Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1910-06-16
CHAPTER XIII.
The Lonq Search.

XIV III -SiS SGt~ A Ar.
Mr.. Valentine Arthur Langford was
YEARLY pacing the quarter deck of his
magnificent yacht, the Southern Cross.
MI. Langford was an intensely dis
appointed and embittered man. He
had made two ventures which, by a
stretch Of language in one case at least,
could be called matrimonial, and both
sof them had resulted in disaster. Death
opportunity had relieved him Of n
wife; the other who had stood in the
place of the former without the legal
ceremony or the spiritual benediction
had vanished under circumstances so
mysterious that he had no idea wheth-
eer she was alive or dead. On a certain
might some three years ago he had a
dim remembrance that he had be-
haved like a brute to a woman. His
remembrance was only dim as to de-
tails. 1t was entirely clear as to the
fact.
What had happened as a result Of
his conduct he could not clearly state.
The next morning the crew had found
him lying insensible on the cabin floor
with a fractured skull. The woman
was gone, also the power boat which
had trailed astern of the yacht in the
pleasant weather. Such was his physi-
cal condition that when he was not
unconscious, he was d%elirious. He had
been able to give no coherent account
of affairs and equally unable to give
any directions as to the future move
ments of the yacht, which had been
bound nowhere in particular upon a
pleasure cruise.
The old sailing-master and captain
much distressed by the situation and
the emergency in which he found him
self suddenly plunged, decided thai
his best course, in fact, his only
course, was to get back to civilization
and a doctor as soon as possible, He
had instantly put the yacht about and
headed for the nearest land where he
might hope to get suitable care for his
terribly Ill young employer. He
pushed the yacht to the utmost speed
and in three weeks dropped anchor il
Honolulu, just in time to save the
young mans life. Indeed, for a lonl
time it was touch and go as to wheth
4er his life could be saved at all, an(
it was not until nearly a year hat
elapsed before the Southern Gross
sailed for San Francisco with a veal
and shaky, but convalescent owner, OF
her quarter deck.
eYHHt.G .HaL8, = -. ~ .L-E.- U-.H
The departure of Katharine Brentol
with Valentine Langford had made
great sensation, but 1t was nothing t,
the sensation which ragged when it be
came known that Valentine Langfort
had returned without her. She wa
Ia woman of too much Importance, sh,
had played too large a part In the al
fairs Of the world, civilization ha,
manifested too much interest in he1
to allow her to drop out of its sigh
without ait least making an effort t
find her. The position of Mr.. Waller
tine Langford became Interestingly
difficult in the face Of a storm Of ii
curry. Mr.. Langford's previous mai
riage was, fortunately for him, III
known, but the world had had a con
plete and adequate idea Of the term
of the union which had been entere
upon so blithely between Langford an
Miss Brenton that the first questio
that met him when he came back alon
was ais to which one had repentet
Fad the woman come to her sense'
had the man grown tired Of her, ma
they parted, and where was the won
an? These were queries which wer
put to him with the direct simplicity {
the American public through Its imp
rious representatives, the reporter
And to these questions Mr.. Langlor
could return no adequate answer VIVA
ever except the truth, which he 10y
not bring himself to tell, He e
clared that she had left the yacht !
the South seas, that he did not kno
her present whereabouts, and refuse