The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-02-01

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The penitent burst out laughing.
you want?"
They stood there trembling, astonished
ny those words. and profoundly chapfallen.
But Darine boldly advanced.
soy"
I'VE are your chiefs, your masters; it is
not for you to question us. We shall not
meet again soon. Remember us. Count
Lanln must be inviolnble. The president,
your supreme head, shall be informed of our
Lhe penitent gave a signal and the &c.
cret door opened.
90, now, and work for the cause. Our
OBJECT ls the same: the social regeneration
OF ltussia. 1t has been almost attained, do
n z again put it in jeopardy. The society at
hi iz has nothing to fear.'
speak:
.Go and If in the street you meet po-
licemen greet them co%urteously, for they
know whence you come"
me nlhllists hesitated.
Must you forever be threatenedY' cried
To Gomez pen't EN- "our pistols forced you
drive you out. Go on-out with YOU"
Inc penitents seized their pistols again..
ne nihlllsts rushed out at the open door,
Dello, Ioleno u Darine going out last.
On the threshold Darine turned back.
1 nnl neither traitor nor a coward said
ne. - am going s~traightway to inform the
occurred" "-' A"'
Inc chief of the penitents responded: "Do
30; II IS your duty. He ia your chief and
remains SO: You owe him obedience. If
my act OF his appears to Is to be prejudi-
means to prevent its execution, Go and do
not forget that you are watched, You i'm
aRlned that you were generals, remember
mat You are but soldiers"
with his outstretched finger he pointed
thenl TO the lecture hall. They crossed the
"Oh" said Darine to PoIeno. IF the
president had not had a tit he would have
come to our defense, unless he knows all
ABOUT 1T, which is still possible. Dakouss,
come with me. Goodbye, gentlemen; let
US part company"
apartment the chief of the penitents said to
the young man who had closed the door:
20 INTO the hall, Andrew, and keen a
Iookout. You are not to open the door till
you nave heard three knocks
tan nnare% lopesf oteyed. Tbs six peni-
tents. Wnen LETT alone, threw back their
cows and sat down. Four of the penitents
were sta! young men. Ivan Kolok was
ABOUT hfty years old; as for the chief
Sahib. ~ NA'oD no"e"ii-
One of these men said:
we agree to obey YOU. brt T ra,ea.
you that l think your action useless If r w
dangerous. You have revealed our exist.
ence TO fools who have Just evinced incrad-
lhie po~ltroonery and stupidity"
An! yon are afraid, too!'' responded the
napop; is fear, then, really contagious?
row, to dread? Your secret il not d;n,inod
but mine. You have been sent hither be,
cause of the distrust which Russia still in.
spires III Europe. l had forgotten this dis
trust, for am an inhabitant of Asia.
where the Russian name is feared from the
Arctlc sea TO the Indian ocean and the Per-
sian gulf. The European associations.
whose object is the same as mine. have 90,
!ecteu young adopts to represent them in
Russia. That will do, they said. for the
chief of a tribe of barbarians who dream of
an impossible revolution"
The penltent was about to object.
LET me finish: you nave almost accnsed
me. Let me justify myself. No, YOU ara
not one of the chiefs. and l shall prove il
to you. You, Meridal, are sent from
France. There the rev%olutionists are in
high hopes because your emperor is grow
ing old, and because the foundations Of the
empire, daily sapped, will sooner or later
crumble. The leaders in this movement
carry, on a correspondence with me, but |
You barely know their names and have
never met. them. You were sent BY a cen
trail committee, of which you are one of
the least influential members. Is this
true?" ~
The Frenchman replied with soma as
tonishment: ut is the exact truth"
III need not inform you, S~teinberR, of the
international organizations. You must be
acquainted with the mighty forces directing
it's action in Germany. Come here and read
this letter."
'Iha man 0H1rnucal lyv kI>o al
letter bearing the Berlin postmark.
Come here, Wilson, and you, Feritiani;
here are letters for you too. Ivan Kolok
will tell you that he is ready to obev ME.
These letters from France. Germany, Italy
and England prove that l am your superior,
What l have done is then all right.
might have dispensed with explanations.
but l do not require blind faith. Resume
your places and listen to me-"
The penltents sat Iowa and the nabob
spoke as follows:
inexperienced and fanatical socialists, but
back OF these is q force, intelligent and
powerful. 1t is l."
He cast an eagle glance around him.
"Ihe police do not know me-, will never
know me. l never come to the meetings.
but direct all; l am the thinker. the COM
mander. When | came to st. Petersburg
they had assumed the name Of the opposi-
ton. A few fools were walking up and
the boulevard d%eclaiming in an un-
dertone some of Hertzen's and Opareff's
verses. To-day these fools lave a mutual
Understandings; they are organized and dis
olplined and they are dangerous, too.
since am myself concealed behind
them. Now what 1 long 10 accom-
pllsh IA the dream of my life-and il ia
a dream destined to DO realized-wili
astonish you representatives of civilized
And l shall act alone, tor / want
no auxiliaries; l have none and will have
none. l have asked your presence because I
men. A single individual, however
strong he may be, rarely impresses them.
l had shut my purse and withdrawn INV
hand, the wretched, TREMBLING
creatures would have dispersed Tomorrow
for aims at all the corners of the
CITY and desiring the privilege of acting M
spies in all the Hobbies of the prefecture.
That was not what / wanted; they were to
be disciplined, s%ubiugated, terrified and
not driven away. They required Stheatri-
cal display, actors In medieval costumes. n
red table cover, candelabra. Men have oy-
ur been and will ever be easy to deceive"
Wilson, the grave Englishmun, inquired
Who, then, are your"
The nnbob responded:
"Society has been revolutionizsd; il in M
longer what it WAS. The world ia between
!ts cradle and its grave. Some mon regret
he former state Of things; others would