The very afternoon that the third relief party reached the cabins, Simon
Murphy discovered a woman wandering about in the snow as if lost. It
proved to be Mrs. Tamsen Donner. She had wearily traveled over the deep
snows from Alder Creek, as narrated in a previous chapter, to see her
children, and, if necessary, to protect their lives. Oh! the joy and the
pain of the meeting of those little ones and their mother. As they wound
their arms about her neck, kissed her lips, laughed in her eyes, and
twined their fingers in her hair, what a struggle must have been taking
place in her soul. As the pleading, upturned faces of her babies begged
her not to leave them, her very heart-strings must have been rent with
agony. Well may the voice quiver or the hand tremble that attempts to
portray the anguish of this mother during that farewell interview. From
the very first moment, her resolution to return to her husband remained
unshaken. The members of the relief party entreated her to go with her,
children and save her own life. They urged that there could only be a
few hours of life left in George Donner. This was so true that she once
ventured the request that they remain until she could return to Alder
Creek, and see if he were yet alive. The gathering storm-clouds, which
had hovered over the summit for days, compelled them to refuse this
request.
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