Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-07-26
SCRATCHED OUT.
The Successful Ruse by Which q
Wrong Was Righted

Wrong Was Righted
During the earlier years of the pre-
emit century the Russian MOBILES ruled
their households with a high hand.
Accordingly, when the Dowager Count
ess Cheraski found that her only son
Ivan, a young man of about twenty
years, was engaged to marry beau
tiful serf on his estate, she forthwith
banished him to France, and ordered
the girl to whom he was engaged to
marry another serf Immediately. As
her commands had to be obeyed, poor
Sophia Uschakoff, for that was the
girls name, went with her father some
six months after the Counts departure
to the chapel where the marriage serv-
ice was to be performed. There were
present, besides her father and her.
self, Michael Tokhtamish (the BRIDE
groOm), his father and the priest. an
old man who was upward of seventy
years of age. Thesservice had scarcely
commenced when the door of the little
chapel opened, and Ivan Cheraski, the
young Count, entered with q revolver
in his hand
.You thought l was out of the coun-
try" he said; "but not so. l have
been biding my time not far away from
here. know all about the infamous
attempt to marry my betrothed to this
clown. and l have come to prevent it.
Every thing is ready-the priest, the
altar and the bride. So, my good IA
Their. you will please marry me to
Sophia Uschakoff at once, or you and
Michael Tokhtamish shall die before
five minutes are over"
do not know what would have hap
pened if the priest had refused to obey
the Counts order. AS l have said,
Russian mobiles used to be, and very
likely still are, rather high-handed,
especially in dealing with their depend
ents. At all events, Ivan Cheraski
was nobleman armed with revolver.
Michael Tokhtamish was only a serf
who might have been shot for the fun
of the thing. while the priest was
very infrm old man, and bound, more
over. by his religion to discountenance
blOodshed. So the serf stood aside,
the nobleman took his place, the priest
performed the service. and in few
minutes Ivan Cheraski and Sophia
CschakOff were man and wife. The
service over, the company entered the
vestry room. where the priest proceed
ed to enter the particulars relating to
the marriage in the registry-book.
Now, must pause here to inform
the reader that in Russia it was the
custom for the priest, and not the par
ties who were married, to sign the
names of the bride and the bridegroom
in the marriage register. Alexander
Troubstskoi. the priest, was placed, as
the saying is. between two fires. If
he had not obeyed the Counts orders
he would have been shot. On the
other hand, if the Countess Dowager
found out what he had done. some
thing else as bad, or worse, would
probably happen. To escape from the
dilemma he entered in the register Mi
chael Tokhtamish instead of Ivan Che
raski, as the name of the bridegroom.
The parties who were interested did
not observe the substitution. The
register was restored to its place. and
the Count and Countess Cheraski left
secretly for Paris that evening.
For five years they lived very hap
PLY in France. and then the Count
died, leaving the Countess widow
with two children. His mother had
died about a year before, and Troubet-
skoi expired shortly after they left the
village of Narovel, where the marriage
took place. On the death of her hus-
band the Countess went to the PROV
ince of Minsk, in Russia, to claim his
estate on behalf of herself and his chill
dren. The claim was opposed by his
family. who produced the register
which bore evidence of her marriage,
not with Ivan Cheraski. but with
Michael Tokhtamish. There seemed.
then, to be no use in resorting to legal
proceedings, as the evidence of the
witnesses to the marriage, who were
all serfs, would be worthless against
the evidence of the marriage register.
Accordingly the Countess, as she was
de jare, if not de tacto, returned to
France. Partly by the sale of her jew
.lry and partly owing to her husband
having invested some money in their
joint names in French five per cent
rentes she had = little moro than
$4,000, and with this capital shs