The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1890-10-16

evening, after an ascension which lasted
nearly two hours.
He struggled stoutly, but, nevertheless,
discouragement finally took possession OF
him, fever brought on additional weakness
and with it came the cortege of black ideas.
Soon he could no longer eat; his brain
dried and burned and there was a constant
buzzing in his ears.
In this condition, the poor young man was
haunted by thoughts of suicide; he repu.sod
them, at first as he would have repu-sed
the thought of great crime, but they per-
! sistently returned. He grew to think that,
since he was doomed to death, it mattered
! but little if he FASTENED the mOnont few
hours Was he not free from all RESPONSE
bility? They We're killing him and he would
go to meet death, that was all I-e ut LIST
resolved to end the slow agony to Taica he
was condemned.
The method was very e,,sy-it Was close
at hand.
He had heard of desperate wretches who
lad caused themselves to be crushed be-
meath blocks of stone. He would follow
! their example.
For three days he had been looscning
rock; he toiled with redoubled ardor at his
| perilous task, decided to place himself be-
meath the enormous mass when it was about
to fall
To succeed, he must put forth efforts and
exercise firm will for two days longer. A
year of his life fled at each blow of the
pick-axe without shaking his fierce resolu-
tion-at least, he thought SO; bit this OBJ
stinate work carried on with such a design
wore him out
One morning, he said to the two men who
shared his yourte:
81 cannot rse!"
One of these men was Russian political
convict, transferred from Minousink to Oul1-
boul as an increase of punishment; the 9TH
er Tunguse brigand, an assassin and
robber. Both of them, like Yegor, were
new corners, and the government had lodged
them in one of its yOurteS until they could
get time to build hut. To enable them to
live, they had few cents, the salary from
the grantee of the mine, receiving besides
from the government sixty-six pounds Of
rye -four and one dollar per month. They
could dispose according to their liking OF
one week in four
Seeing Yegor so sick his companions car
ried him to the hospital. It was rather
CLEARINGHOUSE. When he recovered his
senses, about forty eight hours afterwards,
he found himself in a wooden barrack ar
ranged like the between-decks of ship.
Each cabin contained number of invalids
stretched upon shelves, one above another,
on the bare boards. In the midst Of COM
plete darkness, those who were least Ill
assisted those who were dying. The air
was loaded with putrid emanatiOns. With
the death-rattles were mingled the hollow
complaints of those struggling with suf-
fering It was horrible. This place of So
lace bore a closer resemblance to a hall of
torture.
When Yegor had accustomed his eyes to
the absence of light, he perceived on one of
the shelves opposite to him two nude corpses
in state of decomposition. He was seized
with terror and, gliding down from his
funereal couch, dragged himself into the
open air, suddenly recovering strength to
pursue to the end of the earth the work of
suicide. But fate was against him. Noone
had continued his task.
His last day had come. He was about to
go from his yourte to the shaft, when M.
Nadeieff, the grantee Of the mines, who had
arrived at Oulxboul the day before, sent for
him.
The latter had found himself by chance at
Omsk, when the exile passed through that
town, and had noticed him VIXEN his place
of residence was being decided upon. He
knew from the notes on his passport that he
was acquainted with several languages,
French, English, and German, and that he
possessed notions of physical and mathemat-
ical sciences. Hence it seemed to the
grantee. who was a cold and positive man,
that he could turn Yegors requirements
to better account than by putting a ham,
mer or wedge in his hand at the bottom of
a mine.
M Nadeieff was vigorous and thiclz-set
little man. with broad Kalmuclz face, sharp
and piercing black eyes, a fat nose, thick
lips, which allowed white and solid car
nivorous teeth to be seen, and a black beard
as curly and woolly as the sheep-skin cap he
wore.
cit is my principle" said he to Yegor,
''to draw from the people pay the largest
possible profit A man like you with
hammer in his hand can only be a bad work
man You should know better how to man
age a pen"
81 studied at the University of Kieff, said
Yegor.
eyes, yes, know. And I know also that
you would, perhaps, have become a distin-
guished engineer, if you had not taken it into
your head to NEEDLE with things that did
not concern you"
E'But, nevertheless"
Enough! am not a Judge I can do
only this for you: Give you easier work,
more in accordance with your tastes and apt
itude, and, at the same time, more advan-
tageous for ne. I wish 70 write a memoir
for the Gar, a memoir i'll which I shall do
my best to establish that if Siberia despite
the riches Of its soil and of its mines, is q
seat of dissolution and want, it is because
there is radical error in the system. ]
have need of an a5lo secretary to develop
my ideas, and you are my man. The cap
tain is notified of your departure. To-mor-
row, one of my coachmen will take you TO
Irkoutsk, where you will lodge in one OF my
houses"
Irkoutsk! OH how agreeably that name
sounded in Yegors ears! Was 1t not al
Irl1outsk that the inspector of the mines OF
Nertchinsk had told him Davidoff and his
daughter resided! What if he should re-