The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-07-06

| servant came upstairs to say that Mr.. Mars
ton was in the parlor on the ground floor,
and would like TO see her,
81 have been thiaking ever since Ileftyou,n
he said, when they had greeted each other,
"of the extraordinary history you told me.
| And / think now that / SEQ my way to over
come your difficulties. But you wiz have
to exercise great patience. IL win take me
probably a year, perhaps more, TO carry ont
my plans. j shall have to go 20 Russia and
| live in the village of Naroyei, and / shall
want at least R400 at once, and probably
another 800 in the course Of abont six
months. In the meantime you must be COM
tent not to ask nte any questions, and to re-
main in perfect ignorance of what j am do
| ing. NV word is the only guarantee YOU can
have that ! shall be honestly doing my best
in your behalf"
ut is sufficient, : said the countess. tYou
| shall have the money. When can you start3'a
Tomorrow was the answer.
Accordingly, next day Mr. Marston started
for Narovel, which is O village in the province
Of Minsk, in Western Russia, Here he took
up his abode in the guise Of a well-to-do Eng
lshman, who wished to make himself acr
quaintka with the language and institutions
OF the country, and who had no objection to
spend his money freely. He was a good shot,
was fond Of riding and, apart altogether
from the necessity Of acting q part which was
involved by the business he had on hand, he
was a really joyial and pleasant companion.
The consequence was that he soon became a
| fnvorite with everybody IN the district. The
men liked him because he was acapital sports
man and could take his bottle witt the best
of them; the women, because be was q good
looking foreigner. who was always giving
them such compliments as circumstances per-
mitted and who was very fond of children.
Among Others viii whom he shortly became
very intimately acquainted was ,the new
priest, a young MAI named Nicholas Kohl.
Kohl acted, as priests very offend in Russia,
the part both of priest and physician to the
district. And, since Marston was ableto give
him a great deal of valuable advice and as
sistance, they soon became fast friends.
One day, about Eve months after he came
TO Naroyel, he went with Kohl into the YES
try room of the chapel where the countess
was married. He had been in this room fua-
quently before, and knew exactly where the
book IN which her marriage was registered
lay among some others in d s~ortofcupboard.
Already he had, on the pFetense of eompar4
ing the Russian system with the English, ex-
amined several registers OF births, deaths and
marriages, 80 that he WAS familiar with the
forms, ana IN looking at q book Of such reg
listers could easily find amy particular one
that he might be in quest Of. As yet, how
ever, he had no opportunity Of examining the
book which contained the record Of the mar
rage of the countess. Now what no had
been scheining for duringthe past five months
was to get this book secretly into his posses-
sion for about half an hour, 6tready he had
found a number Of plans for getting half
an hour alone in the vestry room,
one as being unsuitable, At last, as often
happens in such cases, an accident gave him
the opportunity he sought. On the occasion
in question they were going for a long walk,
and had only gone into the vestry-room to
leave a parcel which the priest had in his
1 Haul 5000. L-s-s.- -
the o when they were followed by a little
girl who had seen them Sc iuto the chapel.
She had been at the priests house to look for
him as her mother, who was very III, wished
to see him a few minutes.
II shall wait here for you,p said Marston.
speaking to Konl in French, when he under
stood what the little girls errand& was. II
eas-aesd tin you cors- back. There we're
some French and Latin books III the room.
Very wen, " said Kohl, sits only d few
minutes walk from here. ] shall not bemore
than half an hour"
When the girl and priest had left the chapel,
Marston took out of the cupboard the vol
ume that contained the register OF the coun.
tess marriage, and turned over the pages till
he came to the entry he was in search Of
Yes, there, In black and white, was the record
Of the marriage Of Sophia Usehakoff with
Michael Tokbtamish. Mr.. Marston looked
at the register intently for q minute or two.
NAtAAG NANu time ne NuFueus EabfiHf pale.
Then he got up and looked out Of the yeetry
room to see that there was nobody in the
chapel. Having satisfied himself that no was
quite alone, he sat down again and ex-
aminfa the characters In which the
name of Michael Tokhtnmish was
written with the greatest care for about d
a minute. Finally. he took out OF his pocket
q penknife, a bottle ofiak, and a pen which
he carried about with him in anticipation OF
an opportunity hkethep present. With the PEN
knife he carefully erased the name 81 Michael
Tokhtamish. it took him about three min
utes TO do this, SO anxious was he to DO the
work neatly q not TO leave a trace Of Che
letters he was removing from the register.
When he had succeeded to his liking he put
the penknife in his pocket again, and having
carefully exa!nined the pen to see that the
nib was in ordet ia proceed to write over the
erasure the name off,
Let me first ask If the reader has guessed
whose name Il was that Mr., Marston wrote
over the name he had been at such pains TO
eraser Some people Of whom / have asked
the question have guessed that he wrote his
own name. But why so2 On q subsequent
occasion he did write his own name Ia 4 mar
rage register after Sophia Cheraski had witt
ten hers. But on the present occasion hec0uld
not have gained anything By so doing. And
the SAINT objection will apply TO his writing
most other names over the eragure.
No. Having most carefully erased the
name Of Michael T~okhtamish. be preceded
with the very greatest care to write the name
Of Michael Tokhtamizh as nearly as possible
m the some place and characters that II
stood before. when be had done this to his
satisfaction. he let the ink dry, and then re-
stored tho booe 10 its place. Kohl came
back presently, and they went for their long
walk.
About three weeks afterward Mr.. Marsfon
found that he had business which necpssiated
his leaving for England, and, rrzT-@ueh to
the regret Of the inhabitants ofNarnvel. be
departed. From Russia he went straight TO
Paris, where he called upon the Countess
CheraekL with whom he had held NO commu-
nlcation whatever during the whole time he
wae visiting at Narovel
You have placed implicit confidence in
me" he said, and yop win find that IT. has
not been abused. haye told you before
that you must not ask any questions; and /
tell you so again. You must do exactly
as | direct you without asking why. Com.
menee proceedings at once forthe restoration
Of your titles and estates. And mark me,
when the register Is produced ipeist ca having
every word Of your marriage most carefully
examined. Do exactly as I ten you. and sou
VIII md that the result wN he satisfactory.
And now. good.by. must get back so Lon
don % zee II cannot getmy patients again
The c0untesA did as he told her to do, She
commenced an action on behalf Of herself and
her children for the restoration Of her title
and estates. The register Of her marriage
was produced, but when u WIS found that
the name ofhiefael Tokhtamieh was WRITTEN
over m efasure. This destroyed the value of
the registtr as evidence of n marriage between
Sophia Usraakoif and Michaal Tokhtamish.
The natural presumption IN fact, the moral
certainty, Us that somebody else'k name
had heen eraeed from the place where the