Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-12-05
OLD MILLWRIGHT.

tne sense you mean, and Still / am
very much of a traveller. ] have spent
a great part of my time during the
last five years in looking for man
whom have not yet found"
The fellow-passenger across the
table withdrew his cigar quickly from
his lips, and stared incredulously at
the younger man. His look of in
credulity was mingled with one of
curiosity. "Is that SO" he exclaimed.
"You mean to say you are q detective?"
"Not exactly" answered the other
with a smile. 81 wish / were, that
is, if possessed the marvellous powers
of unearthing things and people that
such folks are supposed to have. No,
my search ia one of purely personal
interest. The man am looking for
Is lost relative, not criminal"
The older traveller was much in
terested. "Yes!" he said question
ingly; "a relative you say?"
swell, if you like, l'll tell you
about it. It's an old story with me,
but if you travel all over these states
there's a chance in thousand that
some time you may be able to help
me. If you can l will be only too
glad to pay you handsomely"
The two men found comfortable
seats on the after-deck of the steamer,
and the younger man continued:
"The man / am looking for is nv
wife's father, man l have never
seen. When my wife was baby her
father left his home. There had
been fuss between him aud his wife.
Lucy never knew exactly what it was,
for she was too young to remember,
and her mother lived only few years
after the separation. But it seems
that her mother owned the house
they lived in, and it was the old story
of the wife owning the property.
This man, Lucy's father, declared
when he left home that his wife had
ordered him from her house and that
ne would never darken the door again.
He is said to have been man of
strong preiudices.
"No one has heard from that man
since the day he left home, over
twenty gears ago. If he has written
a line to any one We do not know it.
He seems to have disappeared as COM
pletely as if the earth had swallowed
him.
"Of course, it may be possible that
he is dead, but Lucy has never been
willing to believe that. Here of late
years it seems to be the one hope of
her life that he may some day be
found and brought back. i have
spent quite sum of money in adver-
tising and travelling, all for nothing"
"You have never found any trace
at alp" asked the older man.
"No; several times we have thought
We had q clue to his whereabouts,
but our hopes have been built up
only to be shattered. Every now and
then, though, make a trip into
some new section of country, hoping
to get hold Of information that will
put me on the right track. / have
offered rewards time and again. /
would willingly give you a thousand
dollars tonight if you could tell me
where he can be found"
81 wish l could tell you," said the
older traveller. "That's quite an in
seresting story, he added after
few moments of silence. "Haven't
you anything at all to go on?"
Practically nothing"
"What kind of a man was he in
looks?"
"We don't know. That's the
trouble. We haven't good photo
graph of him. You see, it has been
over twenty years since any of his
relatives saw him. Even if he is
now living he is no doubt very differ
ent looking from what he was when
he left home. ! have his picture
here in locket that his wife wore,
but this is a picture of him as y
young man." The speaker took
locket from leather pocket case and
it to his fellow-passenger,
who examined it minutely. "Don't
you think he is living somewhere
under an assumed name?" he asked.
at is possible, but hardly think
so. From what / have been told of
him l am inclined to the idea that
ne is living in some very obscure
place and has never given his prev
ious history to people around him."
The older traveller took ont mem
oranda book. "Did 1 understand
you to say your name was Louis
Rivers?" he asked. 81 am going to
make memoranda of this. l NAV
strike up on your man some time in
my travels"
81 wish you would, returned the
young man warmly. eff you can
put me on the right track at any time