New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-08-12
TOO LATE.

charged accordingly. f~9''''' =
TOO LATE.
tsHere, take these knots and this letter for
him." said Amalia, in a broken voice to me, as
/ sat in the sledge all ready for departure
"May your journey be fortunate and speedy =.
Petro, lashing on his horse, covered me with
shower Of snow; and, in a few minntes, had
| st. Petersburg behind me. Before me was a
| snowy wilderness
| Whittier did speed' Across the frozen re-
| gion of Siberia to Ochotsk, and to the exiied
friend of my youth Quicker, Petro! quicker
| through this comfortless and death like region
| See! there are tracks of panther; the horse
scents them! how it trembles! So, we are in
| Tobolsk.
| half sun rises The white plain lies before
| glttering with millions of crystals A few
stunted pine trees throw ghostly shadows across
| the white waste. their borders tinted with the
| red beams Of the sickly sun. On every thing
| is written the death-sentence of the imperial
| doomster.l Quicker, Petro, quicker, through
this horrible desert! So, we are in Jakustk
Where no sun rises, no description can be
given. Forward, Petro! a world without a
sun is too much like a grave The monotony is
| like the dreariness of death. Ha! yonder the
Northern Light! That is a transient comfort
On, on, Petro! ..r
length in 0chotsk. I deliver my dispatches to
the governor, and at the same time make him
acquainted with the object Of my voluntary
journey. He is a man suited to his place The
letter from st Petersburg, from his SON, he re-
ceives coolly; and, with gesture of his hand
only, introduces me to his daughter.
After having read the order, he offers to ae-
company me to the dwelling Of my friend, and
personally make known to him the clemency of
the Emperor; for am the bearer of an order
for my friends release.
6 III not necessary part of your duty to
accompany me, permit me to go alone on this
errand to Count Paul. say to the governor.
Be it so,' he replies, shaking his head, and
ordering the soldier on guard to conduct me.
The feeling of excitement with which walk the
short distance to the hut of the exile almost un-
mans me. My heart beats fearfully. Strange
figures flash before my eyes, from which tears
are falling.
misgiving, such as had felt before, while
waiting for the orders at st. Petersburg, seizes
me. am forced to lean for support upon my
guide. 'tt-5 -
'sThis is the hut of Count Paul. I thank
him and he retires. VT a. 10. -----5t tt,.i
1t was about o'clock in the afternoon when
opened the door. The exile of six years stood
before me, half bent and half clothed, occupied
| in cleaning the skin of sable
Iopened the door in the supposition that he
would not recognise me; but scarcely had he
| looked towards me when he called me by name,
and was embracing him. My tears fell on his
| garments; a tempest was in my heart. But his
heart remained cold; l hung on statue; his
arms embraced me not; his eyes had no tears
! Shocked and astonished, l retreated step or
two as if to question him Still Indifferent, he
| returned to his work, as thongh nothing partic-
| lar had happened, and as though l had been
his daily companion He said calmly I" am
| preparing my skin for the next days delivery"
and said no more He asked me not why came
there; he asked me not for his mother, nor his
| Amalia; he hung over his work silently-lost
"Paul! dear PAUL." I cried, and stretched
my arms towards him. But they fell again, as
he directed a look towards me with passionate
indifference, Presently he expressed impatience
| at my presence diverted him from his work.
The governor came to me as l turned away
" He has suffered no one to approach him for
more than three months,' he said sshe has
| even prepared his necessary housekeeping him
self-placing the appointed government tribute
on the doorstep in the proper number and
| quaity-and has now for the last four weeks
| been silent ] have suffered him to have his
| own way, because I remarked that he was de-
termined against ever accepting his freedom,
| and that no other impression WAS left than this
preconceived idea. He is so punctual in pre-
pairing his tribute, that, with most wonderful
accuracy. the number of his payment is always
full He has never been in arrear."
sSStill, we must make his freedom known to
him. said L.
eff you have not already done so, we can send
him the dispatch; or, you can seek him again
tomorrow, at this time. The night will per-
haps, leave favorable impression on him"
"Why not early'''
Because, at midnight he goes to the chase
and does not return till the middle of the day ?
/ The governor invited me to his house ant
table. Although overcome by the journey, ani
recent events, found myself in the evening a
his tea-table. %%41G&
81 have never been able,' said the governor
"to understand rightly from the sentence, tn
nature of the Counts crime, At first l mum
bered him with the State criminals for the yea
1925; but, lately, from his diary, his youth an
uncommon privations, | have taken anothe
view of it, and feel disposed to pity him. Also
| learn that his father was sent to America, bu
that his mother was permitted to remain in ST
Petersburg"
GA year before the death of the Empero
Alexander l replied, "the Count and l wer
students together at Gottingen University
loved him with kind of worship, grounds
more on the rare preeminence of the mind, thal
on the tenderness Of his heart We had tn
fairest hopes from his industry and talents
particularly as he did not seem disposed to ente
into the revolutionary spirit of Hungary, bu
hoped to strive in some other way for that op
pressed country.
ssHe distinguished himself in every branch Q
knowledge; from the tangled system of philoso
ply to the obscure research Of philology an,
in active exercises he was the model of his schoo
fellows. He bestowed on me greatly his conf
dence and regard; can hardly say his friend
ship. Shortly before the decease of the Empe
ror, his father recalled him home to St. Piers
burg; and when, a year after, also returne
home, learned the fate of the whole house
They had been exiled. Why, was, as usual,
secret"
81 pity him. said the governor 'sHe wi
not avail himself of the mercy of the Emperor.
-"Why do you suppose 30 Z"
ga man who has fallen from such lofty sta
tion becomes after exile, wholly unfit for society
Count Paul feels this, and if do not err,
keeps, on a blank tablet over his bed, a rigi
reckoning. My daughter and have CAREFUL
watched him. In the first two years of his exil
he constantly placed his bare breast agains
the cold snow to cool, as he said, his burnin
: heart, while his tears melted the frozen earth
! he refused his food; with the greatest rashne:
l he encountered the fiercest of wild beasts.
t the third year, he asked for ink and pape
which he covered with aimless designs, and wit
!. the words sfatherland, death, vengeance Or
: night, in the fifth year of his captivity, he co
Il thn -b.I. or A.