Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-10-27
From Cassel's Magazine.
HARD PRESSED.
A Wolf story.

OUCps SOopON1Iio oGOp LII JIG utsIlS
of the blessed Panagia, rein up, and
hear me You viii be glad to have
hearkened, English lord p
The crisp, shining snow cracked be-
n cath the hurrying feet of the speaker,
as, painting and breathless, he came
bursting through the brushwood, and
emerged from the pine copse into the
road, not pistol shot from the two
pillars of red granite, brought from the
Ural, that decorated the extremity Of
the avenue leading to the country house
hard by. With some difficulty the
driver of the sledge-a tall, manly
young fellow, whose fair hair and rudy
cheeks contrasted forcibly with the
swarthy sallowness and black elf-locks
of the Russian mouiik who had thus
suddenly accosted him-brought the
fiery horses to a check. re
Why, Isaac, my good friend" he
said, smiling, what news have you
for me that brooks no delay in the tell
ing? Has some bear killed man. and
does nobody dare Co traverse the forest
road Until I settle scores with Bruin,
with the aid of brace of Ieaden pills
from the big rifes Or have you been
SO unfortunate as to be again at mis-
understanding with the gendarmes. If
SO, T." iaY alsJ - reh
sExcellency,' interrupted the man,
with vehement earnestness which
made itself felt. sI am here to- day to
pay debt. We Russians have a mem
DRY tenacious of kindness, and the poor
vagabond, Isaac Paulovitch, has not
gotten that but for your intercession he
would have tasted, before this, of the
black bread and the knotted thong In
Jitouir gaol. I've run, to-day, nineteen
versts through the snow, to warn. you
that the foreigner and the gentleman
who travels the Vasilkof road this night
carries his life In his hand. I knew YOU
to be on visit at the baron's yonder.
He's in no danger, but woe to every
castle from the Dnieper ferry to Bog US
law and Skudra, for they will be, one
and slight fame before moonrise!'
There is a rising, then, among the
serfs p asked the, young Englishnaan
eagerly. 8 = : - . -
s'There is, = answered the man called
Isaac, with a nod. g The people. of
twenty villages have sworn the great
oath On the Gospels to root out all these
Sobieskis and Jagellons, and the rest of
the unbaptized Polish counts and prin-
ces that wiring the withers of the poor. !"
"Do you mean Count Nicholas Galit-
Yin, of Cxerngorod ?" asked the young
man, growing pale as he spoke.
'sThat do L replied the moujik. GA
heavy account he'll have to settle, the
proud
But before the sentence was concluG-
ed the Young Englishman had slackened
the reins of his impatient steeds, which
Garted off at once, like arrows from che
bow, and, to the -ineffable surprise of
the gurrulous Isaac, the whole equipage
rapidly disappeared along the road
leading to the very district to which his
warning had reference.
In the course of three years resi-
dence In Southern Russia Edgar Mars.
ton, who was manager of the Land
Bank at Vasilkof- post of trust to
which he had been appointed through
the influence of relatives of his. wealthy
members of the British Guild of mer-
chants at St. Petersburg-had gained q
thorough insight into the condition of
the province in which he lived. and
knew the bitter hate which the
Ruthenian peasants entertained towards
the land owners, most of whom were
Polish mobiles who had won their estates
when Poland was wlde-spreading
kingdom. He knew, too, that Count
Galitzin was personally obnoxious to
his Late vassals for hundred arbitrary
acts and pretty exactions, and he
trembled lest he should not reach the
lonely manor-house i'll time to give
warning TO its inmates of the approach
ing peril.
And Annette is there p said the
young man to himself half unconscious
ly, as he encouraged the mettled horses
TO do their best. Yes, that was the Sc
cret OF Edgar Malston's eagerness to
give timely notice of the coming storm
to those beneath Inc roof OF the Galit-
zin castle. He had fallen deeply in
love With the Counts young and pretty
daughter-the Countess Annette, as she
as called, in compliance with that