T1 he Pioneer Hariware Ste
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H P Waite k cnim
The nitchell Wagon
is withqut doubt the best
farm wagon sold in this mark
et today The users of wag
ons have learned this henco
the unprecedented demand
But we are prepared to supply
all despite unusually large
sales
Furnaces and Stoves
We have a good line of furn
aces and heating stoves
If you are intending to put in
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inspect our stock and get es
timates
Farm Machinery
We are prepared to meet your needs in Press
Drills 5 Disc Drills 5 Hoe Drills Gang Plows
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Ranges
We have in stock
the Maleable tbo
Jewel and tbo Round
Oak Steel Rangesbo
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Cooks
A 1000
LOAN
Wire Nails
We always carry a
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We can also supply
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Ha rdware and
Tools
Oils
We have always on
hand Axle Grease
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Oil Cylinder Oil
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We also carry Lin
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can be paid off in
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First of all your interest demands absolute reliability You want to
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CLAY ROBINSON CO stock Yards KANSAS CITY
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Read onr market letter in this paper Write us for any special information desired
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ITrirtcxaooticppljToawoJIlJXlIo I
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The MGook Tribune Si00 per Year
SiS3srifclti5 --
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By
Henry Seton Merriman
Copyright 189S by HARPER fc BROTHERS
continued fbom last week
Iver ii aad fallen ever since and the
afternoon lowered gloomily In Ameri
ca such visitations are called bliz
zards here in Russia it is merely the
snow The freezing wind is taken as
n matter of course
At the castle all was in readiness for
the prince and princess their depar
ture from Tver having been telegraph
ed On the threshold of the great house
before she had entered the magnificent
hall Ettas eyes brightened her fatigue
vanished She played her part before
the crowd of bowing servants with
that forgetfulness of mere bodily fa
tigue which Is expected of princesses
and other great ladies She swept up
the broad staircase leaning on Pauls
arm with a carriage a presence a daz
zling wealth of beauty which did not
fall to impress the onlookers What
ever Etta may have failed to bring to
Paul Howard Alexis as a wife she
made him a matchless princess
lie led her straight through the
drawing room to the suit of rooms
which were hers These consisted of
an ante room a small drawing room
and her private apartments beyond
Paul stopped in the drawing room
looking round with a simple satisfac
tion in all that had been done by his
orders for Ettas comfort
These he said are your rooms
lie was no adept at turning a neat
phrase at reeling off a pretty honey
moon welcome Perhaps he expected
her to express delight to come to him
possibly and kiss him as some women
would have done
She looked round critically
Yes she said they are very nice
She crossed the room and drew aside
the curtain that covered the double lat
ticed windows The room was so warm
that there was no rime on the panes
She gave a little shudder and he went
to her side putting his strong quiet
arm around her
Below them stretching away be
neath the brilliant moonlight lay the
country that was his inheritance Im
mediately beneath them at the foot of
the great rock upon which the castle
was built nestled the village of Os
terno straggling squalid
Oh she said dully this is Siberia
This Is terrible
It had never presented itself to him
in that light the wonderful stretch of
country over which they were looking
It is not so bad he said in the
daylight
And that was all for he had no per
suasive tongue
That is the village he went on
after a little pause Those are the
people who look to us to help them in
their fight against terrible odds I
hoped that you would be interested in
them
She looked down curiously at the lit
tle wooden huts half burled in the
snow the smoking chimneys the twin
kling curtainless windows
What do you expect me to do she
asked in a queer voice
He looked
derment Fernaps If Beemedfo him
that a woman should have no need to
ask such a question
It Is a long story he said I will
tell you about It another time You
are tired now after your journey
His arm slipped from her waist
They stood side by side and both were
conscious of a feeling of difference
They were not the same as they had
been in London The atmosphere of
Russia seemed to have had some sub
tle effect upon them
Etta turned and sat slowly down on
a low chair before the fire She had
thrown her furs aside and they lay
in a luxurious heap on the floor The
maids hearing that the prince and
princess were together waited silently
in the next room behind the closed
doer
I think I had better hear it now
said Etta
But you are tired protested her
husband You had better rest until
dinner time
No I am not tired
He came toward her and stood with
one elbow on the mantelpiece looking
down at her a quiet strong man who
had already forgotten his feat of en
durance of a few hours earlier
These people he said would die
of starvation and cold and sickness If
we did not help them It is simply im
possible for them in the few months
that they can work the land to culti
vate it so as to yield any more than
their taxes They are overtaxed and
no one cares The army must be kept
up and a huge civil service and no one
cares what happens to the peasants
Some day the peasants must turn but
not yet It Is a question for all Rus
sian landowners to face and nobody
faces it If any one tries to improve
the condition of his peasants they
were happier a thousand times as serfs
the bureaucrats of St Petersburg
mark him down and he is forced to
leave the country The whole fabric
of this government is rotten but every
one except the peasants would suffer
W Its fall anil therefore it stands
Etta was staring into the fire It
was impossible to say whether she
heard with comprehension or not
Paul went on
There is nothing left therefore but
to o and do good by stealth I studied
medicine with that view Steinmetz
has scraped and economized the work
ing of the estate for the same purpose
The government will not allow us to
have a doctor They prevent us from
organizing relief and education on any
thing like an adequate scale They
do it all by underhand means They
have not the pluck to oppose us open
ly For years we have been doing
what we can We have almost eradi
cated cholera They do not die of
starvation now And they are learn
ing very slowly but still they are
learning We I thought you might
be Interested in your people You
might want to help
She gave a short little nod There
was a suggestion of suspense in her
whole being and attitude as If she
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1
M
ore waiting to hear something wmen
ie knew could not be avoided j
A few years ago he went on a
gigantic scheme was set on foot I
told you a little about it the Charity
lenirue
league i
Etta looked out slowly and compre
hensively absorbing it nil like u long
sweet drink There was no hereditary
calmness in her sense of possession
And where Is Tliors she asked
Paul stretched out his arm pointing
fl In ftrt
Her lips moved but no sound came t
Ifc ll out there ho answered
from them so she nodded a second
time j Another of the little Incidents that
lmf Some of the
arG ouly tovRotten
That fell through he went on as
assembled In tlmt
persons room
I told you It was betrayed Stepan
bered the pointing long nftenvard
Lanovltch was banished He has
caped however Steinmetz has seen mnkf e fel very small said
him He succeeded in destroying some Ett tufuln to the bkfsf table-
at no time a pleasant sensation Do
of the papers before the place was
she said after little
know a
y
searched after the robbery one paper
tllInk It probable that I shall
l
Psc
in particular If he had not destroyed
toua f bufc 1
that I should have been banished I bcc0e verv stlrnl
- i ih r i mi I wish it was nearer to civilization
stnimnt nni t - ti tMn Paul looked pleased Steinmetz had
--
C7
np It would have been for the
ed Steinmetz rubbing his
broad hands together and
looking down Into the face of
who was busy at the break-
fast table
Yes answered the girl glancing
toward Paul leaning against the win
dow reading his letters Yes always
gay Why not
Karl Steinmetz saw the glance It
was one of the little daily incidents
that one sees and half forgets He
only half forgot it
As she spoke he half turned toward
Paul as ff suggesting that he should
give an opinion and this little action
had the effect of putting a stop to the
conversation Maggie had plenty to
say to Steinmetz but toward Paul her
mental attitude was different She
was probably unaware of this little
fact
There she said after a pause I
have obeyed Ettas instructions She
does not want us to begin I suppose
No replied Paul She will be
down in a minute
I hope the princess is not over
tired said Steinmetz with a certain
formal politeness which seemed to ac
company any mention of Ettas name
Not at all thank you replied Et
ta herself coming into the room at
that moment She looked fresh and
self confident On the contrary I
am full of energy and eagerness to ex
plore the castle One naturally takes
an interest in ones baronial halls
With this she walked slowly across
to the window She stood there look
ing out and every one in the room was
watching On looking for the first
time on the same view a few moments
earlier Maggie had uttered a little
cry of surprise and had then remained
silent Etta looked out of the window
and said nothing It was a most sin
gular outlook weird uncouth prehis
toric as some parts of the earth still
are The castle was built on the edge
of a perpendicular cliff On this side
it was impregnable Any object drop
ped from the breakfast room window
would fall a clear 200 feet to the
brawling Oster river The rock was
black and shining like the topmost
crags of an Alpine mountain where
snow and ice have polished the bare
stone Beyond and across the river lay
the boundless steppe a sheet of vir
gin snow
Etta stood looking over this to the
far horizon where the white snow
and the gray sky softly merged into
one Her first remark was characteris
tic as first and last remarks usually
are
And as far as you can see is yours
she asked
Yes answered Paul simply with
that calm which only comes with
hereditary possession
The observation attracted Steinmetzs
attention He went to another window
and looked across the waste critical
ly
Four times as far as we can see Is
1 his he said
t n
Etta was staring into the fire
ness of millions of peasants if it had
not been betrayed In time we shall
find out who did it
He paused He did not say what he
would do when he had found out
Etta was staring into the fire Her
lips were dry She hardly seemed to
be breathing
It Is possible he went on in his
strong quiet inexorable voice that
Stepan Lanovitch knows now
Steinmetz had not betrayed the secret
of his masters wife
Etta did not move as Paul spoke
She was staring into the fire staring
staring
Then she slowly fainted rolling from
the low chair to the fur hearth rug
Paul picked her up like a child and
carried her to the bedroom where the
maids were waiting to dress her
Here he said your mistress has
fainted from the fatigue of the jour
ney
And with his practiced medical
knowledge he himself tended her
tt flB
A
Maggie
CHAPTER XXII
LWAYS gay always gay laugh
a queer expression on his face Mag
gie murmured something about ones
surroundings making but little differ
ence to ones happluess and the sub
ject was wisely shelved
After breakfast Steinmetz withdrew
Now said Paul shall I show you
the old place you and Maggie
Etta signified her readiness but Mag
gie said that she had letters to write
that Etta could show her the castle
another time when the men were out
shooting perhaps
But said Etta I shall do it hor
ribly badly They are not my an
cestors you know I shall attach the
stories to the wrong people and locate
the ghost in the wrong room You
will be wise to take Pauls guidance
No thank you replied Maggie
quite firmly and frankly I feel in
clined to write and the feeling Is rare
so I must take advantage of it
The girl looked at her cousin with
something in her honest blue eyes that
almost amounted to wonder Etta was
always surprising her There was a
whole gamut of feeling an octave of
callow half formed girlish instincts of
which Etta seemed to be deprived If
she had ever had them no trace was
left of their whilom presence At first
Maggie had flatly refused to come to
Russia When Paul pressed her to do
so she accepted with a sort of wonder
There was something which she did not
understand
When the door had closed behind
them Maggie stood for some minutes
by the window looking out over the
snowclad plain the rugged broken
rocks beneath her
Then she turned to the writing table
She resolutely took pen and paper but
the least thing seemed to distract her
attention the coronet on the note pa
per cost her five minutes of faroff re
flection She took up the pen again
and wrote Dear Mother
The room grew darker Maggie look
ed up The snow had begun again It
was driving past the window with a
silent purposeful monotony The girl
drew the writing case toward her
She examined the pen critically and
dipped it into the ink But she added
nothing to the two words already writ
ten
The castle of Ostemo is almost
unique in the particular that one roof
covers the ancient and the modern
buildings The vast reception rooms
worthy of the name of state rooms ad
join the small stone built apartmenta
of the fortress which Pauls ancestors
held against the Tartars This grim
mer side of the building Paul reserved
to the last for reasons of his own and
Ettas manifest delight in the grandeur
of the more modem apartments fully
rewarded him
When they passed from the lofty
rooms to the dimmer passages of the
old castle Ettas spirits visibly drop
ped her interest slackened He told
her of tragedies enacted in bygone
times such ancient tales of violent
death and broken hearts as attach
themselves to gray stone walls and
dungeon keeps She only half listen
ed for her mind was busy with the
splendors they had left behind with
the purposes to which such splendors
could be turned And the sum total
of her thoughts was gratified vanity
I am glad your grandfather brought
French architects here and built the
modern side she said These rooms
are of course very interesting but
gloomy horribly gloomy Paul
All the same I like these rooms
answered Paul Steinmetz and I used
to live entirely on this side of the
house This is the smoking room We
shot those bears and all the deer
That Is a wolfs head He killed a
keeper before I finished him off
And how did you finish him off
she asked
I choked him That bear knocked
me down but Steinmetz shot him We
were four days out in the open after
that elk This is a lynx a queer face
rather like De Chauxvllle The dogs
killed him
But why do you not paper the
room asked Etta with a shiver In
stead of this gloomy paneling It is
so mysterious and creepy Quite sug
gestive of secret passages
There are no secret passages an
swered Paul But there Is a room
behind here This is the door I will
show it to you presently I have
things In there I want to show you I
keep all my medicines and appliances
In there It Is our secret surgery and
office In that room the Charity league
was organized
Etta turned away suddenly and went
to the narrow window where she sat
on a low window seat looking down
into the snowclad depths
I did not know you were a doc
tor she said
I doctor the peasants replied Paul
in a rough and ready way I took
my degree on purpose But of course
they do not know that it is I They
think I am a doctor from Moscow I
put on an old coat and wear a scarf
so that they cannot see my face I
only go to them at night It would
never do for the government to know
that we attempt to do good to the
peasants We have to keep it n se
cret even from the people themselves
And they hate us They groan and
iCOXTINCED ON THIRD PAGEJ
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