Centre Hall reporter. [volume] (Centre Hall, Pa.) 1868-1871, 1871-02-03

writer in ChaHberis Journal give
this account of an interview with Rls
sian murderer Beside the windOA nit
q youth Of nineteen, with his arms tolde'
and hia head bowed dreamily on hi
breast OF all the faces grouped Arouni
his il the most remarkable The almos
ehild-iike expression Of the delicate pro
tile aud soft brown eye is eoniradicte,
by a mouth absolutely startling ia ID
rigidity small. thin-lipped and hard. a
il cut ia granite - the month Of on'
without fear, without faith, withou
mercy. The upper facets that Of ehild
10 whom crime itself is unknown th'
lower, that of man capable 0f aus
crime upon earth. Itis the e0untenRncs
Of a cherub blended with that Of ban
dit.
What is that ?" asked | attentively,
"Surely he can't have doae anything
very serious ?"
"YoE mustn't Judge by their faces,
answers Ivan with a meaning smile
:" that is Vaskn Bonslaiefi. who numbered
that whole family in the 1orgovaya the
other day You've heard OF him. ol
course g'
/ have indeed lin common with nv
entire acquaintance heard only too much
OF the hero OF this fFightfal tragedy,
( with which all Petersburg Is still ringing;
and thus do / suddenly iind myself face
10 face with him.
You know my name, then 2" sayz
the prisoner with "a smile.
Every man In Petersburg knows il
now, answered / I: I" il has been In every
mouth for the last fortnight
80 | suppose" he reioins with Q
compiacent air. when Was a stadent
at Kiey, they used 20 tell me that /
should never make my name heard Of I;
but apparently they were mistaken after
all.
Considering his present position, there
Is something mt once terrible and revolt
ing in the man 's inordinate vanity, which
betrays itself not merely in his words
but ia the tone Of his voice and the very
pose Of his figure
You have been a student then ?"
YES. for several years but didn't
distinguish myself there. Perhaps" he
added with q slight sneer, " the good
people there win be more ready 30
acknowledge me now.
And when are you 30 be tried r
"I don't exactly know but pretty
soon now, | should think. It's all one
30 me. for know how Il must end and,
after all, Siberia's better than hanging.
As we used 10 say AZ college From the
land of Siberia one may escape from
the land OF Mogeela' (the grave 'one
can't
Don't talk so loud about escaping.
brother" interpoScs Ivan. warningiy
'you forget that everything You say here
is noted
Note il. and welcome" reioins the
prisoner. with an air OF indifference !;
" Ia say IL 30 their faces. If need were
II that hog OF boy hadn't screamed out
as ! stabbed him. I'd have escape az the
first ; but IL was the viii Of 6od that /
should be taken" And at-the mention
Of the holy name this red-handed exter-
minaior dons his cap and crosses him
self as dcvontly ms IL be were before the
altar of church Too sick at heart 20
be diverted by the hidsons grotesqueness
Of the action, I turn hastily away, while
the murderer resumes his seat with the
heir Of ? sovereign dismissing an ambas-
sador.
Net the least remarkable thing about
tbIs man is the tacit bat unmistakAble
ascendeHcy which he exercises over his
fellow-prisoners In this rude society
his advantages OF birth aud education
would avail him nothing would. IL
anything, excite the spleen and hostility
Of his roughcr companions /: but the
complicated Rtrocity OF his guilt invests
him in their eyes with a kind Of vierd
grandeur For them he is simply a con-
summate master Of the art which they
have all practiced--one Of the aristocracy
Of crime. before whose evil prc-eminence
nj! must bow down in alteration.
Terrible fellow that" SAYS Ivan. as
we nit the room together; " only nine
teen, and TO have swept OF five Christian
souls . They say" adds he in a low
whisper, that he knows Latin and
Greek as well as we know Russian 50
it's no wonder he did what he did T.
This matchleSsly Characteristic obser-
vation comes very seasonably 10 arouse
me from the train OF gloomy reflection
into which had sunk. why brother.
II that's all. / know Latin and Greek
pretty well myself-well enough 10 read
and write them nc least
do you really. barin 2" says Ivan,
surveying me with a new interest. and
with that air Of doubtful admiration with
which men approach daring criminal
"Do You really Then may God merci-
fully preserve You from temptation r.
As we proceed gateways flor / had
seen quite enough, and declined visiting
the third ward, where those detained on
suspicion are confined, take the OPP
portunity Of asking whether the prison
ers seem tolerably contented on the
whole.
"Most Of them do" answers Ivan
"but that's because they've been here
some time for the new comers It's
dreadful at arst Yon see. they give
them no work 90 do. ana they've nothing
10 amuse them NO they get to doing al
sorts of mischief Only this spring, one
of our warders was nearly killed by o
great stone that fen within on inch OF
his head as he passed under the windows;
and when inquiry. was made. il turned
out that one OF the lads in the second
ward had beited fifty kopeks that he
wonld kill with that stone the first man
that crossed the yard within fair dis
tance.