New-York tribune., 1885-01-04
III.

Some days later Niaz went on an expedition agai'
on the Cars service for the protection OF the IRON
tier" and took more than half 1Is abe 9oaiea fs
tars on tho journey with him. Olga had meyer de
so lonely before, surrounded now by hon,ot an T,n
mystery in that awfnl solitary strongnold' ht
broken watch weighed gloomly upon HOT i'iE"'
MAJ was gone for three days as often happened.
and the fourth night after she had re,ir r " ;c
lonely bedroom she felt sure she heard MS Noico
spea! ng low somewhere in the courtyard. . =.
At the sound she sprang from her ped anu ,n %oar
to the window les tHeTG % aUwm 10 n 'o and treadng
cautiOusly she saw Niaz and his men ming qulsty
in through the dim gloom, and bringing with them
Her heart Tt beat fast Could it be some kind of
smugglingi They lay so near the passes s ,nnr r,o
Turkestan and China and she knew that the ,ner
the frontier not far from Mas village
Huddng on her dress hastily, she issued ont ont
sought over the whole place in the black n'sh' ior
sight of MAJ. She could find him nowhere. ,,on
At last she mounted the staircase to the nou,der
Ss watoh lagSar tSerS constantly but tonight the whole
place seemed somehow utterly deserted She grppcn
her way along till she reached the far corner oV
patch of ground which MAJ had toiu hcr was ''o
There She came suddenly upon n great crowd OF
inS ns Wildly GH with vii links and torches Naz stood in
the midst erect and military. with his Russian uh
form cleaning ftfully IN the ilickerng 'or.hig; .h in
In front of him six Turcoman merchants, with tneir
hands bound behind their backs, knelt upon me
ground and beside him two Tartars held hy either
man in European dress whom Oga 1ecpgn,reu & ~
of tho Himalayas. Her heart stood still within her
with terror, and she hung there. mute ana unseen.
upon the rampant above, wondering what III
Heavens name this extraordinary scene was gong
to end in. What could it meant What could MAJ
be doing IN it' Great God. it was too horrible, m
A Tartar came forward quietly from the crowd
with a curved sword. At q word rom MAJ ne
raised the sword aloft in the air Ono second II
glanced bright in the torchght the next seo9na
Tu n's hpadl lay
torrent of blood spurted suddenly from the stli
kncelIng corpse. Olga opened her mouth to scream
ut the horrid sight; but happily her voice az once
fOrsook her as In dream and she stood xed 10 the
spot in a perfect fascination of awe and terror.
Then the Tartar moved on, obedent to WORD
and nod from MAJ. and raised his sword above tie
second Turcoman. In q moment the second neat
too rolled down quietly beside the othrr. With9n'
n minutes delay, as though IL formed part OF MS
everyday business, the practiscd headsman wrnt
on quietly to the next IN order and did not stop t
All six heads lay grim and CHASTITY scattered about
UNDECIDED IN the dust together Olga shut her eyes,
sickening but still could not scream Tor very horto
Next. Niaz turned to the English traveller and
said something to him IN his politest manner Oiga
couldn't catch the words themselves because of tho
apologizing to the Englishman for his rough treat
ment The Englshman in reply drew ont aud
handed to Naz small canvas bag and purse ana
Hands oh ~ he cried TO the TaTtars III Russian. and
they oosed their prisoner Then he made slgn
and the Epgsh%app Ens Gs In and hSa Sal SG @
placid smile upon his handsome lace, turned 10 give
orders TO the surround ng Iartars. o,
Olga could stand IL no mprc She dared MOI
scream or lot herself be seen but she turned round
sick at heart and gropcd her way, half paralyzed
by fear along the Wondering rampant; and then
turned IN at last to her own bedroom wnere sue
fearless but terrified. the whole night through III
binding misery .
MAJ was nothing more. after all, than a savage
Buriat robber chieftain.