The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-03-12
Count Orloff's handsome face looked

Count Orloff's handsome face looked
pale and troubled.
search this man." he said, pointing
to Ivan, and then we shall see what
he knows"
Two officers stepped forward to
search Ivan, but before they could
touch him he advanced, and, throwing
OH MS olseu Sc, he said, with amazing
calmness:
II am the fugitive, Ivan Berger"
"Ivan Berger!" repeated the Count.
"Ivan Berger!" gasped DIR. Mulek
and Peter the student, who now re-
called the many times they had seen
this man without penetrating his dis
guise.
-rhat is my name, and I stand ready
to prove my innocence in this matter,
provided l have hearing before an
impartial tribunal" said Ivan, reso-
lutely.
Having recovered from their sur
prise, the police began to search Ivan,
but the only suspicious thing found in
his possession was a letter addressed
in o familiar hand to Colonel Michael
Orloff, of the Imperial Artillery"
! Count Orloff took possession of this
letter, and then ordered Ivan to be
taken to the Neva prison, for apart
from any connection with the assassin
alton of the Czar he was notorious
! fugitive with a price on his lead.
But Ivan did not 60 alone; while
the officers were preparing to guard
him to the dreaded prison, he was
joined by DR.. Mulek and Peter the
student, who were consigned by Count
Orloff to the same place.
As they walked off in the midst of
group of policemen, who had to
clear O way through the crowded
streets with their short swords, the
bells began to toll, this time solemn
and slow, and so the news went
through st. Petersburg that the Car
Alexander was dead.
Neither DR.. Mulek nor Peter tho
student pretended to see Ivan.
They imagined that it would be
fatal for them to recognize him, as he
was we'll known as desperate charac-
ter.
He saw through their motives with
that shrewdness that distinguished him
in everything.
what? DIR. Mulek and Peter the
student" he said, with affected jocu-
lar:ty, "do you refuse TO know your
old friend and fellow-Nihilist, Ivan
Bergcr?"
ave do not know you," gasped Mu-
lex
Never saw you before" murmured
Peter.
"Well, nv noble friends, if I cannot
prove that YOU had hand in to-day's
bloody work, then I shall cheer July
surrender my life to the executioner, I"
said Ivan.
The two friends exchanged fright
! ened glances that did not escape the
keen eyes of the officer in charge.
At length the prison was reached,
and here the three men answered the
customary questions, and were as
signed to cells in the gloomiest part O.
the prison.
By this time it was quite dark.
Still great swarms of prisoners were
| 1uUO Uuo 31hAAoiOoo
cells of tde immense prisons.
Ivan, when the turnkey hal van
ished, sat down on the damp stone
bench in the cell, and pressing his
throbbing temples between his UP
turned palms, he tried to control his
whirling thoughts.
Curiously enough, he gave lro thought
to the dangers that surrounded him
self and threatened his life and liberty.
His mother and sister then, with
the instinct of flial and fraternal af-
fection. filled his heart and mind.
Then by impulse and suggestion he
recalled Lola Pulaski.
She, like himself, was prisoner in
that building.
As he thought of her, he remem-
bered that she had been condemned to
Siberia, and he recalled that the order
consigning her to life of exile
awaited the signature of the Car.
But the Gar was dead!
As he realized the full force of his
thought, he leaped to his feet, and,
raising his clasped hands above his
head, he turned his face heavenward
in the darkness and cried out:
"Oh, thank God!"
He still stood there, when to his
eager ears there came the sound of
heavy footsteps echoing along the
stony floor OF the corridor.
He caught the murmur OF hoarse
voices; then the men outside stopped
bsfore his cell door.
A key was inserted in the rusty lock;
the creaking door swung open, and
Ivan saw before him the dim outline Of
two men, and the light was sufficient
for him to see that the one was the
turnkey and that the other was an Off
CO. in uniform.
"Ivan Berger" called out the officer,
approach, have come to take you be-
fore the Imperial Council"
CHAPTER XXyIY.
THE CURTAIN FALLS ON THE LAST ACE
The Car was dead!