The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1888-04-05

The others of the household were for send
ing out Immediately to search the neighbour
hood and discover some trace of the los,
Princess. All the available males were
accordingly pressed into the service. and
sent out to scour the country in every direc
ton. The first objective point. Of course
was the road in the vicinity Of the pool
But not the slightest clue could there be
discovered. The heavy rains had obliterated
all the wheel-tracks made by the wagon
into the wood. where the Princess had first
been carried Searching far and wide. they
could find positively nothing in the way Of q
trace of their lost mistress.
Meanwhile, Dimitri returned from an in.
terview with the carriers. and these individ-
uals all agreed in saying that they had seen
a horsewoman emerge from the cliff road
and ride rapidly toward the village on the
public road. From their description of the
woman and her horse, il could be none other
than the Princess herself.
They met with no stranger. excepting
huntsn.an who hailed them near the cliff
road, and got them all into some angry
dispute with regard to the land Whereabouts.
They. too. observed the loud whistle but
supposed ii that Of some hunter calling his
dogs.
Ere Dimitri left the inn. farmer, also
living in the neighborhood. entered,
drenched through and through by the
storm On his way to St Mslo. he had be-
come charmed III the severity Of the storm.
and. supposing it III all-night affair, turned
back to the inn of the village.
Dimitri remembered meeting with him,
just after Catherine and himself passed the
pool.
Here now was clue.
The wagoners were not to be diverted
from their idea that they saw the Princess
going toward the pool.
Had this farmer. on the opposite side of the
pool. seen her. No he had not. He saw
no one. excepting stranger whom he found
sitting BY the roadside. This man and him.
self enjoyed long talk about crops-a talk
of perhaps one quarter of an hour in length.
No woman passed them. OF that he was
sare-at least no woman excepting the one
with that man. pointing TO Dlmitri and
referring. OF course. to Catherine. He too,
observed the sharp calls Of the whistle.
Lydia listened quietly to Dimitrs story.
Here. 1t last. was il trace to Nataiie--the
ualy clue. perhaps, to her disappearance.
'.ssend for all the wagoners and the farm
Ell, immediately said she. authoritatiyelv
The dripping band of peasants soon APP
peared in the hall. little rivulets trickling
down from their drenched garments and
covering the floor with miniature ponds.
They stood huddled together, awe-strucls
and awkward.
Questioning them. Lydia found that Nata-
lie must have been lost between the wagon
crs on one side Of the pool and the farmer
on the other side: and. therefore, in the
nelghborhood Of. and very probably at, the
pool itself; and that the stranger who
conversed with the farmer, and also the
huntsman who disputed with the carriers,
were, undoubtedly, accessories to the alb
duction-for they both disappeared almost
immediately after the second whistle.
The wagoners said that the first call was
heard just before they sew the Princess.
The mystery Of Nat.lle's disappearance
now became clear to Lydia
The huntsman-ah would she have be-
lieyed her ears had she been told who he
was!-must have been on the watch for the
poor girl The warning signal of her APP
proach toward the abductors was the first
blast Of his whistle. This, too, warned the
both outposts stopped all passengers upon
the road, thus preventing interference with
the capture of Natalie.
As soon as the Princess had been secured,
her captors. in turn. gave the signal to their
accomplices that the deed was done and the
coast clear.
Unless Natalie was still in the neighbor.
hood Of the pool-which was highly improb.
able-she must have been carried toward
the sea-coast; for that she and her captors