CONWAY — Miracles come in small packages. And, as River Street resident Amanda Kantor discovered early Tuesday morning, sometimes at the bottom of a muddy well.

The evening before, while out for a walk along the South River with her mother-in-law, Kantor’s 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, “Prince Charming,” disappeared.

“Her dog got away from her, and I let go of my dog’s leash to run after my mother-in-law’s dog, and within a minute (Charming) had just disappeared,” Kantor explained Tuesday.

She and her husband, Philip Kantor, who helped put on last weekend’s 250th anniversary celebration, searched for Charming until after 10 p.m., when it became too dark.

Later, Amanda Kantor awoke a few times and checked the outside of the house, thinking she’d heard him.

“We had just had an immense rain storm, and the river was rushing and loud — I started thinking the worst, that he’d fallen in and been carried down the river,” she said. “It was the most horrible night of my life knowing he was out there.”

Early Tuesday, Kantor resumed her search, this time walking “along the river, scouring the rocks for his body. But I didn’t find him.”

Then, she decided to walk Route 116 near Baker’s Country Store, a short distance from her home, thinking maybe he’d been hit by a passing car. “Lo and behold, as I walked along the guardrail I see something dark. I get up closer to it, and sure enough, it’s a well about 10 feet deep,” Kantor said.

At the bottom, looking up at her with pitiful eyes and an expression “as if to say ‘I’ve really done it this time,’” was her Charming.

“We ran up to the Fire Department, and (Police Chief Ken Ouimette) came,” along with firefighters. Using a ladder, “we had him out of the hole by 8:30. I’m still amazed. I don’t know how I found him. If you see the area you’ll think, ‘Why would anyone be there looking?’ but I was.”

“And we just had the 250th and a wonderful weekend,” she said. “To have this happen on Monday was a bit over the top.”

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