Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-24


swered, with a passionate tremOr in
his voice" only down, down at the
grave that is opening before mew
Mrs. Preble continued to stroke his
forehead softly, while she lifted her
pale face TO the sunlight streaming into
the apartment.
Look up, MOrtOn-alWays look
upl" she again enjOined upon the in
valid. During all these fourteen
years of agony, have not once doubt.
ed either the goodness or the justice OI
| Heaven. Blessed are they that
mourn, for they shall be comfOrted.
! believe that we shall yet rejoice
more keenly than we have mourned,
and that we shall come to a glorious
day ofjOy beyond all this long night Of
sorrOwW
The face OF the invalid lighted up
with an answering glow, and he mur-
INJURED:
Glorious faith! Ny wife, you are
indeed a blessed comforter! Perhaps,
after all, you are right"
A knock resOunded on a side-dOOT
at this junctnTe, and then moment
DIR. Hutton, the family physician, for
whom Mrs. Preble had sent, entered
the room.
Hewas an old man, pOrtly in figure,
! with white hair and beard, but with
a fresh and ruddy complexion, a pair
or shTewd blue eyes, and with an
eXuberant bOyishnesS of manner that
sat we'll upon him. He had a kind
/ heart and a clear head. He APP
preached the sofa, after greeting the
| husband and wife, and lifted the thin
restless hand of the invalid, feeling
his pulse.
"Quite a high fever" he said, after
a brief pause. worrying again, eh,
/ Mr.. Preble? You are wearing your
self out. Medicine will do you no
good so long as your mind is in its
present condition. l must give you
an opiate-"
Not now, DOCTOR" interpOsed the
/ banker. 81 can nOt-mUst nOt-sleep
to-day! I need to be broad awake
now, for l cannot tell at any moment
what the next may bring forth. l
/ am looking for the elimination of all
my years of anguish-for the crown =
ing agony of the whole. Perhaps even
now All, what was that?'
He started up wildly, and then, as
/ the sound that had disturbed him was
not repeated, he sank back again on
his cushions, paliid and painting.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Prebie
with an anxious, questioning glance"
at is the anniversary" she replied
to his unspOken inquiry-''the ami
versary of our loss.
"Ah, yes" said the doctor. Il re-
member"
"Yes, its another Of those terrible
days" cried the banker, in a hollow
whisper. ''Sit down, doctor, and |
will tell you the whole story. can
think of OfnOthing else to-day, and am
almost wild with apprehension and
anxiety. Sit down."
DIR. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself, his face expressing the
double sOlicitude of a friend and ply
sician.
"NOu knew US fourteen years ago,
doctor" said Mr.. PTeble. ave lived
then where we do now, in a cottage
on the site Of this great mansion.
There were but the three of us-Iielen
and /, and our three-year old Jessie.
And it was fourteen years ago to-day
that our little Jessie was stolen from
US"
81 remember it." said the doctor
softly. "Yet might she not have been
lost, Mr.. Prcble? She went out TO
play in the garden, if | remember
rightly, and was never seen by you
again. She might have strayed
away"
- So we thought for whole year,
doctor" interrupted the banker. I'VE
never dreamed that she had been
stolen. We searched everywhere for
her, and offered immense rewards for
her recovery. l employed detectives,
but all 10 no purpose. When our lit
tie Jessie ran down the steps into that
flower garden" and he pointed to the
front of the house, as if the earth
had opened and swallowed her up, we
never saw her again"
"She must have found the gate
open and wandered out" suggested
DR.. Hutton. "She might have strolled
down to the waters and been
drowned"
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physicians face, and whis-
pered:
81 said We never saw the poor
child again. / did not say we had
never heard of her. She was lost on
the 9Th of August, 1854. For Il year
we thought her dead. But on the an
niversary OF our loss we received a
written message concerning her"
"a messase!' cried DR.. Hutton,
starting.
a mere scrawl-a single line in a
hand evidently disguised said the
banker. " Here il is.n
lie produced a dingy scrap of pa
per from a drawer in the table, and
held it upt0 the view Of the physician,
who read as follows:
august 9, 1855. Jessie, ba, hu! Jessie
DIR. Hutton looked, with a puzzled
air, from the scrap of paper, which he
turned over and over, TO the cOunte-
nance of the banker.
81 can make nothing of this, he
declared. at is merely a date, with
the name of your lost daughter. 1t
tells me nothing"
+" Nor did it US, at frs" +" said Mr..
Preble. "Then that name and the
date, with the demon laugh connect
ing them, set Us to thinking. \ whole
year we agOnized over the dreadful
problem, and then we received another
message, which you shall see."
He thirst a second slip of paper,
Identical in shape and appearances
with the first, before the gaze Of DR..
Hutton, who read it aloud:
august Q, 1856. Your Jessie stW lires."
The physician started, as if electri-
fed.
"Ah! this is something definite
something decisive he muttered.
SIT convinced you that your daughter
was still living"
f" Yes, DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble,
sand every anniversary Of that day
has brought Us some message. The
disappearance Ofthe child, mysterious
as il is, does not seem to Inc half so
strange a. that the villain who took
her away could cOntriVe TO cOmmuni-
cate with Us every year since, and al
ways on q particular day-the ami
versary Of that on which she was
stOlen-withOut our being able to dis
cover who he is. And a still stranger
wonder to me is what can be his mo-
tive. 1t seems incredible. II II was
stated in novel many persons would
not believe it, But truth is stranger
/ than felton,"
Mrs. Preble drew from her husbands
/ breast-pocket his notebook, opened it
to the proper page, and presented 1t
/ to the physician.
DIR. Hutton adjusted his spectacles,
glanced over the page, and then
/ slowly read the group of entries aloud.
The entry the first year is as follows:
"AUgust 8, 1870. Jessie, ha, Aa!
Jessiey"
/ And the next year il is
august 8, 1856. YCur -8sie stiU
/ Hcesg'
/ And the next
= August 8, ISJ-. she as IN good