The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1890-10-23
THE EXILES.
A RUSSIAN STORY.
CHAPTER III.-IRKoUTsK

solid luxury of their Sombre foliage, Wnlcn
no red or golden fruit relieved. In Siberia.
the trees produce nothing, not because heat
is wanting but because of the extreme rlgor
Of the frosts, which damages the roots and
destroys the action of the sap.-The cloud
less sky had the limpidity of a lake of azure,
and huge focks of wild geese sailed through
it like white fotillas.
In the midst of the sad and monotonous
plain, the road, scarcely marked by the
,Yheels of the vehicles, rolled away as far
as the eye could reach, animated only by the
rapid passage of troika drawn by three
draught horses, with grayish white hair,
belonging to that small and strong Siberian
race similar to that Of Corsica.
The troika went the faster as it carried
but single traveller, whose light baggage
consisted of leather valise.
This traveller was Yegor Semenof.
Since he had breathed anew the free air,
since he had again found sunlight and verd-
ure, resurrection had taken place in him.
He no longer bent and his eyes had recover
ed their brightness. With glance lost in
the vague whiteness of the horizon, he
thought of the past and was not frightened
by the future.
The remembrances of his childhood now
thronged about him, like joyous and
laughing cortege amid the sad and silent
solitude.
He was no longer in Siberia, in exile, but
in that old manor where he was born and
which he never should have quilted. He
ran with his sister beneath the trees of
beautiful park, and on horseback secured
the open country with her Oh! the happy
years. With what tenderness he remem-
bered theml What balls, what fetHs He
again saw the parlors brilliantly Illuminated,
the stairways full of servants, and the ter
races encountered with the long trains OF
the ladies, who had gathered from all the
lordly residences of the neighborhood.
One day, they danced longer than usual.
Yegor's sister had just married a captain OF
the merchant marine of Riga; the wedding
had been celebrated at the dwelling of the
SemenOffs,
On the morrow, when his sister departed,
Yegor ran into the wood and wept. Six
months afterwards he, in his turn, quilted
the paternal roof to become student at the
University of Kieff.
There he found second family in that OF
the poet Davidoff, professor of Slavonic lit
erature at the university, and a second sis
ter in the charming Nadege, the only daugh'
ter of the writer.
His dreamy thoughts, rocked by the pace
of the horses, carried him back to that bless
ed family, to their hOspitable dwelling.
where the youth of the university received
such kindly welcome. Each evening, re
unions took place, at which some literary
question was discussed, some one read
verses, or a musician improvised Il morceaU
or played airs from an unpublished opera
Nadege served the tea; then, IN her turn
she seated herself at the piano and sang
one of those popular Russian songs, with
words and rhythm SO melancholy and so
sweet.
One Sunday, this lively and pleasant
house suddenly found itself empty and de
serted. Those who came, according to Gus
tom, were informed that M. Davidoff had
departed on a long journey. The truth was
that the police, rendered uneasy by these
reunions, had become alarmed at them, and
that the aged poet, suspected of belonging
to the advanced liberal party, had been ar
rested between two and three o'clock in the
morning and sent to Siberia by simple adj
ministrative measure. In consideration OF
his years, they had permitted his daughter
whom he adored and separation from whom
would have killed him, to accompany him ir
his exile.
This dolorous event filled Yegor with I'm
gpealzable grief.
The reunions of the poets friends, how
ever, were not interrupted; Yegor offered
to hold them at his house. Three years af.
forwards he was arrested in his turn, and
without trial, without sentence was sent
like Davidoff, to Siberia.
These last remembranceS recalled to him
all his sufferings since the night he had
been torn from his bed, thrown into 9 dun.
geon and afterwards dragged, for nearly
three months, with irons on his legs, in a
Rbitka, over the long and cruel road OF
exile!
At last, his lot had received sudden an0
unhoped-for amelioration. 1t was almost
liberty that had been given to him by the
grantee of the mines, M. Nadeief.
eff I should find,'' murmured Yegor:
"Davidoff and his daughter alive-really re.
siding at Irkoutsk! Alas perhaps they
have died from bad treatment, fatigue and
privation!"
This thought froze his heart-he had such
an ardent desire to see his old friends again
He would so like to devote himself to them,
make their life easier, and bestow upon them
words of consolation and hope.
He adroitly questioned the coachman:
Have you ever heard tell, at Irkoutsk.
of an exile by the name Of Davidoff?" asked
he.
'fn the first place, don't know any YER
max (exile) either there or elsewhere an
swered the coachman, who probably wished
to say nothing.
The third day, after two nights passed in
the troika where he had scarcely been able
to sleep, Yegor perceived, lighted up by the
rays of the setting sun, the tall belfrys, the
round cupolss, the white minarets and the
greenish domes Of Irkoutsk He coulo not
keep back an exclamation of Joy.
Situated upon one of the high banks OF
the Angara, the waters of which sparkled
with thousand spangles, and impregnated
with the dazzling light of sunset, which
gave it background of Byzantine gold,
the capital of eastern Siberia appeared to
the exile with the marvellous destinations Of
the mirage.
His delighted eyes followed the long line
of embattled walls which defend the city;
they were arrested by the tall crosses Oh