The morning call., 1890-06-01


Popof bent over his papers and gave himself
The air OF being very busy. The door opened
aud the two officers entered.
"Popof, jump iDGO my sleigh, drive to the
prison, get them 10 give yOu list OF all Tue
prisoners and bring il 10 me St once twill not
take much Of your time and you VIII have
chance of drawing breath Of fresh air."
Popod bowed. but could not rejoice, so great
was his fear for Helen. He demonstrated mo-
nent but IN vain; he had TO leave her.
The fool thinks | show him so much cousid-
Grafton from sheer goodness Of heart said Pal
Kin TO the Captain of geudarmss. Listen TO
me. l can speak openly to you, for you are an
excellent oihcer and know thSt ne VINO wants
pr0mOtiOn.must be supported by influential per
sous in high Offices SO far have asked nothing
OF you, bull now | shall want you. Are you ready
to comply with my wlshes?"
Most assuredly; l know what influence you
teetor. Order aud obey"
'CCEur Labin must be arrested before sunday;
! give you three days time TO do that !"
The Captain hesliated.
Colonel, "he said, II should be glad o do that,
for can bear that fool as little as typhus or
cholera but the Governor fdyorS nim greatly"
You are mistaken !, That was so yesterday
that is not so to-day. He can no longer protect
him. promise YOU nobody Will hencefofth have
anything 10 do with that man. L promise you.
besides, to assume the whole responsibility.
We love and we hate people here not as We IKE
but as we are ordered from Petersburg. rely
upon II; you must arrest the Count You can
easily ind pretext. He is hardly ever at home;
you need only appear Unexpectedly IN hrowa;
the law on your side !"
The Captains eyes blazed at once.
al shall 60 there from here. The matter is set
tied :"
"Welli And once in jail, you have the house
watched and let no one enter. Have Il few men
on hand, moreover, In case should need them."
Every well, Colonel ~
II rely on you, and now you can 60, but come
tomorrow and report !"
The gendarme left. and the Colonel walked up
and down In the room, medltatlng on the blacklist
plans. Like all men who pursue their thoughts
enerRetlcally, be spoke TO himself aloud:
al must get that paper from Popof by cunning
or by force, II l should have TO kill him Schem
can no longer be dangerous TO me; he will have
reason TO fear me. We shall both of us make a
brilliant career. do not hate him. only want
to prevent him from iuiurng NE. Let him take
Lanin. What do care? He was useful to me
as weapon so far. II l find better weapon,
what dol care for him? III give Schelm the
husband; he'll give me tie wife as my reward,
and all is We'll"
Palkin, having just returned from the Cover
nor was sim IN fun uniform He went into his
chamber to relieve himself OF his sword and
heavy boots. No sooner had he disappeared
than Helen's pale lace Ueeped from behind tie
linen curtain. She looked around and, seeing
nobody. she slowly opened the door TO the salon.
Here, also nobody. She mad come to see her be-
trOthed often enough TO know the house. She
slipped down the stairs to Popof's room. Alas,
It was empty
Not ten minutes had elapsed since Lanin and
Dr. Haas had left Jana when Helen rushed in,
pale with excitement, 10 tell her all she had
heard.
81 hardly know how I escaped" said
Helen Il waited a whole hour for Mich
olas, but he did not return. l asked one
OF tie gendarmes, who generally are very
kind TO me, 10 call the Secretary out. All
here you are, you nice little damselr lie shouted
at me. Clear out from here, and never show
yourself again In this housed We have all OF us
gotten such scoldng on your account! Here
comes your betrOtlied, and quite unnecessarily
tells the Colonel that you have been here. Is
that the way you reward our goodnessT And
thus he talked on. I'LL be shut tile door aud babe
me 90 instantly! Oh, Countess, save the Count;
for Gods sake, save Nicholas!'
Jana was terrified, but not specially surprised.
Since that scene Ia the coach she nad never again
fully trusted PalkIn In spite OF all his assurances
OF boundiess devotion. She had. however. kept
silence, hoping thus To keep him from injuring
her or her husband hereafter. NOW she quietly
rose and said 10 Helen:
al shall at once go 10 the Governor. So just a
man Will surely not deny us his support DO
you, IL the meantime, 90 into town; you Will
surely meet my husband aud DR.. Haas. Tell
them all, and beg them at once to come here.
You Will easily find the doctor, because every
body likes ana honors him for The good he has
already done"
Helen could not recover; she was sill trem-
bling all over with excitement and fear. Jana
tired 10 calm and encourage her, aud did not
leave her Till she had at least partially sue
ceeded. Then both these good and noble women
lett the house.
Irkutsk has, like most large Russian cities, a
main street which consists OF splendid. symmet-
really built palaces. From this street smaller
ones DItICu OH Win poor IVB houses. ana lnen
follow mudhoies aud so-ealled suburbs, Every
great town, however, has at least one square
built after Euro: can models.
The main sheet OF lrGnlsk crossed the street
In which Jana lived, and witch at the corner
especially loo ed very much like tie main street.
Seven superb mansions rose on both sides They
were OF massive structure, had several stories,
and possessed real architectural merits. AT the
house OF tile Countess tile symmetry ceased.
After ii followed only poor, smoke blact ened
huls, and the end OF the street encountered MI
utterly uninhabilsd.
The house which Immediately adjoined Janas
dwelling, although looking very insignificant
and even poverty strlken. was In reality not so
badly arranged. IL was a One-story log house.
surrounded by small garden. Here lived the
Captain OF geudarmes. Jana did not know this.
Her servants were all aware of The TACT but
they ala not know Of tie ill-ieeli0g that existt d
between the TWO families.
Helen, when she left Jana's house. look ed
all around 10 see II she could perceive any trace
OF The Count OF OF Dr.. Haas. She saw in the
door OF The Captains house woman standing
who was Idly gazing at the passeIs by. Helen
approached her aud asked: