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About The Nebraska advertiser. (Nemaha City, Neb.) 18??-1909 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1904)
The Secret By JAMES I 01 1 APT Hit III. (Continued.) "Nay, If ho wns to perish Uiiih, suspl clon might too readily full upon mc; for ho In n fnvorlto olllcor of the lOinproHS, and of Weymnrn, too. My plan In UiIh: I may get the dispatch to-night in yon der castle." "And If not?" "Then I Hhnll ngnln lure and mlnload Ilnigonio, and brine liim licro in tho .nlftht." "Wlmt then?" asked the woodnmn, doggedly. "How dull wo nre, rnulovitcli. Wo linll drug mid drown him; Uiiih shall hu dlo without n wound. 1 will tnko hack tho dlHpatch to Novgorod, and you can ienrry tlio body on his borne to St. Peters burg, where a hiiiii will bo given you for finding It. Tlio poor stranger, they will nny, hart perished amid our keen Kusslnn frosts, and that will bo all. Nicholas I'uulovitch, (ho enrenss will bo well worth twenty roubles to theo." "And thy HftyV" "You Hhall receive when the affair la ovur, and when you como to mc at Nov gorod, where I am quartered." "Hy tlio bones or my tribe, I nin with toii, Podntehk.'ne!" exclaimed the half urcod with ferocious Joy. Then they hook heartily thHr hnrd and Ilny liandN hands that had wrought many a deed of merciless cruelty. A few mluutcH more and tlieHo worthy compatriots liad acparated. There waH a third person who had ovcrlieard tlio first savage plot, and who felt her heart stirred with pity aud terror for Hulgonic, who had glvon iier a silver kopec at ICrejko but ycaterday the gyp ay girl, Olga raulowna, tho sister of "Nicholas Paulovitch; and she resolved to balllo botli conspirators if hIio could. CHAPTIOIt IV. Corporal Podatchklno wiih an admira ble npecimen of his own type of UiiHHiau, His thick black scrubby hair was cut tuxaight across tho forehead in a line with tlio eyebrows, and at each side It hung perpendicularly down below the cars, and was, moreover, cut square ncross tho neck behind; and lie kept al ternately scratching and smoothing his rugged front, nervously and assiduously, when ho removed his fur Cossack cap; and, full of affected concern, oven to ex hibiting tears in his small, cunning eyes, presented himself to Natalie Miorowna iioxt morning, and besought her to have Jdm "conducted to tho chamber of his brave, his ln-loved captain, his comrade nnd brother, who was, ho now learned, seriously ill.vhelpless aud delirious" and, in fact, just as tlio cunning corporal wished him to be. There ho found Hulgoiiie, certainly too 111 nnd weak either to recognize him or understand what ho was about; so tlio faithful Cossack made a rapid and skill ful Investigation of all the olllcer's pock ets for the dispatch. Not a' vestige of it was to bo found. "What can ho have dono with it?" muttored tho bewildered corporal; "can ho havo lost it in tho river, or swallow ed it?" Tlio truth Is that Natalie Miorownn had lior doubts about the tidelity of Po datchkine, and even of some of her own domestics, and awaro of tho risk run by tho stranger if lie lost a dispatch of tho empress, she had, prior to the intro duction of tlio corporal, secured tlio doc ument, aud at that moment it was hid den in her own fair bosom until she could neeuro it in a safer place, Poor Natalie! lAlas, she little know its contents, and tho horrors they were yet to produce. Unfiled thus In his attempt to securo jit, there was no resource for tho faithful warrior of tlio steppes now but to take up his quarters which lie was nothing loath to do, at tho Castle of tho Lougn, 'and thoro quietly await tho recovery or tho death, ho cared not which, of Hal 'gonto; nnd to concert further measures ;with tho lingo gypsy, Nicholas Paulo vitch, whom ho saw daily. It was no feverish dream of Ilnigonio ,thnt Natalie Miorownn had been hover ing about his bedside; for she and her cousin Muriollzzu had been his especial nurses, In less than threo days tho feverish delirium subsided, sense completely re turned, nnd tho young captain appeared to bo laboring under a species of influ enza. "My dispntch!" ho frequently Raid nloud "I must be gone with my dis patch!" flight it not bo Intrusted to Corporal IVSatohkinoV" asked Natalie one morn ing, as she personally gavo him his wa. nnd soothing drink witli her own h Kntinkn, tlio maid, standing demurely hy with a silver salver. "Impossible, llosphoza, for so I may call you; an olllcor alono can carry u dis patch for the empress. Its contents are .most urgent; this delay, ovor which I .liavo no control, may bo visited by royal disfavor, oven punishment; nnd I fear that tho air of Tobolsk or Arkutsk would 'ill suit a Scotsman's lungs, Natalio .Mio rownn." "Yet tnrry hero you must," she Bnld, with n smile, tho beauty of which proved ,very bewildering; "tlio Louga is coated with ico this morning, but not so thick, however, that it might not bo broken by throwing n stono from here; but to trnrol 'yet would only kill you, Carl Ivnnovitch, nnd cannot be thought of just now." Then bIic glided away, with her benm ing smile, her whito hnnds nnd taper arms, her rustling dress of scurlot silk trimmed with snowy minivor, nnd all the aenso of perfume that pervnded her. Dispatch GRANT Ilnigonio sighed wcnrlly yet pleasantly, ami half thought that beautiful figure a dream, as ho turned on his soft aud luxurious pillow and inarroled whether Ills past or his present existence was the real one. OIIAITMH V. Charles Hulgoutc, Ron of John Ilni gonio of Strutlicnrn, hud come into tho world during that which was perhaps tho most stupid, lifeless nnd impoverished era of Scottish existence, tho middle of the reign of Georgo II. My the early death of his parents, Charlie had been cast, in his extreme boyhood, upon the tender mercies of a bachelor uncle, Mr. Gamaliel Halgonie, a hard-hearted, grasping, avaricious mer chant in Dundee. In the lovely vnle of Strathearn stood the home of Charlie Italgoule. On the death of his parents his small paternal estate of a few hundred per annum would havo become Ills inheritance, but the relation before mentioned the pa ternal uncle, Gamaliel, suddenly produc ed a will, by which, to tlio profound as tonishment of all, the entire estate was left to him as a return for certain loans and sums advanced to tho deceased, of which, however, no proof could be found; but It was n veritable deathbed will, written accurately by a notary, and duly signed. Though tremulous and slinky, strange ly ho and rather unlike tlio usual sig nature of the deceased laird, three men thoro were, accounted good, worthy and religious men, wiio solemnly deposed to having seen "the hand of tho dead man pen those words." it was a ease which made some noise in those days, because thirty-six hours after the alleged signature was given John Hulgonic died. Tlio law of Scotland requires Hint, af ter framing and signing such a deed, the testator must have been able to go.once at lonst to church or market. How it came to pass we know not now, but the dispute, though without a basis, was brought before the supremo court by Homo friends of the orphan, for there wen; not a few persons in Stratliearn who alleged that John Rulgonie's hand had certainly traced the signature which was sworn to so solemnly as his but had done so after death; the pen being placed in tlio ungrrs of the corpse, which were guided by thoso of the pious and worthy merchant of Dundee, who want ed his nephew's little patrimony in aid of certain speculations of his own. Ponding a decision, tlio bereaved boy was removed to the busy town on Tay side, and was left to solace his sorrows at school, prior, as ho supposed, to be coming a drudge in his nffeetionnle un cle's counting house, when tlio Inst of his slender inheritance had been frittered away in the fangs of the law. One day his worthy uncle Gam return ed to lOdinburgh by the packet. The ease had been decided against him, and the court was about to name trustees to look after tho estate of the oiphan boy. Mr. Gamaliel Ilnigonio was unusually grave, stern nnd abstracted; but he de liberately seated himself at his desk, and while humming, as was his wont, a verso of n psalm, lie penned a loiter ad dressed to the captain of a vessel then lying in tho harbor, nnd gave it to his nephew for iinnicdinte delivery, desiring him to wait for the answer. The boy, then in his fifteenth year, started on his errand with alacrity. He soon found the ship, which was moored at some distance from the shore, with her fore-topsails loose, to indicate that she was ready for sen; yet Charlie had no suspicion of tho trap Into which he was running or the cruel fate that awaited him. Tho skipper, a rough, surly and brutal looking man, eyed the boy keenly, while tearing tho letter Into minute fragments, alter he hud perused it, with a grim smile of sntisfnetion. Ho then went to a locker, where he poured out n glnss of milk. "Drink that, my lad," said he, "while I write an answer to your uncle." Charlie drained the glass; but scarce ly had ho done so when tho cabin seem ed to be whirling round him; he thought that ho was becoming seasick, and was in tlio act of staggering toward the cabin stairs when ho was felled to the floor by a blow from the skipper's heavy hand a blow dealt cruelly and unsparingly. Ho recovered consciousness some time after, to find himself stiff, sore and bloody, from a wound in the temple 1 lying on deck in the moonlight, with some , twenty-live other boys, several of whom were in the same state of stupor in which they had been brought on board. To his horror aud dismay, Charlie now found that the ship was at sea, and running between the dangerous reef known us the Hell Kock nnd tho tint sandy shore of Harrle; and that, through tho machina tions of Undo Gamaliel, lie had been lured into tho hands of one of tlio most notorious plantation crimps that over in fested tlio Scottish coast, Captain Zacii arlnh Collin of Now England, whose craft, tlio Piscatona, was n letter of marque, carrying twolvo six-pounders and lighting her own way. After this tho Piscatona was hnulcd up, in order to go north nbout by Capo Wrath, hnvlng on board nearly fifty boys. Storms camo on when tho Pisca tona entered tho Pcntlnnd Firth, nnd four dnya after Dunnet Head with its flinty brow, 400 feet In height, had van ished into tho wrack and mist astern, a sudden cry of firo caused every heart to thrill on bonrd the lawless vessel. Whether nn net of trenchcry or not, it wan Impossible to nscertnin; but it had broken out nenr the ship's mngnzina. to which it communicated witli frightful ra pidity, for suddenly, while the crew were nil running fore and aft with buckets, a dreadful explosion seemed to rend tho Piscatona in two. Half of tho mala leek wuh blown away with two of the boat. A whirlwind of fragments How in every direction, and then tho flames shot into the air In scorching volumes. Discipline, or such a system of it ns Zacliarlah Collin maintained on bonrd, was totally at an end. Some of tlio crow lowered the only remaining boat and fought like wild beasts for possession of it, knocking each other into the water without mercy. Captain Collin cocked his pistols at the gangway, shot one man dead and swore that he would kill the next man who dared to precede him; but ho was struck from behind by nn iron marline spike and, falling, together with his savage dog, into the flaming gulf that yawned amidships, was seen no more. Some of the crow ultimately pushed of! tho boat; others sprang overboard and held on to the spars and booms. Hut these perished miserably after being half scorched. Some were crushed to death by the falling yards mid masts. Many held on to the fore and main chains, till those became so unbearably hot that thoy had to drop off, with screams of despair when thoy sank, faint, weary and help less, to the bottom at last. How it all happem d Charlie Hnlgonlc never knew. Hut hours after tlio whole affair was over and the detested Pisco tona had burned down to tier waterlino and sank, leaving all the sea around her discolored and covered with floating pieces of charred wood and the buoyant parts of her cargo, he found himself adrift in the wide and stormy Pcntlnnd Firth, but wedged with comparative safety in a largo fragment of the fore top, to which, the yard being still at tached by tho sling, a certain amount of steadiness was given; yet his heart lonp ed painfully each time when tho frag ment of wreck rose on the summit of n green glassy wave or ivent surging down into the dark and watery trough between. To add to the terrors of his lonely sit uation, the sun had sunk amid gloomy purple clouds and a rainy night wart drawing on. Half drowned, tho poor boy soon became faint and exhausted, and would seem to have dropped into a spe cies of stupor, for when roused by tho sound of strange voices ho found himself close by a grout nnd towering ship, which lay to, now right in the wind's eye with her mainyard aback and her guuports and hammock nettings full of weather beaten faces, gazing at him with eager ness and curiosity in the twilight, whilo a bout was lowered ami pulled steadily toward him by six sailors clad in dark green. She proved to he a Itussiun fifty-gun ship, the Anne Ivaiiowua, commanded by Thomas Mackenzie, one of the ninny Scottish admirals who have bravely car ried the Russian Hug in the Haltic and the Hlack sea. His you 1 1 1 In I countryman became his protege. The worthy admiral sought to make a sailor of Charlie, but the latter had seen quite enough of the sea while on board the Piscatona, nnd while ho was clinging like a limpet or bnrnaclo to tho piece of drifting wreck; so he bo cnim! a soldier, nnd served under General Ochterlony, of Guy ml, in the Uogiment of Smolensko. where us a cadet his su perior smartness, intelligence and edu cation, not less than his courage, soon distinguished him among his thiek-patud Russian comrades. Thus in leas than t'n years ho became, as we find him, Captain Carl Ivnnovitch Halgonic, the most trust ed aide-de-camp of Lieutenant General Weyinarn, commander-in-chief of the fit? and district of St. Petersburg. CHAPTHR VI. "You can never know, Ivnnovitch Hui gonle, how much 1 pitied you " "You, IndyV" was the joyous response. "That is, I and Marlollz '.a." said Na talie Miorownn, slightly blushing, "when wo found you Jsunfc on a fever bed in a foreign land, so far from your country, your friends, your mother perhaps, for you are young enough, I think, to miss her still at such a time, although a sol dier." "Far, indeed, in ninny ways!" replied Ilnigonio, with a bitter smile, as ho thought of I'nole Gum, or perhaps it was illness that had weakened him. "1 havo a country, to which It is more than prob able I shall never return; but father. 'mother or friends I luivo none there nil who loved 1110 once havo gone to tho si lent srrnve before me." "All?" "Yes, lady." "Hut you are making many friends in Russia," said Mariollzza cheerfully; "there are my cousin, Hnsll MIorowitz, nnd my brother, Apollo Usakoff, who both, I know, love you as a brother." "True, and most grateful am I to them for their regard, for both are polished gentlemen. 1 havo old General Woy marn, too, though I know not what ho will think of this delay in delivering tho imperial dispatch." ''Alas, that most tiresome dispatch!" exclaimed jatalio. "Hut 1 forgot." she added, with a curl of her short upper lip; "thoe who proceed on tho errands of tho Fmpress Catharine would need seven-league boots, or the carpet of tho prince in the fairy tale, which transport ed tho owner at a wish." "Hush, cousin," said Marlol'uzn, glanc ing timidly around. Hut no ono was nenr, snve Corporal Podntchklne, who was nt a littlo distance on tho terrace, when this conversation took place two days nfter Ilnigonio bo camo convalescent, and fully a week slnco tho night of peril on which ho swnm tho Louga. "I cannot describe to you, ladies,, tho relief that camo to my mind in discov ering that it had neither been lost nor stolen, but was safe " "In Natalie's bosom!" said Marlollzza, laughing, ' (To bo continued.) Women Arc Not JlxtrnvnKiint. Onu Is constantly hearing and read ing of tlio extravagant follies of wo men, hut there is seldom anything said of tlio wastefulness of the opposite sex. Of course, everyone knows there is extravagance in both sexes, but the women are not responsible for the cx Irnvngnnt men, while the men are re sponsible for the extravagant women. Women, ns n class, not being wage earners, have not the same reason for appreciating the value of money as men. Husbands and fathers, us a rule, nre either very .stingy or fail to let their womenfolk know their real llnanclnl condition. In the first case, a woman naturally attributes the doling out of money to her a pure selfishness or lack of regard, and takes a natural delight In extracting and spending all she can; In the second ease she had no renson to think the man "can't afford It" or realize that economy Is necessary: In either case it is the man, not the woman, who is to blame. The major ity of women are certainly not extrav agant, declares a writer in The House keeper. The reports show that there ure more women depositors in the sav ings banks than men, and they are slower In withdrawing their savings, and the man's "bargain counter" Joke, with its odd cent price, is conclusive evidence of woman's regard for the penny. Hvory man knows that a woman Is better and closer at making a bargain tJian be is. The woman's mind Is con stituted to consider trifles and it is trifles that count In economy. The av erage woman can get along on less and "make nn appearance" than the aver age man can. I have never met a man yet who stinted himself on cigars or Ids stomach or his neckties, but if the woman wants a new OS-cent shirtwaist this man will want to know what she has dime with the one he bought two years ago! New Orleans Picayune. as? "Don't feed the baby with adult food. Giving the child this sort of nourishment too early produces soft bones and hence the host of howlcggcd and knock-kneed youngsters." Don't box the baby's ears. You ure liable to render it permanently deaf. In fact, consider well before' you chas tise the child, since It is quite easy to use the rod and spoil the child. The weight of a growing child is tlio most important index of Its general health. The standard weight for grow ing children usually given by authori ties in the matter Is that at years of age a child should weigh as many pounds as it is inches high. As 11 rule this will not. be much over or under forty pounds. Children who come of large parents should weigh something more than that. The rale of increase should be about two pounds for every inch of growth, with a tendency for tho weight to exceed this standard rather than to fall below It. When a chihl is heavier in proportion to its height than this standard, U Is a sign of good health. If the child is growing rapidly, it should not be allowed to fall much below it without being made to rest more titan has been the custom. A deficiency of weight In proportion to height is always an unfavorable sign. Any interruption in tlio progress of in crease of weight, especially while growth continues, is a danger signal that should not be neglected by those Interested in the child. lor tho Woman Who Trnvoln Alone. My plan for locating in a strange place, especially when It savors of a foreign country, is to ask the purser or steward which Is considered the best family hotel. Then, on arrival, to wait until the first rush of landing is over, thus avoiding the confusion which reigns supreme at such times. Standing quietly back, tho excited en deavors of the crowd to hurry all tlio officials into attending to them first affords much amusement and furnishes a study of the routine of tilings. When you finally do go down the gangway you know which way to turn, can walk up to the carriage or omlnbus bear ing tho name of the hotel, and be driven to the door, without any hag gling with cabmen or fuss of any kind. Having reached the hotel, tell tlio por ter who takes your u bag to show you to the parlor tvv ladles. Then write on your jenrd, "Please assign me a ii'iqiipflrv . VS fiftP room; price not to exceed three dollars a day." A bell-boy will soon rctura with a key, and conduct you to the ele vator. What If It does shoot you up, to tho top floor to a small room? Yoav arc not going to stay there long, and it's pretty sure to have a good bed nnd plenty of towels. This plan of mine may seem extrav agant at first, but consider the ad vantages you see one of the best ho tels, always worth a visit in such places; you can examine local papers nnd guide-books in tho reading-room., nnd get at the addresses of private boarding houses and smaller hotels, easily locating their wheren bouts. "Woman's Home Companion. Japanese ladies as a rule make their own dresses and if the sewing Is done for them the beautiful embroidery, at any rate. Is their own handiwork. Sbamokin, Pa., has a woman cob bler Mine. Clautine Clemenc- De furne, who was born in France (! years ago. The old woman lias? "seen better days," as she Is possessed of ed ucation and culture. One of the most picturesque charac ters in Europe is the Countess Schim melmann, of Denmark She devotes her life to missionary work, and for eight years bus traveled exclusively In foreign lands. Miss Caroline L. Grioshnm, a clerk in the civil service bureau at Wash ington, has had u unique duty cut out for her. She has been detailed to uake a tour of inspection of the post olllces of the country and interpret the civil service regulations. Miss, Groishoim does not expect to have a warm reception, but this does not wor ry her. she says. An extraordinary head of hair is possessed by Mercedes Lopez, the wife of a poor sheep herder in San Vincente, Mexico. Her height Is ." feet, and when she stands erect her hair trails on the ground four feet eight inches. The hair is so thick that she can com pletely hide herself in it. She has it cut very frequently, as it grows so quickly, enniding her to sell large tresses to hair dealers every three or four months. A certain Mrs. Heatunont, of Rrotton, Knginnd, who lived in the time of Pitt, and whom the possession of lead mines made wealthy and purseproud. one day thought to impress Pitt, who was shiying at Hretton, with iier riches. She had the most splendid service of plate at dinner and, waving her hand, she said: "There, Mr. Pitt, that's all from the mines." "Indeed!" answered Pitt. "If you had not told me, Mrs. Heaunioiit, I should have thought it was silver." Thonter nintinr. III Of heliotrope crepe do soie with black chenille fringe and lace. t'J.) Soft white satin with long lace eulTs and berthe of applique htco. KtylcM in C ti, Some of the new sack coals end well above (he deep waist belt with broad box plaits back and front allowed to flow loose. Of quite another nature arc the whole back coats reaching to the knees, whnlo tho most fashionable are a revival from the middle of the TiOs. With the addition of a watteau plait they have the same turndown col lars and wide, hanging sleeves. Somo of the shorter ones havo little attempt at fastening save cords, which are but seldom secured, and are usually ac companied by a. big turndown eollar, often with drooping tassels or cord ornaments. 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