THE YOUTHS CABINET.

and dispirited, all met to consult on farther
steps. They determined to examine anew,
and if possible, more carefully, the space
where they could hope to find him. They
set out; and shortly a party of them came
near a tall, hollow stump. More for the
purpose of leaving no spot unexplored,
than with any hope of finding there the

object of their search, a young man mount-

ed the stump. A sight there met his

eyes, which ‘caused him to faint and fall

to the ground. There was the body of

the poor boy, wasted by hunger, the head
thrown back, and the ghastly features up-

turned to the summer’s sky. But how

came he in this most singular and fatal
The answer is easy. The
tree had been partially torn up by the

_ situation ?

roots, and was afterward cut off at some

distance from the ground. As it lay thus

upon the ground, the boy, unconscious of
harm, crept into the hollow at its root.
While he lay there, defended by this
grateful covering from the summer’s sun,

the bent fibres, suddenly freed from their

tension, raised the stump, and shut him
in forever. How very affecting to think of
the long days and nights of exposure and
starvation which must have elapsed before
death—to him an angel of mercy—reliev-
ed him of his life and misery together.

: G. C.

res

Sagacity and Attachment of a Horse.
{ies frequently occur in which

domestic animals are evidently mado
instrumental to the preservation of
life, by the application of a sagacity
which does not fall within the usual range

of their intellects, The following cireum- |

stance was related to me soon after its oc-

 

207

currence, by a man upon whose veracity
I can rely, who received it immediately
from the subject of the narrative.

About twenty years ago, J. B., who re-
sided in Chester county, Pennsylvania,
not far from the west branch of the Bran-
dywine, was returning home on horseback,
at a time when that stream, across which
his road lay, was much swollen by rain
or melting snow. The depth and force
of the current dislodged him from his
seat, and he was cast upon a bank, form-
ed, I think, by a cake of ice, where his
life was in imminent danger. The horse
in the meantime, released from. restraint,
made his way to the shore; but instead
of running away, he stopped on the bank,
looked round and neighed. Perceiving
his master in his perilous situation, sur-
rounded by the rushing torrent, the sa-
gacious animal returned into the: water,
and coming close to him, stood there till
he was securely seated on his back. And
this could not be very hastily done, as the
man was advanced in. years and his clothes
saturated with water. Not being able to
regain the ford, the pair arrived at the
margin of the stream, at a place where
the bank was too steep to be mounted by
the horse with his burden. Help at length
came, and the horse and his rider were
extricated from their dangerous position;
but the former was so much exhausted
by his exertions, that he lay down and
stretched himself out as if dying. He
however recovered, and his owner assured
my informant that no price that could be |
offered, should ever, while he lived, trans-
fer the noble beast to another master.
This attachment to the horse was pleasing
and natural, but I should consider the
principal. debt of gratitude due to the
overruling hand of Providence.—Selected,