The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-03-27
oa,d pardon my poor hrosher. replied -

vsald psrdon my poor brother. " replied De
Pole.
aPardcn your poor brother said Count
ArdIod. With . bitter snesr: II VIII snow
you how l pardon Draw your sword and
IeAd the way. and fake care you don yak
too fnsk
Afssr ons deep, questioning look, which
told him that the Russian meant % -
ohsyed. he broke his sword across his knes
and sid, - he hurried tbs pieces scoFnfualy
aside:
DO With me - - Win, bot vim not
serve . country in hhitsd By barearsans
and governed By fenda
Even the Ccssscks exchanged giAnces q
sympathy, and had they known the whole
truth, It Il not improbable thai they might
have revolted sufhce to say. that for .
moment Nine. ArdsoH feared for her hus-
band's safety. Bat bis fierce brutality
dominated his soldiers, and the elder Vanca
was manacied and . heavy guard placed
over him
The scene that then presented Itself vas
this: Two files Of soldiers. Count Ardion
commanding. stern and implacahle; one
brother half-naked and bleeding. the other
in irons; . pale woman with agony written
In her face. wrapped mp In fars. and pair
Of horses munching In their nose-bags, IN :
conscious OF aught else
The officer took another step back: the
seven thongs whistied In the air, and again
tore into red burrows the iacerated flesh
As vanca staggered forward. bis face con-
vulsed with pain. his eyes fixed on Nine.
AYdIoff, and they asked. with . terrible elo-
quence, 'Oh. why did you befray mes"
Her hands we're clasped. and In her emo
ton, having lost ali power OF utterance, she
strove to send forth her soul 10 tell him of
how innocent she was. Then another
blow fell. and the blood squirted hor-
ribiy. and the flesh hung ragged 1t
was sickening, and from sheer horror and
nausea Nine. Ardloff tainted. But it was
her husbands intention that she should
witness. to the end, the revenge be had so
carefully prepared. and diving his hand
into the pocket of her mantle he produced
the bottle of sci volatile With this he
quickly restored her to consciousness, and
then she heard him saying:
Awake, awake, for / wish you 70 see
how punish those who Insult me-"
Vanca had now received nine strokes.
He was but raw mass of quivering flesh.
Helpless and family, like one in q night
mare, Nine. Ardioif strove to speak, until
at last the words long denied her rose to
her lips. but they came too late, and, mad
with pain. the tortured man. with . whirl-
ing. staggering motion, precipitated him.
self onto the drawn sword, and fell to the
ground q corpse.
This was unexpected. There we're hur-
ried words. and trampling OF feet, and .
deep silence, but Nine. Ardiof remembered
little. The imprscations the elder brother
hurled after her as she was driven away
sounded dim and indistinct in her ears
during the long days of delirium which fol-
lowed this double tragedy, for on arriving
home, she saw her husband make out the
order for vanca's transportation to the
mercury mines.
She pleaded and prayed wildly, but the
count only smiled grimly in reply to her
hysterical applications. 1t seemed TO her
that the heaven should fall TO crush, that
the earth should open to receive, so In
human q monster She raised her hands,
she screamed madly. her thoughts danced
before her. faded. and then there was .
blank; and during several weeks, for her,
Time stood STILL
Slowly her senses returned To her:
slowly-through dim mist, through q
heavy torpor. that held her poweriess and
inert-they returned to her. and with them
came the CHASTITY remembrance of a terrible
crime. The subject was never alluded to.
The affair was hushed up; but time could
neither blot nor tear this cruel page out of
Mime. Ardioffss life.
Her only consolation was the gertrude
that no pain was in store for her greater
than she experience, when. years after, in a
ballroom at 81. Petersburg. Count vanca.
an old man with long white hair. and .
iife's sorrow on his face, said to her:
Madame, hope your children are very
we'll ~