National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1869-11-26

Mr.. Preble! You q x - Gonr-
self out. Medicipd -
good 50 long ~ 49, = ~
present condition. f-e i8 you
an Opiate-' ~
Not now, DOCTOR interposed the
banker. Il capnOt-must nOt-sleep
today! ! need to be broad awake
now, for ! cannot tell ut any mo-
ment what the mex may bring forth.
l am looking for the elimination of
all my years of anguish-for the
crOwning agony of the whole. Per
haps even now All, what was
that 7
He started up wildly, and then, as
the sound that had disturbed him
was not repeated, he sank back again
on his cushions, pallid and painting.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble
with an anxious, questioning glance.
lit is the anniversary she replied
to his unspoken inquiry-'the ami,
versary of our loss
'Ah, yes,' said the doctor. Il re-
member
'Yes, it's 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 nothing else to-day, and
am almost wild with apprehension
and anxiety. Sit down.
DR.. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself. his face expressing
the double solictude of friend and
physician.
You knew us fourteen years ago,
Doctor said Mr.. preble. we lived
then where we do now, in cottage
on the site of this great mansion.-
There were bat three OF us-Helen
and |, and our three year old Jesse.
And it was fourteen years ago to-
day that our little Jesse was stolen
from us
i remember it, said the doctor
softly. Yet might she not have
been lost, Mr., prcble! She went out
t. play in the garden, if remember
rightly, and was never seen by YOU
again. She might have strayed
away
so we thought for a whole year,
doctor, interrupted the banker. We
never dreamed that she had been
stolen. We searched everywhere for
her, and offered immense rewards
for her recovery. | employed detect
ives, but all to no purpose. When
our little Jesse ran down the steps
into that flower garden,' and he
pointed to the front of the house,
AS if The earth had opened and swal-
lowed her up, We never saw her
again
she must have found the gate
open, and wandered out suggested
7 DIR. Hutton. 'She might have stroll.
ed down to the waters and been
drowned
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physicians face, and whis-
pered:
Il said we never saw the poor child
again. | did not say we had not
heard of her. She was lost on the
9th of Angus, 1854. For year we
/ thought her dead. But on the ami.
versary Of our loss we received Il
written message concerning her.
"a messager cried DR.. Hutton,
starting.
"A mere Scrawl-a single line in a
hand evidently disguiscd,' said the
banker. Here it is
He produced Il dingy scrap of pa
per from drawer IN the table. and
held 1t up to the view of the physi-
elan, who read as follows:
August 9, 1865. Jessie, Ia, ha' J,ssier
DR.. Hutton looked, with a puzzled
air, from the scrap of paper. which
he trned over and over, to the coun.
tenance of the banker.
Il can make nothing of this he
declared. 1T is merely "A date, with
the name Of your lost daughter. 1t
tells me nothing
n u did it lis, Mt first said Mr.
Preble. Then that name and that
date, with the demon laugh connect.
ing them, set us to thinking. A
whole year we agonlzed over the
dreadful problem, aud then we re-.
ccived another message, which you
shall See.'
He thrust second slip of paper,
identical in shape and appearance
wish the first, before the gaze OF DIR.
Hutton, who read ii aloud:
August ., 1886. Your Jessie sdHLres
The physician started, as if clcc
trilied.
'Ah! this is something definite
something decisive he muttercd.-
1T convinced you that your daugh.
ter was still living
'Yes, DOCTOR said Mr. Prcble, 'and
every anniversary of that day has
brought us some message. The dis.
appearance of the child, mysterious
as 1t Is, does not seem TO me half so
strange as that the villain who took
her away could contrivc to commu.
nicate with us every year since, and
always on u particular day--the an.
niversary of that on which she was
stolen--without our being able to
discover who he Is. And q still great.
er wonder to me is, what can be his
motive. 10 seems incredible. II 1t
was stated in novel, many people
would not believe IL. But truth IN
stranger than fiction