“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.

“Mother, don’t you remember saying to me on that afternoon, ’Ned, you need not look for the cows in the swamp, they went off towards the big hill.’

“The delighted mother clapsed him in her arms, exclaiming, ’You say truly,—­you are indeed my own, my long lost son!’”