San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-30
THE EXILES.
RUSSIAN STORY.

och IL lEOltu uldSSco SURFING UuTtdJtuluS-
ly against its sides as if they wished to re
tain it a prisoner. The harsh roar of the
waves sounded like a protest against the es.
cape Of thef ugitives from the rough grasp
of Muscovite~ despotism.
Captain Andreyeff had decided to shape
his course towards California and land
Yegor. Nadege, Ladislas and M. Lafleur in
San Francisco. Once in free America, il
was the design Of the exiles and the dancing
master to cross the continent by rail to New
York and there take passage to France in .
French teanier
The voyage down the Pacific Ocean was
unmarked by any incident Of importance.
and one morning the Francis-Joseph anchor
ed in San Francisco Bay. After all due
formalities had been complied with, the fug.
itives, accompanied by Captain Andreyeh,
landed in the Queen City Of the Far West,
the American commercial metropolis Of the
Pacific coast.
The captain had furnished his passengers
with suitable attire, and the whole party had
quite a presentable appearance. Yegor,
Nadege, Ladislas and NJ. Lafeur did not
look the least in the world like refugees
from the ice fields Of the boreal pole.
Yegor, who spoke English with tolerabls
fuency, acted as spokesman and interpreter.
He explained as best he could to his com.
p~anions, as they went along, the wonders Of
the strange city in which they found them.
selves.
Captain Andreyeff took leave Of them at
the railroad depot, promising to visit them
in France as soon as he could return his
vessel to its owners in Trieste. The fare
we'll was affecting in the extreme. Nadege
and Ladislas wept outright; Yegor and M.
Lafleur silently wrung the captains hand,
and tears stood in their eyes, too. AS to
Wab, the intelligent animal, which had &C
companied it's master on board the Francis
Joseph and been his companion during the
voyage, licked the tips of Boris fingers as
if in token Of adieu.
Once rafting over the Pacific railroad, the
| enthusiastic M. Lafieur could no longer con-
tain himself.
"Vive la liberte |" he almost shouted sew
eral times; he was with difficulty prevented
from producing his pocket violin and tri-
umphantly playing the Marseilles Hymn be-
fore all the American passengers.
do be calm, Monsieur Lafeur!" said
Nadege, at last, a trifle impatiently.
''Impossiblel" cried the excited French
man. 1.-THE atmosphere of the United
| States is so full of Freedom that it intoxi-
Gates met"
New York was reached in due time, and,
after a few days rest at a quiet hotel, the
| party sailed for France.
Joyous chimes were pealing in the town
Of Chateau-Thierry, and the streets Of La
Fontaine's birthplace were alive with merry
throngs. The peasants were chatting to-
gether with charming French vivacity; the
gentle folks watched the progress Of the
fete with evident relish. Garlands of white
roses hung everywhere, and some munif.
cent land had provided a repast in the
public square to which everybody had free
access.
What was the cause of the joyous chimes
and this festivitya Whose was the hand
that had spread the f~east2,
Two peasant girls were talking earnestly
at a street corner.
"What did you say the brides name was,
MarieG" asked one of them.
II can't pronouce it," replied the other.
but it sounds heathenish and they say she
is a Russian escaped from Siberia"
And the bridegroom, Marie-what is his
namel"
"Worse than the otherl 1 could never
master it if 1 tried all my life!"
SIS he a Russian, tool"
"Oh, yesl And Pauline told me last night
that he was exiled to Siberia for trying to
murder the Carl He looks as if he could
murder anybody"
Goodness gracious! But hush, Marie,
they are coming from the church-the civil
marriage was performed at the mayors Of
flee yesterday, was it notl"
Eyes, Berthe-but will you never stop
talking9"
The two peasant girls relapsed into sill
ence; at that moment, emerging from the
church, the bridal procession advanced up
the street.
Nadege and Yegor came first. Nadege,
in a white satin dress and with a wreath of
orange blossoms browning her 1axen hair,
was the very incarnation of beauty; Yegor,
clad in the usual attire of a bridegroom, had
quite a Partisan look.
M. Laieur followed, holding little Lads
las by the hand
Then came a host of the dancing-master's
relatives.
The procession was greeted with loud and
joyous shouts from the men, while the wo-
men and girls waved their handkerchiefs
and scattered flowers along its path.
At last, a small but very picturesque cot
tage was reached. 1t was NJ. Laf1eur's
property. Every door in it was open, and
every window admitted the fragrant sum-
mer ar which seemed anxious to kiss the
cheek of the fair bride as she stood in her