Year: 1866

z
baby in her arms from Mrs. Green
1 expecting mOmentarily to meet heI
/ husband, she went on carelessly. her
attention being directed IN part to heI
child, until suddenly looking up, she
discovered no white scars of the axe
I on any tree In sight. But she fancied
she had stepped out of the track. and


might in a moment regain It. A vain
fancy. Nothing familiar met her eyes
The night came on. The little birds


went to rest, the owls laughed dOlefUl-
, iy. She was alone with her infant, IN
the great sea of forest where never a


woOdman's axe had echoed. She was
lost. She sat down, faint and tired.
and Womau-like, began to cry, Hark
That was certainly a human shout
She arose. and holding her course.
she ran breathless towards it. And


now she thought she heard it again.
farther of. Many hours in the night


were spent in rushing, with hysterical
sObs and palpitating heart, towards the
voices Of her friends, so near that she
could hear them, but so far away that
no frenZied strength could enable her
70 reach their protecting presence


What a night it was Towards morn
ing she slept, leaning against a tree
with the baby on her bosom. But she
started nervously in her dreams. and
at the first bird song woke to full con
seriousness. With day break came a
renewal of her courage, She would


not weakly give up to die. Her friends
would certainly fiud her to-day or she
would fnd them. She saw near her
some of the last years berries and
tough leaves of the wintergreen. And
here acOrns. A poor breakfast, but
she ate whatever she could find, for
the sake of her child more than her
own. This day, also, she ran wildly
through the tangle ofdead brakes, and
briers growing from the decay of cen
turtles, over the gullies aud jagged
rocks. past rude branches that caught
at and rent her dress, till she came to
the dying embers of a fire. Here she
fingered long Her friends had been
here perhaps Robert kindled this FIRE
with his own hands, and for her. Hark
again The search has commenced
this morning. EchoiDg through the
woods comes the prolonged shrek of
a dinner horn She calls with all the
desperation of one drowning; she
rushes forward, but the ground Is
rough. and. alas how heavy the baby
grows She is giddy with the loss of
sleep, and the want of food. The baby
means, and will not be comforted. In
this way passes the day and another
dreadful night. She finds another fire;
she stays by it, and keeps it burning
through the night, for she is afraid
of wolves. Another morning and she
is not hopeful D, viii not Heaven
pity her2 Have the sweet April skies
become brass to shut out her cries for
help? Has God forgotten to be grae-
ious The little one grows weaker
he cannot hold up his head. An 1ther
terrible night; he means pi.eOusly;
he falls into commissions the next


lay he dies. All day she carries the
little lifeless body In her arms, end all
the night beneath the far off Implying
stars, she holds it to her bosom. Poor
woman We do not know what les
son was meant to her by the good
Father, But perhaps she has known
long since perhaps at this very mo-
ment she thanks aud adores Him for
that sore and great distress, of which
we cannot hear at this far remove OF
time, without a heartache.


She carried the little dead burden
day after day, until the purple hue Of
decay was setting rapidly over it, and
she felt with pang at her heart, that
she must bury it. Then she looked
about for a spot where she might dig
the tiny grave. so deep that the wild
cat and the wolf might not scent 1t
out, Weak as she was, this was no
easy task, but in her waBderiugs she
came upon a giant tree, uptorn at some


former time by a hurricane. In the
soft earth where the roots had lain,
she scooped the baby's resting-place,
and making 1t soft with moss, covered
the cold little form forever from her
sight. Then she sat down by the grave
i0 a stupor Of grief. Hour after hour
passed, how long a time she knew not,
When she rose to her feet to commence
again the dreadful pilgrimage. Then
she noted everything about the spot,
here was a rock, there stood an i'm


mense hemlock. Yes, she would know
the place She could find it easily
with Robert. Then began again the
struggle through the wilderness. Day
after day, week after week she passed
on; her shoes were worn to fragments
and fell from her feet. Her garments


we're torn to tatters. But the days
grew warmer, and the fever that was


burning In her veins made even the
soft showers that fell upon her well
come. First she ate the buds of trees


and the bark of the black BIRCH
Presently she began to find young
checkerberry leaves and now and then
she came upon the artridge's nest, and


greedily sucked the eggs. After a


time there were red raspberries and


black thimble- berries in the woods,
and then she knew it was July. The


trees had now put on afresh their
beautiful garments. But for the de-
licious poetry that one finds in the
woods, sauntering out from the busy
life for an hour, she cared nothing
She saw nothing but trees, trees. trees,
in interminable succession, in bewil-
dering Sameness. 1t seemed years,
yes, ages ago, that she swept the hearth
with a birch broom, and sung the baby


to sleep in Roberts cabin Her mind
grew bewildered, sJill she went on, on,
on. When she came to a large stream


she went up towards its source till she
could wade across it. So she said ; aud
| she affirmed that she never crossed a
stream wider than q brook. She paid
D no aUt6ublOO TO SUI Ut uOOu as Sutu6


or Indication of the points of compass,


but she must have taken a north east
| erIy course. There was Black River
/ Mill river, Waterqueechy, White
Waits Wells, flowing into the Con


necticut from the Vermont side; but


she constantly asserted that she saw


none of them. Through July and Au-


gust there we're berries of variou;
kinds, and by means of these she sus


tanned what little life was left to her.


And now the naples began to take OF


the gorgeous crimson, and the silver


birches to wear the pale gold of Sep
tember, the birds were leaving the for
est. Occasionally she had glimpses o


brindled fur among the branches, or


black bear turned out of her path
afraid of the human form; but no hu


man being did she ever meet, and Ions


before, human voices ceased to call he
name. Was she alone on the earth
and was the earth but vast wilder


ness without outlet, without clearing
or settlement? Had God taken ava.
! go q