San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-08


Yesl Well, was born on the Place de la
Bastille, opposite the column. vive la lib
erte! don't conceal my sentimentsp'
The gendarme, who had brought the exile,
returned and informed the young man that
the inspector was waiting for him.
Shake again, said the dancing master
"Keep up your couragem added he, in a
whisper, grasping the young mans hand.
The latter departed murmuring to him
self;
"If he were friendw
The inspector, small, clean-shaved man.
with an angular profile and impenetrable
eyes, ordered the exile to strip himself to
the belt and, description in hand, verified
his identity. ,...
A medallion hung upon the young mans
breast. He blushed and quickly covered it
with his hand, as If to prevent anyone from
touching or defiling it. ..,
The action was Uninterrupted by the in
spector.
"Allow mew said he.
"Oh" cried the exile, ~ suppose that
there is nothing dangerous to the safety of
the state in the portrait Of young girl
especially that of martyr-the daughter of
the poet Davidoff, an exile like myself,
whom she has followed into Punishment"
II knew Davidoff and his daughter"
said the inspector. HE worked in this
minev"
"And sincel" said the young man, eagerly.
SIN pity"
"His lot has been ameliorated. He = at
present living in Irkoutsk."
After these words the inspector entered
the name of the convict on the register op-
poste the number 1857; than, he ordered
him to be taken to the mine
In few instantS the exile was handed
over to corporal of the guards.
"Yermac," said the keeper, ''here is
man to help fill up the void in your squad Of
miners"
Three of my men died this week." OBJ
served the corporal, as he drew notebook
from his pocket and prepared to write. He
looked at the young man.
"Yegor Semenoff," said the latter think
ing that the corporal was waiting for his
name. "Shall write it myselfan added he.
"Oh! l know how to write ~ said the cor.
poral, with a faint smile. "But need only
a cipher Numberp' '-.'
Number 1861" answered the keeper
''The inspector directs that he shall lodge in
the fifteenth yourte where there are already
two convictS."
While the keeper was speaking Yegor
Semenoff studied the countenance Of the
man, armed with leather whip, under
whose control he was placed He found
him possessed of a grave air and bronzed
but regular features. He seemed to breathe
honesty. There was nothing of the convict
nrl ,,,h ;. ,;nl, how. hat
Of Judge incapable of shrinking from his
duty.
''To work !" cried Corporal Yermac, strik-
ing the air with his lash "Therer' added
he, pointing to spot where a number of
miners We're drawing from the earth
basket of ore. 81 am behind you p cried he.
The miners, covered with tattered sheep
skins, filthy and barefooted, stared gloomily
at the companion who had come to them
warmly clad and wearing huge seadog leath-
er boots bought at Nertchinsk, where the
exile had been able, thanks to the money
with which he was furnished, to make some
useful purchases.
One of them, going before, showed him
the road to take. -.
1t was ladder more than twelve hundred
|, feet long Yegor began to descend, fol-
| lowed by the squad and the corporal. Some
smoky lamps, placed in cavities of the wall,
served only to show the thickness of the
gloom. Hating places Observation-Disclosures
at rare intervals.
Yegor heard at the bottom Of the shaft
| the metallic sound of the hammer blows
| upon the rock.
The sharp noise the thick darkness; and
the sad and ragged groups, which, when
suddenly lighted up, threw out huge shad-
| ows, together with the air loaded with de-
| leterious dust, made a strange impression
upon the young man, who, nevertheless, was
accustomed to the mOurnful episodes of the
prison and exile.
Nearer, it was, if possible, still more
frightful; the majority of these men, with
great boards, long, shaggy locks, swarthy
| compleXions scaly skins and sinister looks,
bore upon their fOrcheads and cheeks the
infamous brand Won. They were assassins,
robbers, and fOrgers, and could be recognized
by the squares of cloth sewed on the backs
of their garments A red square for the
murderers, a black square for the robbers
and yellow square for the incendiaries.
The others, belonging to the category OF
political cOnvicts, displayed wan visages
anu lean DOuleS uuuerunuCu ny lCHSlo anu
gnawed by the dust of the ore, which sends
forth arsenic if it is tin and verdigris if it is
copper.
They might be called walking horses.
Some were green, with bald pates as white
as chalk. Their half-blind eyes let their
lids droop as if for the sleep of death.
They arose and disappeared suddenly
behind rock, or plunged like ghosts into