The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-06

81 am heartily glad to see you, Count dc
LtSleF" she said.
Within an hour from the time when
Olympia Raven and the Count de Lisle
should have been made man and wife all
the detective skill available in New York
was engaged In searching for the bride.
Not only that, but men were stationed at
every possible point of exit from the city:
kilograms were sent to every village, town
and city within q thousand miles; every
steamer, vessel and vehicle leaving or
about to leave New York was searched. In
the course of day or two thousands of
photographs Of the missing girl were dis
tributed in all directions over the country,
and were posted up at every street corner,
IN every church, in every place OF
amusement in the city. Accompanying
them was an offer Of a reward that has
probably never been paralleled in the his
tory Of the world: One million dollars cash
for information that would lead to the re-
covery of Olympia Raven, or of her body
IL she were dead, and ten million dollars to
any one who would bring her to her
friends uninjured in health and limb.
Meanwhile the papers devoted columns to
the discussion Of the matter; il was talked
of in every household in the United States;
long cablegrams on the subject were sent
10 Europe, and it is not too much to say
that by the end of week nearly every in
habitant of the civilized world had heard
the name of Olympia Raven and knew
something of her history.
1t seemed impossible that all this
should fail TO bring some news Of her;
and quite as much if she were
dead as If she We're alive. How could a
person-snd girl of striking beauty at
that-vanish SO utterly aud suddenly that
no one of the millions of her fellow crea-
III. ~. l,1s,
cupidity aroused by the pI omise of wealth
TO a fabulous amount, should be able TO
give a single scrap of information concern
ing her. Had no one seen her pass! Had
no one received her where she was gone
If no longer in this life did earth and
water so eifectually conceal her remains
that no eye could be drawn to the spotl
IL she had been foully dealt with, was
there no eccomplice whose greed would
tempt him to open his lips! Be that as it
might no syllable of news was received.
If Olympia had gone out of existence like
the fame of candle, she could not have
left less trace behind her. The whole
world had been asked where she was, and,
cudgel its brains as it would it had been
able to frame no reply.
Early in the proceedings Tom Bannick
had followed up his notion as to Garcia
and his Investigations had ended in dis
covering the man in Philadelphia. When
found he was in drunken stupor, and the
proprietor of the hotel at which he was
staying said that he had been there since
the night of April 30-twelve hours before
Olympia disappeared. On coming to his
proper senses Garcia had little to say for
himself. He intimated that drink had been
his demon from the beginning, and that an
occasional spree he must have. When ques-
tened as to Olympia he merely shook his
head and remarked that he was sorry for
= hoo Notl hfr1af hn aAd Nod fhot ho
will never see me again. Ihave lived de-
cent life longer than l ever did before, and
i am tired of it / shall relapse into the
tramp was when he found me. / followed
him up to the altar; now shall follow my
own nose to the devil and that will be my
addressw Saying which this enignatical
parsonage turned over in his bed and wen:
TO sleep.
Meanwhile it had not escaped the coun
that if Sallie Matchin had wished to aven
herself upon him in the most effective
manner conceivable she could not have hit
upon method so effective as this. Nc
doubt she would willingly have spirited
Olympia away had she been able to do SO,
but it was impossible to imagine how she
could find the means Investigation showed
that no person had been admitted to the
house during the period between 10 and Il
o'clock on the lst of May. Olympia mus
therefore have gone forth of her own vol
ton. Nor was il creditable that supposine
her to have intended going to the church
she could have been waylaid upon the way
thither. The distance was but quarter
of mile, the sun was shining, the avenue
was full of people. No, the idea was not II
be entertained, and yet it was just as diff
cult to suppose that the girl had bidder
herself away. Only downright insanity
could account for her doing such a thing
and even assuming that she hao done it
someone must be aware of the fact and the
reward that had been offered would Ions
since have led to her bringing back.
He was obliged, consequently, to acQul
Sailie Of having had any hand in the disap
pearance, and where else to look he knew
not. But on Saturday, the ninth da,
after the calamity, he received a lette
from Sallie herself, which he read with
mixture Of hope and fear that almost brok,
his heart.
Dear sir" it ran, 81 have, of course
heard of your loss, and 1 can say, withou
fear of your misunderstanding me, that i
interested. me. Let me also remark at tn
outset that the rewards you offer woult
not be acceptable TO me, even were to be
come entitled TO them. But, as you ma.
easily imagine, my mind, since our las
meeting, has not been entirely at ease; AM
If / were able to forward your efforts il
this affair / should feel justified in hopinl
that any hostile designs you may hav
against me WCUkO SOIl6 mOulOCa
ton. It is for this reason that l address
YOU / do not wish to exaggerat
the value of the information that
possess-it may lead to nothing
But, St suy rate, l believe l hav
come into possession Of something
that may turn out a clew; and if you vii
call at my house alone at noon tomorrow
will tell you what it is. l must stipulate
however, that you show this letter to n
one, nor intimate that you have received il
for l will not run the risk OF being fore
stalled or interfered with in the matter
You can, of course, disregard this letter
you choose, or you can attempt to draw m
secret from me by force; but Il you knoy
me well you will do neither of these things
but accept my invitation under the cond
tions that have imposed
There might, no doubt, be personal dan
ger TO the count in going to his rendezvous
Sallie Matchin and he were on terms @
deadly eumity, and nothing would suit he
better than TO have him out of the way
Going alone to her house he might easil
fall into q fatal ambush: for, perilou
though 1t would be to commit violence uEo
man of his social prominence, Sallie wa
q desperate woman and was capable o
anything.
If he hesitated, however, it was by n
means on account Of any considerations a
to his own safety. If he had known tina
he was going 70 certain death he woul
still have been prompt to the hour, pro
vided only that he was assured that Olym
pia had been placed in safety. But thi
was very far from certain. The "clew
might be merely bait to draw him to de
Btruction; and his destruction, so far froI
bene6ting Olympia, might remove the onl,
chance remaining to her to escape. An
since no one was to know on what erran
ne had gone, the chances were against hi
fate hainQ discovered