The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1880-04-27
Misrena,,y,
4 RUSSIAN, lUBL 70 1HE DEATH


nroo, .un,m mr., nn.
81 klIXNlAN, lltlEl, fIll INK EATH
"A nV""ihn DUNh ~ INV Duh u.
a TyIcE nom TALE
-
One of our brother officers. named
yetsky. had brother officer in the civil
service, who was an especial fayorite of
mine. He was a man of singular intel
Iligepce, but j never saw man 80 full
Iof physical imperfections. III health
had rendered him species of abortion.
He knew his weakness and his natural
detects. and carefully avoided all effort
and ovmnastic exercises. leading a life
| Of the utmost precaution. On horse
Iback he was d tefribly CO.., "a spectacle,
and whenever we arranged q riding
party he invariably chose the oldest and
! least spirited of the horses. He had al
so defect in his pronunciation. which
Obliged him to speak very slowly in or.
der to keen from stuttering. You NAV
imagine what figure this unhappy man
made. with his ailments and his precau
tions amonu hand of yiporous vouno
men, who never looked before they leap.
ed.
Vetskv was nevertheless a GOOD com.
non;on Wa all were fond of him bu,
we made M allowance for the ;nfirmi
t;es of b;s constitution his awkward
ness and his excessive prudence. tba
hordered on cowardice Veaskv tooh
all onr ;okes in GOOD mar, sometime,
Joining in the Ianeb against himself -
NavarfheIess il freouentIv occnrred .ha
whom some sndden railerv attacked him
ha fonna h;,nsolf a., a loss for a ronlv =
I. seemsd as If the facnlties of his mind
like those Of his bodv suffered occasion
al naralvsis He was one of those mer
wbnm + wa. easv to nnseat With a word
and who have not the power of imme
diately reoaining the saddle In case.
like this. Netskv evidently suffered yer,
much, however strongly he forced him.
self to conceal it under a cold and calm
exterior. Every one could see that h,
made every effort to remain master O
himself, because, as be would say with {
forced smile, ITO get angry would be te
injure my health"
/ / had observed since certain epoct
that my brother was one Of the mos
pitiless prosecutors of poor Vetsky; bu
we bad all fallen into the habit OF laugh
ing at "our petit a''aitre," rs we calleo
him, and made this Jocularlty so much
regular pastime, that paid no attention
to this childish waywardness. 1t seem
ed to as so perfectly natural. All things
however, had q secret cause; and the Sc
crei of this was, that my brother wa'
desperately in love with lady who, by
singular caprice, gave marked pref
erence over the elegant Vetcheslaf te
the distorted Vetsky.
When officers. are newly. appointed, i
is the custom among us Russians TO ex
pect them to "baptize their epaulettes,
as we say. As we had some new com
ers in the regiment, days were fixed wher
we should dine successively with each
of them You have some idea of tbt
stvle of what our fetes used to be. Yor
have been ten wears absent. and in Rus
s;a ten years ia an ape. The time ha,
zone by for those wild, frcnzied revel,
that Won knew once. Now Young mer
ara very rational. even over the the hot
,le and good taste reipns in their ORGIES
Their wives mi6bt nreside over then
v;tbout hlnsb;ne II il not that win,
ia wanting Thev do not drink at pres
ent II is true. until thew are under tb,
table. but thew drink enouph to becom,
row and onarrelsome and foolish some
times and To saw things in their cun,
that thew regret in sober moments
We dined one day in a little country
bouse ~ was the nerio6 when the troon,
| were encamped in the suburbs of ST
Petershnro for the summer reyiew). anf
onr host was liberal of his cbamnaone
Tho dinner lasted a considerable time
and all of ma inclndino even Vetskv
were 70 nse q military nhrase cbaroe,
nm 70 the muzzle II was two o'clocl
in the morning. The room was close
and / felt as il was suffocating; so
left the house to wander through tn
fields and fresh air. l remember it still
The skies were pure; the country silent
A faint morning breeze was arising, ant
hailed 1t with voluptuons delight Th
field, bathed In the purple rays OF tn
rising morning, made delicious picture
Not sound was audible, except In tn
direction of the cottage where we dined
through whose open windows fragments
of laughter and snatches of song g'floated
Suddenly song and laughter ceased
This unexpected cnange from morse U
profound silence alarmed me, and ! shiv
cred involuntarily. My heart beat as
/ had just learned evil news. BY an in
voluntary movement returned to th
cottage. At the moment of crossiDI
the threshold met Vetsky coming GU
with his hat in his hand. He did no
speak to me; but bis face was white a
a sheet, and he sought to dissemble som
agitation beneath q smile. My presen
ltiments were verified!
Nv companions related all that ha
occurred during nv brief absence. /
was q boyish freak. but one that feare,
would lead to bloodshed.
Some of them had opened a windo,
that looked out on a court yard, an,
, one young fellow, in a fit Of gayety