Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1885-11-20


care, and, what was worse. much loss
of time, before, by duplication and
strategy, | could gain the ear of some
/ one who could really help ne in pro
curing the rare favor of a personal in
teryiew with the Emperor.
Importantly prevailed; day was
/ fixed. and fonnd myself admitted
into the ealuu>ly guarded palace of
/ Gatchina. and led into the presence of
/ the master at So many millions.
/ have but u dim recollection of NV con
versat.on with the autocrat, whose
liehte,t word could give me back the
| betrothed husband that ! had lost.
That | kue't at the Cars feet | know
well. and that ! spoke with an earnest
eagerness that seemed to carry conyic-
ton | can believe.
My entreaties were not i'm vain.
pleaded SO well that when | left the
Emperor | carried in my hand full
and free pardon for Count Ivan Car
lovitch, signed by the Car. NV
brother had been waiting for me with.
out. and aS we drove back from the
palace To the railway station he seemed
scarcely aS elated as | had expected
him to he.
cit very far to Siberia, said Paul,
shaking his head. land even with your
strange sac e>s. Marianne. ! feel UNI
easy about Carlovtch, poor fellow!
just before YOU came out, Prince Ga
litZiun We both remember him as at
tachcd To the Russian Embassy
PASSED n and stopped to shake hands.
lie is fresh from hls regiment, in Xiii
Va or the Caucasus, and said that he
saw Count Ivan near Orenberg with
the chain gang. in bad health. eviden &
Is. and ! " spirits. 1t Is terrible
Journey that lies before him "
"lhc more need, said |. mastering
iidently as | could. Ito overtake and
save him. Who in this empire can
dare to withstand the Emperor's com
mand? Onll let Us hasten, and all
will be well.
Russia. however, as | found, is the
land OF procraStlnation and o! official
delays. The pardon had been OBJ
tanned, but it was not until after
bribery and repeated visits that
could procure the ncrdlul permission
To set out on >uch a pilgrimage rs that
which lay before me, and which needed
the con ent OF both civil and military
authorities. Much precious time was
therefore consumed, and when the
start took place and As a was reached,
| found that, once off the railroads,
the most provoking impedments
married the progress OF traveller.
Now all the post horses were kept in
reserve To- accommodate some general
and his stan bound for Turkestan; now
the means al transport were requisl-
toned tor the transport of stores or
artillery: while Hoods rendered rivers
unfordablc, and violent storms of
sleet and bail, in that capricious eli
mate, appeared To alternate with the
parching heat of the glarng sun.
Paul bright, active good humor. and
my lavish expenditure, could scarcely
cope with he sluggishness of a popu-
lation unable To understand why any
one should he in a hurry, or should do
to-day what could possibly be put of
until to morrow For the mere priva-
tions of such journey, the heat, the
cold, the scanty quarters, and coarse
fare at the crowded post houses,
cared little But was more i'm
pressed by the gloomy view which all
take of the prospects of the captiyes
whom they saw only too often
marching past on the long and painful
route that led to Eastern Siberia.
They die like lambs IN snow
storm, the delicate ones do. said one
talkative German innkeeper, between
the puls of his pipe. ''plodding, as
they do for five months sometimes, in
irons. footsore and ill.fed; now SILVER
ing in the blast, and now scorched by
the sun. Then. they get so little
sleep. driven. as they are, at the bayo-
nets point by the guards, into the
stone towers that have been built at
every score or SO OF versts, and where
there is not even room to lie down on
the bare ground. No wonder that
those rough monuments of willow
branches nailed together, of which,
Fraulein. YOU must have noticed
plenty, stand dotted all along the
road across the steppes, from the Ural
range TO lrkutsk, and each OF these
marks out a convicts lonely grave. ="
1t was sad to hear this and many
other such boding, il well meant re-
marks. made by those who knew the
country better than ! could do; and |
/ have no doubt but that my brother
/ heard more than he cared TO tell me
as to the suilerings of the prisoners,
very often innocent victims of private
malignity or oilicia! mistake, who were
/ driven like wearied cattle toward the
\ mines IN which they were to work out
their sentence. Brbing, persuadlng,
/ commanding, using every faculty with
which nature had gifted me. pushed
on, travelling faster-as the Cossack
postill ons declared than ever had
been done. save bv those who had the
badges of imperial authority enforced
bv the military lash. ! met with no
Immature, for sweeter tempered pop
ulation can hardly exist; but laZiness,
I prejudice and Oriental fatalism seem
ed TO be like barriers across the road.
1t was very difficult to be qnick where
centuries Of tradition had taught the
people to be slow, and that brandy
and sleep, wrapped in sheepskins be-
side the heated stove of tough yellow
bricks. comprised all human happI-
ness. heard. however, that the car
avian of captives. of which Ivan was a
member. was vet in front of me; and as
fast as could ] followed.
How shuddered after the German
inn-keeper's speech. as | marked the
frequent erections of boughs or strips
of willow or birch bark rudely nailed
together, that occurred ut intervals
Each of these was a tombstone. l saw
too. the skeletons OF horses, and bro