Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1869-11-26

after all, you are right"
A knock resounded on a side-door al
this juncture, and the next moment
DR.. Hutton, the family physician, fol
whom Mrs. Preble had sent, entered
the room.
He was an old man, portly in figure,
with white hair and beard, but with a
fresh and ruddy complexion, pair Of
shrewd blueeyes, and with an exuber-
ant boyishness Of manner that sat well
upon him. He had kind heart and
a clear head. He approached the sofa,
after greeting the husband and wife,
and lifted the thin restless hand of the
Invalid, feeling his pulse.
Quite 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. / must give you an
ooiate-"
"Not now, DOCTOR" interposed the
banker. 81 cannot-must not-sleep
to-day | need to be broad awake now,
for | cannot tell at any moment what
the next will bring forth. I am look
ing for the elimination of all my years
Of anguish-for the crowning 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, pallid and painting.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble
with an anxious, questioning glance.
SIT is the anniversary, she replied
to his unspoken inquiry-"the ami
yersary of our loss."
'::Ah. yes" said the doctor. "I re-
member"
eyes, it is another of those terrible
days." cried the banker, in hollow
whisper. "Sit down, doctor, and 1
win tell you the whole story. 1 can
think of nothing else to-day, 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 ply
sician.
"You knew us fourteen years ago,
DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble. "We lived
where we do now, in cottage on the
site Of this great mansion. There were
but three of us-Helen and /, and our
three-yea old Jessie. And it was
fourteen years ago to-day that our lit
tie Jessie was stolen from US"
81 remember it,'' said the docto r
softly. "Yet might she not have been
lost, Mr.. Preble? She went out to
play in the garden, if 1 remember
rightly, and was never seen by you a.
gain. She might have strayed away
$50 we thought for whole year,
doctor" ;" interrupted the banker. eve
never dreamed that she had been sto-
len. We searched everywhere for her,
and offered immense rewards for her
recovery. 1 employed detectives, but
all to no purpose. When our little
Jessie ran down the steps into the flow
er garden" and he pointed to the
front of the house, ''as if the earth had
opened and swallowed her up, we new
er saw her again"
"She must have found the gate open,
and wandered out" suggested DR..
Hutton. "She might have strolIed
down to the waters and been drown
ed"
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physicians face and whis-
pered:
81 said we never saw the poor child
again. 1 did not say we never heard
of her. She was lost on the 9th of Au-
gust, 1854. For a year we thought her
dead. But on the anniversary of our
loss we received a written message con-
cerning her."
"a message!" cried DR.. Hutton,
starting.
"a mere scrawl-a single line in a
hand evidently disguised" said the
banker, "Here it is"
He produced dingy scrap of paper
from a drawer in the table, and held it
up to the view of the physician, who
read as follows;
AUGUST 9, 1866. Jessie, Aa, ha (! Jes-
sie."
DIR. Hutton looked, with puzzled
air, from the scrap of paper, which he
turned over and over, to the counte-
nance of the banker.
''I can make nothing of this" he de-
clared. ''It is merely a date, with
the name of your lost daughter. II
tells me nothing"
"Nor did it us, at first" said Mr..
Preble. "Then that name and that
date, witbas degnqRl dRHGg. "oR" Seh&e
year we agonized over the dreadful
problem, and then we received anoth-
er message, which you shall see."
He thrust a second slip of paper, i
IDENTICAL in shape and appearance with
the first, before the gaze of DR.. Hut
ton, who read it aloud:
AUGUST 0, 1856, Your Jessie stia
liUes.n
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"
"Yes, doctor, /" said Mr.. Preble, "and
every anniversary of that day has
brought US some message. The dis
appearance of the child, mysterious as
tits, does not seem to me half so strange
as that the vailain who took her away
could contrive to communicate with us
4 every wear since, and always on a par