Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-01-03

was 10 manage ABOUT Emma an
! Carry? After some deliberations
2 | decided upon consulting our DIR
yer, who had behaved so we'll il
our escape from the wolves. Sc
telling the ladies that they nigh
have a short rest at a comfortabl,
little fpost-house we had reached
| joined Ivan, offering him shar,
of my brandy-bottle and asked if
he had not been long in the service
of Count Vladimer. "'a .u haf.Hr
! 81 am a serf, born on his land
was his reply; ''and my father
was before me-" " fi |';2G u
as he not good master?"
inquired ,5asH91el l-.tss.is2
-1l''He is, indeed, my lord" for SO
he persisted in calling me. ."An
if all vassals were as fortunate as
| have been, Russia would be a
different country from what it is. "
l said | believed his master
trusted him, and | would do the
same. I wanted to know what |
had best do, as ! had not passports
for two of my daughters. and |
dared not apply to the officials of
the frontier towns.
81 fear you would not be allow
ed to pass" he said "but could
not you get them across the river
Memel, and then pick them up af-
ter going through the nearest
town."
"How do you mean ?" I in
quired.
"When we getnear to Meretch,"
Ivan answered, 81 could turn aside,
for | know the part quite WE'LL
The river must be frozen hard at
this time, and or my lord might
take the young ladies over, leave
them at a cottage close to the banks
of the Memel, and then return to
the carriage and drive to Meretch,
where you can show your papers,
This plan I deemed feasible, al
though the idea of leaving two
young girls at the mercy of stran-
gers was repugnant to my feelings.
But when l told my daughters
about it they both declared that
they had no fear, and that they
would much rather cross the ice
than be detained perhaps for weeks
at Meretch. a" ''.'.' |
On the banks of the river an
other difficulty arose. There was
no passport for Ivan, and yet we
were most unwilling to part from |
him. 500 -
"My lord must condescend to
act as driver" said Ivan, "and l |
can see the young ladies across the
river and protect them from dan
ger if necessary Or / can stay
with the carriage, and on arriving
at Meretch pretend to return to
St. Petersburg, and seize the first
opportunity of crossing the river"
The plan would have taken too
much time, so / told him we had |
full confidence in him, and prom |
ised him handsome reward if we |
reached Paris in safety; and SO we
parted. |
We had not much trouble at
Meretch. When l produced my
l said my business was
of Importance; an hour saved
was sometimes worth a fortune to
4 merchant like me, and if the
official would kindly assist me by
paying any dues that We're re-
luired, l should feel everlastingly |
indebted to him. So saying, I
slipped bag of money into his
willing fingers. He gave a look
9t intelligence, glanced at my.
and begged me not to
lislnount-there should not be a
if he had the power to
prevent it.
When out of the town my heart
bounded. We were once more
rec! ] trusted to join the girls
n an hour or SO, and lost no time
IN the road; but the path was o
winding one, and there were nu-
nerous crossroads. However, /
.ook the river as my guide, and in
time we reached a cot
age, but could hear nothing of our
title party. Further on we met
In old woman, who made us under
stand that she had seen two girls,
whom Russian was taking before
he authorities, as he feared they
we're: spies. '.But they looked
both good and modest, and myl,
1la aa{ aa-g aIs gsl1sg laid5