The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-03-16

in her, the devoted courier dragged
himself on to Omsk, which he found her
in the hands of Ivan Ogaref; Here
he was recognized in public by his
mother, Maria, who lived there, and
was, unfortunately, known to have a
son in the corps of the cars couriers;
but by disclaiming all he managed to
disarm immediate suspicious and to
make his escape on swift horse which
he had purchased. After battling the
Tartar horsemen dispatched in pursuit
by Ivan 0garef, who had arrested and
imprisoned Maria Strogof, he was cap.
tured by the main body of the inva.
des under FeOfar Khan, who had Just
defeated Russian division and taken
Kolyvan.
A few days later Ogaref joined the
emir, with his troops and captives.
Among the latter, and thrown together
by the merest chance, were Maria and
Nadia, who were jealously watched by a
female gypsy devoted to Ogarefi. This
untiring spy was present when Maria
noticed her son among crowd of cap
tives, and Though the old woman in
stantly controlled her emotion, the
circumstance was reported to the arch
rebel. The latter, to discover which
of the captives was the courier Strog>
off, adopted the inhuman expedient of
ordering his mother to be knouted in
public. As the cruel instrument was
about to fall on the bare shoulders of
the heroic woman, Michael sprang
from the crowd, and seizing the
knout from the executioner's hand,
struck Ogaref across the face thus
repaying the blow he had once EN-
dured from the renegade.
The punishment of Michael was de-
cided, according to Tartar custom,
by a priest opening the koran at ran
dom. The chief of the Ulemas thrust
his finger on the text: "And he will
no more see the things of this earth. "
Blindness was, therefore, the penalty
imposed by the emir; and at the
close OF q barbaric pageant the sem
tence was inflicted by drawing a red
hot saber across his eyes. At the con-
clusion of this savage act, Ogaref
with supreme irony, held the letter of
the czar before MichaePs eyes, saying:
"Read now, and go to Irkutsk, and
repeat what you have read. The true
courier of the czar is Ivan Ogareff."
The crowd had dispersed, and the
noises of wild debauch were heard
in the distance. Michael dragged
himself over to his insensible mother
and kissed her white locks. As he
did so, a hand grasped his and he
heard a voice.
"Brotherp it said.
"Nadia" |" murmured Michael, "Na,
dia /"
"Come, brother, "replaid Nadia, "use
my eyes while your eyes sleep. | will
lead you to Irkutsk."
x y = = :: X
Three Tartar armies were concen-
trated before the capital of western
Siberia, and the garrison was further
depressed by the gloomy tidings
brought by a courier, calling himself
Michael Stragoff, who had given the
grand duke an autograph letter from
the czar, warning him to beware of
treachery. The night had come when
the false courier, Ivan Ogaref, was to
consummate his treachery by opening
gate while the garrison were distract
cd by hostile demonstration in am
other quarter, and by the firing of
naptha on the surface of the river
Augara, which flows through Irkutsk.
An hour before the traitor was
about to give his preconcerted signal
to the besiegers, a raft which had been
worked by Siberian fugitives, amid
the severest hardships, across lake
Baikal, and down the Augura, had
finally been stopped by the ice within
half a verst of Irkutsk. Fired at by
the Tartars from both banks, man
and girl had stepped upon a detach.
ed block of Ice, and boldly launched
1t on the current, The adventurous
couple, who had now ceased to call
each other brother" and "sister,
reached the city just soon enough to
escape the burning naphtha, and to
enable Michael by its light to slay the
bahled traitor Ogareff; for Michael
had never been blinded, though he
had thought it necessary to pretend
that affliction. He had been saved by
the tears which had started, just before
the execution of his sentence, at the
spectacle of his mothers despair. The
vapor formed by these had interposed
between the glowing saber and hi;
ewes and annihilated the action of the
heat.
A few days later the Tartars retired
before an imposing Russian force, the
insurrection was over, and the road tC
Moscow lay open once more.