y Order of the Czar
A Story of Russian Power
By MARCUS E ASTLAKE
CHAPTER V.
"Vladimir, thou art feeling stronger?
Is it not so?" says Ivan, putting a hand
ou each of my shoulders and looking
down nnxiously in my fnoe.
"Certainly 1 am much stronger than
when I came to thee a week ago," I
reply with a smile.
"IJecause thou wilt have to make a
move again," resumes Ivan. "It is no
longer safe for thee here. To-day my
landlord met me as I left the house, and
asked me who I had staying with me;
though I know not how he has discov
ered thy presence here. I said: 'A cous
in, who is merely passing through the
town en route to Novgorod.' He asked
your n.'inie. I was taken aback, hut for
tunately the first lie led up to the second,
and (lie name of an actual cousin came
to me mid I pronounced it. Po now thou
art Wiildemnr Nieolniviteh AlikanofT! I
have thought, Vladimir," he resumes,
"that it wire well to make known thy
existence to our section. Thou knowest
they are to be trusted to a man. What
joy there will be amongst them when
the) know thou are alive! They will all
be ready to din for thee! And amongst
us we can easily conceal thee. Thou
canst pass from one to the other until
thou art able to venture on flight."
"I have always advised it," I respond.
"Long since I would have sliuuu my
self to them but for Maruscha. She
thinks there Is risk in so many knowing
It whilst I am still in the country."
Ivan shrugs his shoulders. "I see no
alternative. Something we must risk,"
he says. "There is strength in uuity,
and are we not as one man in purpose?
The sooner thou art away from here
the better. What thinkest thou of going
first to Pavel Yegorevitch?" he asks.
"I would trust Pavel as my own aoul!"
I reply, fervently, for I like the man.
He is a silent, deep nature I always
mistrust the glib tongue a man who
makes no professions, slow and delib
erate both In speech nnd action, but hav
ing once chosen a course is not to be
turned from it.
"Thou wilt lock thyself in," says Ivan.
"And if any one, save Maruscha, should
come and knock for admittance thou
wilt keep silent as a shade until' they
depart. Adieu, I will not be long."
As I lie, With my hands clasped above
my head, my eyes fixed on the bit of, sky
gleaming grny, through the small dormer
window, the being of all others I most
long for stands at the other sldo of the
door. I know well Maruscha's particu
lar rap, and it is her voice that whispers
my name:
"Vludimir!"
I spring to my feet and hasten to ad
mit her. For some minutes, holding the
beloved form In my arras, I forget all
else, realizing only the rapture of the
present. Only when she releases her
self and looks round for Ivan, I remem
ber how much 1 have to tell her.
She turns white when she hears about
the landlord's questions, and I tell her
that Ivou lias gone to see Pavel Yego
revitch to make arrangements for my re
moval there to-night.
At this she clasps her hands. "Is it
well oh, is it well that others should
know about thee? ravel is silent and
trustworthy, it is true; but still I fear
me. It will break out One by one they
will be told they will be flocking to see
thee. The attention of the police be at
tracted. I wish, I wish Ivan had come
to me! Surely we two could have man
aged to concea) thee somewhere some
where!"
"Thou art too fearful, my Maruscha,"
I reply soothingly. "And thou seest It
has become imperative to seek the aid
of others. I only wish I had insisted on
doing so before I drew this danger on
Ivau. And as to my safety, there is not
a man of them who would not render
up his life rather than betray me!"
"Not willingly, not willfully. I know,
Vladimir, but what matters it when
they have by their coining and going, at
tracted those bloodhounds to thy hiding
plucc? It is u mistake, I tell thee!" per
sists Maruscha.
For a while she stares straight before
her, and I see the anguish of terrible
possibilities growing in her eyes until
the tears begin to gather, her features
to work, and she costs herself on my
breast.
"Vladimir! Vlndimir!" she cries, "If
they tear thee from me now I shall
die!"
I say what I con to reassure her,
stroking her bright head and pressing my
lips to it, for her hat that sweet little
bat that I have watched her trim has
slipped to her shoulders. And she sobs
out her woe with tears abundant, at
which I rejoice, because experience has
taught me that after Maruscha has wept
much, she is wont to be very calm.
"How long wilt thou stay with Pavel
Yegorevitch I she asks.
"As short a time as possible," I re
ply. "I am quite strong now, and the
sooner I begin to make for the frontier
tho better, ' By remaining I only en
danger my friends. Moreover, Maruscha.
as I explained to thee before, having
ceased to approve of the methods of the
party to which I have hitherto belong'
ed. my wisest plan is to escape from it,
quietly and silently. I have thought it
out, and to attempt any explanation
would be madness. I could not make
mvself understood.
Maruscha sighs as if she would excuse
me to herself.
"Surely thou hast done enough," she
murmurs.
' By no means!" I cry vehemently. "No
man can ever say: I bavs dona enough
la a rood cause! One its true disciple,
hla liabilities to It end only with bis life,
and my watchword is now as heretofore,
'Liberty.' And it is for liberty that I
will fight to my last breath! No longer,
therefore, can I be the slave of a party
whose tyranny is as great as the Czar
himself! it is .Nihilism I have served
slavishly, abjectel!y. What it has de
creed 1 have done, silencing my con
science smothering the dictate of the
Dnine voice within my heart which
would liRve whispered: 'Thou shalt not
take God-given life, even though it be
that of thine enemy!' "
. "What wilt thou d& when thou hast
left us?" she asks, with quivering lips.
"Thou speakest as if I could choose,"
I reply, with a touch of bitterness. "A
stranger and an alien in a foreign land,
should I reach it, my prospects are nil."
Then noting the effect of my gloomy ob
servations in her downcast features, I
hasten to add more cheerfully: "Never
theless, Maruscha, I have my hands and
my head, and being willing to make use
of cither as opportunity offers, I nhall
surely find work to do."
"Could I but have gone with thee!"
she cries, with a heaven of tenderness
in her voice. "Could not I?"
"It were impossible, my heart of
hearts! Thou wouldst but retard my
flight, increase my danger, and, more
than all, run a terrible risk thyself. Nor
couldst thou endure llie lnuJaLipa I
may have to encounter. Alone thou canst
follow me by rail, in perfect safety, and
we will trust in my lucky star that soon
I may bid thee come. Meanwhile, keep
a brave heart, and avoid getting embroil
ed with the Nihilists. Wilt thou do this
for love of me, my Maruscha?" In re
ply she takes my hand in both of hers
and presses it to her lips.
CHAPTETl VI.
Whilst we have been talking the
shades of night have been closing in,
until now, leaning together as we sit,
we can barely see each other's faces.
Maruscha rises to light the lamp, and
in the silence I hear how the wind,
which has been blowing a gale all day, is
rattling the window in its frame and
howling wildly round the house. From
a gale it has developed to a tempest.
"Ivan will see thee home, Maruscha,"
I observed. "It is a wild night."
Suddenly flying steps startle us as
cending the stairs! The handle of the
door is shaken, and a breathless whisper,
which is not Ivan's, comes to us:
"Open open quickly! It is I Pavel!"
Maruscha, pale of a sudden to the lips,
is at the door before I, in my surprise
and consternation, find the power to stir.
I sit gazing and expectant of I know not
what, but something of ill and Pavel is
before me. He must have sped quickly,
for he puts his hand to his heaving side,
and with wild eyes darting at me, gasps
forth:
"Hide! Hide for thy life! They are
upon us!"
Maruscha wrings her hands. "Fly!
fly! stand not thus, Vladimir!"
I am beginning to make blindly for the
noor, when Pavel's- voice arrests me.
"No no time; they will meet thee
thou must hide!"
I look around at the four walls and
laugh stupidly.
"The window it is dark!" It is Ma
ruscha who speaks, pointing upward.
"It is a chance!" gasps Pavel.
The window rises from the roof. It Is
high. Already Maruscha is dragging for
ward a chair for me to mount.
"My shoulders better," gasps Pavel
again, instantly turning to me his back
and lowering his body.
Something of their nnxlous energy Is
lent to me in this supreme moment. I
spring with marvelous agility to the prof
fered shoulders I open the window, and
with a rush of wind comes to me the
trump, tramp of gendarmes! The wind
compasses me about it tears, it roars
at me. I clutch the' window frame my
feet are on the sloping roof, which
seems to move away under them. .
Pavel's bend shoots up for a moment
through the window. I see the wind
seize his black hair and toss it about in
wanton fury ere it disappears and the
wiidow is shut. I have now got a firm
grip of the projecting slates that edge
the dormer roof. Fortunately, I am
Bhod with soft slippers, so that my feet
can bend with them and get a certain
purchase on the slates. I move cau
tiously sideways, until I can extend my
left arm over a corner of the projection.
Thus by bending iy body forward I
can see into the room, myself unseen.
Maruscha is sitting at the table. Her
eyes are turned to the door, as if in
startled surprise. Pavel is at the door,
holding it open to admit four police
officers, two of whom have Ivan In ens-
tody. Pavel's manner is perfect. His
eyebrows are raised. He looks astonish
ment personified. With a polity gesture
he seems to invite the intruders to en
ter, search, examine anything they like,
so that they are satisfied.
There is an air of baffled mystification
on the faces of all the officers as their
glances travel about the room. One of
them, a superior, locks the door and puts
tho key in his pocket.
Ivan, standing apart, with gyved
wrists, wears a look of sullen indiffer
ence. , Only once I catch him dart a
swift glance at Maruscha, who has risen
to her feet and stands with proud, up
lifted head in mute protest at the un
seemly interruption.
The superior officer steps forward In
front of Pavel, and holding him with
stern eye, evidently commences to
question him. I strain every nerve to
hear what is being said, but what with
the swish of the wind and the lnterven-
l In i glass,, I cannot distinguish a single
word. I can only guess what Is trans
piring by a close observation of the dumb
show.
Pavel fixes steadfast, unflinching eyes
on his examiner. Occasionally be smiles
slightly. His lips move as if in prompt
reply. Presently he takes out his pock
etbook, produces a card from it, which
he hands to the officer. Then Ma
ruscha's turn comes.
My brave girl! She bears herself like
an enraged queen. I can see that her
manner impresses the officer Russian
officers are particularly impressionable!
she would, impress the Czar himself!
The fellow bows courteously at every
reply of hers. He takes down her ad
dress and name on the back of Pavel's
card, and makes her a profound bow ere
he turns from her.
She sits quietly down and speaks notl
again, but silently watches every move
ment of the officers, who have now got
orders to prosecute a search. They pull
out drawer after drawer, upsetting the
contents on the floor, while their su
perior stands by, looking on.
I he bottom drawer is the only one
that is locked, and Ivan is commanded
to give up the key. With perfect un
concern he directs one of the officers to
his waistcoat pocket, and ah, at last
here are papers! I note the gleam of
exultation with which they are clutched
and the, eagerness with which they are
unfolded; glanced over with increasing
disappointment, one by one, nnd lnid
aside. I could almost chuckle at their
discomfiture, knowing as 1 do, that Ivan
has another hiding place, and one that
they are not likely to stumble on for his
secret papers.
They leave no corner uninvestigated,
and it occupies a considerable time. Fi
nally they give up the search and leave
the house. The tramp of the police offi
cers below in the street gradually grows
fainter until it 3ie3 In tho distance. I
breathe a prayer of thanksgiving.
It is Maruscha's small head, blown
about by ringed wavelets of hair, which
next starts up against the sky, and her
voice gasping out my name in an intense,
awful whisper:
"Vladimir!"
She cannot see me, her gaze sets out
on a distracted, dubious search. 1 raise
my head. She utters a low cry of joy.
' I am here, Maruscha," I call to her.
"Oh, Vladimir, be careful! Hold fast!
Take time!"
She stretches out her hand toward me,
though she cannot help me, while I slow
ly and painfully descend. Once my foot
slips forward and she utters a scream of
terror.
I reassure her. "Fear not for me.
Maruscha. I keep a firm hold, and hold
ing, I cannot fall."
And once more I stand in the room,
and Maruscha's arms are clasping my
neck.
CHAPTER VII.
Around me is a chaos of confusion.
Ivan's belongings strew the floor like
the leaves on the strand after a tem
pest. His open desk, with its contents-
scattered broadcast, is at my feet; his
bedclothes lie a twisted heap, with the
mattress beside the bed. The table,
too, is littered with old letters, manu
scripts, note scraps relative to his law
studies; but where is their owner? Where
is Pavel Yegorevitch?
"They have been taken," I groan,
a huge wave of bitterest remorse rising
and sweeping over my soul. Have I re
turned to this miserable world only to
bring misfortune to those who are dear
est to me? Am I ever to be doomed to
blast like a thunderbolt all I come in
contact with? To prove a curse where
I most would bless?
Maruscha, who now that the fierce
strain has been removed from her
nerves, is sobbing hysterically, with her
head on my breast, lifts her tear-stained
face at my words, anxiety for me bring
ing her sobs to an immediate check.
"Yes, they have both had to go, but it
is a' mere form. To-morrow they will
be released. Nothing was found, noth
ing can be proved against them, she
hastens to inform me.
I laugh harshly. "Hast thou forgotten
Vera Sussulitch?" I say. "There was
nothing found against her nothing but
the faintest shadow of a suspicion rested
on her, yet that hindered them not from
keeping her two long years of her girl s
life in the fortress without trial! And
she was scarcely eighteen!
Maruscha hangs her head and sighs
drearily. She replies not. What can
she reply to this cruel fate 7
"I need scarcely ask of what they
accuse our brothers," I observe at length,
with bitterness. "It Is not the manner
of the Russian authorities to prefer an
accusation when they arrest a subject
It is enough that they have decided to
drag him to prison, and well for him if
he is not left to rot there!
"They made no accusation, it Is true;
but, front their questions I could guess
that they expected to find that some
one was hiding being hidden,"
"It is as I thought," I Interrupt "That
malignant demon, Isajeff, the furrier,
is at the bottom of it!"
Then Instantly, with a shock of dis
may. I recollect that it was' from Ma
ruscha's lodging Isajeff had followed us!
Yet she Is here she has not been ar
rested with the others. He has spared
her; it is due to his reticence that she
is not now in a prison cell! Why has he
spared her? My brain reels as I con
template the only possible reason this
wretch can have for acting as he has
done to have her in his power.
And I am powerless to protect her
from him! Nay, I must fly from her
hasten to put miles between us, for ev
ery moment that I remain at her side
I imperil her very life!
(To be continued.)
The American firm of Clarkson &
Co., In Vladivostok, have substituted
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THE- OLD FOLKS AT HOME
Are Never Without Pe-ru-na in the Heme, for Ca
tarrhal Diseases.
MR and MRS.
JN0.0.OTS0N.
independence.
Hp.
Under date of January 10, Dr.
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One of her worst troubles was chronic
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She was also passing through that most
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change of life.
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About the same time I wrote you
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In a letter dated January 1, 1900,
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Heal Powers.
"Say, Winston, how would you like
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Jitape tfOUHrSAMUELPtTQOR
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Facsimile Signature of
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EXACT COPY 07 WRAEEEH.
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Mrs. Alia Schwandt.
Why Old People Are Especially Lia
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When old age comes on, catarrhal
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The longest fence in the world la
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For Infants and Children.
The Kind You Have
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Signature
In
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For Over
Thirty Years
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