The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-10-16
A MYSTERY.

well connected in the city had mysterious
ly disappeared from her residence one
night, and notwithstanding the most ex-
tensive inquiries had been made and large
rewards offered for any information about
her no trace of her could be found. The
circumstances of her disappearance utterly
precluded the idea of an elopement. Her
character was above reproach- There was
no levity or nothing trivial or light in her
disposition. She was a beautiful italian
girl, young and with a naivete of manner
irresistibly attractive. Scarcely on the
verge of womanhood, she was tall and
elegantly formed. Her 1.-THE, willowy fig
ure had world of grace in its supple, del
icate outlines which would have won the
admiration of an anchorite. She had the
| most beautiful eyes had ever seen-large,
almond shaped eyes, over which the long,
dark lashes dropped and quivered as emo
ton stirred her, or lifted suddenly in sur
prise or glee. The soft, black pupils had a
tenderness in the look that made the
hearts of youth strangely uneasy when
they flashed on them with all wOman's
power.
''Her character, as I said before pre-
cluded the idea of elopement 1t was
evident to all that she had been kidnap-
ed, but by whom and for what purpose?
These were the questions addressed TO MIR.
1. and myself when the case was put in
our hands.
LAS may be supposed such a girl had
suitOrs, but she was atfianced to no one.
The warm beauty of her race, the extraor-
binary grace and loneliness of the young
italian, had won the hearts of many, but
her own apparently was yet free. So her
parents said, and had no reason to disbe-
ieve them. On questioning those most
intimate with her, we learned that much
unkindness of feeling had arisen between
n y
naturally inspire jealousy, but there was
one person in particular whose feelings
had once found expression in the most Bit
ter and intense animOsity toward the
rest, but it was only once that he suffered
himself to become so far fOrgetful of his
interests.
Naturally he was taciturn and repealed
familiarity. Although young and strik
ingly handsome it was said the girl had
| conceived for this man the most intense
| repugnance. He had dark, sinister look,
a sort of subtle, secret intelligence about
! him, strangely at variance with her free
and open character. She had rejected his
suit, but he had sworn yet to possess her.
He left her presence with a half uttered
threat and look that froze her blood.
''That night she disappeared. OF course
our suspicious fell upon the man. The
facts, however, here detailed were not as
certained without patient research and
| careful investigation, but by slow degrees
we did discover them and watched our
man from that hour with incessant scru-
| tiny At certain hours, however in the
day he left his place of business, and al
! though we invariably attempted to follow
| him, we were as invariably baff1ed. In
| some of the numerous streets that shoot
| out in every direction in that part of the
| city we lost him. Sometimes it was in
! an alleyway, sometimes by ascending a
flight of stairs, sometimes by entering
| private residence that we lost him, but in
some way he invariably eluded our vigi-
lance. You may reasonably conclude that
this neither suited Mr.. L nor myself. We
determined we would not be cheated the
next time One of these absences occurred
| about 10 O'Clock every night.
''It was near that time then, and we
watched the Italian with an eagernesS and
! intensity dOubly whetted by repeated dis
appointment. A drilling rain fall
ing and the lamps shone along the dark
streets feebly. 1t suited US exactly. The
man came out soon and started in the di-
rection he invariably took. We hung on
his path like shadows His iron heel rang
on the pavement. Our feet fell softly and
lightly. Up one street and down another
the chase led for more than an hour. At
last he paused before a large brick build
ing. 1t was an old Spanish house, and
looked dark and grand enough to be a
castle or bastile. Its shutters were closed,
ana 10 ray Oh l45ub SLlOuG IIO14 b1lC heavily
draped windows. The man paused and
looked around before he inserted the key
and turned the lock. We crouched low to
the walls as he did so, but the door had
barely swung on its hinges before we
sprang upon him. The struggle was
fierce, but brief. He could not contend
with two men, either of whom was stron-
ger than himself
eve believed we should find the girl
here and our suspicious were correct. We
did find her, prisoner, guarded by an
old quadrOon woman.
''When she saw us and knew we had
come to release her, there was a sudden
/ lighting up of her face-a vivid CLEAN of
pleasure, a scream of delight but sud
denly it darkened in a look of terror, wild
with pain. She implOred US to leave her.
| She talked wildly, her eyes fixed fearfully
on the man, while he looked on her with a
cold. suIlen sheer. told her it was i'm
possible to leave her, that we must take
her to her parents. I told their grief and
despair. 1t was plain to see that each
word pierced her with a pang keener than
the thrust of a dagger. Her face was
deathly pale, her very lips writhed in
| agony. She tried to speak, and as she did
so the man raised his finger and shook it
at her warningly. The presence of the
archhend could not have alarmed her
more. She pleaded again with a wild, pas
sionate entreaty, full of terror, full of an
| guish, we could neither appreciate nor IN
derstand.
''She struggled as lifted her into the
carriage Mr.. I had called, but suddenly
became quiet and still. I drove rapidly to
her home while Mr.. L. carried the prisoner
| to the station.
IAN the way she did not stir. She had
{ tainted and lay pallid and still on the
cushions. AS we lifted her from the car
/ rage and conveyed her into the house, she
| ODeDpd hen. ewes but there was no light in
/ their glance. Her reason had fed The
! girl was a maniac.