Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1898-04-07

we might find itsagreeNble to do SO. /
though instinctively shrinking from
him. vet finding no rational cause for
my aversion. and. above all. magnet
lied to the spot that held my dear hus-
bands remains-for he was laid IN the
family vault under the chapel attached
to the chateau-cOnsented to remain
for while. Well. Monsieur. three
weeks after my child disappeared, un-
der circumstances that led every cne
to the conclusion that she had been
drowned" ,
Good heaven" exclaimed the cap
tain.
1T was lovely summer weather, aud
she had been permitted to walk out in
the grounds, attended by her nurse,
my poor Elise. They wandered down
toward beautiful stream of water.
upon whose banks the Strawberries
We're very thick. The child ramb.ed
about. pulling wild flowers, filling her
straw hat with them. and bringing and
emptying them in the lap of her nurse,
who remained seated under a tree. At
last the little one was gone longer
than usual. The nurse arose and called
her, but she did not answer. ran and
looked for her but she did not ap-
pear. Elise became alarmed, and
rushed through and through the shrub.
berries. crying aloud upon the name of
her nursing. But no response came
from the thick, green bushes. She ran
down the stream; the banks of the
stream We're well protected by thick
growths of interviewer bushes-there
seemed not Il possibility that the child
could have passed where man would
have found great difficulty in breaking
j. pt,rlN rot u
place the bushes were lightly pressed
down them to the water: shredS Of
black barege-such as had formed the
orphans mourning dress-futtered up
on the twigs. as if rent in passing;
worse than all. her little straw hat.
with its black ribbons, was floating on
the water. Poor Elise was distracted
on the spot. and, rushing to the house.
spread CONSERVATION and horror
through the family with the news that
little AStrea had tumbled into the
stream and was drowned"'
Here the lady paused and gaspcd for
breath. as if suffering under some
overwhelming memory.
The deepest sympathy is always
dumb. Tie captain could make no
| comment. His impulse was to draw
her silently to his heart. as he would
have drawn his littt Daney i'll her
troubles, or his own child, had he pos
scssed one. But he did not dare. even
to take and press her hand; so his
sympathy seemed dead as we'll as
dumb.
After little while the lady contin-
ued:
II cannot-no. l cannot dwell upon
| t1,o ;,.fr fD1l
| figure to yourself how all the house
the pCcr little floating hat was picked
up from the spot where it had lodged
against a ledge of rocks: how all the
neighbOrhO3u WIS reused; how the
stream was dragged for the body. and
no body found: how it was next. at
4 great cost OF time and labor. drained,
and still no body found: and how at
last it was demonstrated. beyond all
manner of doubt. that no body had
ever been drowned there: for. YOU see.
the stream was narrow and deep, and
the current strong: and below the
spot where the child was supposed to
have fallen in, the stream was crossed
by i; high ledge of rock., against which
everything that was carried down by
the current lodged. If the child had
fallen in. the body must have been
found. either at the bottom Of the
stream. when it was drained. or else
lodged against the ledge of rocks. 1t
was found neither ut one place or the
other; therefore. it had never been in
the stream; and all the appearances of
the shredded dress and the floating hat
lad been arranged for the purpose of
| producing The impression that she had
| 1onr, INV ;rrnf ;x>,,.
had been made and all these conclu-
sions arrived at without my assist.
ance, and while 1 was still Frustrated
with grief. But as l recovered from
tlic first shock of my great sorrow,
and understood II @ position of affairs.
set OH foot the most diligcnt inquiry.
Sooh learned that Il fairhaired child
had been seen in the possession OF
some wandering gipSieS on the road to
Calais | followed them in person.
traced item to Calais. thence to Dover.
thence to London; everywhere. when I
inquired. hearing of the fair-haired
child. with IL gang Of swirtlly gipsies:
but in the Wilderness of London | lost
thcr..'
''That is easily understood. Madame:
for the kilnappcrs must have only
passed through and gone down imme-
dlatcly to Liverpool and taken passage
for America" said the captain.
eyes, Monsieur, and that was the
reason why all my future efforts to
discover my child, efforts confined to
Europe alone, proved failures, so that
never even heard of her again until
l saw her portrait in the Boulevartls.
des-ItalieneS. l never returned again
to tie Chateau De Glacie. could not
endure the place. A strange conviction
had taken possession of my mlnu that
the Marquise Tie Glacic had inS,igat-
ed the theft of my child. I spoke Of
this conviction to no one: for Il long
time | secretly watched him; l saw
enough to deepen and confirm my con-
viction of his guilt. though not enough
to prove it upon him. [ saw, also. rea-
son to suppose that hc-a peer Of
France-WHS connected with band Of
desfcr:idoes, composed Of both males
and females, whose headquarters were
in Paris. but whose agencies exist in
cvc:y i::':-1 city in the world. and in
every grade of society; whose profess
sion it is to prey upon their fellow