The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1869-11-25

tsshS 6Giininati icA gs Siil naS years OF isti III.
gqish for the, ,GfeRpipkl agony pf, the
,,es whole, .hsi Psshsps 81 even novrrs Al. what
He started up wildly and then, rs the
sound that had diaturbed him was not re-
peated, he sapk back. again or, bis oush-
ions, pallid and painting.
Tine doctor Iooked at Mrs. ,Prsbie with
an anxious, questioning glance.
I, ut is the anniversary. che replied to
his unsp ken inquiry anniversary
OF our loss."
"Ah, yes," said the doctor. II re-.
member" ell
'.Yes, it's another OF those terrible
days." cried the banker, in o hollow whis-
per. "Sit down, doctor, and will tell
I you the whole story. 1 can think OF no.
| thing else today, and am almost wild
with apprehension and anxiety. Sit
down."
DIR. Hutton drew up chair and seated
himself. his face expressing the double
soIicitude of friend and physician.
"You knew Us fourteen years aso, doc
tor" said Mr.. Preble. eve 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 four
teen years ago today that our little Jes-
sic was stolen from u.s."
l. II 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 might
have strayed away"
$50 we thought for whole yenr, 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. I
employed detectives, but all to no pur-
pose. When our little Jessie ran down
the steps into that hower-garden," and
he pointed to the front Of the house,
''ns if the earth had opened and swal-
lowed her up. we never saw her again. I"
"She must have found the gate open,
and wandered out" suggested DR.. Hut
ton. ''She might have strolled down to
the waters and been drowned"
| The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon tho physicians face, and whis-
pered:
81 said we never saw the poor child
again. did not say we had not heard
of her. She was lost on the 9th OF Au-
gust, 1864. For year we thought her
dead. But on the anniversary Of our
loss we received a written message con-
corning her."
ga message" cried DR.. Hutton, start
ing
IA mere scrawl-a single line-in a
hand evidently disguised" said the
| banker. 'Here it is.'
He produced dingy scrap OF paper
from drawer in the table, and held it
up to the view of the physician, who
read as follows:
AUGUST 9. 1855. Jessie, Aa. Aa!
Jessie"
DR.. Hutton looked, with puzzled air,
from the scrap of paper, which he turned
over and over, to tho countenance OF the
| banker.
II can make nothing of this" lie de-
clared. cit is merely date. with the
namo of your lost daughter. It tells me
nothing"
"Nor did it US, at first," said Mr.. Pre-
BILE. "Then that name and that date,
with the demon laugh connecting them,
set us to thinking. A whole year we
agonized over the dreadful problem, and
then we received another message, which
you shall see"
He thrust second slip of papor. iden-
tical in shape and appearance with the
first, before the gaze of DR.. Hutton, who
read it aloud:
"AUausr Q, 1856. Your Jessie sHu
hues"
The physician started, as If electrified.
"Ah! this is something gdeHnite-some-
thing decisive" he muttered. "It con-
vinced you that your daughter was still
living"
eyes, DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble, "and
every anniversary Of that day has
brought us some message. The disap-
pearance OF the child, mysterious as it
is, does not seem to me half 80 strange
rs that the villain who took her away
could contrive to communicate with us
every year since, and always on par
ticular day-the anniversary of that on
which she was stolen-without our being
able to discover who he is. And still
greater wonder to mo is what can be his
motive. It seems incredible. If it was
stated in novel many people wonld not
believe it. But truth is stranger than
| felton,"
Mrs. Preble drew from her husbands
breast t-pocket his note book, opened it to
the proper page, and presented it to the
physician.
DIR. Hutton adjusted his spectncles.