New-York tribune., 1890-04-13

| take your seats, please gentcmcn.' he said, and
! the mess dropped into the chairs. Only Dirko-
! witch seat next to little Mildrcds was blank and
llttc Mildred himself hal found Iira Singh place
me wldeeyed mcsssergcant filled the glasses III
ucad silence. Once more the colonel rose, puu
his hand shook, and the port spilled on the tapie
as he looked straight at the man in little Mldrch
chair and said hoarsely: Mr.. Vice, the Queen.
| There was a little pause but the man sprung 10
! his feet and answered without hesitation, The
Queen, God bless her." and, as he emptied the
fingers
T., Long and long ago, when the Empress ssoOd oi
India was a young woman, and 1here n
were no uncean ideals IN the ssssi a"n, d.
drink the Queens toast in broken glass, to the
huge delight of the mess contractors. Inc Gus
tom Is now dead because there is nothing 10 DreaK
| anything for, except now and again the woru Oh IL
Government, and that has been broken ALREADY
That settles it" said the colonel. with gasp;
He's not sergeant What in the world IS ne
The entire echoed the word, and the vol
ley of questions would have scared any man.
Small wonder that the ragged, filthy mvader
could only smile and shake his head.
From under the table, calm and smiling, rose
! Dirkovitch who had been reused from healthlni
slumber by feet upon his body BY the side OF
the man he rose, and the man shriekeu anu
grovcllcd. 1t was horrible sight coming 50
swiftly upon the pride and glory OF the TOAST
that had brought the sTrayed wits together. =.
Dirkovitch made no offer TO raise him, ou1 h;s s
| lie Mildred hcaved him up III an instant IL II
not good that a gentleman who can answer 10
the Queens toast should lie at the feet oi IA
| Subaltcrn of COSSacks. =,
| The hasiy action tore the wretchs upper clo'n,
| ing nearly 10 the waist, and his body was s'aheh
with dry black scars. There is Only one wcap?n ~;
in the world that cuts in parallel lines. and II II
neither the the cat. Dlrkovitch saw
| the marks and the pupils of his eyes dlatcu,
Also his face changed. He said something ,na'
sounded like Shto takctc, and the man lawn
| ing answered. Chetvrc.
"What's that" said everybody together.
His number. That is number four, you know
Dirlovitch spoke very thickly. +, ~;
WInfI hoe a
fed number?7 said the colonel. and there was an
unpleasant growl round the table, c.,,o
Oriental, wh sweet smI.s @scapc 'IT rnna, Is
way. from over thcr' He nodded toward the
darkness of the nighf
"Speak TO him if he'll answer Won. and SPEAK
10 him gently" said little Mildred. settling tnr
man in a chair. 1t seemed most improper 10 10 al
| present that Dirkovitch should sip brandy as
| he talked in purring. splitting Russian 70 the
creature who answered so fccbly and with such
evident dread But since Dirkovlt"h apFnaren
To understand no one said word They
| brcaihcd heavily. leaning forward. IN long gaps
II the conversation The next time that they
have no engagements on hand the White nus
sars intended 10 go to 81. Petersburg In body 10
! learn Russian.
lIc does not know how many years ago.
said DirkOvitch facing the mess, but he SAYS
II was very long ago IN a war thihk .InI
there was an accident. He says he was Of this
glorious and distinguished regiment in the war
The rolls, The rolls. IIolmcr gct the
rolls said little Mildred and the adJutant
dashed of bare headed 10 the orderly-rOon. Where
! the mlIscr-rolls of the regiment kept.
lie returned just in time 10 hear Dirkoyitch con-
! cludc, Therefore. my dear friends. am most
sorry 10 say there was an accident which wonld
/ have been rcplriblc If he had apoOglzcd 10 that
colonel. which he had nsultcd"
Then followed another growl which the colo
mel tried to beat down. The mess was in no
mood just then to weigh insults 10 Russian
colcncls
He does not remember, but think that there
was an accident, and 50 he was not exchanged
hut l. fiter
placc-hOw do You say tile country. 50. he
says, he came here. He does not know how he
came. Eli He was at Chcpany tho man
caught the word. nodded and shivercd-"ai at
Zhi-ansk and irkutsk. cannot understand
how he escaped. He says, too, that he was in the
forests for many years, hut how many years
! he has forsoticn-that with many tlin-s
1t was an accident, done because he did not
apologize 10 that our colonel An
Instead of cchoing Dirkovitchs sigh OF regret.
il is sad 10 record that the White lussars liycily
exhibited unchristian delight and other
fions. hardly restrained by their sense OF hos
pl;ality liolmcr flung the fraycd and yellow
rccimcntal. rolls on the table, and the men flung
themselves atop Of these
STEADY: Ilny nysiN-hfy-hyc-h -hny-four,'' said
I.immason Missing That before Scbisio-
pol. What an internal shame. Insultcd one Of
their coloncls; and was quietly shipped Of Thirty
years Of his life wiped ont
" But he never apolosilcd. said he'd sec him
ID first. chOruscd the mess.
Poor chap. suppo~, he never had the
|
said the colonel.
Tie dinsy heap in tie chair could give 10 an
swcr.
DO you know who YOU arep1
II laughed weakly
e. DO You know that you are Limmason-Licu-
tenant Lmmason Of the White ilusslis?'
Swiftly - Shot came the answer. I'm slightly
surprised tore. Yes. I'm Limmason. of coprsr.
The hight died ont in his eyes. aud he collapsed
affcsh, watching every motion Of Dirkoviich with
terror. y iight from Siberia may hN few eIr-
mcntarv facts IN the mind. buii ~ does not seem
10 lead 10 continuity ot thought. Ih" man
could hot explain how. like Il hOming pigeon. hc
had found his way 10 his own old mess again. Ol
what be- he'd suffered seen hc knew nothing
He crinecd before Dirkoyich as ins'inciiycly as
he bad pressed The spring of the candlcsiicN.
sought the picture of the drum-horsc, and an
swcicd 10 tie toast of the Queen. The rest was
"a blank that the dreaded Russian tongue could
only in part remove. His head bowed on lis
breast and be geglcd and covered alternately.
The devil that lived IN the brandy prompted
Drkovitch AT this extremely lnopportunc mo-
mcnt 10 make speech. He rose, swaNlhg
slightly, grppcd the table-edsc, while MS eyes
glowcd Ike opals. and bean.
Fellow soldiers elorcus-trnc friends and
hosptabcs II was an accident. and dcplorahc,
most dcplorablc7 Here hc smiled swcctly all
round the mess Bat YOU will think Of this
nttlc. little thing. 50 iittlc Is 1t not? The
Czarl Posh I slap my iingcrs-l snap my
fingers at him. Do believe In him 40 lu'
in Ms Slav who has done nothing, him ! believe
Scvcniv-how much-millions peoples that have
donc norhing-not one thing. Posh' Napoleon
was an episode He banged hand on the
table Hear you. old peoples, we have done
nothing in the world-oul here All our "ork
is 10 do: and it. shall hc done, old peoples. "c,
away He waved his hand impcrionsly, ana
pointed to the man. You see him He is MOI mon
rood to see He has Just one liftl"-oii so ht'ir
accident that no one rcincnbercd. Now he Is
That So will you be. brother soldiers 50 brave
Ga viii Won bc But you Will never come back:
You Will all 20 where hc is gone, - - pointer
ia ,hc great coffin shadow on the Gcllng, ana
muttcrinQ, Seventy millions-get away, yon old
peoples fell asleep. ,.., ,,,,.-,
Sweet and 10 the point. saId luc M'ldirn.
What's the use Of Getting wroth Leu ""ht
this poor devil comfortable. ,
But that was matter slln'hN ms ", |
swiftly taken from thc y"Ving nnt nnnms
of tLc White IIussars. The lieutenant
had returned only 10 go away again ,hiec "..ls
later. when the wall Of the Dead March ;n ana ;nc
tramp Of the squadrons 'old lne ',o wnn''h ,hat |
Station who saw no gap IN the m'~s-lan'' 'n''
an officer Of the regiment had resigned his new