whose memory has proven exceedingly
truthful upon all points wherein her evidence could be possibly
substantiated--and who is now Mrs. Georgia A. Babcock--gives the mildest
version of this sad affair which has ever appeared in print. She denies
the story, so often reiterated, that Keseberg took the child to bed
with him and ate it up before morning; but writes the following: "In the
morning the child was dead. Mrs. Murphy took it, sat down near the bed
where my sister and myself were lying, laid the little one on her lap,
and made remarks to other persons, accusing Keseberg of killing it.
After a while he came, took it from her, and hung it up in sight, inside
the cabin, on the wall."

Foster, Eddy, Thompson, and Miller remained but a little while at the
mountain camp. During this time Mr. Foster had no opportunity to talk
with Mrs. Murphy save in Keseberg's presence. Afterwards, when the
children told him of the suspicions expressed in their presence by
Mrs. Murphy, Foster deeply regretted that he had not sought a private
interview with her, for the purpose of learning the reasons for her
belief.

In the morning the relief party was to start back to the settlements.
Eddy was to carry Georgia Donner; Thompson, Frances Donner; Miller,
Eliza Donner; and Foster was to carry Simon Murphy. John Baptiste
and Nicholas Clark remained at the head of Donner Lake, and were to
accompany the party. This left Mr. and Mrs. Donner at Alder Creek, and
Keseberg and Mrs. Murphy at the cabins. Mrs. Murphy had cared for her
children and her grandchildren, and ministered to the wants of those
around her, until she was sick, exhausted, and utterly helpless. She
could not walk. She could scarcely rise from her bed. With all the
tenderness of a son, Mr. Foster gave her such provisions as he could
leave, procured her wood, and did whatever he was able to do to render
her comfortable. He also promised to return speedily, and with such
assistance that he could carry her over the summits to her children.

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