Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1872-12-04

WleHoSSVS. LIE ufSb aCQ udlnGa0Co TO
whom he applied was an officer on half
5, pay,who expressed himself quite ready
to serve him. Such an adventure, he
said, carried him back to the days of
his own youth. He determined Vladi-
mir to remain with him. There ac-
4 cordingl ly appeared at dinner Surveyor
I Schmidt, with his spurs and mustache,
and lspravnlk's s son, a lad of seventeen,
I who had just enlisted with the Uhlans.
Both promised Vladimir their assis-
tance, and after cordial embrace the
happy lover parted from his three
friends to complete his preparations at
home. Ezs @H
Having dispatched a trusty servant
with sleigh for Marie, he got into a
one-horse sleigh himself, and took the
road leading to JadrinO. Scarcely had
he set off, when the storm burst forth
| with violence, and soon every trace of
the way was gone. The entire hori zon
was covered with thick, yellow clouds.
i dlschargingr not flakes, but masses of
/ snow; at last 1T became impossible to
distinguish between earth and sky. In
vain Vladimir beat about for the way
his horse went on at random, now leap
ing over banks of snow, now sinking
into bitches, and threatening every mo-
ment to overturn the sleigh. The in
supportable thought of having lost the
road had become certainty. The
forest of -Jadrino was nowhere to be
discovered, and after two hours the lad
ed animal seemed ready to drop to the
ground. At length a kind of dark line
became visible in the distance Vladi-
mir urged his horse forward, and reach
ed the skirt of forest. He now hop.
ed to reach his destination soon, as it
was easier to pursue his way in the for
est, lntoswhich the snow had not vet
penetrated. Vladimir took fresh cour-
age however there were no signs of
Sadrlno. By degrees the storm abated
and the moon sbone brightly. He
finally reached the opposite skirt of the
/ forest. Still no Jadrino; but group
| of four or five houses ne this view. His
knock at the door of the nearest was
answered by an old man.
" What do you want2 -"
'EWhere lies Jadrino?" asked Vladi-
i MR. -.s
"About ten wersts distant
! At this reply Vladimir felJ as if his
sentence of death was being announced
| to him. 's..ti
6 Can you procure me horse to take
me thither2 ," he asked.
"We have no horse,''
'sOr at least a guide l will pay any
price y
every well. My son can accompany
the gentleman
After little while, which seemed an
eternity to Vladimir, Young fellow
made his appearance, holding q thick
+ staff in his right hand, and they took
their way across the snow covered
plain.
"What O'Clock is it?" asked Vladi-
Emir.. s .7
| 1t is already past midnight"
| And in very truth the sun began to
glide the east when they arrived at
Jadrino. The church door was locked.
| Vladimir paid and dismissed his guide,
and then instantly hastened to the min
listers dwelling. What he there learn
de will appear from the sequel.
I AtsNemaradof the night had passed
quietly. In the morning the master of
the house and his wife rose as usual,
and proceeded to the dining room,
| Gabriel Gabrilovitch in his wooden
jacket and nightcap, Petrowna in her
morning gown. After they bad break
tasted, Gabriel sent up one of the girls
to inquire how Marie was. She return
ed with the message that her young mis-
] tress had had a sleepless night but feels
much better now, and would come down
presently Marie soon after entered
the room, looking exceedingly pale,ye
without the least perceptible agitation.
'sHow do you feel this morning,
love?" inquired her father
FsBetter," was the answer.
The day passed as usual, but instead
Of the looked-for improvement, a seri-
GUS change for the worse took place IN
Marie's condition. The family physi-
clan who was summoned from the
nearest town, who found her in state
of most violent fever. For fourteen
4 days she lay at the point cf death.
! Nothing transpired of the nocturnal
flight; for the maid took good care to
keep silent on her own account, and the
others who knew of it never betrayed
themselves with syllable, even when
under the influence of brandy, so great
ly did they dread Gabriel's anger.
Marie, however, spoke so necessarily
/
mother could not remain in any doubt
as>to the cause of her illness. Having
| advised with few friends, her parents
resolved to let Marie marry the young
soldier, seeing that one cannot escape
ones fate, and besides that, riches do
not always lead to happiness.
The patient recovered. During her
illness Vladimir had not shown his
face in the house, and it was resolved
to apprise him of his unexpected good
fortune. But to the astonishment of
the proud proprietor of Nemaradof, the
cadet declared that he should never
again cross the threshold of his house,
begging them at the same time to for
get utterly so wretched creature as
he, to whom death alone would give
repOse.
A few days afterward they learned
that Vladimir had again returned to
the army. 1t was in the year 1912. No
one uttered his name in Marie's pres
ence, and she herself never made men
tlon of him in any way. Two or three
months had elapsed, when one day she
found his name among the list Of the
officers who had distinguished them
selves at the battle of Borodino and
been mortallv wounded. She tainted
away and had a relapse, from which she
recovered but slowly.
Not long after her father died, be-
fqueathing. the whole property to her.
t.But riches We're not able to comfort
her; she wept with her mother, and
promised never to leave her. They
sold Nemaradof and removed to anoth-
er estate. Suitors thronged around the
wealthy and amiable heiress; but none
OF them received the slightest encour-
agement from her. Often did her
mother press her to choose a husband
she would merely shake her head in
silence. Vladimir was no more; he
died at Moscow on the evening before
the entrance of the French. Marie
seemed to hold his memery sacred
she carefully preserved the book they
had read together, his sketches, the
] letters he had written to her-in brief.