CAPITAL CITY COURIER, SATURDAY, MARCH 28, t&oi
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EASTER ECHOES.
OW Lent Id past, we
Kindly pay
Our trllmto unto
Kaster day.
Tho smiling mother,
011 whoso brow
Tbo mlilcl yunrs
rmt lltclitly now,
4 Wlicro Time, that
yj hoary monster
'i' 1
Reluctantly has laid
in naiiii.
Now vIowh Ith Just
anil noble prldo
Her hcarthstono at
this Kustvr tide.
Likewise the fami
ly's heud uow
feels.
As llst'nlmr to thu Kaster penis
Ho thinks of Easter koiio before.
As If ho wore a Ixiy oneo niore.
Ami in the sunlliiht of the ilay
r'ork'eU lilt hair Is streaked w Ith Kray.
Tho maiden aunt thinks Ith a stub
Of bonnets In the days pirni by,
And, with a touch of old tlnio zest,
Today puts on her very belt.
The bachelor (whoso outward crust
Is, uftcr all, but human dust,
And brushed a ay by woman's eyes)
To-day the tooth of Tlmo defies.
And tomttil out In tho best of stylo
Ho tercets his kindred with a smile.
t.
Tho youth, a stranger to dull care.
With rapture views each maiden fair.
Ho loven to look uKin tho facu
Whero beauty claims a resting place,
And garc with a keen delight
Uk)u her Kinder plumage bright.
With neektlu new ho ivalks along
Kcsldu her In the Knstcr throng.
Ho counts It Joy to tuko a part
Where beauty shares tho odds w Ith art,
And gives no thought to future I1W
When ho shall havo to foot her hills.
Tom Mahmin.
EASTER EVE IN A COK'I N.
AN ADVr.XTUltK IN THE COSSACK COUNTRY.
IIY DAVID Ki:i(.
Copyright. All rights rvscrwd.
. N EVERY Itus-
( tsiun village, from
tlio Whlto sen to
tlio llluck, Either
am diiyisthofeitivul
fl'JJI of the whole year.
jp Chi Mums ta cole
.'' brut oil with a
--Koiyiuiuviime
(singing of enrols)
ami a liberal
hunting of can
illra and totting
siis vw'
forth of good cheer. At midnight on
Now Yeur'H ovo tho country lasses trip
forth to ask tho nunib of tho first inalo
INisser by whom they meet, as an augury
of that of their own futuro husband,
lint Easter, and Easter alone, is to Russia
what CliristiniM is to England, or tho
"Jour do l'Aii ' to Franco a reason of
universal good will and feasting and
merry milking, when even strangers
greet each other with a kiss on both
cheeks and reply to tho salutation
"Khristos voskrea" (Christ is risen) with
tho traditional countersign, "Vo istinay
voskres" (Ho is risen indeed).
Somewhat in this stylo my thoughts
run as I lay stretched on tho hay of my
tarantass (traveling wagon) in tho court
yard of n little? Uuswuui post hous vv
.i;iMVMa-ktWatIP'.1
Mszr&i
rML M
Hi
TA III' W
L jo.
iufiF'Vf T- r
..
Qbrist Ie risen.
Tib Kabtkii moiw. Louii tub antiikm
BWKI.I.S
Axn is lioitsr. ox tiik winds away.
'Tis Easti: moux. Anij the kakth
ritOCI.At.MB
That Chhist is wbkx today.
tho outskirts of n tiny Cossack town on
tho Upiwr Don, toward sunset on Easter
eve, awaiting tho iresh horses which
tho burly, bearded postmaster had
promised mo witli n fluent confidence
that made mo feel sure ho was lying.
And so it proved. Time passed, but
tho horses ennio not; and I was just
about to spring up and givo tho big Cos
sack a sample of my fluency in Russian
scolding when I was stopped short by
hearing a low, deep voice say beside mo,
hardly above a whisper, yet terribly dis
tinct: "I shall havo him to-night!"
Tho speaker's tono was so full of dead
ly menace that the howl of a hungry
wolf or the hiss of a snako could hardly
havo been more ominous of evil. Rais
ing myself cautiously, 1 peered over tho
edgo of tho wagon, and saw a young
man and a girl standing together at tho
yard gate tho girl in tho picturesque
costume of a Cossack maiden, tho man in
tho uniform of n Russian non-commissioned
officer.
Tito young woman had her. back to
mo, and it was only by tho fino outlines
of her figure that 1 could guess her to bo
beautiful. But tho man's faco was
plainly visible, and oven I started as I
saw it. Handsome as it undoubtedly
was, it looked absolutely terrible in its
grim inflexibility of purpose. It was
tho face of a born soldier, to whom duty
was ovorything ono who, if ordered to
kill his own father or brother in battle,
would havo done it without a moment's
hesitation.
Tho talk went on, nml I gathered from
it that tlto young sergeant was on tho
trade of a Nihilist emissary sent to mur
der the czar, who was expected to pass
through tho town that night with an
armed ecort.
'I followed him to tho church,
Muslin" (Mary), said he, glancing up at
tho tall, green tower of painted wood,
which, with its gilded cupola and metal
plated roof, glittered brightly in tho last
rays of tho setting sun; "but ho slipped
round a corner, and when I darted round
after him I could reo no more of him
than of my own ears. Ho must havo a
confederate among these long robed
rogues, who let him into tho church by
some secret way, for, as our proverb
says,
"They v, ho ear wlilo sleu ves
In their heart are thlues.
"But no matter iio can't escapo now,
for Six of my men nro on tho wnich for
him outside, and tho rownrd for his ap
prehension, along with what I've saved
already, will just muko up tho sum that
your father demands for your wedding
portion, and then I can get my discharge
from the army, for my term of service
will bo up next month, and then"
Tho last "and then" was pointed with
an emphatic kiss.
"It does seem hard, though," said the
girl, with a touch of womanly compassion
in her voice, "that a man must dio to
make us happy. We shall feel as if wo
were eating our wedding feast out of a
coffln."
"A man!" cried her lover fiercely; "a
traitor and assassin, you mean, who has
plotted against tho life of tho emperor."
"True," answered his betrothed, chang
ing iter tone again, "nothing is too bad
for a man who could plot against Fathet
Alexander Alexiuulrovitch" (the czar).
"Wo Cossacks have always been loyal,
and always will lo."
"Always!" echoed tho young man em
phatically. "And now good night,
dooshenka'1 (my little soul), "for I must
go and seo that this fellow doesn't slip
away from us."
Hero was a romance ready made to
my hand, and I at once decided to re
main in the town that night and see this
strange drama to the end a decision
which evidently relieved tho worthy
postmaster, who was at his wits end for
a fresh lio to account for tho non-ap-peurnnco
of my horses. ,
"Perhaps tho noble pan" (gentleman)
'J'would be pleased to step in and take
Mm9y
'bread and salt' with us," ho hinted.
"It's a poor place, but"
"Never mind, brother," said I; "food
nnd shelter are always worth having,
and I know that a Cossack welcomo is
bound to bo a warm one."
In truth, there was no fault to bo found
with my welcome, though the postmas
ter's hut was certainly no palace. Tho
walls wero of logs, cemented with clay
and dried leaves, and jointed together
like tho frame of a schoolboy's slate, not
a nail being used throughout. Tho floor
wns merely trodden earth, larded with
crushed beetles and lurrowed by tho ex
cavations of inquiring poultry. The
i -VW07
A YOUNO MAN AND A OIItL.
blnckened rafters stood out like tho ribs
of a whale enlivened by tho gambols of
numerous spider Bloudins on tight ropes
of their own plaiting, and every now and
then one of the troupe lot his hold and
fell with a loud splash into one of our
tumblers of tea and lemon juice.
Ono entire corner of tho room was oc
cupied by a huge tiled stovo and another
by an enormous bed, tho patchwork
quilt of which looked like a colored map
of tho United States. In tho third cor
ner hung tho portrait of my host's
patron sJut, witli a tiny lamp burning
before it, and a pious roacli making a
laborious pilgrimage around its staring
gilt frame.
But there was plenty of good cheer
and merriment in this little hovel, queer
as it looked. The corpulent brass sain
over looked down upon a brown rye
loaf as big as a footstool and an enor
mous bowl of buckwheat porridge, sig
nificantly called "postnaya kasha" (fast
ing porridge), while a jierfect mount
ain of sugared. "Easter cakes" which
our host's sturdy, sunbrowned, red
kerchiefed wil'o had spent tho whole
day in baking ro-o around tho dainty
of tho season, a pyramidal mass of
thick pasty dough, spotted with a
kind of smallpox of currants and raisins,
which is to a Russian Easter what tho
traditional plum pudding is to an En
glish Christinas.
Just as all was ready for our meal in
camo the postmaster's pretty daughter in
all the splendor of her holiday clothes
embroidered blue jacket and crimson
skirt, striped stockings, and a string of
colored beads round her neck. Her late
appearance was fully explained by tho
huge basket of Easter eggs, gay with all
the hues of tlto rainbow, which she car
ried in her hand.
Behind Miss Praskovia came another
girl about her own age, who was pre
sented to mo as her foster sister, and
who beemed to be treated with great re
spect by the whole family, being (as I
afterward learned) tho only daughter of
a prosperous corn dealer in tho town,
who was quite a capitalist in the eyes of
theso simple folks. Her face impressed
me only by its extreme beauty, but tho
moment I heard her voice I recognized
the girl whoso talk with her lover I had
overheard half an hour before.
But amid all the merriment of our gay
nr.rty Maria Oisipovna (Mary, daughter
of Joseph) was strangely sad and bileut,
and her sadness was fully explained
when she at length said pensively:
y
S r " a i
lwt
"Alt! If only my jioor brother wero
hero among us, how happy wo should
be I Perhaps lie's not dead after all; It
may have lieen only it report. And If ho
ever did como back, surely my father
coultln t lie so cruel its to drive him out
again!"
The honest postmaster answered only
with a shrug of Ills broad shoulders (bo
lug evidently skeptical of nny kind deed
on tho part of her father, Olsip Maslolf,
who had the name of being tho most
hard fisted and hard hearted old fellow
in the whole district), and hinted to us
that we must not sit too long over our
suppei,as we would havo to bo at tho
chuichlu good time lor thu opening of
tho night service.
An hour later wo wero in tho church,
which wait filled to overflowing, oven
the romantic old griiybeards and totter
ing grandmas of the community being
visible amid tho crowd by scores, proba
bly for thu first time since tho previous
Easter. Tho whole iiceno was certainly
n strange contrast to my last Easter
M'rvh'o in Russia, which hud been cele
brated not in an obscure provincial
church, but in tho great haau cathedral
at St. Petersburg. In a moment I re
called tho whole ceremonial tho massed
thousands of assembled worshipers amid
the vast granite columns of tho splendid
cathedral; tho plaintive hymn dying
away in a eadeiieoof mournful sweetness
among the mighty arches overhead; tho
gorgeous robes and long silky hair of the
priests in thu center, grouped around tho
cofllu that typified tho death and burial
of our Lord; tho tono of wondering dis
may in which tho chief jlHest exclaimed,
"He is not here!" as he turned away and
left the church with his comrades, as it
to seek the sacred body elsewhere tho
sudden and triumphant return of thu
procession through tho opposite gate,
with heads uplifted and banners dis
played mid a joyous shout of "Christ is
risen," and then tho sea of light that
surged up through tho shadowy throng
as thousands of tapers wero lighted at
once, while tho choir pealed forth tho
grand resurrection anthem, and one-very
side was heard tho greeting which was
echoing at that instant throughout tho
lcngMt and breadth of Russia, "Christ is
risen! Ho is risen, indeed!"
But hero theto wero no pomp and
splendor, no bronzed gates or marble
cornices or pillars of polished granite.
All was rude and simple; plain timber,
plain stone, and the only ornament
worth naming was a massive silver cru
cifix above tho altar, purchased with tho
offerings of tho pious Cossacks of 1813
out of thu spoils won by them from thu
retreating armies of Napoleon.
Just at that moment, however, I made
a discovery which put everything else
out of my head at once. In tho fore
most rank of tho crowd around the plat
form on which lay tho symbolical coflln
stood directly opposito to tho spot whero
I was placed a man who seemed anxious
to avoid obvrvation, for tho lower part
of his face was hidden by tho collar of
his long gray coat, and thu up'icrpart
by the cap which ho carefully held bo-
loroit; but a sudden movement of tho
throng exposed his faco for one instant,
and it was that of Muslin's soldier lover,
young Sergt. Dmitri Rudenko!
Th6 look offierco and hungry expecta
tion in this iron man's stern gray eyes
made me shudder, for I saw by it that
his victim was still concealed in tho
church, and that he was ready to pounce
upon him as soon as the fit moment ar
rived; and tho sudden starting up of
this deadly jiertiuucity, this sleepless
ambush of death amid all thu peace and
brightness and joy of tho nation's great
day of gladness, had an indescribably
ghastly effect.
Meanwhile tho ceremony proceeded
and all went on as usual till tho high
priest and his acolytes mounted tho plat
form, and tho former, raising tho un
fastened lid of tho cofliti and letting it
fall again, uttered in his deep voice tho
wonted formula:
"He is not here!"
"Ho is here!" shouted a voice of thun
der, as Dmitri Rudenko, springing with
one hound onto tho platform, flung open
thu cofllu again and dragged from it a
small, slight, pale faced young man in
the dress of a peasant. "See, brothers,
tlio villain who would havo murdered
our father tho czar!"
Instantly all was confusion. A sea of
furious faces and tossing anus eddied
around the platform, and tho air rang
with a deafening clamor of conflicting
voices, through which pierced suddenly
a shriek of mortal agony, as Mary Mas
loff, bursting like a maniac through the
heaving throng, threw her arms round
tho prisoner's neck and cried wildly:
"Brother, brother! I thought you
dead! Is this how wo meet again?"
For one moment the young M.-rgeant
stood as if turned to stone by this awful
revelation, which showed him that ho
had won his betrothed at the cost of her
own brother's life. Then his faco hard-
"IIK IS IIERR."
cned suddenly like congealed metal, nnd
a wave of his hand summoned a dozen
soldiers from the throng, who formed n
ring around Ostap Masloff nnd his sister
and led them to tlio church door,
, Tho cold, keen night air Beemed to ro.
vivo thu fniiiHutf girl, and clutching her
rfm ' ill
lover's arm with Inth hands she said in
u (let co whisper;
" know that jour men will do what
ever you tell thorn. Let my brother
Kol"
"Let a prisoner escape? Noverl"
"If you do not you shall never see mo
ngalut"
Tho young soldier's handsome faco
quivered for a moment with tho agony
of a mortal struggle, mid then the storm
passed and ho answered with terrible
calmness:
"So bo it. I shall do my duty, oven
though by doing it I should lose you for
ever!" "What Is nil this?" asked a deep voice
from behind, and all Hirer recognized
with a start of amazement in tho big,
hard featured, middle aged man who
had spoken tho czar himself, Alexander
III of Russia! and behind Him appeared
the long gray coats and shilling holmots
of his guards without whom, haunted
as ho was by dread of assassination, hu
never stirred a step,
The emperor repeated tho question,
and Rudenko told tho story in a fow
simple' words. But, brief iih ho whs,
Alexander heard enough io understand
tho greatness of tho sacrifice which this
young soldier had made for his duty's
sake, and his harsh, somber features
brightened into a glow of manly admira
tion. "You havo done well," said ho em
phatically, "and more than most men
would havo done in your place. And
you," ho added, turning to young Mas
loff, "what harm havo I ever done you
that you should wish to kill me?"
"I had sworn it," replied tho Nihilist
sullenly, "and I had to keep my oath."
"Foolish boy," said tho czar in a tono
of scornful pity, "do you pretend to
strive for liberty, and yet fetter yourself
with an oath that forces you into treach
ery and murder? But I will not destroy
a man's life and a woman's happiness
from any mean regard for my own safe
ty. Go 1 pardon you; you aro freol"
Tho last tlmo I visited Mirgorod, Dmi
tri Rudenko and his wifo wero tho hap.
plest couple in tho town, and Mary's
Nihilist brother (who lived with them)
was as loyal a subject as any man in tho
czar's dominions.
Ill Htntu of Ml ml.
Dashaway When tho contribution
box was passed this morning I suddenly
found that 1 had nothing but a five dol
lar bill. Of courso as it was Easter, and
I had been fasting for forty days, I felt
obliged to drop it in.
Miss Summit How noblo of youl
And now, how do you feel about it?
Dashaway I feel as if I shall probably
havo to fast for forty days more.
.Scrimililt-il l'K.
Every person must havo some part of
his clothing now on Easter day, or ho
will havo no good fortune during tho
year. That has b;en settled from timo
immemorial. Thus an old Dorsetshire
loet says:
I.asto Kaster I put on my blue.
Krock cuoat, tlio fust time, Her now;
WP yaller but'ous aal o' brass,
That ullttcrcd In thu .tin Ilk kIucs;
llekiilsu 'twer Kaster tjunduy.
In tho Nutuio of u Surprise.
WkJk
Mrs. Kingley You know what lovely
music they have at St. Ann's? Well,
thoy have invited mo to join tho choir
on Easter in place of tho blonde alto.
1' V
Mrs. Bingo Indeed! I had no idea
thoy wero trying to reduce exjienses.
An i:atT Carol.
Shu has bought an Kaster Unmet
It Is pretty as u sonnet -With
bomo Mowers and somo ribbons and bit
Of lllCl! llH)tl It.
And In order all may know It,
Hlio w 111 no to church to show It.
You may sco her witching faco lu smiles this
mnriiliuc Just below It.
When to church her way shu's w ended,
If her hat itppcnrs moit splendid,
Tbeii she'll qulto adoro tho sermon, nnd be
sorry when It's ended.
Hut If not her pretty forehead
Will with niik'ry frown lie ilorld,
And tho sermon will bo stupid, crude, abomi
nable and horrid.
-Selected.
Kaster I.llles.
Bwect dreams aru lu her lifted eyes,
Sweet pra)crs her parted lips nro praying;
Shu takes no heed of loers' sluhs,
Nor any )corului;scnrthturd stralnir.
She Klves mu no more thought than sho
licstnus on dead and koiio Achilles;
Hut I can Itcar that since I see
Shu wears my bunch of Kaster lilies.
Judge.
A Kara Al.
My Kaster rjar, with polka dots,
I know thu Klrl w ho made you:
Hut V, T. Iluruum would ulvo lots
To own tho hen tl.Ht laid") on.
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