gal
leries, searched every corner and had not
found him, she shook her curly head and be-
gan to weep, saying: Seek for papal"
They paid little attention to her. For forty
hours had they not exhausted every meansl
There was doubtless something strange in
this disappearance Living or dead, Michel
ought to have been found, and they had not
found him.
The chief engineer had himself directed
the search, but all in vain. In the opinion of
| all 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 debris, and it was impossible TO tell
| where or how.
For forty-eight hours little Miss Papa
waited anxiously, but without manifestlng
the slightest uneasiness. At every human
form which appeared at the opening she
started forward and, not recognizing him
whom she a-raited, 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 such
strength in the great crisis of life' Ask God;
it is his secret.
The third day the child was still at the
shaft
II must put an end to this" said the chief
engineer, approaching her. "Come, my little
one, be reasonable"
"Papal seek for papa!"
"AlasI he is dead"
"No."
She uttered this 'no" with such energy
that the engineer was struck by it,
s-"Why do you say nor he asked
He would have told me-"
"Poor little one," murmured the engineer.
And he made a sign to the men to take her
away. But she chung desperately to HIM,
crying:
Papa is not dead want to go down.
will find himl"
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 repeating:
II want to go down! | will find him!"
He was a tender hearted man, that en-
gineer, 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 descend
She shuddered when she felt beneath her
that yawning pit from which arose foul air
which almost suffocated her The engineer
felt her little arms inclose his neck, and her
curly head was pressed against his own.
When they reached the bottom she Olsen
gagged herself, sprang to the ground, and
rushed straight forward, calling:
Papa! Papa"
The engineer, who could hardly keep up
with her, was tired of explaining to her
twenty times what he had already explained
how the explosion had taken place, where it
had occurred. and what they had done to find
the victims, AID the child kept questioning
him, and repeated:
"He is livingl Seek for him"
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 should |
be taken back to the school teacher, and also |
orders that if she reappeared at the shaft she |
should he prevented from going into the |
mine
All his measures had been carefully taken, |
and the next day, no longer thinking Of her,
he was inspecting one of the galleries when
he felt himself seized by the arm of his coat.
1t was Miss Papa
She had escaped from the school a second |
time. Repulsed at the shaft, she had slipped |
into an empty coal car and had thus de- |
scended into the mine
She told all this to the engineer and OBJ |
tanned his pardon Five minutes later she
again began her search, still full of undimin- !
ished faith. The miners followed her with |
pitying eyes, struggling their shoulders, say
ing:
Poor little Papa"
Little Papa kept on seeking with UNDATED |
courage. Suddenly they saw her running to-
ward them, pale and excited.
Down therel" she gasped. Down therel |
Papaw
"What2 Down there?" said the miner
His blOusew
bah! Where"
Down thcre!"
In moment every one had heard the news
and the mine was in tumult. The child de- |
clared that she had seen a piece of blue cloth |
in q hole, which she could not raise, because |
it was held down by an enormous block Of |
coal.
Where" they asked her again.
She turned, followed by the crowd of |
miners. Then she stopped and hesitated.