The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1869-12-02

neau. he apprOAcneu the SOFA, aVeF
greeting the husband any wife and lifted
the thin restless handbf the invalid,
feeling his pulse.
"Quite high fever, he said, after
brief pause. "WorrNng again, eh,
Mr.. Preble: You are Worrying your
self out. Medicine will 10 you no good
SO long as your mindi IL h its present
condition. I must give tou an opiate.
"Not now, DOCTOR" hterposed the
banker. II cannot-nIn.t not-sleep
to-day! Ineed to be bro,a awake now,
for cannot tell at any moment what
the next may bring forth. l am look
ing for the elimination ofall my years
of anguish-for the crowning agony of
the whole. Perhaps evan now All.
'"Ie Started up wildly, and then, as
the sound that had disturbed him was
not repeated, he sank back again OH his
cushions, pallid and painting.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble with
an anxious, questioning glance.
ut is the anniversary, "she replied tn
his unspoken inquiry anniversa-
Of our loss.'
"Ah, yes" said the doctor, Il rcmem
ber."
"Yes, is another of those terrible
days" cried the banker, in Il hollow
whisper. "Sit down, doctor, and | will
tell you the whole story. l can think
of nothing else to-day and am almost
wild with anxiety. Sit down.
DR.. Hutton drew up Il chair and seat
ed himself. his face expressing the dou-
ble solicitude of friend aud physician.
'You knew us fourteen years ago,
DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble. I'VE lived
then where we do now, in u cottage on
the site of this great mansion. There
were but three of us-Hellen and |, and
our three year old Jessie. Aud it was
fourteen years ago to-day that our little
Jessie was stolen from u.s."
IL remember it, said the doctor soft
ly Yet might she not have been lost,
Mr.. Preble! She went out to play in
the garden, if remember rightly, and
was never seen by you again. She
must have strayed away
$50 we thought for whole year,
DOCTOR" interrupted the banker. I'VE
never dreamed that she had been stolen.
"
offered immense rewards for her recov-
cry. l employed detectives, but all to
no purpose. When our little Jessie ran
down the steps into the garden" and he
pointed to the front Of the house, las If
the earth had opened and swallowed her
up, we never saw her again.
she must have found the gate open
aud wandered out suggested DIR. Hut
ton. "She must have strollcd down to
the waters and been drowned
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physicians face, aud whis-
pered:
Il said we never saw the poor child
again. l did not say we had not heard
of her. She was lost on the 9th of Au
gust, 1854. For year we thought her
dead. But on the anniversary of our
loss we received written message con-
corning her.'
"a message!' cried DR.. Hutton, start
ing.
"A mere scrawl-a single line in a
hand evidently disguised" said the
banker Here it is."
He produced Il dingy scrap of paper
from "a drawer in the table, and held it
up to the view of the physician, who
read as follows:
august 8, 1855. Jessie, hu! Jcssie.'
DIR Hutton looked, with a puzzled air,
from the scrap Of paper, which he turn
cd over and over to the countcdance of
the banker.
II can make nothing of this" he de-
clared. ut is merely a date, with the
name of your lost daughter. lttelIs me
nothing"
Nor did it US, at first aid Mr.
Preble. Then that name and date,
with the demon laugh connecting
them, set us to thinking. A whole year
we agonizcd over the dreadful problem,
and then we received another message,
which you shall see"
He thrust a second slip ofpaper, iden-
tcal in shape and appearance with the
other, before the gaze OF DR.. Hutton,
who read it aloud:
august 8, 1856. Your Jessie still
Hres.n
The physician started, as if clectrifi-
ed.
"Ah this is something deinite-some-
thing decisive,' he muttered. at con-
WINGED you that your daughter was still
living"
"Yes, DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble, "and
every anniversary of that day has
brought US some message. The disap-
BGli dIII VI tbN 1iIiiu. S'Ni'''@ "' ~
is, does not seem TO me half SO strange
as that the villain who took her away
could contrive to communicate With us
every year since, and always on Il par
ticuiar day-the anniversary of that on
which she was stolen-without our be-
ing able to discover who he is. And
u still greater wonder to me is what can
be his motive. 1t seems incredible. If
it was stated in novel many people
would not believe it, But truth is
stranger than fiction
Mrs. Preble drew from her husband ;
breast pocket his note book, opened it to
the proper page, and presented it to the
physician.
DIR. Hinton adjusted his spectacles,
glanced over the page, and then slowly
read the group OF entries aloud. The
entry the first year is as follows:
'sAugust s. 1855. Jessie la, hu'
Jcssie."
And the next year is r-
"August 8, 1856. Your Jessie stu
lrcs.o
And the next
august 8, 1857. She is IN good
: hedith!"
And the next
August 8, 1858. She IS WcN us
%& " ercru'
And the next
HAupust q 1880 7 sam her ues-