THE HESPERIAN
"Its mighty hard to looso yo', Noll, but
may bo its best. Maybo if I'd lived an'
married yo' I might a' got old an' cross an'
used to yo' some day, an' might a' sworo at
you an' boat yo' liko tho mountain folks round
here docs, an' I'd sooner die now, while I
love yo' bettor'n anything else in Gawd's
world. Yo' liko mo, too, don't yo' dear?"
"Oh Allen! moro'n I ovcrknowod, inore'n
I ever knowod,"
"Don't take on so, honey. Yo' will stay
with nie to-night? Yo' won't leave mo even
after I'm dead? Yo' know wo was to bo
married an' I was to have yo' to-night. Yo'
voift go way an' loavo mo tho first night an'
the last, will yo' Noll?"
Tho girl calmed herself for his sako and
answered him steadily: uNo, Allen. I
will sot an' hold yo' till momin' comes. I
won't leave yo'."
"Thank yo'. Never mind, dear, tho best
thing in livin' is to lovo hard, and tho best
thing in dyin' is to die game; an' 1'vo done
my best at both. Novor mind."
He drew a long sigh, and tho rest was
silence.
"Russian Political Exiles."
Tho audienco that greeted Mr. George
Kennan, in tho Lansing, April fifth, was not
as largo as had been expected ; but, as far
as culture goes, it was one of tho best audi
ences Lincoln can produce.
Tho lecturer appeared under tho auspices
of tho Palladian society, with II. G. Bar
ber and F. F. Tucker having Sole manage
ment and taking all financial respon
sibilities. Almost everyone is familiar
with tho work of Mr. Konnan in Russia
among Siberian convicts. His work there
was untiring, and he left nothing undone in
Ills endeavors to obtain an account of the ex
act conditions and torriblo sufferings of the
exiles who are yearly sent to tho mines of
Kara, or to other places in Siberia. Tho ad
ventures and narrow escapes Mr. Kennan
had, and the vast amount of information he
gleaned from under the noses of tho Russian
officials, furnish plenty of material which ho
will bo able to uso in locturing to English
speaking audionces for yoars to como. Ho
treats of a subject about which very littlo is
known outside of Russian circles on account
of a gagged press and threatened exile.
But thanks to tho efforts of Mr. Kennan,
tho nations outside of Russia are fast be
coming awaro of tho atrocities committed in
that anarchistic region. As Mr. Konnan
said, whero there aro so many noblo souls
who yearly sacrifice their lives in an effort
to bring Russia under a progressive form of
government, there is much hopo. A Czar
cannot always keep his people in darkness
when so many of his subjects have an ap
preciation of light. There will be a revolt
there some day that will shake tho whole of
Russia, and tho Czar will meet his just de
serts by being sent, not to tho mines of
Kara, but to tho mines of hell, whero there
will bo no eternal snows or biting frosts,
but whero there will be eternal heat that will
cause him ten times more suffering than his
subjects suffered in their frozen forced mar
ches in his cold dominion on tho way to
their Siberian convict homes. Tho work of
Air. Konnan in aiding the Russian exiles
may bo as a drop in the ocean, as one per
son has remarked, as far as bringing about
a change in conditions goes, but if it were
not for tho drops the oceans would not sep
arate the continents. We predict this, at
least, that Mr. Kennan's work will so open
tho eyes of every progressive nation that
when tho opportunity offers, these progress
ive nations will, every one of them, step in
aud aid the progressive people of Russia in
rebelling against a non-progressive, retro
gressive, arrogant and despotic government.
Tho work is a noble one, and Mr. Kennan
may well feel proud of his offorts. In his
illustrated lecture in tho Lansing on "Rus
sian Political Exiles" tho lecturer showed the
effects of the cruelties practiced by the offi
cials on tno innocent suspected ones that aro
yearly sent to tho Siberian prisons. With
out any word painting or extra coloring, Mr.
Kennan, by merely throwing tho pictures on
the screen, and giving a few words of ex-
tfl