The St. Louis Republic., 1902-12-21

! was finished in the morning she would star
| for her mothers home.
He had guessed rightly, for the following
! morning, wholly unsuspicious of ruse and
greatly worried about her mother, Mrs
| Stiles went out into the cold. wintry day
for five-mile tramp to her old homo.
! RUsB THAT COVERED
HER HUSBANDS FLIGHT. .r
Arrived at this place she was amazed to
| find her mother going about her work as
usual At once both suspected sonnet hing
| was in the wind, and hastily srlatnfiing a
! bite Mrs. Stiles began her weary journey
| back. With each step came forboding Of
evil. and upon reaching the house her worst
! fears were realized Nowhere could h,is-
| band or children be found. She called aloud
| but no answer came to her forlorn and
| heart-broken cry. A quick survey of the
rooms revealed the fact that clothing be
longing to all but herself and eldest daugh-
ter was missing, and her instinct told her
that she had not only been abandoned by
husband, but robbed Of her children
Later her suspicious received further con-
firmation, when Edith returned from an err
rand to neghbor. where she had been
sent by her father to get her out of the
way. Ferdinand Stiles peculiar actions dur
ing the few previous days were explained.
The two bereft creatures, mother and
daughter, were alone in the deserted home,
pennilests and with an empty larder,
Worse than that there wasn't the slight
est trace or clew of the runaways, though
a diligent search was made
Mrs. Stiles was hearbroken over her loss.
She advertised in the newspapers wrote to
institutions where she thought her baby
might be hidden, consulted detectives, Of
fered rewards for any informat ton leading
to trace of her, but all to no avail.
Days, weeks and months went by and It
was as though the three had dropped out
Of existence.
Lack of money forced Mrs. Stiles to
abandon the old home in New Vernon and
seek quarters In Morristown.
Everything she had possessesed, except a
few, bits of furniture. had gone to pay
debts, and the deserted woman, thrown en-
tirely upon her own resources, took up
nursing as a means of livelihood.
The physicians Of NIorristown were kind
TO her, and, besides, Mrs. Stiles had a nat
ural gift for nursing, SO she soon found she
had all the work she could do.
During this time the search for the miss
ing child was continued.
The son, grown almost to manhood was
able to look out for himself and if he had
wanted to could have returned, but the
baby little Adelia, scarcely years old when
taken from her mothers arms, would soon
forget her home. perhaps no longer remem-
Der her mother
The thought pierced the mothers heart
like dagger, and she resolved, come what
would, Adelia should be found and brought
back.
1t is three years now since Adel!a Stiles
was kidnapped, and during the first twelve
months after her disappearance not the
slightest clew was discovered that would
lead to the unraveling of the mystery
A brother of Ferdinand Stiles. living in
Morristown, had aided the father to escape
with his children.
He had actually furnished horses and
wagon with which to carry the rlinaways
to the station.
This brothers wife had found her sym
pathies going out to the grieved and sad
dened mother. though she did not dare to
let her husband know.
SHE FOUND CLEW
IN A POSTMARk.
To this sister-in-law Mrs. Stiles appealed.
for this seemed the one link by which she
hoped to connect the past with the un-
known future of her dear one.
Cautiously, jealously and careful to
arouse no suspicion in her husbands mind
this Mrs. Stiles watched day by day the
letters that came to her husband
One day she recognized Ferdinand's
handwriting on an envelope. and with diff
Guilty she made out the postfnark-"seat-
tie, Wash"
Here at last was a point upon which to
build plans of rescue. a point by no means
certain and which e1tailed worry, EXPENSE
and days of travel, but Mlletta Stiles
grasped at 1t with fervor.
To be able to clasp her darling once more
in her arms. to hold her safe and well was
toll
with nothing more than this slender
ciew, the Seattle postnark. to guide her.
ana without knowing single soul in that
part OF the country. it became rather a
puzZiinS question to decide upon what
course of action to pursue in order to bring