St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-01-10

They thought she must soon yield to
fatigue.
Whence comes to the weak and
feeble such strength in the great cri-
ses of life? Ask God; it His secret
The third day the child was still at
the shaft.
Il must put an end to this" said
the chief engineer, approaching her
Come, my little one, be reasonable. ="
Papa seek for papa. "
Alas. he is dead"
No"
She uttered this mo" with such
energy that the engineer was struck
by it.
WHY do YOU say no ?" he asked
He would have told me"
Poor little one," murmurcd the
engineer.
And he made a sign to the men to
take her away. But she chung dcS-
perately to him, CRYING:
Papa is not dead. | want to go
down. | 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 repeating:
Il want to go down. will find
him, -
He was tcndcr-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 excite
ment, if it lasts much longer, will kill
her"
And, taking her in his arms, he b4re
her to the car, and gave the signal to
descend.
She shuddered when she felt be
meath her that yawning pit, from
which arose a foul air, which almost
suflocated 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
disengaged herself, sprang to the
ground, and rushed straight forward,
calling;
Papa! papa!"
The engineer, who could hardly
keep up with her, was tired of eX-
planning 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, and the
child kept questioning him, and re
peatcd:
He is living. Seek for him.
She would have remained down
II II /, Il oh
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
rcappcared at the shaft she should
be prevented from going into the
mine.
"All his measures had been careful
ly taken, and the next day, no long
er thinking of her, he was inspecting
one of the galleries when he felt HIM
self 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 thus descended to the mine.
She told all this to the en2inccr and
obtained his pardon. Five minutes
later she again began her search,
still full of undiminishcd faith. The
miners followed her with plying
eyes, Struggling their shoulders, say
ing:
"Poor little Papa."
Little Papa kept on seeking with
undated courage. Suddenly they
SAW her running toward them pale
and excited.
Down there" she gasped. down
there Papa ~
"What? Down there" said a min
er.
His blOuse,"
BAH Where ;"
down there"
In moment every one had heard
the news and the mine was in q tu-
multi The child declared that she
had seen piece of cloth in a hole,
which she could not raise, because it
was held down by an enormous
block of coal.
"Wherc ;" they asked her again.
She turned, followed by the crowd
of miners. Then she stopped and
heSitated.
She could not find the spot. All
the blocks of coal rcsemblcd each
other, all the galleries were the same.
And vet she was sure she had seen
that piece of blue cloth. Where the
blouse was the man must be, living,
no doubt, and that man was her
father, and she could not find him.
One by one, tired of the useless
search, persuaded that the poor lit
tie girl was crazed by grief, the men
Withdrew and returned to their
work But they had hardly taken
up their pick-aXes when a loud cry
recalled them to the child
Il have found it. have found it ?''
They pushed her aside and looked.
Yes, it was piece of blue flannel 1t
was a blouse There was a man
there,
They set to work with will, and,
in the twinkling of an eye, the wall
was beaten down, and in a deep eX
cavation they saw man extended;
it was Michel Picrron. He had been
there three days and four nights.
Loud cries arose on all sides, and
ringing loud above all others, a cry
escaping from the lips of the child.
She threw herself upon the body and
claSped it in her arms, half mad,
weeping and CRYING:
Papa papa"
He was nearly dead, poor Michel
Exhausted by lack of air and nour-
ishment he recovered consciousness
only to sink back fainting; but he
was alive.
Miss Papa had told the truth. The
man would not die without telling
his child and the thought of her had