The times., 1897-05-16
A RUNAWAY COUNTESS.

no business TO inquire or TO know them.
What heard and saw and passed through.
however, can tell you All about and with
the hope 10 interest you;
The Count ID Charny, as l viii call MIN,
was an old man with a young wife. That
his honor was safe in her hands he never
for an instant doubted, and she came and
went as she pleased. Aside from his sixty
years of life he was gouty and dyspep1c,
and though he b ad millions of money pnd a
title, the last was noa an offset TO- the fiIst.
Three or four years after her marriage the
countess met an English gentleman whose
name must give as Kane. He was as fine
looking man 1 ever saw, age about
tbirty-five, and every word and action
showed the gentleman. 1t was said that h e
had mint OF money, and from the ex-
penses he met am inclined To believe the
statement. For year he lived in Paris
III the most expensive manner and danced
Attendance on the countess Then they
agreed To eiope together, and their plans
were carried out in the coolest and most
businesS-like manner ThecOunEess went at
1t 10 sell all the property III her own night,
and TO get as much cash out of the count as
shecouid, and at The endofthree months she
a million dollars in money and jeweiry To
take with her. Meanw hile Kane had gone 10
England and purchased large and hand
some schooner yacht and given out that Ii e
was going on a long pleasure cruise to the
Indian Ocean He took a crew aboard and
brought up in the port OF Cherbourg. and
there the schooner was provisioned and some
alterations made 10 her cabins. She was
h.
and it needed only a glance at her finely
modelled lines to tell that she could sail
like a witch.
One afternoon in June the master of the
Syipb, as the schooner was called, came
ahOaTe with his wife and "A lot OF bagga -
followed do not think any man on the
schooner knew whether the owner was mar
ried or single, nor did any one question
that the lady he brought aboard was his
wife. Two hours after their arrival the
vessel sailed, and she bad been gone three
days when the Count D 'Charny turned Up
at CherboUTg with three or four friends and
began an investigation Mr.. K ane and
the countess bad eioped together and hada
coed start Most husbands, especially old
and decrepit husbands, would nave given
way 20 indignation for awhile and then
made up their minds to let the woman go,
but no. 80 with the oil 3 count II she had run
away with FTenchman it might have been
different. but she had gone with a English
man, and he hated the English With all his
heart. He didn't blame the countess, a. she
was young and giddy, but as for Kane he
must be OvertaEe ken and shot down or run
through tO satisfy a. husbands vengeance
The only way 20 overhaul the schooner was
toeharter another vessel, and this was dune
as speedily as men could move.
Lying in the SanIe harbor, with her ca r.U
just discharged. was the American bark
Meteor, of which was second mate The
Meteor was che OF the fastest crafts afIoat
at the time, and the counts friends came
aboard and told the story OF the elopement
and offered Capt. Black his own price il
he would charter The idea was to 20 in
pursuit of the SyIph, ia king the c0unE and
bis friends along, and to cruise until we
found her We might be gone 4 month Or a
year. / don c know the price paid, but il
was steep one, and as soon as Tire terms
were settled we set about ma King ready
Our complement OF men was fourteen all
told By the counts orders we shipped
crew of Twenty-Five While we were gettiu.
water end provisions aboard carpenters
We're at work in the cabin, a gun was he
ing mounted on deck, and cutIaSses and
muskets were brought aboard TO arm the
crew. In three days we were out 70 sea
and in the wake of the Sylph. The captain
Of the schooner was the only man aboard of
her except the owner who knew that she
was bound 10 tire Indian Ocean, and meet
ing with an old friend in port and taxing
glass too much he had let out the secret
That was the way we came TO know the
destination. 1t was a foolish idea in the
count to chase his wife under any cfrcun-
stances, bat here he was, an old man. lame,
ill, and had never even crossed the channel,
We were small craft with a big crew,
and all hands were crowded, but the old
fellow was willing TO suffer any ineonyen-
fence and run any risks for the sake Of
overha Uling the clippers. He had two friends
and adoctor with him, andit was his lavish
use of money which prepared Us for sea so
quickly. Theelopers had fast craft, plenty
OF money and woeld not be overhauled If
they coul,i helpit The count al plenty of
money, craft equally as fast, and had
vowed 70 hunt them down il it took five
years That was the way things stood as
we sailed out of the harb1r
Bound for the Indian Ocean meant a
great deal, and yet it meant nothing 1t
meant run Of thousands of miles down the
coast-around the Cape Of Good Hope
Australia, India or dezen other places
Asthe schooner Had six days the staFtof u.s.
and the winds had been fair, she was at
least SOC niles ahead. Our only hope of
getting on her track before reaching the
cape was in speaking vessels coming I'D
from the South AS we were clear Of the
land all sail was piled on To the kark,
with orders to fuFl nothing except 70 save
her sticks. For tbirty-six hours we Ean 10
the south in n gale of wind which kept her
lee rail under the foam, and the run we
made has never yet been beaten by a
steamer. Then We spoke our first ship, but
no schooner had been seen. We got down
to the Madeiras without getting word Of
her, and after race TO the Canaries were
again disappointed 1t was two tlavs after
leaving the latter group, and while holding
for the Cape De Ver1es, that we got our
first news 1t came from an English rsa.n-
of-war, which had come upon the schooner
to the south of the cape while she was re-
pairing damages received aloft during a
SqualL She did not need assistance, and
her captain received the offer in very
churiish manner. She was not boarded, but
her name was recorded in the log book and
that was tile way we got track of her She
was still four days ahead of us. But for
this information we should have tonched
at the islands TO make inquiries and thus
lost another day As it was we gave the
bark all the sail she could stagger un,ler,
and twice refused to answer the signals Of
ships wishing to speak to us Kane would