Babe In The Woods

Babe In The Woods

Frequently we read of youngsters wandering away from picnic parties and becoming lost in the woods. This is stark tragedy for the parents, even in this day of rescue helicopters, bloodhounds, state police, and a dozen other ways of finding lost children.

In pioneer days a youngster lost in the woods was due for almost certain death. Prowling Indians and wild animals were common and there were no organized rescue facilities. It was almost a miracle when a lost child was found alive. Almost a miracle?

In June, 1783 a couple living in Warren, New Hampshire, set out to walk the mile or so to a neighbor’s house near the summit of a low mountain in the north. Their 4-year-old daughter Sarah begged to be taken along, but they decided to leave her home with the older children. As they started off into the woods, along the trail following Berry Brook, neither realized that Sarah had slipped away after them.

The little girl soon lost the trail and wandered away into the woods. After a while, tired and scratched by briars, she curled up by a big rock and fell asleep.

Just as night was falling, the parents returned home. To their horror they discovered that Sarah was gone. The other children, sure she was with her parents, had not been alarmed. It was beginning to rain as the frantic father called his neighbors to aid in the search. They combed the woods until dawn, but found no trace of the small child.

From Sunday until Wednesday the search went on. Dozens of men from miles away looked night and day for at least some sign of what had happened to the small child. On Thursday a strange thing occurred, an almost supernatural event.

About noon on that day a man named Heath, from Plymouth, 20 miles away, strode up to the cabin and said, “Give me some dinner and I will find the child.” As he ate he told about a vivid dream he had had three times the night before. In his dream, he had found the lost child under a big pine tree southwest of Berry Brook, guarded by a huge bear.

The neighbors looked at each other in astonishment, for it was true that some of the men had found the child’s tracks along with those of a large bear, but they had not mentioned this to the distraught parents. The implication had been too horrible.

Mr. Heath and another settler went off into the woods, heading straight for the spot in the dream. Hours later the waiting group heard three gunshots from far away in the wilderness. This was the signal if the child was found.

The two men had indeed found Sarah asleep under a pine tree. But the dream prediction was incomplete, for there had been no sign of a bear guarding her.

Later, when Sarah was warm and rested, she was asked about her adventure. Then she told how she had awakened from her nap the day she lost her way to find a “big black dog” sniffling at her scratched legs. She told of how she had put her arms around its neck and how each night the “big black dog” had come back and had lain down beside her to keep her warm.

Strangely Enough, by C. B. Colby, 1959, Sterling Publishing Co., pg. 47-48

Miracles do happen.

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