Evening journal., 1890-02-05


little rnfIisn. Really she never knew of the
child doing anything actually wicked. But
she such a rowdy.
AT length she noticed that the sunshine had
grown dim Evening was coming and
Jerry's father would soon be home, and she
must bring the little fellow in and make him
neat, as she always did for the fathers home
coming.
She went TO the door, but Jerry was not
where she had left him. She looked quickly |
about but her child was nowhere ia sight
She called; no answer came In panic she
ran all about the house, and up and down the
road, calling as she went; naither sight nor /
sound of her child could she gain. Little /
Jerry was lost
THAT grill That dreadful grill" Mrs |
Fromer moaned, as she realized that her |
baby was gone. But, then, would have |
heard her il she had come about"
Desperate and heart broken. Sac continued |
her fruitless search, growing more and more |
excited with every minute When Mr.. Fro |
mer came home he found his wife so nearly |
frantic that he could hardly learn from her
what had happened
1t was a terrible thing when he did learn
and realize it, There was no knowing how
long the child had been gone, but with dark
before he could be found to get hopelessly
lost in the forest that was not so very far
away. He might be wandering there even
now; and it was no safe place for little
child TO wander. To say nothing Of the dan
gers Of starvation or exhaustion, wild beasts
we're not unknown there. More than once or
twice mountain lions had been seen or heard
not very far from the little scattered settle
ment
Very quickly Mr.. Fromer satisfied himself
that his child was indeed gone, and be was
about starting away to summon the neigh
bors to help him in the search, when Pete
Pelter appeared. There was trouble in his
face and anxiety in his voice.
'Was Rilly here ag'in after l left yel" he
asked of Mrs. Fromer.
"No."
"She amt to hum, an amt been able fur
TO find her, an I'm Uneasy bout her, it must
be lowed.n
"Have you lost your child, tooF Mr. Fro
mer exclaimed in establishment. ~ was Just
coming TO ask you TO help find ours. He's
gone God knows wherem
He stopped speaking with that break in
his voice which it is always so hard to listen
70. Even in his own grief and trouble Peter
Pelter felt keen sympathy with this other
bereaved man and was about TO say so, but
an exclamation from Mrs. Fromer checked
him.
sThat girl n Jerry's mother cried out And
it was easy TO know from her tone what she
was thinking Of
Her husband laid his band on her shoulder
and stopped her from saying more. Mr..
Felter heard the words and noted the move
ment, but he only said;
"I'll help ye TO hunt fur yer child. I kin
| hunt fur mine later. Or mebbe we'll find 'em
together. Ireckon that's most likely
All night long those two men, with the
help of ali the other men in the settlement,
searched the forest with torches for their
| lost children and found no trace of either
| of them. One little bit Of information was
given by man who came to join the search
ing party.
In the afternoon, while on a shoulder OF
the mountain near the settlement he had
stopped to look down at the houses and the
road. He saw a little child going along the
road toward the forest. He thought that
was not safe, so he started down the slope
TO capture the little rover. He was a good
while getting to the road, and when he got
there he saw only Rilly Peter and her dog
He asked her about the child he had seen,
but she only looked at him and started Off
I
been frightened without reason, the man had
gone his way without giving any alarm.
what time might that ha' beenf' asked
Peter Pelter
" Bout O'Clock, reckon"
II war home jest afore that Left right
afterwards"
All the next day the search was kept up,
and without success. At night the men were
exhausted and had to rest. But the second
day the search was renewed with more vigor
than ever.
The two fathers kept together through a
kind Of sympathetic understanding. They
were widely separated from the other search
ers when they came upon the tracks made by
little feet
A moment later they found larger foot
prints and those Of dog close to them. The
men looked at each other with tears Of joy
running down their faces and neither was
ashamed Of his weakness They dashed for
ward over the soft, moist ground OF the little
hollow they were in, not losing sight of a
single track. Suddenly Pelter stopped, with
a smothered cry Of alarm.
"Oh, Lord Oh, Lord Look at thatT' he
groaned, pointing TO the ground, where the
tracks of another animal mingled with thoss
Of the dog "Do We know what them Isl
Them's the footprints Of a mountain lionln
It was true There was no mistaking the
nature Of those later tracks
'.You and me know what them marks
mean for both ov us,n said Peter, putting his
hand on Mr.. Fromer's shoulder. ''Ther
hain't no hurry now, fur we're too late. Sc
afore we 60 on to look fur our childrent
bones, want you to apolergise to my Rilly
Right here Right now Ye thought II
yer heart as she'd led your little Teller of.
, knew she didn't. She's give her life tryin
10 save him fur ye. How do knowl Gauss
+ that's natural TO Rilly, fur one thing Mother
thing, them little tracks was made afore the
bigger ones md the dogs Mother thing
the baby was alone when Bill Brown seer
him. nd Rilly was alone when he seen her
! md told her bout it. An more n all that
while was out O the cabin after Bill Brown
!, seen her, she was there nd carried Off grul
e enough TO last her md the baby-n she found
) him alive-till she could git him hum. An
now, Jake Fromer, il you don't apolergise
fur that insult ye thought, I'll kill vel"
Without speaking Mr.. Fromer looked int
the other mans eyes and held out his hand
q The look and the gesture meant more thar
q the words he could not control himself t.
speak, and the apology was made and &C
ccpted The two clasped hands, and theI
went forward in fear and trembling
Presently they stopped, having almos
stumbled over the dead body Of a mountain
. lion. At the same moment faint, veal
S whine OF recognition sounded close by, an.
5 then there was happy but very feeble ca,
IS OF welcome, and the two fathers knelt besid
g their living children.
!. Il knowed yed find us, dadln said Rilly
"My legs broke, md we had to wait. II
broke itn pointing 10 the dead beast; "bu
me md Ranter KEEP him Off the kid, md Ran