The Mineral argus., 1884-09-11
THE DOCTORS STORY.
FROM THE FRENCH OF GUY DE MAU-
PEASANT.


Che was q Russian lady, the Countess
Marie Baranow, a very great lady, ex-
ouisitely handsome, you know how
beautiful they seem to us, with THEN
fno noses. delicate mouths, eyes rather
close together and Of indiscribable
orovisb blue, and that cold grace OF
tbeirs. a little severe. They have
something about them at once wicked
and seductive, naughty and gentle, ten
der and harsh, which is very charming
TO a Frenchman. But, after all, it
NAV be only the difference of race and
TYNE which causes me to see so much in
them.
Her physician had for several years
tried to induce her to settle in the
south of France, as he observed that
she was threatened with consumption.
But she obstinately refused to leave st.
Petersburg. Finally, last autumn, be-
lieving her life at stake, the doctor
warned her husband, who Immediately
ordered his wife to leave for Mention.
She took the train, choosing to re-
main all by herself in the car, while her
servants occupied another compartment.
She leaned out at the door, a little sad.
as she watched the fields and villages
passing by-feeling herself very isolat-
ed, very lonely in that life of hers.
without children, almost without rel
%atives, with a husband whose love had
grown cold, and who was sending her
thus far away to another part of the
world, without as much as offering to
accompany her-just as he would send
a sick patient to the hospital.
At each station her servant Ivan reg
ularly came to the door to find if his
mistress needed anything. He was an
aged domestic, blindly devoted to her,
and ready to fulfill any order that she
could possibly give him. Night came
on, and the train was rushing forward
1t full speed. She could not sleep, for
excess of Suddenly the
idea occurred to her to count the money
her husband had placed in her hand at
the last moment, in gold coin of France.
She opened her little bag and emptied
the shining mass of metal into her lap.
Just then a Whit of cold air smote
her in the face. She lifted her head in
surprise. The door of the railroad car
had just opened. Hastily the Countess
Marie dropped her shawl over the mon
ey lying in her lap and waited. A sec
ond later a man entered, bareheaded,
wounded in his hand, painting violently
and attired ii. evening full dress. He
closed the door, sat down, gazed at his
.eighbor with glittering eyes and COM
menced to bind a handkerchief about
his bleeding wrist.
The young woman felt herself ready
TO faint with fear. That man certainly
must have seen her counting the gold,
and he had come in only to rob and
her.
He kept his gaze upon her, still out
Of breath as he was, his face working
strangely, as though he were preparing
to leap upon her.
Then he said sharply:
Don't be afraid, madam"
She could not speak; there was a
sound of buzzing in her ears, and she
OhAA AOaA hCA Ohh CuL DCaO.
He spoke again. II am not a GRIM
nal, madam"
Specifies with fear, she could an
'wer nothing, but in the sudden move
nent of her start at the sound of his
'oice her knees coming together caused
he gold to trIckle down upon the floor
'iece by piece, as the water trickles
rom a spout.
The man observed with surprise the
stream of gold pieces, and sud
lenly bent down to pick them up.
Then, wild with fear, she rose to her
eet, dropping all her fortune on the
loor, and rushed toward the entrance
% leap cut upon the track. But he
'omprehended what she was going to
10, and turning, seized her in his arms,
her by force, and grasping her
exclaimed:
Listen to me, madam. / am not a
and the proof is that 1 am GO
ng to pick up all your money and give
I back to you. But I am a lost man
| am a dead man-if you do not aid me
to pass the frontier. 1 can tell you
more. In another hour we
shall reach the last Russian station in
one hour and twenty minutes we shall
cross the frontier line. If you do not
succor me, 1 am lost. And nevertheless,
madam, 1 swear to you that 1 have not
KILLED anybody, stole anything, or done
one dishonorable act. This 1 swear to
you But I cannot tell you anything
And, going down upon his knees he
picked up every coin to the very last,
seeking the gold pieces under the
benches, and grasping after those