Rensselaer Union, Volume 2, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1869 — The Broken Home. [ARTICLE]

The Broken Home.

f* nuWiSJMQOJ* THAU''MOTION." In Han Francisco, on the north aide of Folsom street, OVnlpokMlg Bay, stand* a-pala»tal resilience. <- ‘ •" • TH'-Interior o( thfa idnsc<l» byea more beat* tlfnl tipm Its exterior, every apartnWnt be tag In Ur w.y.ijrtahtor msgqlncenc* gnd refinefcmrf. ■ The library especially realizes the moat perfect Meal of an elegant and cultured home. And yet. at the moment we look In upon hintone Auguat afternoon, aa be occupied hia library—the proprietor <>4»« *»»«>•*• a ivoaryd; **M men the moat miserable. He was Mr. Morton PMdoi M'MutyyeMaMH-i |ng banker of San Franetaoo,, . 1/iaai. *-w It waa In valnthat the broatT bay-wlrfdow at tw routb end of AetolA had %eea'<<Ht*e<t giving Ingress to tho sunshine and the fragrance of rare flowjcrsln vain that the wall* vnwe' llheA rfnli rieilyi carved book-cases and yjjn Jha| foft couches nnd luxurious chair* had been gathered 1 around him. ■■ He waa wretghgd. at bOt: haMna gawzFvrafoy Q( yortUjpPffc benalon, of harrowing anglgly, pt expectancy. It wan evident at a glance that no merely physical Hln»rnt Iwt iatuto Mm wfmklfc Was. By what withering bV “what deStrnythg affliction, had he bgiffl tlnu agonized ? tlraakawip cd? thus hunted? he so npble and good 1 hb R> wealthy and dlatingnlaiyMi'o 'itjci' .2HU9 Aa he moved restlCMly upon cuntiiona the pretty clock on the mhntd-ptaCe atrack Ave, every stroke seeming to fall Ilk* a hammer anon the heart of the nervons BA drdueed Mmsolf, struggling feebly to* silting posture. “ Oh, will this fatal daynever, never pass T’ he murmnred; “ nor bring w>relief?” Noticing with * nereon* ; aitart Qiat, he Waa alone, 'he touched a.heltrnptm a’taMe before htm. and called:

“ Helen. Helen I whert W* you’Y i Before the echoes of his voice bad died out a ■tep was heard, and his.wife entered hia presence. “I left yonrerntyfon a. moment, Morton A she said, advancing to the Kintor-'s side. “ Yon were dozing, I think. I wished to rend for the doctor I" She was a beautiful witman, of some, six and thirty years, graceful, with broad white brows, and loving eyes, in which rite brightness and sweetness of a sunshiny liatifre were still pctceptihle, nmler a grief and anxiety no less poignant than that evinced by her husbanri. •” ■ ' “ "The d.Ktoz4” hpe<*ioed, half repropohtaUy. “ Yes, dear, m sifd. In a cahn and eheesfttl voice, as she drew a chair to the side of th? sofa, and sat down, stroking the corrugated forehetal of the invalid with a magnetic touch. “He will be here Immediately. Yonrtast nervons crisis alarmed me. Yon may become seriously ill?” Mr. Preble bestowed an Mtotionate look upon his wile, but said tawdndraipyj . ' > “The doctor! jMcfiinifik' ‘Minister -to a tnlnd diseased!’ Oh, if’these rolfg hours Would 'only ! ’ If I pnly ipew what the day has yet in store “ Look up, Morton!" enjoincd’Mm. Preble, with a reverently trustful glance upward through the open window at the blue aky, and as if looking beyond the azure clouds therein. “Let na appeal front the injustice ano wicKedness of earth to the goodness andflnetty oPHeaxenl” k The banker gitvC a lots. Sobbing — ’• I cannot look up, Helen.” he auswered, with a passionate tremor In his voice---” only down, down at the grave that is opening beforejbb I” Mrs. Preble continued to stroke his forehead softly, while she lifted her pale lace to the sunlight streaming into the apartment. “Look up, Morton—always look up I" she again enjoined upon the invalid. “During all these fourteen years of agony, I haveAot once doubted eUUor Ah* goodpess or th? justice of Heaven. IBlessed art they Wat moum; i&r they shall be beSmfbrttal.’ I believe that we shall yet rejoice more keenly than we have mourned, and that we shall come to a glorions day of joy beyond all. this long night of sorrow!” The nice of the invalid lighted up with an answering glow, and he murmured: “ Glorious faith I My wifc, you are. Indeed a blessed comforter! Fprhaps, after all, y<ra are right!” r ' ’ . I $4. J * A knock resounded on a side door at this Juncture. and tho next moment Dr. Hatton, the family physician, for whom Mrs. Preble had sent, entered the room.l lie was an old man, portly in flgnrO, with white hair and beard, but with a fresh and ruddy complexion, a pair of shrewd blue eyen, and withan exuberant boyishness oi manner that sat ■ welF upon him. He had a kind heart and clear head. He approached the sofa after greeting the husband and wife, and lifted the thin restless hand of th <5 invalid, pause. “Wqrrying again, eh, Mr. Preble ? You are wearing yourself out.' Medicine will do you no good so long as your tnlnd’ts in Its present condition. I must give you an opiate—” “ Not now, doctor.”interposed the banker. “I cannot—must not—sleep to-day! I need to be broad awake now, for I cannot tail at any moment what the next may bring forth.' lam looking for the culmination ot *ll my jgars of anguish^-for the crowning agony of the wjoli!. Perhaps even'now 1 — Ah, what was that?” He started up wttdly, and then, ae the sound that had disturbed him was not repeated, he sank back again on his cushions; B»Hid *e4panting. ' The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble with an anxious, questioning glance. , <•_ • ■ “It is the anniversary,*! she replied to . his unspoken inquiry—" the anniversary of our loss.” “ Ah, yes," said the dOctot. “ 1 remember.” “ Yes, it’s another of those terrtlfte days,!’ cried the banker, in a hollow whisper. “ Sit down, doctor, and I will tell jsou story. I can think of nothing else to-day. and art- Slnibst wild with apprehension and anxiety. Bit down.” Dr. Hutton drew upa chair' aSd JMated hlmself, his face expressing the double solicitude of a friend and physician. . - -’•.ST " You knew us fdnfteetryeflrt'tawrioetlbr,” said Mr. Preble. “ SVe lived then where we dp now, in a cottage on the site of thiy great maasion? iThere were bnt the three of us—Helen Mid I, and onr three-year old Jessie. And it was fourteen years ago to-day that our iMw-Jessie was .tablen from us."

I “I remember it,” said the doctor.softty. 1“ Yet 1 might she not have been' lost, Mr. • Preble J She went out to play in the garden, if J remember rightly, and was never .aeon by ybtu4g*in. She might have strayed away—” “So we thought fora wholftyear, doctor,” Interrupted the banker. “We ne««r dlfcuped that she had been stolen. We searchcrfeverywhcre for her, and offered immense rewards for her recovery, ■/employed detectives, but all to no purpose. 3Vbpn our little Jessie radllown the steps into that JloWp>'-aftrsei,” audXepointed to Mw front of the kuRMe, t‘ asJf the earth had opened and Swallowed Jier up, wo never saw her'agant'* ’’ i “ She must have found the gate open, and wandered out,”suggestefl.jprrjitnton. “Shemight have strolled down to the- Waters and been drowned.” .. ,> . ' The banker fared Ms "bnrUing eyes upon the physician’s face, and whispered - : , “I said we nqyer eaw Ute poor ctdlrt-.again. I did not say we had'nottlcard es her. She wut lost on the Sth ot August, IStH. For a year wo thought her dead. Bui. ftp t>O^ntbjer»iuv'pf our ,loss we received a written message-Concerfimg her?’ “A n»e#»agel”..cried IM jlutten, starting. “A fnenr ecriwvl—a siaglW line In a. hand evidently disguised,” said the banker. “ Here it’hr.*' the physician, who read as follows: “A ugust 9, ISM. Jeeeie, ha, ha ! Jeeeie." Dr- lintton looked, with a pttzkled air, from the ncrap of paper, which ho turned over and over, to the countenance of the banker. “ 1 oan make,nothing of this,” be declared. “It u merely a date wltfe tho name, of your lost Wdid lU'. a?Wl?®’ f ’ ,I said Mr ftnWe. “ Then that »a* >e and thattdafc, with the demon laugh connecting them, set Ba to thinking.- A whole year wo agdnfted over the dreadful'problem, and then we received another message, which you shall see.” r ' He thrudt a second slip of paper, identical in shape ami appearance with the first, before the The physician started, as if aiectrifled. “Ah! mists something dednUa—something decisive,” he muttered “If convinced yon that yonr daughter was still living.” “ Yas, docto*,ri.said Mr. Preble, “and every annivAaarj ffighat qjy has brought ug aoane message. TNedßifepearanice of the child, mysterious as ItTs, does not seem to me half so strange as that the villain who took her away conld, contrlve to communicate With us every year since, and always on a partieuka day—the anniversary of that on which she was stolen—without otfr being able to disebver who he fe. And a still greater wonder to me is iWtuncvbfhismotive. It seems inCrediUe. If n waa etried ta a- novel m»ny petpie Would not believe It. But‘truth Ibstranger than fiction.’” Mrs. Pipble drew from her husband’s' Breasttwoiwr*«'’ Dr. Hutton adjusted his spectacles, glanced over the page, and then slowly read the group of •ntrsesaloud. entry tjie first year Is as folAnd the next year it is— . . . M um«ws*», 1856. Tour Jeeeie etiU liBM” ■' 1857. SUU in good hander' She U wea oe ewr" ■■And the next— • ~ I JMtefieryesfantey/” “ A.ugnat.9, 1860, She'e growing rvpUlgr' AngustlL’lSHl. She an<ttnne» to dn weil!" Pneteen her “ a Bgnst 9.1863. 8h» eheetnm^gaiboman T' > And the next- • ’ “ August 9, 1864 Tour thirteen!" A »»lsW< riv’/’'

A And U.C year it .ir I'" ,'f J -a, ' “ Autu) 9, 1807. >’v reward If Olhmitnitx.<4 M. thought nil rtie upon Uto MroAfnd ii—tnwrt M|d wUa. “How did tpete uieMigM coma to yon?" h« d«- “ Invariably by ‘pool," rb|M«< Mr. Freble. ‘ •• tinally to the honre, but •omotlmei tot bn offlapl", “ And yon h.ye never aeen their author I vMavonr . ~- “. , / “Tba laal ot tlnpn la dated, 1 oee, a year ago today!” “ Yea, yea," tillered the banker. “ and ill. time baa come for another tamaaag". TWe to -Uto -»♦»* of Difilnttoe. “And thto to t*e aw. cret of your terrible excitement! Yon are axpectIng to receive to-day another oTlbooe atrango moewW . bfisr rflebde?. Mre. Prvbie'a hand flattened In ItatoilQ nd tap. fnca grew very pale., The banker breathed gaspingly. The physician tee garded them both In friendly sympathy. j ■. 1 < “We shall hear other again to-day," said Mr. I*rebto; **and what anil the mgaaMge be!" f 1. The mother averted her face. Her brave heart faltered as that tpteMlon echoed tn baroouL 1, } [ *• The write/ of those latteru to unquestionably the abductor of yonr'cbiM!" Mid Dr. MdttonJ " Have you any suspicion as to bia identity!”. “ Not thC slfghteat. ’sald Mr. Prdble. “We Dave punstod prey tie) prehlem far many years, but we cannot guess who Ite it?’ • " Think," said the doctor. “ Have you no enemy ! Ido noj mean people with whom yon are not yon knew In the 1 Kaak swio hated you f, No one against whom, yoa were called npqn to testify—ne 6ne whom yon possfMy injured!”' - - ■ •' ■.. The banker shook hfa head. He had ayked hlmaelf dH tbOM'ijueMlfrna repoatfedlyo • > 1 " 1 have no such enemy, doctor,” he answeccd wITli elncenty-of VdlccAnd manner. ‘'And Mrs. Pribtef!’ vu/geceted the doctor, turning, to her. “Have yon no rejected snflor Wlib might be rereugeful enougU to desolate ,your home!” ■ . , , - 1 ■ z - "NO," «iM the tody. “I waa married eafly. Morton way jny tret lover 1” “This is strange—very strange I” muttered Hie doctor. “Yon are net consojos* of having.an enemy In the world, and yet yon have au enemy -a, hidden roe—a fleud inhuman form—who is working out against you a fearful hatred I And you have nott the al^htestsuspicion as to whom lleis!” “ Not the slightest-” declared the banker. “ Not the slightest!" echoed Mrs. Preble.- “My husband had a step brother who might have been enpohitof this intamy— but ha la dcadl ’ “ The handwriting not familiar?” ' “No. It fa merely a rude scrawl, as yon see,” said the hanker. “It suggests notlffijg—«x<»pt that it Je evidently disguised 1” Again these was a profound silence, “ Our cilild is seventeen , years, old now," at length murmured Mrs. Preble, bet voice trembling. “She is oq: Uu> tlireshold, of womanhood. No doubt, during ail, these years,, she jiaayeantod for us, wherever she may be, as we taro yearned for her I”• “But Whore is she!" asked the physician—and now hto voice wak broken by hia deep sympathy with the agonized parents. “Where can Rhe be?” “ Heaven dtaly knows;” answered the mpthcr. •“ Porhapk in Han Fraucisco—perhaps in some rude hut in the interior, with home obwenre farmer and under a name that is not hers I I think her abductor would have carried her to some lonely regton of the interior, among- the valleys and mountains. Tet Lnevcfsee.a young’’girl is the streets without turning to look at her. I never hear a girlish voice without listening eagerly, half fan-' eying that it may prove the .voice of my lost •“ ern, pitying beavetri” sighed Dr. Hutton, dashing a flood of tears from hia eyes. “ Will thie long agony never be over?" “We hope so, and even 1 believe so," answered Mrs. Psebte, with the firmness of an unfaltering trust in God's mercy. “Tire last iheseage we received from oar enemy seems to point to some kind of a change.” “True,” assented Dr. Hutton, looking at the message in question. “It Is unlike the others. It says that hi. ‘reward is at hand.’ He means either that he intends to marry yodi ’danghter, or that be,intends to demand money of yon for bringing her bask-or both.” "Wevhall soon know,” said Mrs. Preble, with forced Mlranyss, “To-day we.shall havg another message, no doubt. What wiU it be !” The banker turned restdeSely oh hfesofa, and his face grew oven paler. “Whatever It is, let it come!” he murmured. “ Anything can be boms better than this awful suspense. Jjetif cogue J’’ As If his impatient words had precipitated a crisis, a step was heard on the walk at this moment, and a ring at the front d'oot followed. “Another message I "’breathed the banker. A Servant soon entered, bearing a letter, which he extended to Mr. Preble, saying: “ The bearer is in the hail.” With an eager gaze, the (banker glanced at the superscription of the misflve. "It is from Atm/” he faltered.

He tore the envelope open. It contained a slip of paper, of well-known shape:and appearance, - upon,which. was scrawled a single .Use, in an equally well-known handwriting, which the banker exhibited to Ms wife and' the physician. •< ' i Thia Hue was as follows: “ August S, 18«8, Jit ste 1M uB !" Ashocknf wonder and hprror shook the three Muniltanpously. .. “ Will call 1” cried Mr. Preble, starting to his feet, and glaring wildly Around. “Is coming here!” cried Mrs, Preble, also arising. <1 , ‘lfc seams so,” said Dr. Hutton, his eyes again reverting to the message. “He will be here at six o'clock, and see ! tt ia vlx already t” * Even as he spoke; the elock on the mantel-piece commenced striking the appointed hour, and At that instant heavy footsteps resounded in the ball, approaching the library. . “ It Is he !" eried the doctor, also arislng. As the last stroke of the hour resounded, the door leading from the hall again opened. ‘ “ One long and'horrified glanoe cast the banker and his wife in that direction, and then she fell heavily to the.floor,: Her senses had left her. Tire above we publishas a specimen chapter; bnt tire eontlnhinion of th!s story will be found only in the N.Y. Ledger. Ask for the number dated,December 4th, which can be bad at any news office or bookstore. If yon are not within reach of a pews Office, you can have ; the Ledger mailed to you -fbr.one year by sending 1 three dollars to Robert Ronner, pnblpjher, itw William street. New Yofk- The Ledger pays more for original cpUtributiotas than any other l periodical hl the world. It will publish none but the very, relrbest, 1 Its moral tone to the purest, and Its circulation the largest. Kvbry body Who takes It is happier for having it. Leon Lewis, Mrs. Harriet Lewis, Mrs. SouthwOrth' Mr. Cobb, Professor Peck, Mary ®yle Dallas, Fanny Fem end Miss Dupuy will write only for the Ledgorbereaften ; Mr. Bonner, like other (gadlug publishers, might issue three or five, papers and magaidnes; but he prefers, to concentrate fill his energies upon one, And in that Way to make* it the test. One Dexter is Worth , more than three or five ordinary horses. , . Qus acieaoe only, can one genius fit, So vajj is art, so narrow human wit.

Burns and Beauts.—For these aocldenU there are a thousand and one articles reconrtnendcd, as (all) being thebest that wasever known. But this we do know, that Dr. 8. A. WBAVBR’S CERJtTB has sated life in case of a scald, were all who saw the qase .thought the patient must die. The Cerate was kpnlied, the Inflahimation Was subdued, and the child was■skved Any one who wisl try it. will say that they have never found its equal for tl.ia kind M medicine dealers gdn'erally. J ~ ; - ■_—i• •