The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-12-24
The Woman Who
Disappeared.

made shit, however, 10 Work our way
into one Of the bays of Chloe island,
and there we spent two weeks redt-
ting. The island named is about forty
miles off the coast of Chile. It is IF
teen miles in length and from three to
ten miles in breadth, and at the time
write Of was not permanently inhab
tied. 1t Is Of volcanic formation, bat
well wooded.
Just previous TO leaving London on
this voyage Captain Bennett had been
married TO a young lady whom he had
been counting for over three years.
She was the daughter Of manufac-
turer, and the marriage had the con-
sent and good wishes of her family.
She was a handsome, intelligent girl
of twenty. much in love with the cap
tain, and this voyage was their bridal
tour. I was the captains nephew and
second mate of the brig
When we had anchored the brig in
landlocked bay and began at the re-
pairs the young wife suggested 4 tent
under the trees ashore. A tent was erect
ed, a few necessaries taken ashore, and
there the happy couple spent their
nights and part of the days. During
the daytime, if the captain was not on
board they wandered over the island
or gathered shells along the beach. If
he was on board we could see her NOV
ing about or sitting under the trees.
We finally had things ready to proceed,
on1 o. hn 1E-fFn fN a
brought aboard next morning, when
strange thing happened. Captain Ben
nett had been with US all the after
noon, going ashore about 6 o'clock in
the evening. An hour later we were
notified that the wife was missing
1t did not seem a thing Of much ac-
count to me when l went ashore at his
call. I myself had seen the woman as
late as o'clock. She had been eau
toned not to wander too far, but had
been a bit needless. l had no doubt
that she would be found within the
hour and that we should all have q
good laugh over the incident The only
direction she could take from the tent
was due west, where narrow valley
AS0 444AdAAS@. AC captain A0t S3OA4N -
mile in this direction and shouted her
name and got no reply. We now hur-
ried along until we had covered dou
bic that distance, and we shouted at
the top OF our voices, but no answer
came to our halls. We followed the
valley, winding and turning, for a dis
lance of two miles and then returned
RI Ti4o hnaoh la
The disappearance was Il strange
thing. The woman could not have lost
her way. She could have gone in only
one direction. She had only to turn IN
her tracks to come back to the start
ing point. We had been there two
weeks and had not seen a stranger
about. Eight of US, provided with Ian
terms or torches, divided into four par
ties and began a new search. One
party went up the beach, another down,
and the other two followed the valley
to its end. 1t began or ended in q
basin of about an acre in extent This
basin was shut in by rocky hills and
pretty well covered with bushes. We
had brought a musket along, and for
No reply did we get. Then we returned
to see what luck the others had met
with. There was not much to hope for.
| The beaches were short, and no one
aboard the ship had seen the missing
" man strolling up or down. When
we reached the tent it was to find that
the other searches had been in vain.
Then the captain said:
My wife has wandered to a dis
lance. and in climbing some hills, per-
haps after a rare flower she has met
with a fall She may be lying dead, or
she may have been so badly hurt that
she cannot call out in answer. I shall
continue the search the night through. =
| There was no one who did not pity
| the man. We had a crew of fourteen,
| and, leaving only two men aboard az
an anchor watch, the rest of us re.
newed the search We went on the
/ idea that the woman must have climb
| ed the hills at some point. Six of us
| took one side of the valley and six the
| other, and we examined every spot
with the minutest care Wherever II
/ seemed possible for a woman to have
climbed up we sent a man. We looked
| for broken branches; we looked to see
/ If patches of moss had been disturbed;
we looked for fragments of her dress
clinging TO briers Not until daylight
came and we were thoroughly exhaust
/ ed and discouraged was there any let
/ up. Then we returned TO the ship for
| breakfast and a brief rest. The cap
/ tain sat down under a tree ashore
/ When morning came again he had
made up his mind what TO do The
brig could no longer be detained
/ Stores sufficient to last q man for many
weeks were landed, and she was sem
on her way III charge Of the mate Al
| valdivia be was to arrange for some
native craft 10 come and take the cap
| tain off. He would reln>iu and prose
cute the search until the mystery was
I solved and he WOuld allow no one te