Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-12
AN AFFECTING SEINE.
The RsPrisvc or a Mother aud Daughter
Condemned 20 Exile In Siberia.


The Rspri.vc or a Mother aud Daughter
Condemned to Exile In Siberia.
was a witness to an affecting incl
dent last Saturday, writesa correspond
ent from Moscow to the San Francisco
Chronicle. got up early and went to
a guard. distant about a mile
from the Kremlin. from which | was
informed the Siberian exiles would
start. Upon reaching the place | found
a small crowd assembled to overlook
the event. In front of the guard
house stood cart, which recalled
the tumbril of the French revolution.
Within it were a few articles Of dress,
some food, water, and a pair of wo-
mans shoes. A peasant tMuiik) held
the horses head. Four mounted Cos
sacks patrollcd the guard-house and
kept the crowd back. Not a word was
said by anybody. All awaited in 81
lence the coming of the condemned.
Presently the door Of the guard-honse
was opened. An officer came forth
and handed paper to one of the Cos
sacks. who took it with salute, and
instead Of tucking it in his belt placed
it in his hat. The guard.house door
now opened again and Cossack SOL
der came forth driving two women
before him with the butt Of his rifle.
There was no violence shown.
lie was guiding rather than
pushing them. One was an
old woman upwards Of sixty years Of
age. She had very German-looking
face, and was evidently neither a noble
nor a peasant. Her countenance was
dry and hard, and expressed neither
shame nor regret. Her companion, a
woman of not more than half her age,
had a more refined Air, but seemed
equally stoical or stolid-l could not
say which quality it was. She was
also Of German type. When they
reached the cart they were assisted
over the tail-board by the COSsack, and
they squatted down and commenced to
talk to one another in low tones. They
seemed Indifferent to the opinion of the
lookers-on. They were followed by
three or four other couples until the
cart was full.
The latest corners made sensation.
They were a Withholding Jezebel, evil
IDENTIFY Finnish peasant woman, and
young girl Of seventeen or eighteen
years. who seemed to be Russian and
noble. She was in complexion bru-
nette, delicate, slender, and evidently
unused to any rough treatment or fare.
She was not pretty. but had very in
teresting face, with rather a large
mouth and nose, and great, black,
flashing eyes, hedged with long eye
. lashes. Her dress was poor one and
much stained. As she looked about
her with despairing air, her eyes
caught those of some one in the
crowd, and she stopped and trem-
bled, but said not wori. Some COM
motion took place in that part of the
crowd to which the prisoners looks
had been directed, but no sound broke
the silence. The peasant and the noble
were lifted into the cart, the former
with compressed lips and menacing air,
the latter overcome with fatigue and
fainting with shame and emotion.
Next came the male prisoners, some
fifty or sixty in number. They were a
sorry-lookIng lot, and hardly seemed
worth so much trouble. Not one of
them was fit for mining work. OF the
whole number there were not more than
two or three faces that were interesting
or that appeared to indicate men of SUI
perior intelligence. They were formed
into column behind the tumbril, and
the COssacks took stations on their
flank.
Another commotioM now appeared
in the crowd. A man running from
the city rushed into the midst Of it.
calling aloud wOman's name. The
Cossack officer frowned, and two Of
his patrols were sent over to preserve
order. AT their approach the peo-
pie fell back, ana disclosed in their
midst an old lady in a fainting condi-
ton, held in the arms Of young man
evidently relative or friend. They
were both of the noble class. The
young man held a reprieve in his
hand-a reprieve for one of the exiles
in the cart. The precious paper had
been brought over from the telegraph
office, near the Kremlin, in
single unbroken dash, and the brave
courier was lying on the ground ex-
hausted and painting for breath. Com
hitting the fainting women to those
near him, the young man advanced and
showed the reprieye to the Cossacks,
who thereupon conducted him to the
officer at the guard-house. Both of the
gentlemen went inside, the door clos
ing behind them. Meanwhile the fact
had been communicated to the young
girl in the tumbril that she had been
reprieved. How it was done | know
not, for nobody had approached the
cart and no words had been spoken
aloud. She stood up and looked about
her until she saw her mother, the old
lady who had tainted in the crowd.
The agony Of the young creature was
piteous to behold. She clasped her
hands. she stretched them toward her
beloved parent. She appealed by her
looks to the guard, who refused to no
tice her. She cried aloud; she at
tempted to leap down from the cart,
but was caught and pushed back. She
wrung her poor hands .ad turned her
weeping eyes to heaven, as though all