Ellsworth American., 1904-12-07
Her Disappearance
Ioriginal.l

comfortable fortune. and II was nat
ural she should fear that the man she
married would he Influenced by this
rather than disinterested love How
ard Wright was the man who won her
preference. and She only hesitated to
accept him on account of this dread.
Howard had no fortune. He had been
gra .aated at the law and had only
commenced its practice. After much
hesitation on account of the disparity
of Iheir resources and halting encour-
-agement from Adelaide he proposed to
her. She took the proposition under
advisement.
True love-" she argued, ''such love
as | wish for. is constant. If Howard
loves me as he says he does, he will
wait a long time for me, and if | die
he will never marry. Why can't die
and come to life again few years
later just to see how true he has been
to my memory? Why not disappear
and be forgottenY'
! The idea having once found lodg-
ment, she put 1t into execution. She.
was well situated to do so, having no
parents or brothers or sisters She
made a will tying up her property for.
two years after her death, then, taking
all the ready money she required, went
abroad first giving Howard favora-
bic answer to his suit. She wrote him
from London, from Paris, from Con-
stantinople. This was the last heard
from her directly. News came that an
American lady had disappeared from a
steamer on the Nile whose baggage
showed plainly that she was Miss Adj
elaide Warren.
Howard Wright was loath to believe
that his fancee had walked into the
Nile either as a somnambulist or a
suicide or while suffering from delir-
ium. He rather believed that she had
not gone, aboard the steamer, as was
supposed. However, when three months
passed with no news of her he scraped
together what money he could and
went abroad to investigate the matter.
At Alexandria he delved into it, ques-
tiOning those employed on the steamer
from which Adelaide had disappeared
as we'll as police officials, but could
find no clew. After month spent in
these fruitless investigations he con-
cluded to go home; but, meeting a col
lege classmate Louis Hunt, who had
been sert out by his university to fit
himself for professorship of the
Greek language and literature, Howard
was persuaded to go over with him to
Athens. Hunt was studying in Athens
and had gone to Egypt on brief tour.
Howard was despondent at the loss
of his betrothed. with whom he had
been very much in love- Indeed, since
there was doubt as to her death, he
loved her still. He was therefore loath
to 90 with his friend but the young
professor told him that he wished him
to see Greek lady with whom he was
much in love and whose consent to
their marriage he expected on his re-
turn. While searching for the home of
one of the Greek poets he had encoun-
tered her in village near Athens.
Hunt had found her more interesting
study than the homes of the poets. She
was well educated, had spent many
years in England, spoke the English
language perfectly and was personally
very attractive. Her name was Helena
Merianis
When they arrived in Athens the
young professor drove out alone to re-
ceive an answer to his proposition of
marriage. When he returned he was
jubilant, having been accepted, though
he was much chagrined at having been
obliged to promise to become a Greek
citizen and live with his wife in that
country In vain he had tried to move
the lady by telling of the position
awaiting him in America and his un-
fitness to make living in Greece. She
only reiterated that she would not go
to America and would live in the villa
which she was then occupying.
"Go with me to see her tomorrow
Howard" said Hunt, "and put the case
to her fofA me, as l could not put it
myself"
Howard consented, and the next
morning the two drove out to Helena
Merianis' villa. The grounds were
spacious, through which a carriage
way led to the house. Hunt saw fig
ure at an upper window and waved
his handkerchief. Wright was think
ing of his own lost love and unmind-
full of everything else. The figure dis
appeared from the window, and the
men alighted at the portal. Hunt told
a servant to go and tell his mistress
that he had brought a friend to call
upon her.
After a long wair-an impatient one
to Hunt-the servant returned and re-
ported that his mistress must have
gone out since she was not to be found.
Hunt angrily replied that he had seen
her at window and started to look
for her himself. He went through the
house and, not finding her, frightened
at her sudden disappearance, called
Wright to join him, and the two scour-
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