Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1869-11-25
She was a beautiful woman. Of so,

OF suDShlny nature were sun Percept-
ibic, under grief and anxiety no less
poignant than that evinced by her ilus-
| baud.
.sThe docforl'' he echoed, half.rc
proachfuly.
"les, dear" she said, in a calm and
cheerful voice, as she drew chair to
the side of the sofa, and sat down,
stroking the corrugated forehead Of
the invalid with magnetic touch
''He will be here Immediately. Your
last nervous crisis alarmed me You
may become seriously ill.,
Mr.. Preble bestowed an affectionate
look upon his wife, but said despond-
emily:
"The doctor! He cannot minister to
mind diseased Oh, if these long
hours would only pass! If l only
knew what the day has yet in store for
usp'
''Look up. Norton" enjoined Mrs
Preble, with reverently trustful
glance upward through the open win
dow at the blue sky, and as if looking
beyond the azure clouds therein. "Let
us appeal from the injustice and wick
edness of earth to the goodness and
mercy of Heaven!'
The banker gave low, sobbing
sigh.
81 cannot look up, Helen" he an
swered, with a passionate tremor in his
voice-"only down, down at the grave
that is opening before me-
Mrs. Preble continued to stroke his
forehead softly, while she lifted her
pale face to the sunlight streami ng in
to the apartment.
''Look up, Morton-always look up!"
she again enjoined upon the invalid =
During all these fourteen years of ag-
ony, have not once doubted either
the goodness or the justice of Heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn; for they
shall be comforted' l believe that we
shall yet rejoice more keenly than we
have mourned, and that we shall come
to glorious day ofjoy beyond all this
long night of sorrow!"
The face of the invalid lighted up
with an answering glow, and he mur-
mured:
"Glorious faith! Ny wife, you are
indeed a blessed comforter! Perhaps,
after all, you are right
A knock resounded on side-door at
tbisjuncture, and the next moment Dr..
Hutton, the family physician, for whom
Mrs. Preble had sent, entered the room.
He was an old man, portlyI IN figure,
with white hair and beard, but with a
fresh and ruddy complexion, pair of
shrewd blue eyes, 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 OPT
ate"
''Not now, DOCTOR" interposed the
banker. Il cannot--must not--sleep
to-day! | need to be broad awake
now, for | cannot tell at any moment
what the next may bring forth. l am
looking 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.
at is the anniversary" she replied
to his unspoken inquiry ry-"the anniver-
sary of our loss
"Ah, yes" said the doctor. 81 re-
member
eyes, its another of those terrible
days." cried the banker, in hollow
whisper. ''Sit down, doctor, and |
will tell you tie whole story. l can
think of nothing else to-day, and am
almost wild with apprehension and anx-
iety. Sit down.
DIR. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself, his face expressing the
double solicitade of friend and ply
sician.
"You knew us fourteen years ago,
DOCTOR" said Mr.. Preble "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 l,
and our three-year old Jessie. And it
was fourteen years ago to-day that our
little Jessie was stolen from u.s.
81 remember it, said the doctor
softly. "Yet might she not have been
lost, Mr.. Preble? She went out to
play in the garden. if | remember
rightly, and wassneser seen by you
again. Shc might have strayed
aw ay - -,
$50 we thought for a whole year,
doctor, interrupted the banker. ''We
never dreamed that she had been sto-
len. We searched everywhere for her,
and offered immense rewards for her
recovery. l 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. Gas 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 tbe ami