The Portland daily press., 1885-01-02
The White Terror.
Leaves From thc Notebook Of "A Noted
ReVOlutiOnist.
(From the French.)


met in Geniva to take cup OF tea at the
bonse of one of their number, M. q.
n was a somewhat numerous party, SIX or
seven persons, perhaps; and, what IS much
rarer in the gatherings OF exiles, II was rain
er a lively one. Our charming hostess vas
seated at the piano, whlch sue playeu . WIN
mncb taste and feeling, and she sang 10 US
several Ukrainian songs. We were all
somawhat excited by the music. We joked
and Isnphed. The principal subject for talk
was the escape from Siberia Of one of our
friends. news of which had reached US tnat
eryday. a..
,,nowp having been related, and all the OBJ
sarvatsons and coniectIres with regard to it
having been made a moment OF silence en-
smad Of that dead insupportabie silence,
when the Russians say, "a fool has been
horn" or. "The angel of silence is towering
over u.s. according to their respective
tastes. .,.,. o..,-or.o4;o,,
rasnecrinr the escape of our friend, the idea
came into nv head to propose to the compa-
nv which included Ossinsky and b0kanoV-
ski. to relate to each other the particulars
of their own escapes, as almost everyone had
succeeded in escaping.
1t was owing to this proposal, when IneO
with general approval, thaI an "oio w
write this sketch
O,siusky tried to get out of it, saying that
bo had been compelled to tell tue story of
his escape time and time again, until no was
ouite sick of the subject. He was Obliged,
however, to yield to the importantly OF the
company. =,
hazards . he began, never left me from the
frat day of nv arrest. But ii there's any
thing impossible in this world IL is to escape
from The fortress of ST. Peter and st. PAu'.
T drew M plans, or rather INDUCED in Wild
fances, as could not but perceive that tney
were only vain dreams.
Atlsst. however, struck 90 the idea OF
hecoming an invalid, and getting transferred
to the hospital. -,
was now none Of the best. Confinement mad
worn upon me, al d the fierce munger loi
freedom devoured me. StiD, to carry out
NV pian, was sbliged to teign mortal
weakness and languor which was Tar from
feeling. -
Rnt ACCOMPLISHED my purpose, and soon
fonud myself in the Nicholas Hospital, where
kenf mn appearances SO successfully as to
induce those in charge Of me TO believe me
almost IN eTtren1GS.
The doctor ordered me daily exercise, and
about / O'Clock l VAS taken INTO the large
courtyard of the hospital. A sentinel, nus
ket in hand, was always by my side.
l began to take close note OF eVerythlng'@o
as to draw up my plans.
q'he courtyard was large. The gate, ordi-
nar,ly shut. was then open; for at that peril
cd of the year III was july, the hospital was
taking in its supply OF wood for the Wlueef.
AS this, however, would last Only le"
weeks, no sentinel had been placed az Iue
gate. This was great advantage.
I walked up aud down at the bottom OF
the courtyard, exactly opposite the gate
The sentinel was always near, between me
and the gate. as, however, walked more
slowly than a tortoise, which mode OF loco-
motion, as is well known, wearles vigorous
man more than the most violent exercise,
the soldier had recourse to the foloWlhg
strategem: He followed line parallel 70
mine. but five PAGES nearer the gate. he
uss TINS able to make his walk ten PAGES
longer than mine, for at each extremity OF
his line he was always at the same distance
from the gate as was at the extremity Oh
my line. .,..,o, ~;
IDENTITY made with his eye, was absolutely
correcb theoretically. L, however, had
thought that if once we both began to run,
the soldier, by a natural instinct, Woulo en-
deavor to seize me as quickly as possipie
and would therefore rush upon me INSTEAD OF
running directly to the gate to cut OIL my
retreat He would thus describe two SIDES
of the triangle, of which / would describe
the third alone. Thus, upon this point l
had an advantage. l might hope to reach
the gate before the sentinel, running at the
same speed. hoped however, to run fast
er, but was not certain OF 1t, being really
weakened by genuine illness.
If a vehicle were waiting at the gate Iol
me SO Knight easily jump into it, | said tc
myself, should have good chance OF es
Gaping.
friends containing the outlines OF my plan,
received another from them on the same
aAy1da ! M
not relate the various plans and projects pro
posed and abandoned; there we're SO msny
Several questions had TO be settled: Wheth
er nv friends shoHld enter the courtyard, al
they proposed, and engage in some way OF
other the attention of the sentinel; whether
the vehicle should await me at the gate, O
at the corner of the hospital, where it woul(
not be so much in sight; whether one OF on
party should post himself there, or the driY
or remain alone.
proposed the most simple and natura
plan, which was finally adopted NO on
should enter the courtyard. The Vehlcl
should await us at the gate, because mlgh
not be strong enough to run as far as tn
corner An intimate friend prepared &
post himself there to assist me, if necessary
in getting in more quickly, and especially i
dressing me directly afterwards, as L Shout
be compelled to escape with scarcely any
thing on except my shirt and trousers
All we mad TO cover US III the HOsplldl wa
an invalid's dressing-gown. IL was 50 large
so juconvenient, and SO long that in wakin
was obliged to carry my trs:A on my arm
To run in such a garb was absolutely impos
sible. 1t must be thrown oil al all hazard
before could take TO my bees. But hi
must he done with the rapidly OF ngptnlns
for a single moment lost might ruin all +,
many DAYS in succession practiced this pc
Torrance in my CELL found that to 90
with the utmost possible celebrity tie opera
ton must be divided into three eiementaI
movements, Ike the musquetry exercise
soldiers-one, two, three.
The greatest difficulty remained: the s.
lection of the moment. THIS depended u
on the condition of tie streets through whlc
we had to pass. string of wood carts,
detachment Of passing soldiers, mounte
Cossack might upset the whole thing, E
pecially as the streets through which we "a
to pass were very narrow ana WlDdln
They must. therefore, ge watched, and
must be informed when they were Tree FRO
ali obstacles, For this purpose sentine
had 10 be placed al four different polni
The fifth sentinel, receiving nformatit
from the four others, had TO give me the
cisiye signal at the proper moment. III
signal was to be an air-ball, which woeld a
cend at a given spot behind The high wall
the courtyard in which | took exercise.
[ had also proposed 20 place sixth sen
because, according to my cacualtions, Il
very narrow lane was so long that vehlt
being In IL at the moment of our DEPART III
would infallibly have stopped our progrei
Tt could not reach the end while we we
passing from the gate Of the hospital to t
entrance of The ane. AS men were fe
however, we did without this sixtn sentint
On the day fixed l went to take my exc
else full of hope and excitement. look
again and again towards that part Of the "
where the red air-bal was To ascend. No
;ro was 10 be seen. Ny time was dTawi
tn an " s end; stu nothing. 1t ended and vi
il NV homes. With the impressionabIe Il
agination of prisoner, gave way to {
goomiest coDjectnres; felt conVnc
Nothing much, however, had happen'
By singular chance, red air-baIl cou
not be found in the Gostini Dgor, OF IN
toy shops, though whole morning had be