Catharines Peril, or The Little Russian Girl Lost in a Forest | Page 4

how to refuse. His voice betrayed excessive
emotion as he described the sad sight of this immense conflagration;
but as soon as he came to his own private misfortunes, he burst into
tears, and with a deep-drawn sigh exclaimed:
'Alas! this awful fire not only deprived us of a great part of our fortune,
but, far worse, of her who formed our chief joy, our cherished daughter.
Amid the frightful panic that prevailed, whilst my wife and I
endeavoured to save some of our most valuable effects from the rage of
the devouring element, we lost our only child, then in her seventh year.
Her nurse had taken her for safety to a house situated in a by-street

occupied by a friend of ours, where the fire had not yet reached; but
both the child and the nurse disappeared, and since this melancholy
catastrophe all our numerous and anxious inquiries respecting them
have proved utterly fruitless. Probably they were killed by a falling
edifice, and so buried in its ruins; at least, this is my opinion, for my
dear wife still has the hope of again beholding our long-lost but dearly
cherished child.'
Catharine, who had listened with the most heartfelt interest to this
touching recital, could not restrain her emotions any longer. She threw
herself on the stranger's neck, exclaiming,
'My father, my dear father!'
It was a most affecting moment. We will not attempt to depict the joy
and the thankfulness that filled the hearts of both parent and child. Let
our young readers try to imagine themselves in Catharine's situation, or
else in her father's; then only can they enter into the real sentiments that
overpowered them both. How pleasure and pain are intermingled in this
life!
Catharine's delight at being re-united to her dear father was
undoubtedly great, but sorrow at the prospect of leaving friends like the
Count and Countess proved a trial to the affectionate and grateful girl.
'Then happy those, since each must draw His share of pleasure, share of
pain; Then happy those, belov'd of Heaven, To whom the mingled cup
is given, Whose lenient sorrows find relief, Whose joys are chastened
by their grief.'
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CHAPTER III.
When the first excitement of this unexpected meeting had somewhat
subsided, Catharine, in her turn, told of the wondrous and providential
dealings to which she was indebted for her preservation amid countless
perils.

The good sutler's wife was not forgotten in this extraordinary account;
and with what sensitiveness and touching expressions of gratitude she
disclosed to her attentive listener the innumerable acts of kindness she
had received all these years from the noble Polish lord and his lady,
who had loaded her with constant benefits, and had in every respect
treated her as their own child.
In a few days Catharine's father had quite recovered from the effects of
his wound. His business required attention, and he was impatient to
restore his beloved child to her mother's arms, so father and daughter
bade adieu to the Polish Count and Countess, but not before assuring
them that their gratitude would never cease as long as they lived.
M. Somoff and his long-lost Catharine returned to Moscow, where they
were welcomed with surprise and joy by the delighted mother, who
forgot all her sorrows when once more embracing her child, who had
been lost to her for so many long years.
Very soon the young Russian's marvellous history became known. She
was asked in marriage by an officer holding high rank in the army, and
in due time she became his wife.
Ten years passed.
Great changes had taken place on the Continent of Europe. Poland had
proclaimed its independence, and Nicholas, the Emperor of all the
Russias, had an immense army in the field to repress the efforts of this
brave but most unfortunate nation.
The horrors that were perpetrated, and the sad issue of this too unequal
warfare, are well known.
Catharine's husband had taken part in this campaign, and she had
followed him to the camp.
We will not stop to describe the heartrending scenes connected with
this war, but merely inform the reader that Warsaw was taken by
assault; and in this is included a whole chapter of misery. On this fatal

day many thousand Poles as well as Russians lost their lives. In the
course of the evening after the battle, the superior officers of the
triumphant army went to inspect the scene of the late bloody combat,
where heaps of dead and dying were lying in confusion, for there might
be seen the victor and the vanquished side by side.
Moved by charity, touched with compassion for the fate of those to
whom fortune had been so unpropitious, Catharine's husband sent all
who still retained a breath of life to the hospitals and