- The only one she knew - and hoped that
God would send her father back to find her the moment he discovered
that she was lost.
"When night came down upon the dark forest (and oh how dark night is
in the woods!), the poor girl said, that she felt horribly afraid of
being eaten by the wolves which abound in those dreary swamps. But
she did not cry, for fear they should hear her. Simple girl! she did
not know that the scent of a wolf is far keener that his ear, but
that was her notion, and she lay down close to the ground and never
once raised her head, for fear of seeing something dreadful standing
beside her, until overcome by terror and fatigue she fell fast
asleep, and did not awake until roused by the shrill braying of the
horns and the shouts of the party who were seeking her."
"What a dreadful situation! I am sure that I should not have had the
courage of this poor girl, but should have died with fear."
"We don't know how much we can bear, Mrs. M - -, until we are tried.
This girl was more fortunate than a boy of the same age, who was
lost in the same township, just as the winter set in. The lad was
sent by his father, an English settler, in company with two boys of
his own age, to be measured for a pair of shoes. George Desne, who
followed the double employment of farmer and shoemaker, lived about
three miles from the clearing known by the name of the English
line. After the lads left the clearing, their road lay entirely
through the bush. But it was a path they had often travelled both
alone and with their parents, and they felt no fear.
"There had been a slight fall of snow, just enough to cover the
ground, and the day was clear and frosty. The boys in this country
always hail with delight the first fall of snow, and they ran races
and slid over all the shallow pools until they reached George
Desne's cabin.
"He measured young Brown for a strong pair of winter boots, and the
boys went on their homeward way, shouting and laughing in the glee
of their hearts.
"About halfway they suddenly missed their companion, and ran back
nearly a mile to find him. Not succeeding in this, they
thought that he had hidden behind some of the trees, and pretended
to be lost, in order to frighten them, and after shouting at the top
of their voices, and receiving no answer, they determined to go
home without him. They knew that he was well acquainted with the
road, and that it was still broad day, and that he could easily
find his way home alone. When his father inquired for George, they
said that he was coming, and went to their respective homes.
"Night came, and the lad did not return, and his parents began to
be alarmed at his absence. Mr. Brown went over to the neighbouring
cabins, and made the lads tell him all they knew about his son.
They described the place where they first missed him; but they
concluded that he had either run home before them, or gone back to
spend the night with the young Desnes, who had been very urgent
for him to stay. This account pacified the anxious father. Early
the next morning he went to Desne's himself to bring home the boy,
but the lad had not been there.
"His mysterious disappearance gave rise to a thousand strange
surmises. The whole settlement turned out in search of the boy.
His steps were traced from the road a few yards into the bush, and
entirely disappeared at the foot of a large tree. The moss was
rubbed from the trunk of the tree, but the tree was lofty, and the
branches so far from the ground, that it was almost impossible for
any boy, unassisted, to have raised himself to such a height. There
was no track of any animal all around in the unbroken snow, no
shred of garment or stain of blood, - that boy's fate will ever
remain a great mystery, for he was never found."
"He must have been carried up that tree by a bear, and dragged down
into the hollow trunk," said I.
"If that had been the case, there would have been the print of the
bear's feet in the snow. It does not, however, follow that the boy
is dead, though it is more than probable. I knew of a case where
two boys and a girl were sent into the woods by their mother to
fetch home the cows. The children were lost; the parents mourned
them for dead, for all search for them proved fruitless, and after
seven years the eldest son returned. They had been overtaken
and carried off by a party of Indians, who belonged to a tribe
inhabiting the islands in Lake Huron, several hundred miles away
from their forest-home. The girl, as she grew into woman, married
one of the tribe; the boys followed the occupation of hunters and
fishers, and from their dress and appearance might have passed for
the red sons of the forest. The eldest boy, however, never forgot
the name of his parent, and the manner in which he had been lost,
and took the first opportunity of making his escape, and travelling
back to the home of his childhood.
"When he made himself known to his mother, who was a widow, but
still resided upon the same spot, he was so dark and Indian-like,
that she could not believe that he was her son, until he brought to
her mind a little incident, that, forgotten by her, had never left
his memory.
