Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-04-16
A RUSSIAN "FIRE-WITCH."
London Week.


sons, who seemed to be inseparable
companions, walked daily together in
the grounds of the Kursaal One was
a beautiful Russian girl, Ida Koratine,
who was always attended by her broth
er, an ex-Colonel in the Cars army
The third member Of the group was a
young English officer, Captain the Hon.
Charles Guerdon, of the Eighteenth
Iancers. 1t was evident to all who OBJ
served this gay youngster that he was
deeply in love with his Russian friends
sister,
Was she in love with him? On this
point Guerdon himself could have made
no satisfactory answer He had been
ordered to E by doctors to recruit
his health after hunting accident, and
had made the acquaintance of the
Koratines at the hotel table d'hote.
They were persons of high birth, in
ahluent circumstances, and of very
pleasing manners. Count KOratine,
who was not more than so, had seen
good deal of military service, had trav-
eled much, and was the most cOmpan-
ionable of men, always ready to join in
any amusement, to chat or to listen to
others He quite won Charley Guer-
don's heart by his horsemanship (for he
had two or three splendid animals and
rode every morning with his sister, and
also by his bright manner at the ecarte
table, for he played any stakes you
pleased, without caring whether ne won
or lost. As for Ida Koratine, she was
the most delicious of girls. Tall and
grac eful. with the fair wavy hair and
pink complexion which bespoke her
Lithuanian blood, she had large dark
eyes, at once grave and soft. and little
mouth which could smile with exquisite
sweetness. Ida was, like most high
born Russian ladies, a capital linguist,
speaking English and French with fault
less accuracy, and with just a slight
foreign accent, which lent piquancy to
her talk. She was, moreover. an &C
complished pianist and singer; so was
her brother. Sometimes after dinner
the Koratines would invite their EN-
glish enemy" as they called him for
fun, to come to their apartments to
take cup of Caravan tea; and then, at
his request, they would sing him some
of the ballads of their country. Kora-
tine played on the zltta, or Hungarian
guitar, Ida on the piano; and the
Counts well-trained baritone voice
blending with his sisters pure soprano
made rare melody. Their Lithuanian
songs were pervaded by dreamy sad
ness which grew upon the Englishman,
making him fall into long reveries, dur
ing which he was glad that there were
no candles in the room, but only the
spring twilight that yelled his emotion.
After every one Of Idas songs Charley
Guerdon became more and more in
love with her, though he gradually dis
covered that she had a few strange, I'M
glrlish tastes, which at first pleased him
less than her piano-playing. She was a
deadly pistol shot, and practiced every
day with her brother at a target which
had been set up IN an alley of the ho-
tel garden for their convenience by the
landlord. The rapidity with which the
brother and sister loaded. the cool
quickness of their aim, their unerring
precision IN making patterns of crosses
or lines on the cards at which they fred,
filled the Englishman with surprise the
first time he witnessed their perform
ance.
g | say, Miss Ida," he remarked, "it
won't do for me to quarrel with you.
You would very soon call me out and
pink me-"
ooh, we are not practicing for duels,"
laughed Ida. {" We have woZues in our
country and a girl should know how to
protect herself"
The peculiar way in which Ida en-
phasized the word wolves" and the
light that kindled for moment in her
eyes as she spoke, ought to have arrest
ed Guerdon's attention, but they did
not. He had noticed, however that the
kOratines appeared to have mystery
in their lives; they avoided all illusions
to the motives which had induced
Count ko1atlne to leave the army, and
they expressed radical or Nihiist opin-
ions rather curious to hear from per
sons of their station. Ida seemed to be
much more of revolutionist than her
brother. She often questioned the En-
glishman about his country's free insti-
buttons, and listened with a wistful ca
gerness to his confused explanations,
for constitutional law was not much
studied In the Eighteenth Lancers, and
Charley Guerdon was puzzled to define
IN what MS birthright of liberty con-
sisted. Now and then Ida betrayed too
unguardedly her love for political con-
versations, and then her brother would
interfere with a joke and caress,
which always checked her, for every
word of his was law in her eyes. Guer-
don had been struck and touched from
the outset by the whole-hearted affec-
ton which the brother and sister bore
to each other. They were orphans,
and Ida looked up to her broth
er as a hero, an infallible being, a
demigod, and her mere manner of cling
ing to his arm when they walked, of
frightening when he spoke to her, of
putting up her forehead to be kissed
when she wished him good night, re-
vealed the extent of her devotion. Now
it naturally occurred to Charley Guer-
don that so excellent a sister as Ida
Koratine ought to make a perfect wife,
so that when he had known and loved
her about month he began to hint
timidly at proposal, but she always