Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-03-23

THE NIhILIST'S STORY
BURR LEsqUE

For little time after the Colonel
had ceased, no one spoke, and only
the cracking Of the open fire, as it
laughed and cracked upon the wide
hearth within, and the moan Of the
night wind roaming the lonely waste
without, broke the silence, while we
steadily pulled at our pipes then
Tompson, the host, arose and began to
brew fresh jug of flip, and the West
Virginian, Destram, turned to his com
panion and spoke;
"Alex, it's your turn. Give us a
Russian story, full to the brim
with horrors. A bear hunt upon your
illimitable steppes, wolf chase along
the Volga, a Cossack fight in the south,
or a Tartar raid upon the north or
better still, tell us Of yonr own Mills
tic trials"
The man to whom Destram spoke
shivered, and his strong face, dark and
deeply cut, twitched little, while his
eye cleaned. He hesitated a moment,
then carefully laid his pipe upon the
rough table, half turning, replied
Gentlemen, if it is my turn, ! will
speak, and rs my friend has suggested
the subject, although it is not a pleasant
one to me, will tell you tale of my
home, Russia, and of myself Mill
st. If it seems strange, than gran.
me that strange things and horrible
ones may happen even in Christian
Europe, and III this nineteenth CEN
fury. 1t is word for word true"
We drew nearer the speaker and lis
tened intently. A Russian story told
in Colorado, for our cabin WAS far up
among the spurs of the Rockies, in the
western portion of the state, and that
story, the history of Nihilist. WIS a
new and strange treat for American
ears.
"Six years ago, | was living in OAR
nowsky, in the province of Rubin, in
the southern part of the greatest Of
European empires, young man hap
by rs circumstances would allow, and
at the time Of which | speak, doubly
happy and contented in my little
school, for was teacher, and / had
just made the sweetest and prettiest
girl In the village my wife.
"Marie Carloh was mine, won from
a score of suitors by love alone, for |
had little money, and | was content
Chief among the disconsolate ones
was the son of an ex-army officer,
Louis Lodiski by name, handsome
but unprincipled fellow, who for years
had been infatuated with Marie. How
ever, when our coming wedding was
announced, Louis left the village, and
was spared his scowl and muttered
threats, and soon forget MIN in the Joy
of home-lfe.
"For three years | was at rest Then
came the great cloud that now over
hangs my native land, and its dark
shadow fell across even my humble
threshold. | had been st. Petersburg
student, and when the strange mono
mania of communism, silent and dead
ly, crept through the nation, it found
me an easy pley, and | became n
Nihilist, swore to the terrible oaths.
and linked myself body and soul to
their unknown and horrible purposes.
| shudder now rs | remember.
"There was q circle formed in our
town, and two months after had join
ed it, there appeared one night amongst
us, commissioned from the Grand Cir
Gle at Moscow as our chief, Louis Lo-
diski
81 bowed before him, but when | saw
the fierce light of batfled passion and
eager revenge gleam in his hated eyes,
brightly as when last | had met him,
then the rejected sutton Of my wife, |
knew and felt for the first time into
what horrible pit | had fallen, for
I l. of Ia IL -,
| was bound by my vows, the serf and
slave of my bitter enemy.
But of all this my wife know nothing
except that her old lover was in town.
For time there was little work for
our society, but it so happened that
toward the spring a new quarterlng of
soldiers was made in our town, under
the charge of Colonel JelikoH, a tried
and true officer of the government, and
one who had several times incurred
the displeasure of the nihilists. Hardly
had the troops become settled when y
sealed dispatch was received by Lodis-
XII from the Grand Circle at Moscow,
containing the death warrant of the
Colonel; and in drawing los for the one
to act as eyecutioner, the same devils
lucK Whlch mad .lrst dragged me into
the conspiracy, or some treachry OF
my Chief, cast the dread duty upon
me.
"By the rules of our order, urques.
tioning obedience, at the price of ones
own life, must be given to all DEGREES
by the person so chosen, and knew il;
yet the word murderer famed before
my eyes, and my heart stood still, as l
held the fatal lot in my hands.
"And even as gazed, dazed and dull
upon my comrades about me, whose
stern, white faces reflected tho horror
in my own, the whisper of our chief
Kissed war'ngly through the all the
single word:
"'BewsreI
There remained three days OF grace