Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-12-29


could furnish at a moments notice, VIC
| plunged into the dark, silent woods On,
hastily formed plan was to search the
forest on each side of the trail between
US and maintaining ntercommunicatior
/ by means of rine-shots fired at ffteon-
! minute intervals. Horn and whistle were
| to be blown constantly, and II the LOST
| man should be found by either of us, the
| iact should be known to the other bv two
shots fired In quick succession II han
| poned to be "A perfectly still autumnal
afternoon, and If tho Doctor were within
| two miles of the trail, on either side. he
could hardly fail to hear the reports of our
! rifles. l did not think 1t at all proba BILE
! That, after nearly two days of wandering.
! he would be within the limits Of the four
mile strip that we were about to search.
but 1t seemed better on the whole, to
! proceed In accordance with some definite
| plan than to plunge into the woods AT
| random and roam about without any plan
| at ALL f''
From deep, dark valley on the verge
! of Mckinney's farm we made our way
| slowly through the forest in the direction
OF the Blackwater, keeping about a mile
/ apart as agreed; firing our rifles at
| nIteen-mlnute intervals; shouting, halloo-
| ing, ana stopping every two or three min
utes to listen for a response Hour after
hour passed as we struggled through
| the pushes, lodged around tangled wind
rams, and fioundered in dense thickets of
laurel which fringed the black sluggish
brooks in the shallow valley bottoms: but
there was not a sound to break the still
ness OF the great forest when, after firing
a shot, we stopped and listened long and
intently for a human cry.
Late in the afternoon, as the sun was
getting low in the west and the woods
were beginning to fill with the gloom of
approaching night, Mckinney and l met
on the trail about six miles from his
mousse and mile and a half or two miles
from the camp. Neither of us had found
trace OF the lost man. or heard a sound
to indicate that he was anywhere within
radius Of ten miles.
II afraid we're not going to find him. z"
said, but as long as there is a posi-
bility that he may be alive, we must keep
up the search. I'll go now to the Camp
| and give the alarm to the other fellows
and you must hurry home. ride to the
houses OF all the farmers in the neigh
borhood and send them out with lanterns
and dogs. Meanwhile I'll start with
another party from the camp and make
a wide circuit through the woods at a
distance OF five or six miles from the trail
on the southern side. Have all the
farmers take their rifles, with plenty of
ammunition, and fire at short intervals
throughout the night"
suppose VIC fire three or four last
shots now he suggested, before / turn
back"
IAN right" l replied, and, raising my
rifle, / fired four times into the air at
intervals of about three seconds. My
winchester was a 50-calibre express which
made a report like a small cannon, and
In the stiffness OF approaching night l
felt sure that 1t could be heard at a
distance of at least two or three miles
AS the smoke drifted slowly away, we lis
tened breathlessly, and my attention was
almost instantly caught by a series of
strange faint yelping sounds which seem
ed TO come from the valley of the Black
water on the western side of the trail
away beyond the point where IL turned
sharply southwark to the camp. The
sounds were not shouts nor halloos and
If they were made by a human being at
all they were the short gasping cries OF
an exhausted man, repeated in quick
monotonous succession with every in
drawn breath It's the Doctor!' ex-
claimed Mckinney, with sudden con-
viction.
I'm afraid not" l replied. 1T sounds
to me more like some of the fellows
from the camp. slSylarking and crying
out in that way for fun It's not like
the shout Of a man lost in the woods
However, Wen investigate
Blowing horn and whistle shouting
halloing, and firing shot after shot as
we ran, VIC tore through the bushes in the
direction from which the sounds appeared
to come. Ten or fifteen minutes of
GREATNESS running brought us to the edge
OF broad belt Of swamp-laurcl which
bordered the Blackwater, and stopping
there for moment to listen, we heard
the quick hoarse, inarticulate cries so
distinctly as to leave no room for doubt
as to their origin. They were evidently
made by an excited but physically ex-
hnnGfn6
away in the bed of the stream, or in the
laurel-swamp on the other side / fired
another shot and called out the Doctors
name. The cries ceased. us that you,
Doctor?' l shouted.
Yes" was the faint reply
Where are you?"
over here in the river"
Come out this way and well meet you;
there's some awful laurel here, and It's
hard to get in"
Then VIC began to struggle and founder
toward each other through one of the
worst laurel swamps that 1 ever tried to
penetrate. The bushes were so high and
thick as to hide everything from sight at
distance of six or eight feet; they grew
apparently out of bottomless swamp of
black mud; and again and again my legs
sank almost to the hips in soft ooze be-
tween the gnarled, twisted, interlocking
trunks and roots of giant laurels 1 could
iSoA bAO COS1Ol hSitlIB way lnTOuBn
the bushes ahead, but / had not even
caught a glimpse of him when he said
in a hoarse, tired voice, You'll laugh
when you see me-" l was not in a state
Of mind to laugh at anything; and when,
moment later, he struggled into view,
at distance of only two or three yards,
/ was so shocked by his appearance that
felt much more like sobbing with mingl-
ed relief, excitement, and pity than like
laughing al his wretched condition. Most
of his clothing had been torn away from
the upper part of his body. and below his
hips were only a few strips and shreds
of trousers and drawers hanging from
the waist-band. His naked legs were
covered with cuts, bruises, and red
scratches; mud oozed out of his water
soaked shoes at every step; the tatters of
clothing that still hung about him were
wet from swimming and wading in the
river; he was bareheaded; his pale, drawn
face was smeared with blood, and a little
stream of 1t was running down one cheek
from a recent cut in his forehead. He
looked like a CHASTITY vision of wilderness
terror personified! Seeing that he stag
gered a little, as II on the verge of col
lapse from exhaustion and long-contin-
ued nervous strain, Mckinney threw one
arm around him while I poured out and
gave to him a stiff drink OF whisky
That braced him up a little and in two
or three minutes he said with cheerful
courage that he was ready to move on"
Mckinney supported him on one side and
/ on the other. we struggled hack through