The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-06-08

mind, whatever may be the outcome OF
the xtupendous mystery which surrounds
the kidnapping of my child. that Carrie
/ Jones was good to her. In the cruel days
. that 1 have passed through this thought
! has been some comfort 10 me. 1 am sure
that l am right in clinging to it, because
| Marion showed me in a thousand little
/ baby ways that she loved her.
! For instance, when she would take my
| hand to go down to dinner she would run
back first and throw her arms about Car
rie's neck. on her return from dinner she
would gurgl9 and goo goo" to her to
! show that she was glad 10 see her again.
THE daily routine of my Marion's life
was not different from that Of most
! babies Of twenty months. Every day
J when it was fine she went out at about
! rhalf-past 10 o'clock and remained until l.
/ At that hour she returned for lunch AT
| half-past l she was out again 10 stay until
| 4, or even later. Sometimes 'Bruv-ver'
went with her, occupying the carriage,
while she toddIed beside him, clinging to
the nurses hand sometimes she went
! alone. She is essentially a fresh air baby,
OiI A1ti-4''eiS a. wei eis any Ct-A-A NtAS
/ con the fatal Sunday Of her disappear
/ ance the usual routine was carried out.
J In the morning Marion splashed in her
! tub, gurgling joyously at the big waves
/ she made.
! Dressed all in white, she made her ap-
| pearance at the breakfast table, where
( she prattIed over her mush and milk.
| Forgive me if recall all the incidents of
! that last morning For eleven days they
were the treasures of my memory.
| breakfast on Sunday morning is later
| than usual, so, barely was it finished
when my little girl appeared in her old
! rose colored coat and her captivating
white bonnet, to say good-by to mamma.
Carrie Jones had obtained permission
/ to take her alone to the Park.
| Il watched them from the window while
! Mr.. Clark. because Sunday IS a crowded
/ day, saw them safely across Lexington
| avenue. I watched them till a curve hid
| them. I watched my Marion on that day
! till my eyes could follow her no longer.
! Where was the mothers instinct that
! should have warned me of the grief in
store for me?
'All New York is familiar with what
I h44v''t VI tAAC 4liSLC-S u TIC ii<NI II ~
/ But may it be spared any other mother to
| endure what now became my portion!
! One o'clock came-time for Marion's
lunch. The quarter hour dragged by. We
would so down without her; she would be
! there as we ate. We began and finished
with our eyes on the window. Then came
easy accountings for the absence IF baby
and nurse. Nothing more simple. The
! girl, a stranger in New York, had wander
! ed little distance in the Park and had
| lost her way. Poor girl, how frightened
she must be! Not a moment to lose, for
, she might not even find her way to the
! dairy, and Marion might be hungry!
Mr.. Clark, with a light step. started in
! pursuit. while I waited in the window,
/ absolutely confident. Those moments,
/ fraught through though they were with
/ anxiety, were the last happy ones knew
/ for eleven days.
Then came the return of my husband,
without our baby. 1t was the first sharp
thrust of the knife. Cod how it hurt!
! And from that day, hour after hour, it
/ cut deeper. When I think of the ruthless,
! pitiless pain they inflicted upon me there
is no mercy in my heart for the kidnap-
/ pers. May they in some manner be made
to suffer the torture that only a mother in
my position can know!
The long hours Of cruel hope Of that
/ first day dragged themselves to an end.
| The alarm had been given to the police.
| They would find our baby. I was assured
! of this by my husband, already haggard
and worn; by every one in the house, con-
| fident, all of them, that the nurse had but
| strayed in her ignorance.
| - she has taken my baby to visit some
! friend, I said when I heard that Marion's
carriage had ben left at the Arsenal.
| She has deceived me. 1 viii not keep
her another hour. My by-mine-mine-
shall not visit in strange places" be-
| came angry-it was a relief
Suddenly came the message signed by
the Three" My baby should not be
harmed if I was silent. 1 sank into
| chair. There is a scar on my heart left
| by that thrust that time can never heal!
silence! They demanded silence, and
| the alarm had already been given to the
| police! I had some idea of recalling il.
Had I been alone, God knows what I
would have done, As it was, the alarm
/ had been given and the police had begun
their hunt.
swiftly and terribly night began to fall.
/ My dread had become reality. My baby's
bedtime had come and her CRIB was
empty. pictured her kneeling in Il, as I
| had taught her, her tiny hand trying to
make the sign of the Cross, in obedient
/ imitation Of my own.
&" Where is God?" I asked her. And
| she looked up at the wall, pointing with
/ her finger to the picture of the Crucifxion
/ nat hangs there.
Mechanically began TO fill her bottle,
[ to arrange her things for the plight.
80 Marion VIII he found-nothing else is
/ possible" With these words echoing in
my ears from a thousand sources, I lay
/ down that night, the first in her young
! life without her beside me.
Then began the tortures of magma
ton For what had they taken her?
| Where was she? Asleep or crying? Dead
or living?
." IF she were dead here beside me I
! could stand it," I cried in my agony. But
/ this uncertainty"
/ Daylight brought renewed hope. There
was something 10 be done. One could
/ search. one might catch some rumor CT
/ her The sun was shining I blessed God
/ for that Ny baby was dry and warm.
/ Above my bed hangs a picture called
the Lady Bug" II represents q child
/ watching bug craving on the branch Of
i q tree t.at she holds in her hand In the
( morning Marion used Il look up at IT.
) remember said 20 myself USED" and I