Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-05-23

agony of my foot was intense. Just as I
gained my door and was leaning against
it for support, | heard the
train leaving the station. A long,
wild, maddening shrek it gave as
it rolled away in the darkness. A shud-
der passed over me, for the wildness of
the long shrill whistle seemed like the
wall, the sad farewell, of lone, sad soul.
| crossed the passage with difficulty, and
softly opened the door of MabePs room.
A shaded lamp was burning upon the
table; the nurse slept in the easy chair
at the bedside-but the patient-acas not
there
The bed was just as she had thrown
the cover aside; the pillow was yet
warm, and bore the impress of her beau
tiful head. A tiny gray kid glove
torn at the wrist, and with a spray of
sweet-brier clinging to twas living
upon the bed. She had left it in the
hurry of departure. 1 examined the
apartment closely; nothing was left
yes, upon the table, near the lamp, was
tiny white missive addressed to "My
Unknown Friend" Opening it with
trembling fingers, I read these words:
Mabel cannot express to her un-
known friend her thanks, her lasting
gratitude, for his kindness. She goes the
way God has appointed her-and prays
that for him may be given love, peace,
and happiness here; and a lasting peace
beyond"
That was all. She was gone-my love
my beautiful, and | knew not where. /
sat for some moments stupefed, not
knowing what to do. At length /
aroused myself sufficiently to awaken the
nurse and ask her concerning our pa
tient. She gazed around with stare of
Amusement, and affirmed again and
again that she had not been asleep an
hour; that she remembered hearing the
clock strike eleven; that her beautiful
charge seemed to be sleeping quietly
and being overcome with sleep, she had
yielded herself to it's influence.
Gone, gone; and [ possessed no clue
whatever by which to trace my beauti-
full little sweet-brier, not even her
name. 1 gathered the little glove in my
cold fingers, and tOttered from the room.
That love, with its withered spray of
sweet-brier, was all that was left of Ma
bel the Unknown. / must find her; I
would find her; but how"
"Cousin Hettie" The name came
upon me like ray of light | would
leave by the morning train, return to
Roseberry, and learn all of "Cousin Het-
ty." Hettie acho?'
There again did l find myself in laby-
rinth of trouble. But [ was not one to
yield to yield to difficulties. Having as
certained at what hour tie train would
leave, | made my preparations; and
early the next morning-with my little
treasured glove next my heart-I left
town, and in the afternoon again entered
the waiting-room at the station, which [
had left such short time before. There
was the settee upon which little Mabel
had rested; and there upon the floor,
crushed and withered, was the spray of
sweet-brier she had lost the day before
Poor Mabel Who was she? Where
was she? Carefully, tenderly the
bruised yet fragrant brier was put aside
with my other treasures. I inquired of
the station-master if he remembered see
ing the two ladies the day before?"
Yes, but did not know them; didn't
think he had ever seen them before-if
he had, had forgotten"
[ asked him if he knew a Young lady
of the place called Hettie. He did not
1 then requested him to direct me to
one or two of the leading gentlemen of
Roseberry. He did so, and to them /
applied. The first knew no young lady
by that name; then, after sitting for
several minutes in deep thought, he ex-
claimed, cit must be Miss Esther Ingra-
ham-old Col. Ingraham's daughter, of
Flower Dale. They do not reside in town,
but several miles from here, in a most
beautiful place. But, my dear sir, you
will not find them at home; they left
yesterday for London.
Here was dilemma After studying
the case for some minutes, [ deemed it
advisable to acquaint this gentleman
with the facts. This l did. He said he
remembered seeing young lady, agree
ing with my description, several times
riding with Miss Esther in a pony
phaeton, but did not know who she was
Had heard that she was an invalid cou-
sin; but she neither made nor received
calls. Perhaps Colonel Ingraham's ply
stefan might throw some light upon the
subject. He gave me the PHYSICIANS
address, and [ visited him immediately,
and still no success. All he could say
was simply this: he was called upon
some weeks back to attend young lady
who had been wounded with some sharp
instrument. The wound had been in
ficted some time, had partially healed,
and then broken out afresh.
She was called 'EMabel;" Colonel In
graham had settled all bills; and he had
no further information to give, except
that the young lady seemed very fond of
flowers, especially the delicate little wild
rose or sweet-brier, which she always
kept near her, or pressed between her
pretty fingers.
[ thanked him kindly; and having
learned that Col. Ingraham had a BROTH
er in Bedford Square, London, bowed
himself from his presence. What shall
[ do next? Find Mabel [ must. That
night I took the ten o'clock train for
London. Further and further was it
bearing me from her, yet [ felt that it
was the only hope [ had left. Unjust see
Cousin Hettie.
DIT navy Loo ,,oro >,,!,, !,