The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-01-03

The men looked blankly at one an
| other Most of them h,d seen Tom
Stepman's sweet-faced little seven
year-old daughter, Olivia. For mo-
mont no one SPOKE. Then Mcclure,
the carpenter, said
"No, Tom. She hasn't been round
here Thar's nothing wrong, | hope?
Yer hain't lost her, have yer?"
eyes, she's gone I had her with me
this afternoon. On my way home
from River Bend the wagon broke
down about three miles from my place.
oily, says |, would you ruther walk
in, or wait here till I ride in TO the
ranch for my spar wagon?' She did't
want to walk, 40 l left her Twas
sundown afore | got back there, an
my little girl was gone"
"G1ne!"
eyes, gone clear away. I rode to
right an | rode to left, an I called an
| called an yelled, but thar came no
answer. Then | thought she might
have headed for your light, an rode
over to see if she'd turned up here.
My wife's expectn MS every minute.
She'll be plumb crazy when I have to
tell her that Olly's strayed Off
Boys" said NJ. Mcclure, reach
ing for his spurs, "thar's but one
thing for Ms to do-start ont aud find
that little gal"
The men hurried on their revolvers
and spurs; caught and sa1lled horses
Mt the corrlls, and soon were sweeping
the country westward above the trail
between Horse Creek and Stepman's
ranch in the forlorn hope of finding
the lost child. Out from the darkness
10 the north came the ominous howl
ing of wolves
Oily Stephan, for time, had waited
contentedly enough for her fathers
return. Then she descended from the
wagon to the ground, and began to
search for "nly warrior" the white
flower that comes when spring begins
to green the buifalo.grn roots.
Walking with eyes bent downward,
she passed over the brow of ridge
and on into the hollow beyond There
Oily found n ''lady warrior" but lost
her direction completely.
On going to the top of the ridge
that she supposed she had descended,
she could see nothing OF the wagon.
Bare prairie was about her in every
! direction. She kept on walking; she
meandered uaconsciously she gained
one eminence after another, only to
look around in vain for thu missing
wagon. And now the dimness and
chill of approaching night were in the
air. How strange the prairie ridges
looked in the twilight
Oily stopped in the sandy bottom of
one of the deep gulches which the
Mexicans call arroyos. Before her
was high steep bank with an over
hanging top. Tired and discouraged,
she sat down upon heap of fallen
sods beneath the bank.
She was too much at home upon the
plains to be very much fright
ened, and she was confident that her
father would soon find her. Still she
cried The more she cried the more
she felt like crying. From the long
fit of weeping she was suddenly startled
by the rustling of an approaching ami
NAL. Could that be Jip, the house
dog?
"Jipl Jip" said Oily, ioyfully.
No, it was too large for Jip. Those
upright ears, the pointed nose, and
the gray, shaggy hair were not Jip's.
Oily gazed at her visitor for moment
before she realized that the beast be.
fore her was gray wolf.
As the child started up with
shrek, the cowardly beast stopped,
turned tail, stopped again, then set
down on his launches, faced her, lifted
its nose, and gave long howl. Know
ing that to attempt to run away would
be useless, the trembling child waited
in helpless horror for the death to
come.
With answering howls shadowy forms
came sneaking down the gully one
by one, and the wolves ranged
themselves in n semicircle facing the
little girl. With the bank behind her