It is said
that, in the town of Temple, there are more old cellars, where dwellings
have formerly stood, than there are houses now inhabited. The town is
not far from a hundred years old, but contains now only five or six
hundred inhabitants. The enterprising young men emigrate elsewhere,
leaving only the least energetic portions to carry on business at home.
There appear to be but few improvements, the cultivated fields being of
old date, smooth with long cultivation. Here and there, however, a tract
newly burned over, or a few acres with the stumps still extant. The
farm-houses all looked very lonesome and deserted to-day, the
inhabitants having gone to the regimental muster at New Ipswich.
As we drove home, E---- told a story of a child who was lost, seventy or
eighty years ago, among the woods and hills. He was about five years
old, and had gone with some work-people to a clearing in the forest,
where there was a rye-field, at a considerable distance from the
farm-house. Getting tired, he started for home alone, but did not
arrive. They made what search for him they could that night, and the
next day the whole town turned out, but without success. The day
following, many people from the neighboring towns took up the search,
and on this day, I believe, they found the child's shoes and stockings,
but nothing else.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139