Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1886-07-08
KILLED HIS SON.
A Graphic Story of Russian Nj
hilism and Misfortune.


hilism and Misfortune.
The full moon shed its mellow liph
over one of those mild. dreamy land
scapcs of Southern Russia which are 81
common, so uniform and vet so varied
in their simple beauty; broad stream
Its rlppled surface glittering In tn,
Silver rays; sleepy willows bathing
their oyerhanging boughs in the water
The endless. undulating steppc, vcilaJ
in dreamy mist, extending or tn,
left bank of the river, on the right OF
which the ground rose in steep slope,
covered with fruit trees rcsplcndcni
with the white blossoms Of spring. On
the crest of the slope, where the tree,
clustered the tbickcst, high wooden
ROOT was visible, shining in the moon
hight, and from behind tho foliage the
ruddy light of lamp-lit window cas-,
slanting ray into the silvery night.
he ray of light WAS the only trace
Ct hannah life. MOI sound came 70
disturb i: except those voices of the
night which in themselves seem ia
form part of silence--thc chirping of
the crickets, the frogs choir chantino
their evening song in the reeds below,
the sleepy bark of dog in the dis
tance. A peaceful reposc seemed to
have spread over the earth, bidding
rest to all troubled, aching hearts,
peace to all haired and strife.
Ana yet nc man who paced up and
down the short gravel walk in front of
The hou~a hardly felt the influence of
The peaceful scene. His step was
troubled and unsteady, and though his
department, evidently through long
habit, was as stiff and rigid as that of
soldier pacing the parade ground
yet the head, covered with snowy white
hair, was bowed low on his breast.
The fingers of his clasped hands
worked nervously and occasionally a
suppressed exclamation or a heavy.
ha.f-subducd sigh issued from between
the tirmly-se lips, with the thick,
bushy white mustachc ovcrshadowing
them.
The martial figure of this old man
was well known throughout the whole
PROVINCE of Goltava, and whenever
General Savelieff. or 1.-THE old Gen
er'i," as he was Familiarity called, APP
pcared he was gladly and respectfully
greeted by every one, without distinc-
lion of age, of class or of position.
Peasant or noble, young or old, all felt
an instructive respect for him, all came
under the influence of that peculiar at
m l.
straightforward nature surround old
age, winning the hearts of the honest
and awning knaves into respect. After
fesigning his position in the army at
the close of the Crimean war General
SavclieH retired on his small estate as
poor man as when he entered the
Government service, and resolutely le-
fused to accept any other office. Il
am too old for these times" he used
to answer. my Emperor is dead Che
meant the Emperor Nicholas). and |
do no. understand all your new ways
and reforms"
Military discipline and the will CT the
Car, when he considered rs being an
emanation of the will of God on earth.
had been the only guiding principles
of his whole life. Benevolent towards
all. indulgcnt for all faults and short
comings, on these two points he was
unflinchingly severe. "A foe of the
Car is foe of God" he was wont to
say. When i'm 1S47 he had to superin-
tend the execution of a so-called poll
teal CRIMINAL child nineteen years
old-he prepared himself for the task,
as for a holy sacrifice, and went to the
communion on the eve of the bloody
day. On the other hand. this rigid,
fanatical loyalty did not in the least
impair his naturally honest, straight
forward, benevolent disposition. The
poor of his parish venerated him and
even his enemies could not help re-
speeding the character of a man W nom
they hated as the ready tool of brutal
tyranny.
He had married young the woman
he had loved when yet a school-boy.
Eight years their union remained
childlesS. When at length in 1S47 a
child, boy. was born, the fathers Joy
knew no bounds, but was of short du-
Sation, for few weeks after the event
the mother died. Since then all that
there was of gcntleness and love in the
heart of the lonely. rigid soldier was
shed on that one boy, the little Andru-
sha (diminutive for Andrea, and vet
he rarely gave vent to his feeling and
his son had scarcely any occasion TO
become aware of it. Strict obedience
was the Generals rule in education as
well as in politics; the hierarchy of
sacred power eliminating in the Car
began for him in the father. Thus this
strange man lived Oh, proud and hon
est. without fear or reproach, one of
the last true knights of decaying and
corrupted autocracy. From the soil
tude of his modest country seat the old
General neither saw nor cared to know
how the ideal, the deity he had wor-
shipped had long ago fallen to pieces
and lost the last glitter of its former
prestige. For him the Gear was still
the father of his people. the ordained
and hallowed representative of God on
earth.
Needless to say, he had educated his
son In precisely the same creed. From
his tendcrest infancy Andrusha had
beea isolated from the outward world