Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1886-04-07

got TO within a few yards, saw that the
man-for the creature was Il man-was
l dropped my stick and made rush at
him, and had him before he knew anything
about IL. He struggled hari-desperately
l may say. But, bless you'll he'd not a
ghost of a chance with me. am toler-
ably strong man still, as men 60, and was
younger then. / could have undertaken
three such as he, and thought nothing OF
IL. The poor wretch had no sort OF condi-
tion about him-he was mere skin and
bones-no muscle at all. He was nothing
but walking. anatomy, with few rags by
way of covering-and only very few.
All that he gained by his struggles was
a good shaking, for gave him one that
made every tooth In his head chatter; and
then laid him fiat on his back.
had been long enough In the country TO
gain some knowledge OF Russia. could
use IL pretty freely to our mill people; and
must own that for terms in which to
BLACKBOARD set of lazy rascals, as most
Of those fellows are, Billingsgate isn't
patch on 1t. SO l could make my prisoner
understand me. "Now, then my FRIEND"
I said to him, "you needn't take the
| trouble to show any more fight. You see
| IL won't pay. SO just get up, and march
quietly off with me to the 0uchdSt0ck"-the
| ouchastok being, as you perhaps know,
| equivalent to the police-station in English.
But instead Of getting up, and doing as
he was told, like a reasonable being, the
| creature contrived to wriggle itself upon
| its knees, and to hold up its hands; while
| 1t begged of me in the name of the Virgin
| and oil the Saints not TO hand it over to
| the p0litzid. 1t would rather be killed out
| right, and was ready to be beaten as much
| as pleased.
my ragged friend" said, "you are a
| queer chap! Why do you object to the
| police so stronglyW
The poor wretch made no direct answer,
Il l...A -. -A1I Ii .N.aA t.oA
| would not give him up. began to have
| some suspicion of the quality of my guest.
| ~ am inclined to think" / said, "that you
are neither moro or less than an escaped
| convict"
| Instead of attempting TO deny it, he only
| begged me to pity him as before.
Russian law is terribly hard on those
who in any way assist in or conceal the
/ escape of a convict. OF that | was aware.
But though / am big fellow to look at,
| and in some things can hold my own as
well as any man, l have always been
| poor, soft fool in others. 1 was
beginning to feel downright sorry for that
| poor Dewitt was not so much his prayers
| that touched me as his looks. "Well,"
| said, suppose don't give you up, but let
| you go. What then"
He would always remember me with
| gratitude. He would SO on his way at
l once, and do no harm to my property. He
| was no thief. He had only entered this
| duOr-this yard--to hide himself, but that
the sight of food had overcome him; he
| was furnishing, and he dared not beg. He
| had walked, how far he could not tell, per-
haps thousand versts, and all the way he
| had not dared TO ask for food, scarcely to
| speak to living soul. He was trying to
| reach his own village, perhaps a thousand
| versts further III | would only set him
| free he would go on at once.
That was about the substance of the fell
IAx..y IL \ A..
| bear out his statements, and l was in
| clined to believe him. "It's sheer non
| sense" said, "for you to talk of setting
| off for a walk of n thousand versts, il let
you go. You might as well talk Of flying
| You have not the strength to walk ten.
| You would only fall by the roadside, you
miserable scare-crow, and die in ditch. l
| should be doing the kinder thing by you
| IL hand you over to the authorities. If
| do let you 60, must give you something
| to eat first. Come with me-"
The miserable wretch hardly believed
| that meant to feed him, and would have
run away had he dared. l took him into
and fetched him as much food as l thought
| IL safe for him to eat.
So there / was, with an escaped convict
on my hands. Had been more prudent
l should have reflected that the fellow was
most likely a hardened scoundrel, quite
would probably be shown either by rob-
bling me, or IL he should happen to fall into
the hands OF the police, by getting me into
trouble to save his own worthless neck. /
ought to have thought OF these things; but
as l said before, l am soft-hearted old
fool, and neglected to do so.
kept him in that empty house for sew
eral days; in fact, till he had so far recov-
cred his strength as TO be fit to go on.
Nobody knew about him, not even the
members of my own family, for if l was
doing foolish thing had sense enough TO
run as little risk over it rs possible. Feodor
Stepanovitch, for that my convict told me
was his name, enlightened me OH some few
points of his personal history. His native
village was, he said, in the governm emit of
Vladimer, and he had left it TO get work in
the town OF Ivanova, where there are fac
tories. Every man tries TO make out q good
case for himself, so did not feel myself
bound to place implicit reliance on Feodor's
statement that he had never committed
anything that could properly be called
crime. According to his showing, the sole
source of his troubles had been differ
ence with an OurddRik-a police agent. |
do not exactly remember the particulars,
but, OF course, there was a woman in the
business; blows had passed, and the
0uuddnik had, by false charge, procured
Feodor's condemnation to Siberia for life.
This, say, was his story.
Feodor told me that his place of exile
had been somewhere far up the country:
and of the seventies he had had to endure,
and OF the tyranny of officials, he spoke
bitterly. After making his escape, the
privations and dangers he had undergone
before reaching Ekaterinburg were such as
/ should not have believed from his words,
had they not been verified by his APP
For Russian, be appeared to me to be q
not unintelligent fellow, and pointed out
to him the difficulties he would find in
making his way to Ivanova-a distance of
not less than twelve hundred versts from
Ekaterinburg, as the crow flies; and adj
vised him, as he was used to mill work, to
stay and find employment where he was.
was weak enough to offer to help him and
see what could be done In tho way of get
ting passport for him. But the fellow
solved, he said, to see his family again,
and he was resolved to see Basil Makoroff.
This Makarof was, l found, tho OuUddink
to whom Feodor attributed his troubles,
and 1t seemed to me that this particular
hankering to see this person meant crav-
ing to have his revenge. | confess that
when learned this much 1 felt no desire
to detain my friend Feodor longer than
was necessary. was glad to give him
something more decent in the way of cloth
ing than he had brought, and a triae in
money to help him on his way, and to be
rid Of him.
never expected to see him again, nor
wished to do so; and l was somewhat
startled when few weeks later, among a
gang of convicts which were being
marched out of the town on their way
eastward, 1 recognized Stepanovitch. /
was standing close by when he passed,
and was SO much surprised TO see him that
i somewhat imprudently, perhaps, spoke
to him by name. But, will you believe it?
the ungratefel dog stared me in the face,
and marched sullenly by without word or
sign Of recognition. $50 much" thought
1, "for gratitude
Some months later, when the next sum-
mer was getting well advanced, we had
one night an alarm of fire. Many of the
newer mills at Ekaterinburg are of stone,
but the main building of ours, being COM
paraNvely old, was of wood. 1t was a
thing to blaze up like box of matches. 1t
was not, however, in the main building
that the fire had broken out, but in some
sheds connected with the main buildings
by range Of shopping. This last was