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

OF the gendarme reached him. Both pro.
fossed 20 BIO terribly shocked at hia arrest,
and both, il ia believed, were anxious fo'
his release. .Hut see," said Governor
Kotzebue, ''see thu ukasei there u nothing
to be changed, The imperial decree directs
severity. ! know not why; but you know
We are in Russian /
II was at length agreed that the governor
general should confer with the Count Dol
Gorouki, the father of the Countess Yolstoi,
as to the course to be Pursued. AZ a result
called ON DIR. Calkoen the following day,
| and, in the name Of the Do'gorouki family,
requested him to carry the solicitations to
Count S~trobanski, then OF the imperial
cabinet at st. Petersburg, and to ascertain
from him il it might be possible to obtain
en- imperial remittitur and secure for the
prisoner a trial before a high court OF JUS
tice. DR.. Calkoen promptly accepted the
mission. His love of the Count Tolstoi
was such that he would willingly have
taken any risk or undergone n labor
in his behalf. The utmost dispatch
being necessary, q special train was pro-
vided by General Dolgorouki for his
| direct CONVEYANCE to the capital, at an ex-
pense to the Dolgorouki family Of $500
roubles. The journey o three whole
days. stops having been made only at Mos
COW and Wlodimir. After the customary
ceremonies the faithful secretary was adj
mitted to an audience with the minister and
was courteously received. He related the
particulars Of the counts arrest; explained
his mission, and assured his excellency that,
as private secretary of the Count Tolstoi.
he had conducted the correspondence of
that nobleman for more than six years;
that having had the duty entrusted to him
Of opening and classifying all letters as
they were received from the mails, he was
acquainted with their contents and knew
that, in the period of his service, a treason
able line had never been received. dictated
or person.
Count Strobanski's reply was kind, but
for that reason the more dlScOuraClng.
What ground for hope when power CON
fesses itself powerlessp Personally, ] do
not know the count of Tolstoi," he said.
but were it in my power | should be glad
to aid him. But, see, the ukase! l can
not alter that. No one may alter that. !
will give you some advice, however. Go to
Tobolsk, in the neighborhood of which
place the count is a prisoner, and l will
give you a letter of introduction to the
count of Suracnow. governor of West 81
IBERIA. See what you can do for Tolstoi."
I~hereupon DIR. Calkoen forwarded a tele-
gram to General Dolgorouki asking for in
structions. The response came promptly:
Go; the charges have been prepaid to pro-
vide you with a special train" Immediate
~ vi TcCGlHt VI tAlS NlbpdbCA u nCOICUoly
began his long journey from st. Petersburg
to Tobolsk, q distance of three thousand
English miles. Allowing for a few brief
stops at long intervals the trip occupied
five days. 1t WAS performed toward the
close of the month of May. and when
Tobolsk. built on a crag two hundred feet
high, and surrounded by its Kreml or stone
wall, came into view, it was still winter in
that far northern latitude. The n lay
upon the ground and long icicles dropped
from the boughs of the trees:
On arriving Or. Calkoen repaired
at once to the palace of Count
Suracnow, to whom he presented the letter
he had received from Minister Strobanski
The count received hin with the utmost
kindness: He was a man advanced in
years, and of pleasant, even benignant
bearing. The doctor was surprised to find
SO humane a gentleman engaged in the ad-
ministration of a penal colony. After he
had explained his errand and given his
testimony as to his masters fidelity to the
emperor, Count Suracnow, who had heard
him attentively, said: II willingly believe
you. But what can I do? My instructions
admit of no deviation. II I do not follow
them I lose my place and another will come
and the situation of Tolstoi will not
change, save for the worse. Tolstoi has
lost all. Fortune. name and infiuence-all
are gone! Indeed, there is no longer a
Count Gregorieff Tolstoi. He who was