t , n
Y DARKEST RUSSIA
DY 11. GRA.TTAN DONNELLY.
r Copyright , 1800 , by Street k Smith , All rights rCllcncd.
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CHAPTER V.-Contlnued. ( )
"My dear sir , you are very welcome ,
believe me. My son In his letters
, ; from Asia had already spoken of you
.in terms which show his high regard
and esteem , and believe me , it would
have been a matter of sincere regret
. had you not given me an opportunity
of expressing my thanks In lCrson.
Karslcheff ! "
The general had been observing the
scene and approached.
. "You remember meeting General
Cobb at the American minister's ? "
And the ice thus broken , General
F Cobb was soon introduced by the
I count to most of the celebrities press
ent , and particularly to those with
whose fortunes we are more immediately .
.atoly concerned.
It was now approaching half . past
eleven.
' General Karslcheff , leaving the
. American enjoying a teto-a . tete with
' . Baroness von Rhlneberg , who , after
vainly endeavoring to converse with
the stranger in French and German ,
o had fallen back on English , walked
; across the room in obedience to a
4 glance from his wife , who had just
s rejoined her daughter.
"It Is true , papa , and will Colonel
, . ' " Nazlmoff not arrive to . night ? " asked
Olga , as her father approllclw
I' ( "Oh , not so bad as that ; the train
, is late , that is all. Why do you per-
slst in speaking of your future husband .
I
' ' ? He
band as 'Colonel' Nazlmoff , Olga
I was 'Alexis' .to you before. Surely
nothlng- " and Karslcheff paused ,
, , looking his daughter full In the face.
ll' servant approached as General
Karslcheff spoke , and bowing respect-
fully ! said : "Pardon , your excellency ,
but a gentleman from 203 desires to
see you. "
" " 203 ! " _
) . . . . ' Radaloff's
\ . , '
Radnloff's official number on the
private lists of the ministry of police.
ti "Olga , remain with your mother ; 1
will join you presently , " and so saying
f Karslcheff followed the servant from
, the room.
t He had forgotten Olga's rather cold
expression ! , "Colonel Nazlmoffj" ; had
forgotten the half.formed thought that
began to take shape In his mind j had
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GEIVrl24L CO
forgotten Olga herself-everything but
Radaloft' , the man upon whom all depended -
. pended now.
The servant led the way to a small
. , apartment adjoining the library ,
I i " opened the door , and General Kar-
slchetr and RadaloCf were face to
. . .
r" . . face.
" In a few brief words Radaloft' told
of his discoveries j of how in the
. Baroness yon Rhineberg's house he
had found the evidence which connected -
. ed her secretary , Ivan DarosIQ' . with
the Nihilists and as he spoke he exhibited .
hiblted the documents taken from the
secret drawer in the desk. One was
Q. copy of the interdicted Geneva publication -
llcatlon , and the other !
. _
. . . . - - . - . . - . . . - x
. . . . - . . , . . . -
Could Karslcheft' believe his eyes ?
A list of one hundred and slxty.three .
names of "Friends of Russia ! "
The great prize ! with this In his
possession he had It in his power to
strike Nihlllsm a death blow , and by
the immediate and simultaneous arrest .
rest of aU whose names were on the
paper there was reason to believe
that he could stamp out the revolutionary -
tlonary , fires in St. Petersburg at once
and forever.
What wonder that when Constantine -
tine Karsichetr entered the salon
again he seemed transformed. There I
was an energy in his step , a firmness
In his voice , and a gUtter of triumph
in ! his eyes that spoke volumes.
"At last , " ho kept repeating to himself -
self , as if finding pleasure in the
words . j "at last I can do somothlng. "
To.night-before another dawn-
he would deal Nihilism such a blow as
would destroy it ; he would make all
Europe ring with his praises as the
great official of the empire who had
saved the czar !
As his imagination pictured the
gratitude of his sovereign , there broke
upon the night air the sound of distant
sleigh bells coming nearer and nearer.
A flutter of excitement began among
the throng of guests.
Paul Nazlmo1 , his , face flushed with
pleasure , suddenly appeared. "Alexis
is coming , " he announced.
The sleigh bells sounded nearer.
There was borne across the frosty
air the cheery "hi , hi" of a driver and
the quick echo of the hoofs of flying
horses as they approached the Nazi-
molt palace.
The guests crowded to the doors and
the band , the famous band or'Dorsld ,
struck up the welcome march.
The foaming horses stopped , the
sleigh bells gave a last merry jingle ,
and , as a loud cheer broke from the
crowds of servants gathered at the
entrance , Alexis Nazimoff sprang out ,
and in another moment was clasped
In his father's arms.
CHAPTER VI.
-
Alexis Nazlmoff at Home.
Alexis Nazlmotr was a splendid
specimen of the young Russian officer ,
and as' he stood by his father a moment .
ment after his arrival and received
a greeting from the Karslcheffs ,
whose welcome quickly followed his
entrance , he looked the ideal of the
dashing cavalrrman. His great coat ,
cap and sword had been handed to a
servant , and his finely proportioned
figure was revealed to a perfection In
the uniform which became him so
well.
well.His dark eyes , softened by the expression -
pression of the emotion with which
he had met his father's greeting ,
lighted up a face of singular attract-
iveness. His hair , of a deep chest-
nutty brown , matched well the sun-
tanned complexion j and the slightly
aquiline nose , finely chiseled , Indicated
at once the high birth and the
strength of character : while the well-
formed mouth showed under the dark
brown must ! ! he such lines of deci-
sion as to indicate that once the Bps
were drawn together in evidence of
a purpose formed , that purpose would
be carried out at any cost.
Alexis , after greeting his father , had
turned to Olga , whom he kissed on
both cheeks , but those who noticed
the salutation could hardly help com-
ing to the conclusion that there was
little of ardor in the act. It was
rather the perfunctory salutation of
a sister than the ardent greeting of
an affianced wife after a presumably
cruel separation of two long years. As
he was greeted by one friend after
another , Alexis' face indicated the '
pl" igure he felt at the warmth of his I
reception. He was the center 01 a
group most of whom were old acquaintances -
qualntances , when his father , who
had observed General Cobb standin ;
.
.
halt.concealed at a curtained window
118 he talked to the Baroness van
Rhlnoberger , approached the latter.
"My dear baroness , you must not
bG last with your welcome to Alexl8-
ho was always a favorite with you ,
anti general Cobb. Come along ! "
So saying , Paul Na1-lmoft , offering !
his arm to . the baroness , tscorted her
down to the group where Alexis stood
the central figure In a joyous hrong
"My dear baroness , " was the hearty
greeting of Alexis , as he recognized
her , and he was about to continuo
when his father spoke :
"And hero io another aId Crlond- "
He had no opportunity to finish the
Rentence. .
Alexis turned and saw Cohb.
His face fairly glowed with pleasure
as he impulsively sprang forward with
outstretched hands.
"What Cobb ! my friend , my dear
friend ! Here , here , beneath by father's
root. This is indeed a pleasure ! Welcome -
come ten thousand times To , d
you here when I thought you back ,1n
America makes my happiness this
night complete ! "
The warmth of Alexis' words , no
less than the evident pleasure and
sincerity with which they were utter-
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ed produced a feeling ot profound surprise -
prise in the assemblage.
With the exception of the meeting
with his father , when his emotion was
appant tu all , Alexis had given no
evidence of other than the natural
pleasure with which he had met the
'
welcome of his friends. His man-
ner was not wanting in warmth , but
in no case had he shown anything like
the spontaneous and hel1rtfelt pleasure
with which he had greeted Cobb.
There were glances of surprIse and
inquiry between the guests , and on
the face of the Countess KarslcheCt
there was an expression of annoyance
which she found It impossible ! to avoid.
Four hundred curious eyes had seen
the meeting of Alexis and Olga , and
she felt that gossip would be busy with
Its significance in a hundred places In
St. Petersburg. The warmth of
Alexis' greeting to Cobb made his cold-
ness before doubly apparent , and
Katherine Karsicheff raising her .
haughty head , made no effort to conceal . .
ceal the significance . of the inquiry i
which her eyes directed to those of i
Alexis. '
Alexis quickly realized that some
explanation was required. Taking
General Cobb hy the arm ho advanced -
vanced from the group. "Father ,
friends , " ho said , looking at the com-
pany , "has he not told you ? LO you
not know ? "
The puzzled looks answered the
question.
"Evidontl not , " proceeded Alexis ,
as he stopped the protest of Cobb.
"Then I shall tell 'ou. Aid me to
show my gratitude , your regard to my
friend , my preserver ! "
"His preserver ! " Astonishment
gave way to curiosity and an eager
expectancy pervaded the assemblage
as Alexis spoke :
"Ay , my preserver , the man but for
whose steady hand and resolute heart
I sltclld now be filling an unmarked
. .
grave in Asl : ! . . "
"Ob , come now , none of that , " began -
gan Cobb , " - "
"The stol'Y-teU ue the story. "
The request came from a dozen
voices.
Paul Nazhnol'f ' , as Alexis 8polco of
Cobb au his preserver , laid his hand
on the arm of the American with n.
kindly gesture , while the baroness ,
with an eagerness she made no attempt .
tempt to hide , exclaimed : "Presorver ?
the brave American ! "
Alexis began : "About a year ago , ,
while our command , under General \
Kaufman , was pushIng Its way across :
I
the Tartary steppes , we had a sharp i
conflict with a body of Turcoman caV- ,
airy. We were apprehensive of an , j
attack by the enemy in force , and
promptly took a position to repel . any
advance. Night fell , and my troop
was assigned to outpost duty. I was
ordered to advance as far as possi-
ble , so as to get some idea of the
Turcamans , if they should prove to
be in force. We fell into an anibus
Clulo , and I Was captured and hurried j
to the Turcoman headquarters , where
I was thrust into a tent and my fate
speedily docreed. In the conflict of
. which I have spoken , the Turcoman
chief's son was killed , and it was determined . ;
termlned to kill me by way of ro
prisal. I
"While deliberating In my
fate , I overheard the Turco-
mans allude to another prisoner .
oner whom they captured , and
his death too was urged. It was
pleaded in extenuation that lie was
not a Russian j that ho was a civilian
and that he would evidently be heavily .
ransomed. Toward daylight ! I lJOC1i1U
conscious that some one was gaining
entrance to my tent from a tent adjoining -
joining , and I received a whispered
word of warning in English to pre-
serve silence , that the intruder was a
friend. There in the darkness 1 felt
the grasp of a friendly hand , and soon
the stranger : ! began to unfasten the
bonds which held me fast , hands and
feet.
"Whl1e thus engaged , he muttered
'hush , ' and silently drew hack into the
darkest part of the , tent. A move-
ment at the entrance caused me to
look in that direction. There , as a
silhouette against the light of early
dawn , stood a Turcoman. I1is face
gleamed with deadliest hate. It was
the chief whose son had been killed ,
and who had demanded my 1lfe. In
his hand he bore , an uplifted dagger.
I could see the gleaming steo1. He
advanced. I closed mr eyes , niur - .
inured a prayer and waited. . I could
almost feel his hot breath on my face ! I
Suddenly there was a fiash and are. !
port. The Turcoman fell , shot throe h I
the brain. At the same nnomenii ' tfr > I
troops with a wild cheer charged the I
Turcomnn cant , , and we were saved. :
Cobb , my frIend , my dear friend here , I
was the man who fired that shot and .
I
saved mr life at the risk of his own ! "
"Bravo ! Bravo ! "Bravo Cobb ! " I
"Noble American ! " "Gallant soldier ! "
were some of the exclamations which
followed the recital of Alexis' thrilling -
ing adventure and rescuo. As lie
finished he turned , and grasping Cobb
warmly by the hand , he added :
"Now friends , aid me to show our
brave American that we Russians are
not ungrateful ! "
( To be'contlnuod. . ) i
Precaution.
Mr. Upson Downes ( seated by a :
stranger in a railway carriagc- ) i
What time is it by your watch , if you I
please ?
Stranger-I don't lmow. i
Mr. Upson Downes-But you have
just looked at it. !
i I
Stranger-Yesj ; 1 only wanted to i ,
see if it was still thero.-Stray
Stories.
Mosquito Experiments
Dr. Qultmnn Kohnlce , preslllent of
the New Orleans Board of Health , Is
in Texas to determine by experiments
the feasibllllr of fighting the mosquito
IlS a gernn . carrier.
He that studieth revenge leopetb
his own wounds green which other-
wiRe would heal and do well.-Dacon.
