The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-09-30

the American puDllC I'LL Ou6A A'S
rious representatives, the reporters.
And to these questions Mr.. Langloru
could return no adequate answer "hat,
ever except the truth, which ne coulu
not bring himself to tell. he ae'
clared that she had left the yacht III
the South seas, that he did not KNOW
her present whereabouts, and refused
to say anything further privately VI
in public. Miss Brenton had no near
relations; what was everybodys ousl'
ness was nobodys, and presently pun,
lie interest in her declined. she anu
her philosophy were practically ior-
gotten BY all but Langford himself
Fortune, which had done him some
evil turns, here, however, interposeo 10
his advantage. The lady who legaly
bore his name departed this life ana
left him a free man. Brute though ne
had been. Langford was not without
some strong idea Of honor anu oe-
cency. Indeed, he had enjoyed long
and undistributed hours Of meditation
upon his sins of omission and commls'
sion during his period OF conVales.
cence, and the calm consideration OF
character and career had done nllll
good, At heart, in spite OF his orutal
conduct, for which drink had largely
been responsible, he was gentleman
and capable of things fine and hlgh
under the stimulus of some really
great emotion. He had come to real.
ize. to put it mildly, what an awful
fool he had been to say nothing OF MS
; villainy. What had led him to THIS
e realization had been the remembrance
e Of the hours he had passed with kath-
/ arine Brenton before the clouds had
arisen which had eliminated IN that
e awful storm, the recollection OF Whlcn
fairly made him shudder However
e he had deceived her by protested al
9 herence to her wild theories and I'M
possible philosophers, he had honestly
q loved her. and association with mel
II had been of benefit to him. II NJ
only had not given away to his tenn
IT per and his appetite! If it had no
e. been for his former obligation!
He had married his wife in a mo
H. ment of boyish infatuation. The unlol
~ had been impossible almost from tn
first, She was little more than a.
adventures, much older than he, VIII
had entrapped him for his money
There had been separation on III
eral financial basis, to which the won
do an had readily, even cheerfull!
lis agreed, and he had no lingering r.
3d. mains Of affection to hold him bacl
IS Her death was only relief to hin
''e He felt that he owed reparation
Katherine Brenton, and he was NOR
~ willing to pay the debt because he We
'.h honestly and genuinely in love wit
III her so far as man Of his temper
'ne ment could be in love with Woma
Ine He wanted to make amends Tor n
ga treatment. He would have given an
'oii thing he possessed to have been alb
~ to say how ashamed he was OF all tn
49, he had done, and to beg her to torgl'
c. him and marry him.
. The death of his father and the
~, ~ cessity for the administration OF t.
f. vast interests Of the bonanza kins
~ estate prevented him from at el
W. engaging upon the search which
% promised himself he would make, b
~ he expedited matters, sometimes
az, his own loss, as rapidly as he cou
a and after nearly years stay In 5
- Francisco, he found himself in pc
-. ton to undertake his quest. For
49, 49, year thereafter he and the Southe
-; Cross traversed the unexplored, un1
80 - tied waters of the South seas.
80 had landed upon island after isla
...S. which he had examined with min
, .;.o particularly. Some he had found
es habited by natives, whom, through
,oan terpreters he had procured, he al
toned unavailingly. He ran acr
stray vessels trading among the
to,n lands, and through them with {
and stantly increasing, ever widening
tin, diums, he carried on his search,
+ha+ without result. In thus sweeping
on1w Pacific, he visited everything that
,+,on charted, and all that he could
Ha that was not, and was now homeW
and bound, convinced that the launch n
q he have foundered and that he W.
= ii. never solve the mystery Of her di
He pearance.
peed, SO asslouously nau Nc iose :,
~ n his search that the crew Of the So
The ern Cross, who knew nothing as to
long cause OF Tug essei neso' VIII lug ~,
hath. ception Of the ship master, lot
and upon him as harmless vision
had They had been away 50 long and
.ross visited so many islands with so n
weak hardship, oftentimes with so Il
A. On danger from uncharted reefs in the
known seas that they were one an
anton wildly anxious to return from tn
,de ! them, aimless wandering. II he
np a.. communicated to them at the frs
II no. quest, they would have shared
,pford eagerness, but he kept it to hin
vac as he had kept his own counst
) sha San Francisco, and he straitly cha
he AZ. his sailing master to say nothing
had Consequently the lookout on