Found Dead in the Wilderness. 27 1 



long strip of alder bush on one side and a pine forest on the 

 other. From the time Mr. B parted with his young com- 

 panion, he was never seen alive. Rewards were offered, and the 

 forest traversed by settlers and Indians in vain ; but not a sign 

 of the lost one could be discovered. Indeed, various were the 

 surmises — amongst others, that he had been murdered and made 

 away with by the person in whose company he was last seen. 

 At length, after "the fall," when the sunny days and frosty 

 nights of November, or what is called the Indian summer, had 

 just passed, and more than three months had elapsed since the 

 unfortunate gentleman's disappearance, a woodman, returning 

 from his day's work, observed the sun shining brightly on a 

 polished substance by the side of a pine stump in the forest, 

 and drawing near, was horror-struck at seeing the trunk of a 

 human body resting in a sitting posture against the tree. Decay 

 had advanced so far that the flesh had disappeared entirely, 

 leaving only the bones of the spine and lower extremities in 

 their original situation. Moreover, the head had fallen down, 

 and lay by the side of the skeleton ; but the knapsack was still 

 on the shoulders, and its belts and buckles showed no signs of 

 having been loosened ; the gun was placed under the left knee, 

 so as to support it, and rested against a log, over which the 

 muzzle protruded for about a foot. The place where the body 

 was found had evidently been selected, and was surrounded 

 by tall pines — the exact spot being a hollow between two 

 divergent roots of a spruce snag, where support to the hips and 

 back would be best attained, especially if one was suffering 

 from causes affecting the respiratory organs. Strange to say, it 

 was within six yards of a lumber path leading to the main road, 

 which, in a direct line, did not exceed six hundred yards from 

 where the body was found ; so close even, that waggons could 

 be heard passing along the highway, and the voices of children 

 at play at a farmer's house close by. It was, moreover, only 

 three miles from the house he had left, and but a mile and a 

 half from where he parted with the settler's son. The remains 



