St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-10-31
threshold Of Haxret (his majesty Int
ointment for my eyelids'

ointment tor my eye10A
1.-THE fellows looked moro puzzled
chan ever, but no one thought Of doubt
ing what I said; for. indeed, II could
never have entered into their heads that
any Russiaa could be riding through
their deserts with only two men ut his
back, unless lls had really some busi-
ness there.
$50 the leader of the band sa,uted
me very politely, and said that he laid
his forehead in the dust before the
messenger of the great czar,' with .
lot more rigmarole of the some sort:
and then the whole party turned and
rode back toward Samarcand, with mo
and nv Cossacks in the center.
I'VE slept at Djizak that night. just
where the desert ends and the MOun-
tain begins The governor pitched .
tent in the garden behind his house,
and entertained the messenger Of the
great car most sumptuously. Ny Cos
sacks-who, like true Russian soldiers.
felt quite safe 50 long as their com.
manding officer showed no sign of anx.
iety-atc two pounds Of pila6 "a mess
of rice and mutton) apiece. and then
fell asleep quite comfortably.
MY slumbers, however. were not 50
Quiet by any means. had heard
enough of the ameer to be sure that hc
wouldn't be easily taken in; and If he
found me out. it would be only being
tortured to death by inches, instead of
getting cut down at once.
..Once or twice thought of waking
up my Cossacks and making . run for
it; but every time l looked out OF the
tent, there were two or three Box
hariotes strollinG about with guns ON
their shoulders, and I soon saw that
there was nothing for it but tQIo right
through with it tothe end =.
I'VE started again little beferc sun
rise, and got to Samarcand about noon.
The view of the Tchepan-Ata hills,
standing out over the rush and foasninY
of the river, was very fine; but TO my
great disgust, as soon as we got to the
outskirts of the town. they blindfoIaed
me with q silken scarf, so missed seq
ing Just the very thing that I especially
wanted to see.
1--WE passed through several streets.
seemingly crowded, to judge by their
noise. Then / felt myself led up .
winding path and through . gate; and
then. all at once, the bandagc was
taken away from my eyes. and ! found
myself in . large paved court. in the
midst of which. on . pile Of cushions.
sat . short, fat, heavy looking old man.
with small, narrow black eyes.
The moment the Bokhariotes who
were with me came near him they all
fell upon their faces; and then guessed
that this old rogue must Be the ameer
himself
".What seek you here, Oorooss?'
asked the amcer, looking kecnly at nc.
$50 then I plucked up courage and
told him as steadily IS could (for the
unsheathcd swords all around were
rather unpleasantly suggestivc) that !
had brought him gifts from the car.
giving him At the same time my gold
watch and my revolver.
HE was quite delighted with the 10
volver, and must need fire II Oh at once.
nearly shooting some of his own at
tendants. But just as all seemed to be
going well, he shot . piercing glance
at me and said:
".Surely my brother. the car, would
not send such gifts without sending .
letter with them?" ->E -
'For . moment I felt cold an over.
for then it seemed . e We were fairly
caught at last; and knew what mercy
we might expcct from these rufiians Il
once the trick were found out
81 could seek my Cossaclks looking as
blank as did, but Just then . bright
thought struck me.
About q week before, my brother In
St Petersburg had sent me . p!aybill
of the Alexander theater. with the pro-
gramme of my favorite play Of Shakes
pearc.
Il drew il out of my pocketbook
with flourish, and said:
"'The king hath spoken wisdom.
and. 10! tho letter Of the car Of
Ooroosistan (Russia) Is before his sub
lime eyea'
"The smeer looked at it. like .
monkey at Greek inscription; but tho
huge double eagle. an6 tho big Alex
ander' (thc only word he could read)
quite satisfied him.
HE dismissed me with rich presents.
and gave me IN escort from his own
guard Is far as the frontier, where I
was mighty glad to find myself again. I
can tell you.
'.As for the precious playbill, It was
laid up with all honor in the archives OF
Bokhara, and when our fellows took
Samarcand. seven years later. they
must have been rather astoniShed to
find It there."-Da-id Ker. in Golden
Days i-t-