Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1874-07-16

read. The brother persisted, and the
child was sent to Moscow
Il can still remember old Razoumof rs
he appeared on the day of Sergius' de
parture. Enveloped in long, olive
colored overcoat, greasy and patched
with cloths of various colors, he shed
tears while telling me of his brothers
criminal within. 1t was nevertheless, the
brother who bore the expense of his
nephew's tuition Sergius' father having
ceased, after the second year, to send
him money.
80 He will cost me the very eyes in
my head he moaned, sgitating his skinny
arms; will die on bed of straw'-(he
dropped his tears on my shoulder)-' yes,
on bed of straw-he, he, he!' And then
he ran from the dilapidated tarantass,
(which little boy was taking from under
a she'd to the stable, where an old ser
want, as dry and weazen as his master,
was engaged in tying up with old pieces
Of twine the mice gnawed harness. When
the horses were htched to the vehicle
| the old man INDUCED in a few more high
words, and little Sergius started on his
| journey.
| He remained eight years at Moscow.
| At the age of twenty-one he had com
| tinguished himself, and was preparing
| for travel in foreign countries when his
uncle died At the moment when be
heard of the death of his uncle he
was ordered by his father to return home
| forthwith. Submissive boy as he always
was, he obeyed. He found his father
| dryer, leaner, more yellow, and more of
| a skinf1int than ever He saw the old
house with its narrow windows and
greenish window .panes, some of the lat
| ter gone and the holes which they had
| left stuffed with old dishcloths and
| shreds of paper. The planks of the
| roof, once red, were sprung and worm
eaten. He saw in the large yard the
same puddles in which when a child he
| had dabblcd with ducks and geese; the
| same garden overrun with weeds and net
| ties. He went into the ante-chamher and
| aroused u swarm of flies which buzZed
| about, knocking against the wall and
| ceiling; in the room were old shoes run
down at the heel, bits of leather, rakes
with broken teeth, battered spades,
scraps of rusty iron, jug of kwas in a
| corner, and in the middle of all an ema-
| ciated child in tatters who was winding
! off thread into skeins.
His father received him in silence,
| with bantering look which seemed to
| say Here you are back again, my boy,
| Ell? Now that you have inherited, you
will recommence here your life just
where you left off eight years ago. Leave
| books and writings for others; as for
you, you shall be, as | have always de
sired you to be- a serious man, and you
will inherit from me with more difficulty
than you did from your uncle
The uncle's estate was distant one
DAYS Journey from old Razoumof's
house Razoumof leased it out and inn
mediately placed spade and pillow
in the hands of Sergius These hands,
| like his mind, had become delicate. This
paternal persistence and selfwill was a
terrible blow to Sergius He saw crushed
to earth all his dreams of higher life
which had already begun to dawn
study, the interchange of thought with
distinguished minds, poetry-but he did
not dare to revolt.
Whatever may be the misery of the
remainder of my days, he said to him
self, | at least will have lived eight
| years
" He had brought few books with
him; his father opened his trunk, saw
them, and carried them away, An hour
| afterward Sergius detected "A strange
smell of burnt paper. Razoumot, who
| had for long time done his own cook
ing, was warming over by the flame of
| the burning books dish which he had
cooked on the day before. Sergius re-
sumed his work in the fields and kept
| down the bitterness of his sorrow.
And thus two years passed away.
Ill.
| One autumn morning, with pickaX
on shoulder, wearing shabby black
coat, the sole remaining garment left
! from his wardrobe at Moscow, he WAS
| passing through grove of fir trees on
| his way to the fields He met "A young
| girl who was gathering mushrooms. She
wore white and blue striped pettiCoat,
"A cloak of dark cloth, and an embroid-
cred apron Her blonde tresses escaped
| from under a wide brimmed straw hat
The lightness of her movements, the
graceful curves of her young form, at
| tracted him She was not a peasant
girl He paused in his walk, blushed,
and saluted her. She also bushed and
returned his salute, and then they stood
for little while gazing at each other like
two children. The young girl first turned
and continued on her way. Reaching the
verge of the woods she disappeared in a
hemp field
The same hour on the next day found
Sergius in the same place. AT dis
lance he recognized the young girls
straw hat. Hanging to her arm was the
little basket which he had seen on the
morning before. She was STOPPING and
was gathering, or pretending to gather,
mushrooms. He walked toward her,
lifted his hat, and passed quickly by
without turning around This maDeu.
vering lasted for eight days Then he
said to himself that there would soon be
| no mushrooms Left and that some morn.