"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.
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