The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1897-01-01
ALittle Girls Adventure.

L
ever had so desperate an adventure,
last befell little Emma Nelson, daugh-
ter of the postmaster of Susanville, Cal.
That she should have survived 1t at all,
| to say nothing of coming through it in
good health, and in entirely cheerful
and hopeful spirits, is proof of remark
able bodily vigor and mental balance.
On the Fourth of July, while the cele-
bration of Independence Day was in
progress, little Emma, who is not yet
years old, wandered away from her
fathers house. Behind the town lies a
mountain covered with wild woods,
through which bears and mountain
lions always roam. Into. these woods,
following stream, little Emma wan
dered, and soon was completely lost.
She did not lie down and cry, and give
herself up to exposure and death; she
seems to have had but one idea, and
that was to keep walking until she
found her papa.
She kept on marching around the
mountain. Then she became aware
that she was hungry. The woods about
her were full of berries She ate of
them, and when night came found a
comfortable place and lay down and
slept.
In the morning she woke and found
more berries, and tramped on, still
looking for papa, with perfect conf
dence that she should find him soon;
but she wandered farther and farther
into the woods-quite away from the
men who were searching for her, and
who could hardly imagine that she. was
capable of travelling so far, or of TAX
ing care Of herself for day in such
wilderness.
Aftera time she ceased to find enough
sustenance in the berries, and it would
possibly have gone hard with her If she
had not come upon some "meat'' In the
woods. What this .'meat' was the
people afterward discovered; it was the
body of calf, killed and partially de-
voured by coyotes. How desperate the
little girls state had become was
proved by her eating Of this; though
she had not in the least lost her cour-
age.
She still wandered about, keeping for
some time. however. within reach of
this "meat." She did not find her papa, 4
nor he her; and she wandered, indeed,
for seven days on this dreary mountain,
eating berries, drinking from the stream
when thirsty, and scrupulously wash !
Ing herself in it every morning, as if
she had been at home-and always
looking hopefully for papa.
On Sunday, the 18th day Of July, /
days after she had been given up for |
lost, man who was passing along the )
bank of the river, in the most danger
GUS part of the woods, heard some one
call to him, Hello, Mr.. Dash! He was
startled, but turning, he saw sitting on !
some driftwood on the bank of the
stream, the little girl, safe and well, |
and apparently quite uneoneerned. He .
caught her up, and all he could say
was:
why, Emma, where have you been?" !
. 'I've been looking for papa" answer
ed the>child.
He took, her home, and she told the
story of her long wandering quite con-
nectedly. She said that she knew she :
was lost, but that she thought she
should soon find papa. In the seven
days through which she had wandered
she had made nine-mile circle around
the mountain. She had not seen a bear, !
a cougar, or coyote, though the
woods are full of them. Certainly IT.
would not be hard to believe that spe-
cial providence guarded and fed the
child in this long sojourn in a wilder
ness.