No one knew where the blow would fall next; no one knew whether his family circle was to be invaded, his house stricken, his child taken. Every care and watchfulness was employed, consultations were had between the stricken parents, the officers of the law were consulted, and all that was known--apparently all that could be discovered--was that their children were here yesterday, engaged in their little plays or about their own little duties around the house or on the farm, and in a moment, though the most rigorous and extensive search was made, they were gone--gone absolutely, gone beyond possibility of recovery, gone in numbers, gone from every part of the district mentioned, and no sign or trace left of their fate. Fear, fright, terror, took possession of all, and this, mixed with sorrow and grief, broke many a heart, sent many a loving mother in insanity to the grave. The peasants who, by reason of their age and strength supposed themselves to be safe, walked lightly, as though afraid to put their feet upon the ground; spoke in low voices as if afraid to trust themselves in ordinary tones, and everything throughout the country was done with bated breath as if in the presence of the dead. The peasants, superstitious at the best of times, were now overcome with fear and gave themselves up a prey to the idea of enchantment and magic, and could only account for the disappearance of their loved ones by the presence of the arch-enemy of mankind, against whom they had no means of fighting, and whose assaults upon their devoted children they had no means of resisting. The frightened parents were tortured by the uncertainty of the fate that had overcome their loved ones. “Are they dead?” “Have they been taken to the realms above or to the tortures below?” “Are they in prison?” “Are they still living?” “Are they never to be seen again?” “Might they not be in a distant part of the country enduring pains and tortures?” “Might they not, even now, be weeping and screaming themselves half mad and demanding the presence and comfort of their mother?” “In what direction should we go?” “Has nobody seen them?” “Has search been made?” “In what direction have we yet to go?” No answer came to all these questions. The fate of the children was an impenetrable mystery.