The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-04-02

day found me cool and helpless.
made my plans. Obey must, Tor
my Wiie's sake and my OWL. Jsll'
koh must die, that We might live.
''For 5 hours ] debated where to
! do the deed; then, still uncertain,
] walked in the verge of the town, and
as | walked some one joined me-Lo-
diski.
To morrowf' said he inquir-
inRly.
Tomorrow 1 rsturned. 1t
must be tomorrow for one OF U.S.
and / shuddered
I'VE stood 3 space in silence;
then the man came closer, and
placed his hand upon my shout
der.
"'LIsten! Il is hard; il is dan.
Igerous. Capture means death. Here
lie money. You must fee instantly
the work is done.'
"'I must fee instantly! And my
wifeH'
"'I will taxa care OF her until you
return
In a single breath my brain
CLEARED, the dread cloud that for
two days bad Swallowed it passed,
and l knew that be had worked
my ruin. was to become an
outlaw, in order that my wife
might be the spoil of this mon
ster
What power it was that held
my hands l know not. The rage
in my heart, the frenzy to seize the
sccursed one at my side and tear
his throat out, Rll but oVerpowered
me, and it was only by superhu-
man effort OF the will that l re-
manned silent.
"'The deed must be tomorrow
continued Lodiski, 'and the only
place where you can find Jelikof
alone is in the believer. Thither
he. goes each evening before the
curtew rings, to watch the change
of guards upon the opposite river
bank. You can conceal yourself
there, and strike him down. It
will be long before he is missed,
and you will have time for flight
Il bowed my head, [ dared not
trust my tongue. 1t might be that
| should strike too soon. Deep
within my heart the determination
to kill wac well fixed; but, unknown
to my chief, the victim had been
changed.
| "'I will join you at the foot of
the tower after curfew. See to it
that it is aiter-the end Lodiski
concluded.
my blood leaped.
est is well. l replied. and he
left me.
THAT night told my wife, and
her love stood the test. Ere morn
ing dawned, under the escort of a
faithful servant, she was at the
Folga Dernstam-s landing an
miles away; and when the early
sun kissed the reaches of level land
about orr town. it found her upon
the deck OF a river steamer, bound
for Astrachan.
"All day long I gathered my little
lstore of goods, and late in the after
noon sold them for gold to
friend-a nihilist like myself-Who
secretly conveyed them to his
house. Then, as the light waued,
and it drew toward night, thoroughly
disguised, and armed with a pair
of pistols and my dagger, 1 skirted
the town, and came at last to the
lonely Watch-tower where hung the
great bell that rang the curfew.
Ere the ringer had entered the
tower from his supper, l was
secreted in the loft near the win
dow.
"It was not my intent to kill
Jeikof. If he came, l could con.
fess all, then descend and Wreak my
vengeance upon Lodiski below. and
flee the country, or if be came not,
the end would be the same. Still
bound by my oath, and environed by |
a thousand spies, l dared not fee |
until Light. And Lodiski must
die!
alone in the grim tower l
waited, and the bats about me
squeaked, and the damp wind of |
the stePpes swept mournfully in and |
kissed my hot cheek. The mo-
ments passed.
Suddenly q nameless dread fell
upon me. Instinctiyely I felt the
presence of some new ana near
danger. and sense of doom over
came me, as if I listened to the
words of the judge who recited the
condemning proofs of my falsen sss
to our order. If 1 did not kill Jeli-
kof, and tailed to find Lodiski, I
must die
."QuiVering with tti. new terror, 1
glanced susplciuusIy about me-into
the deep shadows OF the corners,
behind the great beams, aloft among !
the bats resis, and at last beneath
the mighty bell hanging silent at
my side.
And there. lying prone upon a
cross-oeam directly under the great
iron dome, SO close that the first
swing OF the ponderous metal would
crush him, lay Lodiski, his ewes
fastened upon me.
He had come as a spy, to know
III / did nell |