Evening journal., 1890-07-17

=
hereiT said he 70 thecook. somewhat patron
izingiy.
First rata was the reply Of the mono
syllable potentate, dropping his dough into
the fat
'-Hunting portiesgr
'tGame every evening" glancing at vari-
ous discolored packs Of cards.
Laddy did not see the glance HIS eyes
sparkled. Ever SEQ a cata1nountf' be asked,
breathlessly.
NCrying round the camp soons it's dark
"ReallyF' with his eyes opening wider.
'FWay they hev. Cry like child ter toll
the men out"
DO they ever goa"
"Whogn
"Why, the menlo wishing this one were
more communicative.
"What d they go forl Ter be torn Ter
piecesq'
Iaddy looked at him moment, trying to
extract what might be kernel Of truth from
the chafr. 'Can | have a doughnutm he
asked then.
"All you want" And, helping himself TO
that very solid reality he went out to investi-
gate the oxen, the logging roads, the great
frozen lake upon which the logs were hauled
to be all afoat and ready with the breaking
up of the ice in the spring. And then, in less
than no time, he had his skates on and was
out careering over that crystal glare Of ice,
making ''hggery eights,n cutting his name
with his heels doing the outside roll and
speeding away over the long reaches among
the islands with which ne great lake was
sprinkled
It was light much longer out on the open
ice than in the dim aisles Of the woody
places, and delighted and exhilarated with
the glow of his swift motion, Laddy did not
think anything about time till he saw large
snow flakes dancing all about him, when he
turned and found that the light was only that
Of gray cleaning, and chill, damp wind
was blowing in his face with a snow storm on
its wings. However, there would beno trouble
about skating back, and ne went flying
against the wind, when all at once the screw
Of one of his skates snapped and sent him
tumbling headlong, rolling over and over
When he had picked himself up and adjusted
the skate again he could not tell IN what
direction no had been going, up or down,
along or across the lake The shores all looked
alike. There were no lights of the camp,
whether hidden by the islands or the project
ing shores, and try as he might to find the
track of his skates he could not, either for
the dim light or the snow that had covered
and was covering it. The gloom was deepen
ing, too. When he had skated a mile and
stil saw no lights Of the camp, he was sure
he had been turned about, and he reversed
| his motion and went in the other direction.
But still there were no lights-not twinkle
| anywhere, and when he hallooed no answer
came but far off echo
Well, this would never do, be said; some
one of all these logging paths would lead to
camp, of course. And he took off his skates
and climbed the shore and went trudging aud
whistling along. But still no lights. Well,
hadn't the camp been on the edge Of the lalSel
He would wind along the edge, then, and
| sooner on later he must come to it. Alasi il
began to seem as if it would be later, much
later, rather than soon. And now it was
more than dusky among the trees; he had lost
the broad gleam of the lake; he had lost the
| main logging path along the shore; he did
not know which one of all the dim openings
was the right one; the snow was bewildering;
| It was already dark-and he was lost himself
He sat down on fallen log; the snow was
| whirling and floating and falling round him.
Now and again soft bough swept low and
touched his cheek in a sort Of cold caress He
thought he would lie down under the lee OF
the log and stay all night, he was 50 tired.
| He sat down there and leaned against the
I
| himself the tears spurted forth. He was lost
in the woods He was going to freeze and
| die here He was going to be buried in the
snow He should never see his darling
mother again. Oh, if he had only taken the
baby up when she reached her hands to him
the other morning.
No; he should never see them again. 1t
was all up with him. He had been a wicked
| boy; he must take what came But how
they all must feel; oh, how badly they would
! feell Annie would cry At to break her
heart His father would forgive him, but
he would declare he never could forgive him
self, and he would be pursued by the sorrow
| of it all his life And his dear, dear, dear
mother-the image Of her pale, sweet face
was too much for him, and he was crying
himself with all his might And then,
wearied out, and wondering If he should 90
| to heaven, or where, and if it was very hard
to die-and sending up now a prayer for his
safety, and now prayer that they might not
feel too badly at home, all at once, he was
sound asleep, and the great hemlock tree was
| bending down its branches heavy with snow
about him, and sheltering in its kind embrace
the poor, lost lonely little fellow. When at
last, reused by the commotion about him, the
cry Of voices, the blast of horns, the flash of
lanterns, Laddy sleepily opened his eyes again,
be might, indeed, have thought it was heaven,
with some great light glowing on an angels
/ face, only he knew he deserved nothing Of
that sort In another moment he saw that
it was his mother and without asking how
she came there he had thrown himself into
her arms.
The facts in the case were that when Laddy
had not returned to the camp, there had been
an alarm given and the whole body Of men
had gone out In search parties after him and
| Old Peachbow. 1t was one of these parties,
| passing in the distance, that had brought him
back from his instant's dream of the wild
ladies an hour or 50 before And his mother
driving down from the upper camp, with a
| jingle Of bells and flashing Of sleigh lamps,
| just as a group OF the men had paused. won
dering at this place not far from the way
side, where for a circle Of some dozen yards
in diameter tho snow was pretty well trodden
down round the old postotiice tree, the very
circle where poor Laddy had done his
trampiug-his father had stopped and come
70 see what was the cause Of the excite
ment; and his mother had presently fol-
lowed and had seen him in beneath the
| great bemlock boughs first Of all Oh how
sweet ana dear his mother wasl How warm
her arms were-her face like some lovely,
bright, cold flower Could it be possible
was he found-was he going to see his dear
home once more, and Anne and the baby
/ Ills heart beat in his throat with Joy He
| felt like kueeling down in the snow anl
thanking the great Power that had spared
him. And he never. noticed the big pea
| iapkat thaf had baan snread over him nnd