OST IN THE BUSH.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2389, 2 January 1909, Page 6

OST IN THE BUSH.

A BATHETIC INCIDENT.

The sound of hurrying feet the clang of the gate,- excited voices, and —lias been lost since morn' in". Please let everybody know. v\ e must find her before night. . ? The .-poor baby. Left sleepin 0 iii her cot she had wakened—all m- the house was stiK—die would .run a little way to find Mummy- So in hor little nightgown she trotted down the path to the shalloAV creek, and crossed the little bridge, ran backwards and forwards, iand then—th© rest » blank. All night men tramped the hills a fow yards apart, the church -bell tolled and every hour brought more searchers, till over a hundred men cooeed, shouted, peered into hollow log-, investigated waterboles—-but dawn came, .and no sign of the baby. - A wee child of two, they said, could never tiuvel far, but for miles they tramped the hills that day, the next, and the next. A week passed, and still men and women left their duties to search unsuccessfully day by dav Nine years have rolled by, and still'from where the little feet pressed dOAvn the warm earth of the culvert there has been no trace of tlie ba i e ’had read of children being lost in the bush, and had always pictured wild scenes, dens© bush, and trackless gullies. It cam© as a surprise to me that quite close to a small Tiliiaige, with houses scattered here and there for miles, a child could disappear so completely, and as my baby learned to take bis first steps I vainly -sought 'for some means to safeguard him. Be a mother ever so careful there are moments avhen the child is unavoiaablv left to..his own resources, lo telf the children that there is a bunyip in tbe creek., a bogie in the bush, is to make thorn timid AA'ithout any good result, for with the sun shining, tho flowers nodding, tlie little ones forget the warning, and Avander on. At last an idea came to me which, h acted upon by other mothers will be •found to give them a sense of seour.itv worth the little trouble it entails*. ‘I procured a puppy (any sharpnosed (little dog is suitable), and when he Avas a few months’ old we commenced a game. Having explained to the small boy, ho Avas provided with a tiny piece of meat, then told to hide behind the door. Upon the first occasion I had to lead the puppy to the door when the small boy gave him the meat. The second time I walked toivards the door pointing, and saying “Where’s Tom,” and having coaxed the dog to. investigate he was rewarded with his meat, AA'hen he returned "wagging his tail, asking plainly that the game might be continued. Every day we devoted hailf an hour to the new game, and new hiding places were gradually added. The little lad, laughing with delight, ran into - the garden with his bag of tit-bits, hid behind bushes, boxes, doors, etc., while the puppy waited for the signal, “Find Tom,” and when he hounded with a yelp of •delight upon his little master was rewarded with a piece from the bag. Very soon the puppy learned to Clay his nose to the ground, and unerringly follow the latest trail, and very soon the bag of pieces was discarded, for both hoy and dog enjoyed the game. In a very little while it became apEarent that my boy could never be >st, for if h© had been out for several hours Avith his father I could send the dog to find him.