, 1890-08-02
THE STOLEN PASSPORTS.

was just settling down for a quiet
evening by the stove when an orderly
threw the door open and rushed into the
room.
Capt. Sasha, a Dispatch" he cried,
handing me one of those little official
blue envelopes which / knew so well.
l tore it open and read the co~ntents:
To Capt Sasha, Commander OF Frontier Station
on the vistula-
Detain Ivan Brosky and Vladimir Pogram. They
win reach you shortly. GKS. JonkA
"a bad night for travellers to be on
the road, " l could not help thinking, for
the rain was falling in torrents.
1 was commander of the Russian FROM
tier station at Dana, which lies on the
great high road between Russia and the
Austrian city of Cracow, and only a half
mile distant was the river Vistula, which
divides the dominions IF the Emperor
Francis Joseph and the dominions of the
car.
1t was my duty to examine the pass
ports of all travellers coming either way,
and to sorutinize their luggage, to see
that no Russian products were struggled
into Austria, or vice versa.
For the last few days there had been
little to do. Warm weather-unusual at
this time of year-had set in, and the
roads were in bad condition for travel
ing.
The dispatch l had just received had
been brought on horseback from the
nearest telegraph station, nearly five
miles distant, and from the signature at
the bottom l knew it must be n matter
of some importance, for Gen. Jorka was
the minister Of police and his very name
a terror TO evil doors.
l instructed my men to watch the
roads with extra care.
The evening wore on slowly and at
midnight no one had arrived. / came to
the conclusion that the expected travel.
ers had either been apprehended before
they reached the frontier or had post
poned their journey on account of the
bad weather, so l determined to go to
bed and enjoy a good nights rest.
The wind and rain kept me awake a
long while, and just as l was about
dropping off INTO slumber the sound OF
sleigh bells woke me up again, and in a
moment or two a sharp tap at the door
summoned me down stairs. | dressed
and went down.
Two travellers were waiting to see me,
two big, powerful fellows, wrapped up
in furs and greatcoats, which they kept
closely b%uttoned, for the fire had gone
out. l judged at nee that these were
the men | wanted, for though their
clothes and furs gave evidence of wealth
and refinement their faces hardly seemed
TO accord.
But a surprise was in store for me.
When they handed over their passports
l found, to my CONSERVATION. that they
bore the names of Alexis Zamose and
Sergius Melikoff, and were properly
stamped and signed.
To hide my confusion | made some in
quiries, and they very frankly informed
me that they were merchants of st. Pc
tersburg, who were going to Cracow on
business.
Had they met any person on the
road?' ! inquired.
YES" said the smooth faced man,
"they had passed two men early in the
evening, but their horses seemed to be
lame, and they were moving very slow
ly."
l hesitated a moment. and then or
dered an examination to be made of
their baggage proceeding to which
they offered no objection. Everything
in their v~alises, however, was all right,
and their linen and toilet cases were
stamped with their initials.
1 felt that | had no authority to detain
them, and yet l hated to see them go,
for ! had a presentiment that all was
- -sul4 tt. III -. ...-..s.z a.
mar with the beard was nervous and
agitated, a fact which he did his utmost
10 conceal.
/ knew too well, however, what would
be the result of a blunder committed
through excess of authority, so l deter
mined to be on the safe side; and after a
delay, which / stretched out as far as
possible, | told them they were free to
proceed.
l escorted them to the door, where a
low, one seated sleigh awaited them,
drawn by a pair of horses which l saw
at a glance had been hard driven.
At the last moment | had half made
up my mind to detain them, but with a
hasty salute they stepped into the sleigh
and drove rapidly eastward, wheredawn
was already dappling the sky.
There was no use in going back to
bed, so ! went in and stirred up the fire
and sat down to smoke a cigar and whit
for daylight.
Now that it was too late 1 feit sorry j
had let the men 60, for the more
thought over it the more certain l felt
that there was something wrong about
them, 1t had stopped raining and be
gun to blow up cold, and l saw that it
would probably be a busy day.
had already finished breakfast whar