Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-08-22
dying man. But IT wa, only the

dying man. But It was only the
world on a minute scale.
On the route we often met with run
aways. The guards did not bother
with them. Sometimes conversations
the prisoners.
"Hullo, Ivan, you are again in the
regulars!' a runaway would remark.
HHalloo, Semen, are you not satisfied
with free boardp" a prisoner retorta
II say, Semen, you are a good run
ming horse" puts in a jester, ''yet you
will not escape his Majesty's stables"
The condition of the political prison.
ers was far better than that of the capt.
tai criminals. The political prisoners
got fifteen copecks per day, rode in
wagons and had a separate room for
themselves. 1t was the Government
order that the political prisoners should
be kept quite apart from the others. But
on the journey that order could not al
ways be executed. Every evening in
the houses the prisoners of all grades
came together. 1t is common practice
for the prisoners to exchange sentences.
A man condemned to settlement as
sumes for some payment the name and
fate of his fellow sentencedto hard labor
for a long period. I engaged an exile,
a robber, to assume my role for a pair
of hunters boots, flannel shirt, and
eight roubles -four d~ollars). L am
told that in our party tw~enty-eight
exchanges took place. Yet the guards
and the authorities knew nothing
about it. As a rulethe prisoners
do not betray one another. My
new role and that of my substitute
was bothersome. / was a medical stu
| dent, Il political criminal and u noble
man; and he was a peasant, hardly able
to sign his name. But if 1 could drag
his irons, he too, could support my rep
utation. Once our officer was taken ill,
and as he knew that n of the prison.
ers in his command had studied medi-
cine, he called upon me, that is, upon
my substitute, to treat him. My sub
stitute did it well.
Toward the end of October we reached
the city of Irkutsk, where the prisoners
are usually classified. Those con-
demned to settlement are sent to their
new home, and those condemned to
hard labor are distributed among vari-
Gus mines. My substitute and l passed
the final examination, and each went
his own way, eve to meet again.
On the second day we exiles, or set
tiers, were turned over to the village
authorities. We were practically free.
My companions went to a liquor shop
to celebrate the happy event. | resolved
to make the best possible use of my
freedom by running away from Siberia.
l had sold some OF my things and real
lzed about seventy-fve cents, which mon
ey / determined must support me during
aweek. Ihad to travel one hundred and
forty. miles to reach the residence
of a trusted friend. Profiting by
the lessons of the odd runaways,
| made my way successfully, though
the gendarmes were after me. 1t
was in November. Snow covered
the ground. Whenever 1 hid my
self in any bushes l reached them by
walking backward into them. and thus,
perhaps, l misled my prosecutors. My
friend secreted me in his country place
for two months.
On the etape road made the a%cquaint~
ance of many old runaways, who gave
me the knowledge needed for becoming
a successful tramp. In Siberia there
are about thirty thousand runaways
tramping, as the sun does, westward
to Russia. The villagers treat them
we'll so long as theyd do not injure prop
erty or otherwise misbehave. Other
wise they hunt them like wild beasts,
Yet, if a runaway is badly handled by
villagers without Just cause, the run
Always pledge themselves to have re-
venge. lncepdiarism is melted out for
the whole village and death for the indi-
viduals. l am told that in the lrkutsk
province there was a native who made
it his business to hunt fugitives. IF
you kill q squirrel" he used to say,
you arn only fifteen copecks, but kill
a runaway and you are sure of earning
fifty copecks at least, for his dress costs
that sum-" That brute was in turn
killed by runaways.
A professional runaway, Beloff, who
for twenty-five years has tramped Sibe-
ria eastward and westward, from the
Ural Mountains to the island of Sagha-
lien, told me that for many years it was
impossible to escape from Saghalien,
because the Guilaks, the natives,,used
to kill every fugitive they saw. At last
a party of runaways, thirty strong and
well armed, banded together for their
freedom and revenge. They ransacked
| several Guilak settlements and killed
everybody in them. After that the
Guilaks ceased to hunt runaways.
When my health was restored
started back to Russia in the most dig
niied manner. l went by the official
post road, changing n troika after an
other. My pass was all right, except
that it belonged to a retired officer re
Gently dead. In May, 1881, 1 reached
| Geneva.-N. Y. San.
The Siege Of %Saragossa.