The southern argus., 1891-11-12
A NARROW ESCAPE.
the RusslaRs Were Outwitted by
George Kcnnans


~ the second day after our arrival
l, Krasnoyarsk we narrowly escaped
Il nsfting into what might have been
or;ons trouble as the result of an un-
axnected perquisition in the house Of
III acquaintance with whom Shamarin
and Peterson were staying. This &C
snaintance. it seemed. was under sus-
q1;c;on. and late in the evening. during
Pthe absence Of the two young men
trop M their quarters, the police sud
danlv appeared with orders to make q
up,sa-search. uon The search was duly
"da no but nothing Of suspicious ma
Ina Iro was found except the two locked
.nra III Shamarin and Peterson. In
tl~ ,Iv u ! question as to what was id
l9Pra Hill, the proprietor bf the house said
Hill ha4' Ii did not know; that they were
t,la' .n nronerty ID Of two Of his acduaint7
suu oa. Il who lad stopped for few days
altb Hill bim On their way from Irkutsk to
J. i'' petersburg. Upon being asked
2horo III these acquaintances were. he re-
,EIiad tbat he did not know. that they
i,snally went out after dinner and re-
+nrned between eleven and twelve
o'cIock. After "a brief consultation
IN polce officers decided that as they
bad 40 orders to search the personal
BAGGAGE Of the house-owner's guests
thev would not force the locks Of the
trunks, but would merely cord and seal
them SO that the contents could not be
tampered with and leave them until
mOrnlng.
When Shamarin and Peterson re.
mrned to their quarters about mid
riobt they foand their trunks corded
brd sealed 50 that they could not be
nncned. III one of them were many
qtters from political exiles and com
ricts Ill Eastern Siberia to friends and
rs,otiyes in European Russia-letters
describing my Investigations and the
rotnre Of the material that | was col
loctng and asking the friends and re-
Ia,iyes ID European Russia to co-ope-
rye With me-and 4 photograph Of my
s4,f that had given to Shamarin with
.6pdjcatiou OF inscription on the back
,b,t would reveal 10 any intelligent
noljce onccr the intimate nature Of
nv relations with political convictss
WMt WIZ N be dUnep TO break q
n,IIce spal under such circumstances
Road bea penal otfcnse. and would
probabIy lead to imprisonment and an
Investigation. 10 leave the letters
aHd photograph in the trunk would be
10 Insure their discovery and conhsca-
ton Oh the following morning, and
that might create very embarrassing
situation for me. rs we'll as for the
authors Of The letters and their friends.
The two young men finally concluded
to make an attempt to get the trunk
open without removing the cords OF
breaking the seals. and as the letters
aba photograph We're near the bottom.
aud as the lid could not be raised even
il The trunk were unlocked. they de-
cded 10 take out part of the bottom
and afterward replace il. BY work
ing All the rest Of the night they suc
ceeded in getting out one Of the bot
tom boards. obtained the dangerous
suerS and the photograph. put the
board back without disturbing any oi
The seals, and when the police came in
the morning stood by with unruttieo
serenity and saw The trunks searched
Of course nothing more dangerous
than hair-bruSh. and nothing more
discriminating than \ hotel bill. coulo
be found. - George Kennd'a, lR the Cen
flirn