Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1868-11-26
A DETECTIVES STORY.
The Abduction OfRn Aetress-A Thrill
Ing Incident Of the Crescent Cify-A
IeII.InIa Fnr-rfnr.

I VIC NANAu AhAEAE1h II udu hlCHs - v -
among the first cases entrusted 10 Mr.. +
and myself, aud we devoted 10 it an un-
wearylng patience and sssidnity that fitted
us for their exercise many a time after
wards. It was in mid-Winter that the cir
cums.anee allude to occurred. The the
atrical season was at its height. The st.
Charles vas nightly thrOnged with the
beauty and fashion of the city. A new
star had appeared on It's boards exciting
al interest prevalent and ab-orbIpg. Her
beauty, grace aud accomplishments were
the topics of every club room-the one sub
jet thar engaged the a teaIion of all the
youth in the city. Her name was Adele
Larondu. Very yOung-scaTcely twenty
and very beautiful was this young girl,
around whom a web Of mystery was woven
that seemed to defy human ingenuity
l say she was beautiful, but thar word
does not convey al adequate idea Of her ex-
eeeding grace Of mind and person. Petite
/ Ia form, ihe slender figure was exquisite IN
/ symmetry. A wealth Of bright golden
hair shaded a face rosy with health and
brilliant with genius. The clear, hazel
| eyes flashed with intelligence, and the del
| icaIe curve Of the eIquisitely cbiseled lips
| expressed hatred or scorn, or intensified
emotion.
Night after night the theater was filled
with her admirers. Passion 10 every phase
| the very well-springs and impulses OF
] our naturs-seemed to f0d in her an in
| terpreter that never erred. Her analysis Of
I character was perfect; 1t was true to ma
l ture, and therefore perfect.
The night of which l speak had Wit
messed her greatest triumph She seemed
| inspired, and the feeling and emotions Of
her audience appeared as absolutely under
her control as if she welded the wand OF
an enchanlress. The curtain fell on the
last act of the tragedy and the audience
dispersed. Some mesmeEic power held me
10 the spot, and lingsred around the en-
| trance of the theater.
An hour must have passed by and The
last Of the company crept out OF the mar
row aisle leading 70 the stage, and sought
their homes. Still the actress fingered;
her carriage at the dOOr-the driver impa-
tent. Suddenly from behind the scenes
echoing along that narrow aisle-came
scream 30 piercing, that it cut TO the heart
/ like a dagger. Il chilled my blood.
stood rooted TO the spot; anguish, horror,
/ grief, were in its tone.
Ia a moment more dashed open the
| door and rushed into the theaier. Close
at my back came Mr.. l., the driver, and
/ the porter Of the establishment The
/ light in the Green Room was still burning.
The large mirror that hung from the wall
reflected from the opposite sofa the tinsel
and mock jewelry of queen. noticed
this as | dashed open the narrow door
that lead to the dressing room assigned the
| fcrtsy Il irds snpDtg. i called her by
name. l shouted until the walls OF the
vast building echoed back my voice. We
searched everywhere, underneath and
above the stage, even among the rolled
curtains in the loft, and the narrow aPer-
lures between the scenes-in vain. Ihs
actress had disappeared. The screams that
had so startled ia were not repeated There
was no aveBus Of escape still shs was gone.
Mr.. i visited her apartments at the
hO;el. She was not there. The gas was
| rellt 10 the theatre and our search resumed.
| She was not to be found. Her tnendss
we're visited the mOst transient acqualn-
lance called Cd, with like result.
Each hour, instead Of revealing the
mystery, only deepened 1t. 10 the light OF
| the morning We continued the search. A
single object was discovered, which could
/ possibly afford a clue to the missing gtrl.
| On the floor of the dressing room was
| diamond earring. Ii looked as II It had
/ been torn from its place. 1t was not such
an one a. was worn by the actress. Ii
/ established beyond question the presence
| of another person Ia her room, and that
| person a female. This was all. The mys-
/ tsrious interview and lis tsrEninatlon were
/ shrouded in a veil of darkness our IN
| genuity could not penetrate. If the earth
had opened and swallowed her, her dlsap-
pearaBce could not have been more utterly
unaccOuntable
What was to be done? We knew she
va. a native Of France, brought thence in
childhood. Her relatives had died, her
friends knew nothing, save that che was an
orphan. Genius had aided her rise, ia
ddstry had secured her fame. The archi-
tect of her own fortunes, she had climbed
| alone the steep whose ascent IS devious
| and hard to surm0unt.
DAYS went BY Friends interested them
selves in the search, and large rewards
we're offered for any intelligence of the
| missing girl. All was Intellectual. Not
even a trace Of her could be found. Still
had not given up; at my heart L felt that
| WeWyuld yet succeed 10 finding her
I OUE NAy EtooA iGanAAb .N6AAhNAAAty VI
| The counter OF 4 fashionable jeweier. /
love to gaze upon the brilliant gens that
slrswed the case, and filled il with a weird,
flashing light. My attention absorbed in
I viewing them, | did not notice the entrance
Of lady-her foreign accent in address,
ing the jeWeler caused me turn around.
She held an earring in her hand, and was
inquiriDg the cost Of one, If made -
match il. The irst glance l had Of it
made the blood leap like fire 10 my veins.
IL was the counterpart Oh the one found in
| the thsateT
You NAV imagine did not lose sight OF
that woman. l knew l had struck on the
| right clue.
/ traced her home. The panther never
stole on his victim more silently than / in
the footsteps Of the d4rk-browed stranger.
/ scarcely knew how | got back to the
| office. l seemed to have triumphed over
| space and time. More like q maniac than
detective, rushed up to Mr.. / and
impaired my intelligence. He was not
less excited than l. We both felt an in
terest in the beautiful girl as strong as If
she had been a sister. But we knew that
| our steps must be wary, and our move.
ment5 secret as the grave. We had no
common criminal to deal with. If not
the arch iend himself. we knew she was
almost as cunning. The mysterious alb
ducti0n Of the actress disclosed a quick
ness and sagacity at once ingenious and
profound. The same subtle spirit we did
not doubt We should have 10 encounter
again. Il was not, therefore, with a feel
ing Of assured success that we prepared to
enter the residence to which l had traced
the foreign lady.
| II was not as officers Of the law usually
| 90. that We went on the occasion. We
employed rather the subtle cunning and
perfect skill Of man brought up to the
business. For once his nelsriOus art helped
him 10 4 noble deed. A life Of crime was
whiteued By single virtue. Before the
skill of this man, the door sprung back
upon his hinges, and we stood within the
| portals where the issue Of this strange mys-
tsry were to be decided. Silently we a.
cended the stairs. A gas flame, burning
from a globe, suspended from the ceiling,
flung a mellow light along the stately cor
rider. AT the further end of the hall, a
door opened into a large apartment. We
moved toward this, and "A We approached
it sounds of weeping strack on our ears, and
then We heard a voice Of supplication.
Sorrowlul and sad the strange, sweet voice
foated on the air. It was like the wall of
a broken heart, that cry Of one in distress
"Ob, Godl is there no help; no helpp
| 1t thrilled to my heart, Even in that
piiful cadence l knew those well-remem-
bered tones. Burdsned with anguish, I
knew them well.
| In ano her instant the door 1eW open