Litchfield enquirer., 1869-11-25
The banker gave low. sobbing sigh.

with 0 passionate Gf6m0fa m ms voice
 only down, down at the grave that is open l ing before mel" 7A9 t'' " a-' '.' Mrs. Preble continued to stroke hi
 forehead softly, while she lifted her pal
 face to the sunlight streaming into th
 apartment. 2"' 'o'L~'' ''s''' ''-'''' ''''.
 "Look up, Norton always look upr
 she again enioined upon the invalid. "Du
 ring all these fourteen years of agony
 have not once doubted either the goodnes or justice of Heaven. Blessed are the,
 that mourn; for they shall be comforted.
 ] believe that we shall yet rejoice nor
 keenly than we have mourned, and tha
 we shall come to 2 glorious day of joy be yond all this night of sorrow." lltf7s y The face of the invalid lighted up witl
 an answering glow, and Ae murmured::n
 "Glorious faith. My wife, you are in
 deed blessed comforter! Perhaps, aftel all, you are rightwa aIooa @ .5aaI-s A knock resonnded on the ,side-door a
 this juncture, and the next moment, pr Hutton, the family physician, for whom Mrs. Preble had sent, entered the room. He was an old man, poruy in figure with white hair and beard, but with Q fresh and ruddy complexion, pair oi shrewd blue eyes, and with an exuberant boyishness of manner that sat well upon him. He had kind heart and 8 clear head. He approached the sofa, after greeting the husband and wife, and lifted the thin, restless hand of the invalid, feel ing, his pulse. r 1ar ar.aa afdnioss9a
 "Quite high fever,p he sald, after a brief pause. Worrying, again, eh, MT. Prebie? You are wearing yourself out. Medicine will do you no good 10 long as ind sr ;&o no~lsk:o~ must give you an opiate-" ..s .z.
 "Not now, doctor" interposed the bank CT. 8"I cannot-must not-sleep to-day l need to be broad awake now, for can not tell at any moment what the next day may bring forth. I am looking for the continuation of my years of anguish-for the crowning agony of the whole. Per haps even now An, what was that?" dg
 He started up wildly, and then. as the sound that had disturbed him was not re- peated, he sank back again on his cush
 ions, pallid and panting. .~ aLss.s ?
 The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble with an anxious, questioning glance. .....a,f. It is the anniversary" she replied to his unspoken inquiry-" the anniversary of our loss," ga'I3a- odt raaa sa.! aGsl, ,3 1" An, yes, " said the doctor, :" I remem- Der. "'''o @t.' ~ {" Yes, its another of those terrible days,' 3 cried the banker,i in hollow whisper. !" Sit down, doctor, and will tell you the whole story. can think of nothing else to-day, and am almost wild with apprehen. sion and anxiety. Sit down o---.t .r.-
 Dr. Hutton drew up chair and seated himself, his face expressing the double so- icitude of friend and physician ;@,' ,. .e' You knew us fourteen years ago. d0c- tor" said MT. Prebie. -T--s We lived then where we do now, in cottage on the site of this great mansion. There were but the three of us-Helen and I, and our three-year old Jessie. And it was fourteen years ago to-day that our little Jessie was stolen from us. !" 1 'A'' '0 --'''-'-'''' '''
 .d 'tI remember" said the doctor, softly. !" Yet, might she not have been lost, MT. Preble? She went out to play in the gar den, if I remember rightly, and was never seen by you again. She might have stray ed away-nit - LEsIse3 H5ITd ofI J@g1l
 E" So we thought for g whole year, doc. tor, interrupted the banker. "We never dreamed that she had been stolen. We searched everywhere for her, and offered immense rewards for her recovery. em. ployed detectives. but all to no purpose. When our little Jessie ran down the steps into the flower garden" and he pointed to the front of the house, i" as if the earth had opened and swallowed her up, we new. CT saw her again.
 "She must have found the gate open and wandered ort, suggested Dr. Hutton
 $ She might have strolledi down to the wa
 ters, and been drowned" The banker fixed his burning eyes or the physician s face, and whispered;. 8Ia l"I said we never saw the poor chile again. I did not say we had not heard O her. She was lost on the 9th of August 1854ail For year we thought her dead But on the anniversary of our loss, we re ceived a written message concerning her. T. "A message!" cried Dr. Hutton, start
 ing: =, - ,'
 GA mere scrawl-a hand evidently dis guised, |" said the banker. Here it is. ;" He produced dingy scrap of paper from drawer in the table, and held it u]
 to the view of the physician, who read a follows: .rss ra August g, 1855. Jessie, la. hai Jessie. Dr. Hutton looked with puzzled ali the scrap of paper. which he turned owe
 and over to the countenance of the bank
 CT. -'-A,1- V '1'-'o0
 '.I Jean make nothing oof this," he de
 clared. ic' It is merely a aLdate, with tn name of ynr your lost daughter" It tells m svNorldid it us, at first, said MT. Pre-
 ble.a ssFhenl that name and date, wit
 the demon laugh connecting them, set 2
 to thinking. A whole year We agonize
 over the dreadful problem, and then W
 received another message which you sha | He thrust second slip of paper idept
 cal in shape and appearance to the first
 before gaze of Dr. Hutton, who read aloud: .J9lL< Toi asi 1 "August 9, 1856. Four Jessie stia lives.
 The physician started as if electrified. l" An! this is something definite-som thing decisive. he muttered. '' It COT vhced you that your daughter was sti living" 49a F "Yes, doctor, said Mir, Treble. can
 every anniversary of that day has brough us some messagea The disappearance C ,l the child, imysterious as it is, does nc fseem to me half so strange as that the vii 'tIain who took her away could cor 1trive to communicate with us eyer sEyeaf since, and always onta particular da 1.-the anniversary of that on which sh 1vas stolen-without our being able to dl cover whohe is.. And still greater won der to me iswhat can be his motive. T ! seems incredible. If it were stated in .tnovel many people would not believe il T But. truth is stranger than fiction. '' 1T | vIs Is a