The San Francisco call., 1896-08-17
Each Night Tiny Hands Prepare
a Couch Beneath the
Giant Oaks.
FOUND AFTER A LONG SEARCH.
Rescued Unframed From Forest Stamp.
ing Grounds of Bear and
Cougar.

PENDLETON, Or, Aug. 16.-For six
days four-year-oid Emma Nelson of SUI
sanville wandered alone on a mountain
where the roar of the bear and screams
of the panther are heard nightly. On six
evenings, as the sun disappeared
In the west, she made a couch beneath
! some giant oak and lay down to sleep, the
awful noises of the forest sounding in her
ears wild lullaby.
| The little one is safe at home now, found
| and returned after weary search by
| scores of men in the mountains; and that
| she was spared from death Is regarded by
! the simple mountain folk as miraculous.
| Verify, there is One who watches over the
| weakest of his flock.
|. Little Emma is a rosy-cheeked miss,
| with bright blue eyes and dimpled hands
and chin. She lives with her parents at
| Susanville. Her papa is the village post
master.
| Not far from the little ones humble
home are the stately, snow-capped Blue
Mountains. From the SUBMITS of snow
of the highest peaks the view is enchant-
| ing and extends into three States. Off to
| the north is Washington, to the east
Idaho and all around Oregon. Away TO
| the north the great Columbia River winds
itself like silvery thread. now through
| fertile valleys and now through sandy
wastes, where sandstorms strong enough
| to interfere with railroad traffic sometimes
occur.
The country is of wild aspect, and the
| mountain businesses hold many a secret
OF the doings of Indians in days long
passed, of prospectors who never returned
to their homes, and of cattle thieves who
were dealt with according to the primi-
tive law of the land.
| The people of Susanville gave picnic
over week ago in grove in the foothills
| of the Blue Mountains. 1t did not differ
from other picnics. There were sports for
! the children and lots of good things to eat,
and the simple mountain people had a
merry day of it. When the people were
ready to start for home little Emma was
nowhere to be found. There was no trace
| OF her from early in the afternoon, when
her six-year-old brother saw her going in
| the direction of Settle Mountain, gather
| ing wild flowers as she went. Settle
| Mountainr' exclaimed the country folk
in horror. 1t is the most dangerous peak
in the entire range and is the stamping
ground of bears and cougars.
| "She'n never be found alive" was the
verdict of the hardy mountaineers as they
shook their heads doubtfully.
| All that night and for several days and
nights afterward men searched the noun
tain Businesses for the lost one. Their
hearts failed within them when the still
ness OF the night was broken by the
vicious growl OF the cougar, and when in
daytime they saw numerous bears feeding
at the berry bushes. In the afternoon of
| the sixth day the searching party came
upon a clump of weeping willows, by
which passed a small stream. Not one of
| the searchers had the slightest idea of
| finding the little one alive. Little Willie
was riding in front OF his father on a
| horse, which was accustomed to rough
trips in the mountains. -
Papa" said the boy ''if my little SIS
| ter ism t dead, ] think she is not far from
| that stream. She loves to sit near the
/ river and make bouquets OF the wild how-
| ers that she gathers.
| AS the party neared the clump of brush
| MIR. Nelson was startled to hear voice
say: Hello, papa. l have been looking
| for you eyer so long,"
| Mr. Nelson clasped his child in his arms
| AMI hugged her as no father ever hugged
| a child before.
| 81 knew 1 was lost, papa" the little
| one said, 'but / was sotsure | would meet
my papa that | kept on walking"
| Emma told the searchers that she had
| made complete circuit of Settle Noun
tain, having travelled nine miles. How
] she escaped the cougars and bears is q
mystery. She slept wherever she could
| find a resting-place and subsisted on
berries and the flesh of calf which had
| been killed by coyote.
| The little girl sail she was frightened
| only once while in the mountains. That
Wa on her third day ont She aWoKe that
| morning on the edge OF precipitous cliff.
/ The big fir trees in the valley a thousand
| feet below looked like walking-canes.
| Had she made the slightest move during
her sleep she would have rolled off the
cliff.