Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-08

thank us in words, but showed her
gratitude in her w peculiar manner,
and [ think she did not have another
tantrum for a month.
Such was the condition of things at
the beginning of her ninth year of SER
vice in our family. She had been with
us in Joy and in sorrow, had fondled my
newborn babes, and had laid in his
little coffin our only son. Her interests
and ours seemed identical, and we would
just as soon have thought of sending
one of u own little II e away from us
as to part with Janet. Her health was
apparently good. She seemed strong
andwell; but had she become a helpless
invalid her home would have been still
with us. She had no relatives in Amer
lea except a third or fourth cousin,
whom she visited on her afternoons out
and on Sunday evenings. Her mother
in the Old Country died when Janet had
been with us about three years. She
seldom heard from her father, and her
sisters and brothers all had their own
little families, so that it really seemed
that her only home was with us.
One memorable morning-memorable
for many u day and year in the calendar
of our family history-she came into
the room while we were at breakfast.
and placing some hot cakes at the side
of my plate made this remark: ..Mrs.
st. John, 1 am afraid, ma'am, these
cakes are not SO nice as usual, but 1
hope you will forgive me for ALL" twas
a very strange thing for her to say, and
Hooked upin surprise. She had a most
unusual look in her face. TWAS a mix
ture of terror and resolve. 1t struck me
at the time because Ihad dreamed such
an odd dream about her Just before l
awoke that very morning. Thought she
was kneeling to an image of brass and
saying, ooh, spare me! spare mel" in
agonizing supplication, and with the
very look on her face that 1 saw now.
Thinking of my dream, / looked at her
closely, but only said, "There's nothing
amiss with the cakes, Janet" and she
left the room. The cakes proved to be
more than usually delicious, and as l
rang for more / remarked to Mr.. st.
John that Janet must have said that
to get extra praise for her cooking; and
we all smiled, and waited to smile at
her. We waited in vain. She did not
SAAS"C1 UlC SuIl1AOASs u11u Il1ICl 1l1Slu
again l stepped into the kitchen to as
certain the cause of the delay. Janet
was not there, and [ could not find her.
l called Mr.. St. John, and together we
went to her bedroom, and from there
all over the house, but no Janet was to
be found. All through the day 1 cx-
pected her to walk in at any moment,
and busted my mind wondering how on
earth she could account for her conduct:
but when night came, and no Janet, 1
grew alarmed, and my husband went
out and hunted up her only %acquaint-
ance. Mrs. Baker, but she had seen or
heard nothing of her since the Sunday
previous. MI. st. John then went to
the police station and gave notice of her
disappearance. An officer returned
with him to the house and another vain
search was made. Her trunk and all
her clothing and personal effects
were in their proper places.
Nothing had been removed, appar-
entity. The officer was of the opinion
that she had taken a situation more to
her liking, and had dreaded saying any,
thing about it to me, and so took this
easy method of making the change.
But we secuted the idea. 1t was sim
ply impossible of belief, knowing Janet
as we did. The officer shrugged his
shoulders, and no doubt thought us a
parcel of fools. After he had retired,
Charles said he feared we must come to
it sooner or later that the mans theory
was right; but I knew better, and would
not believe it, though it seemed the only
feasible explanation. Nelly, my eldest
daughter, remembered to have heard
voices in the kitchen the night before,
while WI were at the opera, but sup
posed Mrs. Baker was paying Janet a
| visit as she sometimes did of an even
ing.
Weeks and months passed away and
no tidings came of our dear old servant.
We locked her room and allowed no
one to enter it., leaving her things
exactly as she had left them. This was
done by the advice of the police officer
for some reason known best to himself.
He admitted by this time that Janet
could not have taken another situation
in the city, as she would have been
found ere this had such been the case.
The story had been noised about a good
deal at the time.
At last Charles advertised q reward
of $1,000 for any information which
might lead to her whereabouts. living
or dead. A detective came out from
Philadelphia to look it up. He exam
ined the house from top to bottom, but
did not give us any encouragement.
He spent more than an hour in Janet's
old room, and when he departed he
said that if we heard from him at all it
would be very soon Charles thought
from something the mar said. some
word that he dropped, that he had
found a clue. But we lost all hope
when three weeks had gone by and no
message had come. l was thoroughly
disheartened anyhow, and my nerves
were wrought up to such a pitch that 1
started at every sound.
One evening, just five months after
Janet's mysterious disappearance. the
door-bell rang, and Charles Gin the abb
sence Of Janet's successor), going to
the door, found there the detective
officer, accompanied by another man.
My husband showed them into the Ii
brary, and after an interview of about
an hour he came to me to ask me to