FLOWERING SHRUBS 
the children belonging to the party was a little girl about 
seven years of age, a bright, engaging child. By some 
accident this little one got separated from her family among 
the bushes, and they, supposing that she had gone forward 
with some of their near neighbors and friends, started for 
home, feeling no uneasiness until it was discovered that little 
Jane was not among the returned party, and that no trace 
of her could be found. Then came the stunning conviction 
that the child was lost—left alone to wander over that path- 
less wilderness in darkness and solitude, perhaps to fall an 
unresisting prey to the bear or the wolf, both of which 
animals at that distant period roamed the hills and ravines 
of those plains in numbers, unchecked by the rifle of the 
sportsman or the gun of the Indian hunter. 
A few cleared spots there were, but these were miles apart, 
and it was not likely that the timid child would find her way 
to any of the distant shanties, so that no reasonable hope of 
the child finding shelter for the night could be entertained. 
Under so sad a loss the distress of the bereaved parents may 
easily be imagined. Their agonizing suspense, their hopes 
and their fears, found a ready response in every kind and 
feeling heart. 
No sooner was it known that a young child was lost than 
hundreds of persons interested themselves in the discovery 
and restoration of little Jane Ayre. The people came from 
their farms; they poured out from towns and villages, from 
the borders of the forest; wherever the tale was told came 
men in waggons, on horseback and on foot, to scour the 
plains in every direction. The Indians, under their Chief, 
Pondash, came under promise of a liberal reward if they 
found the child. Day after day passed without tidings of 
the lost one. As night came on each party returned only to 
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