Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1869-11-24

vi bOIIOW
The face of the invalid lighted ur
with an answering glow, aud he mur
INJURED
"Glorious faith My wife, you arc
indeed blessed comforter! Perhaps
offer all, you are right"
A knock resoundcd on a side.dooi
at this juncture, and the next moment
Dr. Hutton, the family physician for
whom Mrs. Preblo 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, II pair Of
shrewd blue eyes, and with an exuber-
ant boyishness of manner that sat we'll
upon him. He had a kind heart and
n clear head. Hc approached the sofa,
after greeting the husband and wife,
and lifted the thin restless hand ofthe
invalid, feeling his pulse.
"Quite high fever" he said, after
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. lmust give you an opiate. /"
"Not now, docter," interposed the
banker. 81 cann0t--must not-sleep
to day. need TO be broad awake
now, for cannot tell at any moment
what the next may bring forth. lam
looking for the elimination Of all my
i years of anguish-for the crowning
agony of the whole. Perhaps even
now--ah, what's that"
lie 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 unspolien inquiry-"the ami.
versary Of our loss"
"Ah, yes" said the doctor, 81 re.
member"
"Yes, it's another of those terrible
days" cried the banker, 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 apprehension and
anxiety. Sit down.
DR.. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself, his face expressing the
double solitude Of friend aud ply
sician.
"You know us fourteen years ago,
DOCTOR said Mr.. Preble. We lived
then whore we do now, IN n 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 little Jessie was stolen from us"
81 remember it," said the doctor,
softly. "Yet might she not have been
lost, Mr. Prebley She went ont TO
play in the garden, if | remember
rightly. and was never seen by you
again She might have stray cd away"
$50 we thought for n whole year,
doctor" " interrupted the banker. "We
never dreamed that she had been
slolcn. We searched everywhere for
her, and offered immense rewards for
her recovery. | employed detectives,
but all to no purpose. When our
little Jessie ran down the steps into
that flower. garden" and he pointed
to the front Of the house, "as if the
earth had opened and swallowed her
up, we never saw her again"
"She must have found the gate
open. and wandered out" suggested
DR.. Hutton. "She might have strolled
down to the waters and been drowned"
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the 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
August, 1854. For year we thought
her dead. But on the anniversary of
our loss we received a written message
concerning her"
"A message" cried DR.. Hutton,
Surfing
"A mere scrawI--a r-i.stSrea ,aS siIS S,.s, :" "
hand evidently disguised said the
banker "IIcre it is"
lie produced u 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 ., 1855. Jessie, ha, ha Jessier'
DIR. Hutton looked, with puzzled
air, from the scrap Of PAPER, which he
turned over and over, to the counte-
nance of the banker.
IL can make nothing of this" he
declared. "lt is merely a date, with
the name of your lost daughter IL
tells me nothing"
"Nor did il us, at first said Mr..
Prcblc. "Then that name and that
date, with the demon laugh connect
ing them, set us to thinking. A whole
year we agonizcd over the dreadful
problem, and then we received another
message which you shall see"
llc thrust a second slip Of paper,
identical in shape and appearance with
the first, before the gaze of DR.. Hut.
ton, who read it aloud:
august 9, 1856. Your Jessie stn iivcs.7
The physician started, as if clectri.
fed.
"Ahl this is something dcfpite-l
something decisive" he muttcred. 1
alt convinces you that your daughter
was still living"
ayes, doctor" said Mr. Preblc, "and
every anniversary Of that day has
brought us some message. The dis |
appearance Of the child, mysterious as
it is, does not seem TO me half so
strange as that the william who took
her away could contrive to communi (
cate with us every year since, aud .
always Oh n particular day-the ami
versary of that on which she was sto.
lcn-without our being able to dis
cover who he is. And u still greater
wonder TO me is what can be his mo.
tive. II seems incredible. IL il was
stated in a novel many people would .