Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Lexington wheatfield. (Lexington, Or.) 1905-19?? | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 1906)
Pri nsoners and Captives By H. S. CHAPTER XXV. Matthew Murk Easton" arrived in St Petersburg by train from Libau, and took - a drosky to the Hotel de France, for which he paid seventy copecks. His pass- Iort was in perfect order, although smeared most lamentably by the clerk of the Russian consulate who vised it in London. After breakfast he wandered forth, guidebook in hand, having refused the services of a polyglot individual who pro fessed to be the brother-in-law of the hall porter. The landlord himself directed Easton to the Newski Prospect, which, however, was not considered interesting until the afternoon. Nevertheless, he went that way. and finally found himself on the English quay. He crossed the Neva, still in the same tourist gait, and lost himself among the smaller commercial streets of the Vasili Ostroff. Presently by the merest acdident he found himself opposite a small warehouse bearing the name L. Ogroff" in painted letters above the blind windows of what had once been a shop. He pushed open the curtain ed door and, addressing himself to a pleasant looking girl who was seated at a counter adding up the columns of a ledger, he mentioned the name "Loris Ogroff." . i "Yes," answered the girl, In perfect English, "he is in. Who are you?" "Matthew Mark Easton." "Ah! Come in." She led the way into an Inner" room which was lined with shelves containing long wooden boxes like miniature coffins. There were upon the table some rolls of common cloth. "Mr. Ogroff is apparently a tailor," hazarded Easton In a conversational way. "Yes," she answered, with a short laugh, "a very cheap one." "He is upstairs in the cutting-out room," she continued, with a twinkle in her childish eyes. "I shall tell him." Easton stood looking at the curtained door after she had closed it. Then he picked up a piece of rough cloth and ex amined its texture critically. "I am half inclined," he reflected aloud, "to become a nihilist. There are alleviations even in the lot of a tailor's assistant of the establishment Ogroff." In a few moments the door opened again, and a stout man entered with a bow. He shook hands without speaking, and'pointed to a chair. We last saw this man in Easton's rooms in London. His name was not mentioned then, because there was not much in a name for him. It was not Ogroff then. He was not minutely de scribed, because a written description is not always of great value. ' For instanef , he was in London a dark, grizzled man with a beard ; in his shop in the Vasili Ostroff, St. Petersburg, he was a fair, hairless man. "Well?" he said, asthmatically, nt length. "Not a word," replied Easton; "and you?" The man shrugged his heavy shoulders. "Not a word. I have written to you all that I heard. I wrote on the fifth of May; have you destroyed the letter?" "Yes burned it." "Well 1" ejaculated the Russian, mis using the word. "I heard," he continued "never mind how that they all got away, In good health, at the proper time that is, In the early summer of the year before last. They were followed, but they destroyed all the horses and boats as they went, and the pursuit was necessarily given up." "Since that," inquired Easton ; "not a word?" "Not a word." "There has been no semi-official ac count of the matter in the newspapers?" "No; It has been hushed up. The of ficial report is that certain exiles and prisoners escaped; that they were pur sued by Cossacks, and that the chase was only given up when their death by starvation was a moral certainty." "And," said Easton, "are they struck out of the list?" "Yes ; they are struck out." "I am going to look for them," an nounced Easton, after a pause. The Russian raised his flaxen eye brows. "Ah ! I understood that you were con demned by the doctors." "No, not condemned ; thpy merely said, If you go, it will kill you.' " "And still," said the Russian, calmly, "you go." "Some one must. You cannot you are too fat. I am going by land," continued the American. "I leave Petersburg to morrow morning." Ogroff rose from his chair. ' "You must go now," he said. "You have been here long enough ; we are watched, you know. Here in Petersburg we all watch each other." The Russian held ojit a fat white hand. "Good-by, you brave American," he aid. "U'by I" returned Easton, with a laugh. CHAPTER XXVI. "Well, at all events, we have tried It !" These words were spoken by the mere remnant of a man to a solitary compan ion while both looked out peered through the twilight on death. lie who spoke crouched in a singular way on the hard snow, supporting himself on one fur-clad arm. He could not stand, for he had but one leg. The other had been cut off Just above the knee a recent amputation, rudely tied with rope, was stained a deep, suggestive color. Ills face was a horrid ight to look upon, for her and there In the pasty yellow flesh wt deep In MERRIMAN dentations of half-honied sores, the re sult of frost bite. One eye was quite closed by a swelling which deformed the features and drew them all up. lie spoke in a mumbling way, ns if his tongue were swollen or diseased, and the language was most dramatic of all tongues Russian. 1 1 is companion, a short, thick-set man, stood beside him ; but he stood weakly, and the terribly sunken lines of his cheeks told a story only slightly less horrible than that depicted by the face and form of the cripple. Roth faces alike bore that strange dry look which tells unerr ingly of starvation. Within a few yards of the two men, at their backs, stood a rude, ill-shapen hut, built clumsily and ignorantly of snow. Its low doorway faced the north, and amid the gloom of its interior there were discernible a number of heaps, apparently formed of old and tattered fur clothing. These were dead men ; the women of Sergius Pavloski's party had not lived to see the Arctic Ocean. The man who stood gave a short heart rending laugh as he looked out over the frozen sea. "Yes," he said, '"we have tried It." There was a pause, and then the crip ple Sergius Pavloski spoke again : "Of course," he said, almost unintel ligibly, "we have failed; but still our failure may teach others, and we have kept it secret. Those who want to know will never know. They will always be in uncertainty as to whether we have escaped and are living hidden in America, in Europe, perhaps in Russia. We Bhall be more terrible, doctor, dead than alive." I hope so." "I, at all events, shall be, for you say that I could not live a week in a warm climate. This leg of mine is less painful to-day; perhaps it is healing." "No, Pavloski ; I have told you a doz en times it is not healed, It Is only frozen. It can never heal. The moment it thaws you will die." A sickly smile passed across his un sightly features, and there was silence1 for a time the deathly expectant silence of the far North. At length Pavloski raised his mittened hand and extended i: outward like the needle of a compass. I wonder," he mumbled, "if Tyars is out there." , "I wonder," said the doctor, "why you intrusted this to an Englishman." "If I had the whole world to choose from, I should not have selected another man," said Pavloski; "but there was no choice in the matter." "I suppose," said the doctor, with an ill-concealed sneer, "that he has turned beck." "I will swear by St. Taul that he has not done that !" "Then where is he?" "Dead!" was the answer. "If Claud Tyars had been alive, he would have come. He is not here, therefore ' he is dead ! Ough !" He stopped and fell back fainting with pain. In his excitement he had moved, and allowed some of his weight, to rest upon the raw stump of his leg. In a sec ond the doctor was kneeling on the snow beside him, raising his head, touching his lips with snow. It was a poor restora tive, but there was nothing else at hand. One cannot offer to a dying man even the tenderest piece of an old sealskin mitten. Without waiting for consciousness to return, he attempted to lift the cripple, intending to carry him within the little snow hut, but the movement brought back Pavloski s failing senses, and he shook his head in token that he -wished to be left where he lay. "No," he said, after gasping twice for breath; "I would rather die out here." The doctor's bare hand crept within the tattered sleeve toward the pulse. He said nothing. There was nothing to say. I do not want, continued Pavloski brokenly, "to see their faces. I brought them here. It Is my fault. I suppose the good Ood will know how to revenue all this. If they the Romanoffs the Czar had twenty lives, and we could take them all we might pay the debt ; but they have only one life to taka ; that would be too short a punishment. (rod wi,ll know how to do it will He not, doctor?" "Yes," said the sweet, deep voice of the doctor, "God will know how to do it." 'Pray," said the dying man, "pray to Him to do it well!" Then his head fell back and he breathed regularly and softly. But this was not the end. Presently the blackened ips began to move, and he spoke In quite a different voice so different as to startle his listener. It was soft and even, as if recounting a dream fiot long dispelled. "It is not yet a year ago," he said. "There were seven of us four Russians, two Englishmen, and an American. Four Russians, two Englishmen and an Ameri can what a strong combination ! The Russians to go into action on land, the Englishmen on the sea, and the sharp- witted American to watch and plot and scheme. I remember the last time we met was at Easton's house. Two of us are dead, and I am nearly dead. Tyars and Grace where can they be? They are out there, doctor, in front of us to the north. I I shall go and meet them." The lips closed with a sudden snap, and the doctor leaned eagerly forward. Ser gius Pavloski was dead. The survivor rose to his feet. It had begun to snow gently and in large flakes a snow that would cover the ground to the depth of twelve Inches In half that number of hours. As It fell It gradually covered the dead man, even to his face and eyes, which were already cold. Presently the doctor moved a little, ud, turning slowly rotnd. scanned the near horizon. He could not see the pack Ice now, for the snoV was blowing lu from the north, wreallihK and curling as it came. . Then this lone n.in moved toward tho snow hut, and etK'ivd it on his hands and knees. He t"k uo notice of the dead one soon ges accustomed to them but fumbled alioit among tho baggage piled up In one coner. In a dull, Btupll way he realized tho responsibilities of lis position. Ho drag ged two of the sleiljcsout of the hut, and with a hatchet broke them up. Then ho took the two strongest pieces, of each the cross-bars and bound them securely together, thus fonnifg n rough pole. This he erected on a little mound where the snow was thin, huilling it up with such debris as he could Iny hands upon.. It stood up gauntly, almost the only object within sight that wai not white. It was a mere pole, the thickness of a man's wrist, and yet it wa probably visible ten miles off against in gleaming surround ings. "It would be gooc." he mumbled, "to be warm once more just once." And he piled up he wood in a little heap. He crawled into the hut and pres ently returned bearitg a good sized tin bottle labeled "Spiritws." He poured the contents over the woodand struck a match. In a moment the bite flames leaped up and the wood cracklec. He crouched down to the leeward side, so close that his clothes were singed and gave forth a sharp, acrid smell. He withdrew his mittens and held his bare, scarred hands right into the flames. "Ah !" he murmupd In a gurgling voice, "that is good !" But it did not lait long. The wood was light and very dry, and in five min utes there was nothing left but a few smoldering ashes. The doctor rose to his feet and looked long and steadily out to the north over the broken ice. Ilia eyes lingered over each white mound and hillock not loving ly, for it was horribly dismal, almost too dismal to be part of this world at all. Strange to say, liis eyes finished their Inspection by looking up to heaven. ' The great snow-clouds were rolling south, bearing in their huge, rounded bosoms the white pail to cover a continent for many months to come. But this man seemed to be looking beyond the elonds, seeking to penetrate the dim ether. He was not looking at the sky, but into heaven. At last he gave a contemptuous little shrug of the shoulders, full of a terrible mean ing. The next moment he sought for something in the inner pocket of his fur tunic. There was a gleam of dull, rusted metal, and he raised his hand toward his open mouth. At the same instant a sharp report broke upon that echoless silence, and a little puff of white smoke was borne southward on the breeze. (To be continued.) EARTHQUAKES IN CARIBBEES. Phenomena Always A (tended by Dread Bordering on Terror. To us the lands and countries about the Caribbean Sea are of the greatest interest unci importance. Our people will be' locating there with more and Increasing frequency,. and nil the while the ties of international co-operation will become stronger, says Francis C. Nicholas In the Review of Reviews. That eruptive and seismic disasters have afflicted places In those regions will uot deter us very much, for one has abundant faith that it Is not going to happen to him, and a good many of our people are locating directly In range of the volcanoes, happy and pros pering along with the natives. The region Is not very far away. A few days on the steamer and one Is lu the tropics. That bit of yellow seaweed picked up at the shore last summer be cause It was different from the others was probably brought by the gulf stream from the Curibbean regions and carried to our shores by a southerly wind. Surely It is uot a far-away coun try that we are considering, and It Is very beautiful sunshine and flowers, green savnunas and towering moun tains, torrential rivers, clear, splashing brooks and deep blue sens. Why should one think of earth quakes? My own experiences with them have happily been free from scenes of death ; yet the coming of an earthquake Is so sudden, so wildly terrible, that the stoutest hearts must quail. Even wild animals shrink with fear, and one is always filled with dread bordering on terror. It is all so sudden. A sense of some unknown fear pervades all na ture, as if the spirit of the world had caught its breath and held all life an Instant in suspense, while sounds seem to beset one's nerves rather than to assault the ears. Then comes a reel ing, sickening, staggering motion, and fear, and human crying out, and then quivering silence for the space of a breath, followed perhaps by crushing destruction, or, it may be, by a sound ilke a great sighing and the earth set tles back, that the pulsations of na ture .may begin again in harmony. Then excited people'' find their voices, be wildered faces gleam with Intelligence and every one Is talking, comparing ex periences, wondering what it was, where It had come from and how it had gone away. Such have been my experiences with earthquakes in the Caribbean regions, i Short. "I hear some scientists are going to try to make the north pole with an air ship. Do they Intend to stay long?" "Oh, no. They're only going to make a flying trip." Detroit Free Press, msm -,-. raf Clod Manner, l.eveler aud Drag. This clod masher, leveler and drag can also be used for mashing down cornstalks and weeds. Cut off a log about twelve Inches In diameter that will split straight through the middle nicely, take off the bark from both pieces, that will leave one flat side and one rounding side to each piece; get some old half-Inch rod Irons, six pieces about fifteen Inches long, have taps on one end and hook nlwut two Indies long, bent on the other end; bore two auger holes In each piece a foot from each end; put the hooks with taps through holes. (Jet two pieces of old log chains, with three links eiihr which will fasten the two pieces of timber to gether. Bore two more holes in one of the pieces about two feet from each end, and take one long truce chain and fasten to doubletree. Letter A shows shape of the rods. If you want to make It heavier, drop a pole on the chains between the logs. This will make ns fine a drag, clod crusher, land leveler, stalk and weed knocker us you would wish to use. Cheap Fuel Alcohol. Denaturlzed alcohol will probably be come another great product of the southern states. It Is claimed that cot tonseed oil machinery Is perfectly adapted to making industrial alcohol from the potato. If this Is successfully proven, the many cottonseed oil mills of the south, which are Idle each sum mer season for lack of material, will be able to operate all the time and keep their employes together. Furthermore, being already equipped with the ma chinery, they will, no doubt, be able to manufacture the alcohol very cheaply. Farmers would also be benefited by the Immense demand for potatoes that would result. In Cuba alcohol Is pro duced and sold from twelve to fifteen cents, a gallon, and It Is said to make an excellent fuel for running engines. It produces no soot or disagreeable odors. When the law recently passed by congress to denaturize alcohol in the United States becomes operative it is expected greatly to increase the use of the article both for fuel and other purposes. ' The Way to Make Hens Moult. One of the achievements of modern poultry keeping Is that of forcing a hen to doff her old coat, and grow a new one before the time when she would do no naturally. Many hens shed their feathers so late In the season, natural ly, that cold weather overtakes them before they get new suits, consequently they seldom begin laying before spring. If the moult can be hastened so that a new coat of feathers is grown and the laying can be started before cold weather, the prospect Is good for a supply of eggs during fall and -winter. The result Is usually accomplished by cutting off all meat and mash foods, putting the hens on short rations of grain for a week or so to stop the lay ing, then allow more liberty and feed a full ration high in protein. This loosens the old feathers, which drop off quickly and starts a rapid growth of the new. A liberal allowance of beef scrap is essential, and linseed meal Is an advan tage. Sunflower seeds are also good during the moult Dodder Alfalfa's Enemy. Thw worst enemy to alfalfa Is dod der, a yellow twining parasite that lives on alfalfa and clover and rapidly destroys them. The seeds are small and yellow and most of the alfalfa seeds from the West are Infested with dod der. The New York station says that the dodder seeds can be removed by sifting the seed through a sieve having twenty meshes to the Inch. Careful seedsmen will sift the seeds, but farm ers should be on their guard against common seeds that may b on to market OOOD FIEI.0 CONTRIVANCE. Mb Diiiiui-i'oiiM Corn l'et. Tho cornstalk borer 1ms Infested va rious parts of tho county for many years, but litis not done great unniuga In most parts of the corn belt. It has begun to appear In Iowu and Kunsas In the last two or three years. It Is a large, white, brown-spotted caterpillar which bores Into a stalk of young corn. When fully grown It bur rows down Into the tup-root, and In the spring transforms to a pupu, from which the adult soon emerges and lays Its eggs on the young corn near the ax ils. The young larvae hatching from them bore Into the stalk and upward through the pith. When fully grown they bore outwards to the surface, making a hole, from which the moth escapes und trans forms to pupa lit the burrow. This In sect Is two-brooded, the second brood feeding on the old stalks, generally be tween the second Joint and the ground, anil becoming full grown about harvest time, when they go Into winter quar ters. When corn was seriously . Infested Inst year and the stalks left standing a second Infestation may be expected this year unless the fanner has raked and burned, a method which we have always suggested when the cornstalks were known to harbor any kind of In sect iests. Corn Is too good to be with out Is full supply of enemies, which at tack it from the very time It Is planted In the ground until It Is In the full ear. Value of Dairy Products. There were 12,147,304,550 pounds of milk and 588,18(1,471 pounds of cream used in 1904 In the manufacture of 551,278,141 pounds of butter, 313,(585, 290 pounds of cheese and 303,485,182 pounds of condensed milk. These fig ures are part of the census of mnnufne tures for 1!M)5. The total cost of the materials used In the Industry whs $142,1)20,277, while the value of the pro ducts was $1(18,182,780, an Increase o the former of 31.3 per cent, and of tint latter of 2S.0 per cent. The number of establishments dropped from 0,242 to 8,92(1, while the capital Increased 30 per cent to $47,255,55(1. There were 3,507 salaried officials and clerks and 17,557 engaged In the manufacture of these articles. These received salaries and wages amounting to $0,789,03(5. Arranging Large Kettle. This Illustration gives a plan to set up a kettle In butchering rime which Is much better than the old way with posts and pole. Take one and one-half- HOW TO SET THE KETTLE. inch old wagon tire, to the blacksmith shop and get a ring made the size of your kettle, with three legs welded to It, and you can move your kettle anj place where wanted, and nothing Is Ip your way to go around It Tape Worm In Tnrkeys. The presence of the tapeworm may be recognized through the Indolent, drowsy spirits of turkeys Infested by it; a careful examination of roldlngs will rveal its presence, as those In fested will pass small portions of the worm. Powdered male fern Is an ef fective remedy, and may be adminis tered In doses of from thirty grains to one dram of the powder; or of the liquid extract, fifteen to thirty drops. This should be administered morning and evening before feeding; the mini mum dose to the younger, Increasing the dose as they grow older. Oil of turpentine Is an excellent remedy against worms of all kinds which in habit the digestive organs of poultry. A common remedy for the removal of worms from fowls Is one drop of kero sene oil night and morning. This should not be administered to the very young, but may be used with impuni ty after they are a few weeks old. Silage for Beef Animal. The Virginia Experiment Station has Just Issued a bulletin on feeding silage to beef animals. It concludes that silage after all will enable the feeders to maintain their animals at a lower cost and to secure greater gains than they have heretofore obtained ; that animals to be fed for Immediate slaughter can safely receive silage as the sole rough ness. Animals so fed will kill out a high per cent of dressed meat, will help ship well, and will show a superior finish to animals fed on dry, coam roughness.