The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-12-08

4 are lnQeeQ DleSSeQ ,cOmIOrLerl, re-
{ haps, after all you are right !"
: A knock resounded on a side-doo
at this juncture, and the next me
: ment DR. Hutton, the family phys
clan, for whom Mrs. Preble had sent
entered the room. ...t.....
He was an old man, portly in fig
ure, with white hair and beard, bu
with fresh and ruddy complexion,
pair of shrewd blue eyes, and wit
an exuberant boyishness of manne
!. that sat well upon him. He had
kind heart and clear head. He ap
proached the sofa, after greeting th'
husband and wife. and lifted the thir
restless hand of the invalid, feeling
his pulse,
"Quita a high fever" he said, aftel
brief pause "Worrying again, eh
MIR. Preble? You are wearing your
self out Medicine will do you. nc
igood SO long as your mind is in it:
present condition. mnst give you an
opiate-" -,
"Not now, DOCTOR" interposrd the
banker. . "I cannot-must not-sleeI
today need to be broad awake
now, for / cannot tell at any moment
what the next may bring forth. I am
looking tor the elimination of all my
years of anguish-for the crowning
agony of the whole. Perhaps even
now All, what was that z"
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.
at is the anniversary, she replied,
to his unspoken inquiry-''the ami
versary of our loss" Fl.
"Ah. yes," said the d"ctor. II re-
mem ber.' a' -r..1 ..: ..s .f.a ..',
"Yes, it's another of those terrible.
days." cried the banker, in a hollow
whisper. "Sit down, doctor, q and /
will tell you the whole story. | can
think of nothing else to-day, and am
almost wild with apprehension and
anxiety. Sit down" -.
I DR.. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself, his face expressing the
double solicitude of friend and
physician '-;E - j
You knew us fourteen years ago,
DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble I'VE lived
then where we do now, in a cottage
on the site of this great mansion
There were but the three of us-Hel- /
en- and L, and our three-ysar old, Jes-
sic was stolen from u.s." ~
II remember it, said the doctor
oh hox
Teen lost, Mr.. Preble? She went out
to play in the garden, if l remember
rightly, and was never seen by you
again. She might have strayed away"
$50 we thought for whole year,
DOCTOR" interrupted the banker
eve never dreamed that she had
been stolen. We searched every where
tor her, and offered immense rewards
for her recovery. 1 employed detee
tives, but all to no purpose. When
little Jessie ran down the steps into
tha fower-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"
''Shc must have found the gate
open and wandered out" suggested
DIR, Hutton. "She might have stroll
ed down to the waters and been drown
ed.
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physician's face, and 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 August, 1854 For year we
thought her dead. But on the ami
of our loss we received writ !
ten message concerning her"
"a messagep. cried DIR. Hutton
starting.
"a mere scrawl-a single line in a
hand evidently disguised" said the
banker, "Here it is"
He produced a dingy scrap Of pa
per from a drawer in the table, and
held it up to fhe view of the physician
who read as follows: . - t--
august 8 1855. Jessie, ha, ha!
Jessie.
DIR. Hutton look ed, with; a. puzzled
,ir, from the scrap Of paper, which
ne turned over and over, to the coun-
;enance of the banker. :',. - .
II can make nothing of this" he
declared. ''It is merely date, with
he name OF your lost daughter 1t
ellis me nothing"
''Nor Cid it us. at first" said Mr..
oreble. "Then the name and the
irte, with. the demon laugh connect
ng them, set us to thinking A
Whole year we agonized over the
problem, aud then we re-
,eived another message, which you
hall see"
He thrust a second slip of paper,
IDENTICAL in shape and appearance
With the first, before the gaze of DR.. !.
Hutton, who read it aloud: - -
august 9, 1856. Your Jessie still
Tres - .........
The physician started as if elec,
rifed. ,-... ..s..
sAh this is something definite ii
decisive" he muttered.-l {
It convinced you that your daughter +
vas still living" r.. - s.ts ii.a h
Yes, DOCTOR said Mr.. Preble, 'and
very anniversary oi that day has 8
rought us some message. The dis |
ppearance of the child, mysterious as 7
, is, does notseem to me half sostrange
$ that the villain who took her away t
mid not cOntriya tn communicate C