On the Trail of Pontiac | Page 8

Morris, as he
rushed up to the fireside and proceeded to open the bundle in his arms.
"I do declare!" gasped Mrs. Morris. "Babies! Where did he get them?"
"I don't know, but--Oh!"
The bundle had burst open, and there to the astonished gaze of all
gathered around were presented to view two little fat and chubby boy
babies, each about a year of age.
"Oh, the dear little things!" cried Mrs. Morris, snatching up one of them
and hugging it to her breast. "Are you alive?"
For answer the baby boy set up a faint cry and this was immediately
answered by a similar cry from the other baby. Then arose a grand
chorus which left no doubt of the facts that the babies were alive and
that each possessed a good pair of lungs and full knowledge of how to
use them.
"Warm them up, James, while I get them some pap," said Mrs. Morris.
"Oh, the nice little babies!" put in little Nell, crowding close to touch
the soft and somewhat cold cheeks. "And such pretty eyes, too, and
such soft hair! Mamma, I think they are just too beautiful for
anything!"
While Mrs. Morris was preparing some pap and some warm milk
Joseph Morris arrived with Sam Barringford, and proceeded to make
the old frontiersman comfortable. The water was already boiling in the
big iron pot, and Barringford was given a glass of hot liquor which
soon made him feel like himself once more. Later still he was served
with a hearty meal, which he ate as if famished.

"Great babies, ain't they?" he said. "Beats all creation how I found 'em,
too."
"So you found them?" put in Rodney. "Where?"
"On the road about three miles from this place--close to where the
Chelingworth cabin used to stand."
"Did you find them in the snow?" queried Dave, with deep interest.
"I did an' I didn't. Ye see, they was wrapped in the bundle an' the
bundle was tied up to a tree limb."
"And left there all alone?" cried Mrs. Morris, who was busy feeding the
little ones.
"It was a case of necessity, ma'am. The man who had had the children
had done his best by 'em, an' he couldn't do no more," returned Sam
Barringford gravely.
"Tell us the particulars, Sam," said James Morris.
"I will. I was coming along the trail, fightin' my way as best I could in
the teeth of the wind, an' feelin' bitter cold a-doin' of it, when I came to
a spot where there had been a fight between a man, a horse, and some
wild beasts--wolves, most likely. I couldn't git the straight of it at fust,
but at last I figured out that the horse had gone into a hole, broke his
leg, and pitched the man out on his head on the rocks. The man had had
the babies in a bundle, and to keep 'em from gettin' too cold had put 'em
in the tree instead of on the ground, or else he did it to save the babies
from the wild beasts.
"The wild beasts had done their bloody work well, and man an' horse
had been torn limb from limb. The man's skull was crushed, and it and
part of the horse lay in a nasty hole, an' that's what makes me think
both had the accident. The man had emptied his two pistols and used
his knife, but it wasn't no use. The fight was ag'in him from the start."

"Horrible!" murmured Mrs. Morris, while little Nell and some of the
others shuddered.
"I didn't notice the bundle in the tree at fust, but while I was takin' in
the awful sights afore me I heard a strange sound. 'Sam Barringford,
thet's a wildcat,' sez I to myself and swung my gun around putty quick.
But it wasn't no wildcat at all, but them babies beginning to set up a
howl. Maybe I wasn't taken back. It war the greatest amazement ever
overtook me, barrin' none!" added the old frontiersman emphatically.
"Was there anybody else around?" asked James Morris.
"Not a soul. I looked everywhere, an' tried to git a shot at some of the
wild beasts, but they had gone clean an' clear. Then I made up my mind
the best to do war to get them babies to some shelter, or they'd freeze to
deth. I didn't know ef other folks around here war to hum, so I made for
this place. When I got to the split hickory I war so tuckered out I set up
the yell you heard."
"Did the man have anything with him besides the babies?" asked
Rodney.
"No bundle. But he had his pistols, the knife, a gold watch, some gold
and silver, and some