Newspaper Page Text
250
Little Eyes and Little Hands.
fITTLE eyes.
Like the shining bine above,
Full of light and love.
Full of glee;
Telling of a life within,
In a world of sin.
Born to you and me!
* Will they see the golden way,
Leading up to day ?
And the God to whom we pray.
In the skies?
Little hands,
In the long and weary strife
Os a toiling life.
Will they win ?
Will they early learn to bless?
Rescue from distress ?
Will they fear to sin ?
For the true, the good, the right,
Will they bravely fight?
Strew along the paths of night
Golden sands ?
Little feet,
Entered on a thorny way;
Will it lead to day
And renown ?
As its rugged steps are trod,
Will they climb to God,
And a seraph's crown ?
Where the loving Saviour goes,
Finding friends or foes,
Will they follow till life’s close,
As is meet ?
Little eyes,
May they wear an angel’s guise,
In the upper skies 1
Little hands,
May they, doing God’s commands.
Rest in fairer lands ?
May these little feet
Thee, dear Saviour, run to meet
At thy inerey seat;
And with joy for sins forgiven,
Press to Heaven!
Congregationalist.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
MAEOONER’S ISLAND;
Oil,
Dr. Gordon in Search of his Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOITI.MNG,
Author of the “ Young MaroonerxY
CHAPTER XX.— Continued.
DISAPPOINTMENT AND RELIEF —INDIAN DE
VICE — LATE SUPPER EMBARKATION
POOR PROGRESS —LIFE ON THE PRAIRIES
WASTE OF LIFE —FIRE ! FIRE !
I LI) CAT'S pan was set
upon what Jones called
f IHpiU a “ harry-cane* root, fa
m ass of earth upturned
M a gale with the roots
a tree >) beside which Jones also
deposited his burden of light wood.
Lvjrpf At a slight whistle from their
leader, they all levelled their
pieces, and at another signal they
pulled trigger; then snatching up the
light, they ran to see what execution had
been done. Wheeler’s buck lay dead in
its tracks, having leaped spasmodically
upward, then fallen where it stood. Jones’
fell about twenty steps away. Wildcat’s
was nowhere to be found, and his disap
* Hurricane root.
BTJRKE’S WEEKLY,
pointment in consequence seemed to be
very great. Indeed, his mortification
caused him to be almost loquacious.
“ I not used to musket,” said he; “ I
used to rifle. I kill, though; when day
light come, you find mine too, if no wolf
here.” And the others kindly encouraged
him in this hope.
Asa company they had reason to be
satisfied with their work, notwithstand
ing poor Wildcat’s failure, for there, upon
the ground, lay as much venison as their
united strength would enable them to
carry back to camp, encumbered as they
were with guns and other things. Tying
the legs of the buck and suspending it
upon a pole, Jones and Wildcat lifted it
between them, while Wheeler took the
other upon his own brawny back.
Loaded thus, they were about to start
home, when the whole plan was altered
in consequence of a pleasant and unex
pected discovery made by Wildcat. The
pole proving too slender, they were seek
ing another, at some distance from the
scene of slaughter, when they were sur
prised by the sound of a rustling in the
bushes, accompanied by a long, deep sigh.
Wheeler and Jones looked wistfully at
each, but Wildcat, with a joyful “ I said
so !” rushed toward the place of the sound,
saying to the others “Come see !” Crouch
ed in a thicket, lay a half-grown buck,
with broken leg and wounded side, just
in the act of expiring. They bled it, as
they did the others, by severing the blood
vessels of the neck. And now, the load
being wholly beyond their strength, they
resolved to leave the greater part of it
till morning, protected from wolves by
the usual device. They bent down two
strong saplings, and trimming a forked
branch at the upper end of each, they in
serted it into a hole cut in the abdomen
of the two smaller deer and let it flyback
to its place.
“Now let us travel,” said Wheeler, and
soon they were on their way, Wildcat
leading the van with his pan of fire, and
the two men bearing the large fat buck
between them.
It was past ten o’clock ere they reach
ed camp, and by ordinary rule every man
ought to have been in bed and asleep, but
their labors that day had been light, and
their sympathy with the hunters had
kept them awake; in addition to which,
the sound of the three guns had raised
their expectations, and they were wait
ing to see the result of the expedition. It
must be confessed, too, that the wakeful
ness of some of the men was greatly in
creased by a vivid conception of the odor
of broiled venison. When the hunters
came in, they threw their game upon the
ground, leaving to the others the pleasure
of skinning and quartering it, and they
watched with interest the nice tit-bits
which were soon frying upon the coals
and the larger and more luscious pieces
that were thrust under the embers to
roast, after having been enveloped in a
thick coating of green leaves. Whether
it were that the venison killed that night
was uncommonly fat and tender, or whe
ther the smoke and ashes of the fire im
parted a peculiar flavor, both Dr. Gordon
and Tomkins declared that never had
venison tasted sweeter.
At daybreak four men were detailed to
bring in the game left in the woods.
There had evidently been some hungry
carnivorous visitors at the spot, as was
manifest from the disappearance of the
offals, which had been thrown upon the
ground, but the bodies suspended in the
tops of the saplings had been untouched.
A rich breakfast of venison steaks,
broiled ribs and fried liver awaited their
return, and a plentiful supply of the same
was prepared also for their midday meal,
and by the time they were ready to em
bark, the wind and tide were inviting
them to go. They made for the northern
shore of Char.otte Harbor, which was in
full sight, not many miles away, but to
wards which their progress was not so
rapid or so encouraging as it had been
the day before. Hot only was the north
ward tendency of the tide impeded by its
flow sideways into the harbor, but the
raft lay more heavily in the water, being
saturated by several days submersion in
the briny element, and therefore less
buoyant. It began to be certain that
either they must work their way to Tam
pa by land, or else provide something
more manageable than the raft. It was
during the laborious voyage of this day
that I)r. Gordon, for the purpose of en
livening the spirits of the men, said to
Wheeler :
“You remarked the other night, when
our island was afire, that you had witness
ed a grand fire-scene of some kind, out
West. I, for one, will be glad to hear the
particulars of it, and I have no doubt that
others of the company will, too.”
“ Oh, it was only a fire on the prairies,
a common thing enough out there, and a
grand thing, too,” the other replied; y
it was a small matter in itselt, as eom
pared with a trouble that came along
with it.”
“Indeed!” said Dr. Gordon; “do tell
us all about it ?”
Wheeler seemed gratified with tin 1
quest, and after a little premising, Aunt
on to give the following account:
“ I was travelling once as leadci to