St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-04-12

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kiz came back to my mind, and it was with
tyo-fold attention that examined the fea-
lures. expressive, but dry and hard, of the
woman to whom the brigadier had sactiiced
| all his fortune.
i 81 see you assisted at the assault of
Praga. Monsieur lie Brigadier." l began,
pointing out to him the cross of st. George
teYou have merited to receive a distinction
rare at all times, and still rarer then. Do
you remember Suvarov?'
s!Alexander Vassilitch?' answered the
brigadier. after moment of silence, during
which he had appeared to muster his ideas:
ssves, YES, remember him-a little old man.
| very alert You stand upright before him,
YOU hardly breathe; andhe, he skips here and
there.''
| The brigadier burst out laughing.
ssHe entered Warsaw on a Cossack's jade
and himself all covered with diamonds; and
he said to the Poles, 4 have got no watch;
| to say. sVivatl vivat. rogGss! what rogues ?
Eli! Cucumber, lad,'' added he suddenly,
changing and raising his voice (the merry
| sub-deacon had remained outside, ''where,
then. are these rolls? and tell Grounka to
bring some kgass ~
"Here your Grace, herel'' said Cucumber,
entering and handing to the brigadier the
string of rolls.
| And leaving the cottage, he approached
| being in rags with rough hair, who was prob
ably the idiot girl Grounka. Inf act, as soon
as | could distinguish through the dusty glass
he began to ask her for drink by raising to
his lips one of his hands, which he gave the
form of funnel, while with the other he
made signs in the direction Of the chamber
we had entered.
XII.
tried again to resume conversation with
the Brigadier, but he was yisibly fatigued;
he let himself fall grooming On a sort of
| truckle-bed and, having said in a doleful
voice, ooh! my poor bones; my poor dear
! bones!'' he began to unfasten his garters
! remember being much surprised at a man
wearing garters; but I had forgotten that in
his time it was the general custom. The
brigadier began to cape lenthily and naively,
without taking from me his eyes, which were
become troubled; very little children de so.
The poor old man seemed no longer to com
prehend my questions. And he had taken
| Praga! 1t was he who, sword in hand,
through the smoke and dust, flag riddled
with balls about his head, mutilated corpses
under his feet, had led the soldiers of Suya-
rovl
|
seemed to me that in the life of the brigadier
there must have passed something stranger
still.
Cucumber brought some bad white kvass
in an iron pitcher. The brigader drank with
avidity. His hands trembled; Cucumber
supported the bottom of the pitcher. The
old man carefully wiped his toothless mouth
with the palm Of his hand, and after having
looked fxedly, he began to humble with his
| lips. l understood that he wished to sleep,
so made him a bow and left.
| ellis Grace will go to rest now,n said Gu
cumber, who had come out after me. ''He
is very fatigued to-day; he has made his pill
! grimage."
"What pilgrimage3'
ooh to the tomb of Agrafena Ivanovna,
five verstes away in the parish buryng
ground. Vassili Fomitch goes there every
week without fail.''
elias she been dead long2'
''It will soon be twenty years at least"
s'Then she was his mistress?''
''Don't you know she passed all her life
with him2 To tell the truth, never knew
the lady; but it appears there were between
them things-things- said he pre-
cipitately, seeing that I was going away,
''won't you give me something more to
I gave Cucumber another piece of twenty
kopecks and returned to the house.
XIII.
Upon my arrival went to Narldz for in
| formation. Naturally he assumed an air of
difficulty and importance. He was surprised
that such trifies could interest me. Howev-
er he finished by relating to me what he
knew. This is what l learned:
To jfnh bo1 4ba
acquaintance of Agrefena Ivanovna Tele-
CHINE at Moscow, shcrtly after the last disas-
ter of Poland Agrafena's husband served
in the suite of the general who was governor
of the province, and Gousskof had come to
the town on leave. He was smitten with her
Immediately, but still did not quit the service.
| He was 40 years of age, was unmarried, and
| possesseda respectable fortune. Agrafena's
| husband died soon after and left his widow
chidless and in debt. Gousskof heard of
this situation, quilted the service immedi-
! ately, retiring ON pension, and after hay
| ing rediscovered he dearly beloved widow
| who was twenty five years old, he paid all the
debtsSapd redeemed her property. After that
they never left each other and Gousskof fin
| ished by even establishing himself at her
house. Agrefena seemed also to love him;
'tThe deceased said Narliz, ''was crazy, she
was regular lunatic. She maintained that
her liberty was more dear to her than
all the rest. But as to profting by him, she
did that extensively. All the money he
could get he brought to her like an ant. But
the madness of Agrafena increased, and took
great proportions. She was of an ungovern-
| able character, even SO far that she could
not stay her hands. One day she threw down
stairs little Cossack lackey who had brought
ooIro
so unfortunately that he broke leg and two
ribs. Agrafena was frightened beyond meas
ure; she soon had the wounded lad enclosed
in an obscure closet, never left the house,
gave to no one the key of this closet until the
groans that were heard there had complete
! " ceased. The little Cossack was buried Sc
cretly.
''And If this" added Narkiz in a low tone,
leaning toward my ear, chad taken place in
the time of the Empress, nothing would have
followed. Many such things have remained
secret. But, then," here NarkiZ drew him
self up and raised his voice, ''the just Car,
Alexander the Blessed Of Heaven, had just
assembled the throne, and the affair was in
quired into. Justice came to the place, the
corpse was disinterred, traces of violence
we're discovered, and so forth. Well would
you believe it2 Vassili Fomitch took all on
himself. 1T is Z he said, who pushed him.
I buried him. Naturally, the officers of
Observation-Disclosures, notaries; policemen
all rushed on him like pack of hounds,
and shook him and knocked him about until
his last penny was jerlled out of his pocket
They released him for some time, and then,
pop! again the hand on the collar. Until the
| coming of the French into Russia in 1912
| they did not cease to worry him. They
would not have abandoned him until this
moment like an old bone without marrow
But truly he had saved Agrafena Invanovna;
and afterward he continued to live with her
until she died, and they say that she made