After many days of fatigue of body and distress of mind, the
sorrowing parents sadly relinquished the search as utterly hopeless,
and mourned in bitterness of spirit over the disastrous fate of their
first-born and beloved children.--"There was a voice of woe, and
lamentation, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and
refusing to be comforted, because they were not." The miserable uncertainty
that involved the fate of the lost ones was an aggravation to the
sufferings of the mourners: could they but have been certified of the
manner of their deaths, they fancied they should be more contented; but,
alas! this fearful satisfaction was withheld.
"Oh, were their tale of sorrow known,
'Twere something to the breaking heart,
The pangs of doubt would then be gone,
And fancy's endless dreams depart."
But let us quit the now mournful settlement of the Cold Springs, and see
how it really fared with the young wanderers.
When they awoke the valley was filled with a white creamy mist, that
arose from the bed of the stream, (now known as Cold Creek,) and gave an
indistinctness to the whole landscape, investing it with an appearance
perfectly different to that which it had worn by the bright, clear light of
the moon.
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