THE LOST ONE. 73 



tale thrice told. Sincerely do I wish, good reader, that neither you nor 

 I mav ever elicit such sympathy, by having undergone such sufferings, 

 although no doubt such sympathy would be a rich recompence for them. 

 It only remains for me to say, that the distance between the cabin 

 and the Live-oak hummock to which the woodsman was bound, scarcely 

 exceeded 8 miles, while the part of the river at which he was found, 

 was 38 miles from his house. Calculating his daily wanderings at 10 

 miles, we may believe that they amounted in all to 400. He must, there- 

 fore, have rambled in a circuitous direction, which people generally do in 

 such circumstances. Nothing but the great strength of his constitution, 

 and the merciful aid of his Maker, could have supported him for so long 

 a time. 



