Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-11-17


posed to make. But 3. esasked NIT for .asS'
Ss,c was proud, and Either sufferiiyaS q
persecution could breAk her pride. A6
tfeless she suffered anruish and greaS k&
tless when she found herself semf,GI
from Ivan Alexieff upon whom sha3 Rad
relied to carry out her purpase.
She did not love him; she coul never
love him; but she believed that he truly
loved her ard the wrongs she had suffered
hsd prompted her to use him. Her love
hsd been given to Moshka. and though
sire had not the faintest shadow ota hone
acain. she had resolved to be true to him.
1t may seem somewhat singular that in
cenceivin her project OF journeying to
Siberia it was no thong of Moshka that
psompted her. She regarded him as one
d,ead. and she had resigned herself to her
fate. But she viewed the position of her
fEther from different standpoint.
Flial duty is ever very strong in q
Jewess, and Rachel Arnma was one of
the most attached, most devouted,
most affectionAte of daughters. And
when she remembered how her fa' her had
been broken and ruined. and treated worse
:han the deepest stained criminal, her very
sat still with folded arms, aud have held
her peace a. she thought ofthe malic-
iuuS persecution her father and she had
suffered tthe hands of Peter Alexleff, and
how with fierce and unrelenting cruelty
feter had pursu d her father to his ruin,
vas an i,mpossibility. All her gentle wom-
anhood was transformed as she dwelt upon
4. Her sweetness was turn, to gall. and
ste had changed to hard, Stern woman,
.hirsting for the downfall of her persecu-
tor.
10 the chief of the police at Perm she
made an eloquent appeal on the behalf of
Aer travcllin !, companion. But this man.
like all his class throughout Russia, with .
few except ns. was brutal aud unsympa-
thetic. The constant and almost daily suf-
sering and misery he witnessed AS the exile
/ parties passed through the city on their
way to their destination had hardened him,
and he was utterly without any pity Tor
the wretched convic,s.
Indeed, 1t may be said that the clanking
chains, the Eroans OF suffering men. the
signs OF anguisb-wrung women, and the
atfrighted cries of young children were
music to his ears. At any rate they did
not affect him. and in common with his
ed notion his own importance. He was
all official, chief Of tho police and he
wore the Cars uniform. therefore no con-
sidered that everyone who was not o equal
rank with him should show him homage
and pay him Difference; while as tor the
eonyicts with whom he came in contact,
they should do no thing less than bow
down and worship him. Let it not be sup
posed he was sing III ar in this respect. Out
of the many thousands of officials scattered
through Siberia. or for the matter of that
throughout the Russian empire, there are
but very few who arc not possessed Of the
8 me spirit ofsel Importance.
Racheps appeal was. as might have been
expected not only u-eless, but was met by
coarse insult, and cruel and hearte>s ref.
erence 10 her being the daughter OF a Jew
convict. So she passed from the presence
OF this ill-conditioned man with a heavy
and sore heart, while with sense of lone
illness and dcsolat,on she set her face once
more 10 the east.
She had by tins time learnt the necessity
throwing Oft all reserve. and display :
self assurance. For on herself she must
depend; sha could expec: no help no
encouragement from anyone. She was tho
daughter OF q convict. 1t mattered not
that her !nther was Il wronged and per-
secuted man. That was never taken into
consideration. He was an exile. There
fore, by the memorable logic of the official
mind. he was criminal, he and those be-
brlonSing to him were deserving OF no
sympathy. no indulgence. And SO Rachel
being the daughter ola convict and being
SO described IN her passport could exnect
nothing Int ,contulnely and scorn. But
she hardened herSel against it. and the
springs her tears dried up.
From Perm her journey. forward as FAR
as a Eka'ernlursh was by RAJ which carried
to. their eastern slope At this
point the rail ends, and hence
forth her way should be by tarantas drawn
by post horses along the great Siberian
road. which extends for nearly four thou
sand miles. 1t wps a journey that might
well 'ave APPALLED, woman who was ac-
tuatrd by less powerful motive than that
which stirred Rachel. But she shrank not
from her task, and soon she was speeding
as last as horses would take her towards the
Siberian Stenpes.
She passed the famous boundary post-.-
the square, stone-built pillar-which marks
the rontier line OF Siberia This post las
witnessed for ages the hear,rending scenes
that take place when the sternlyguarded
exile parties reach it as they travel east
Herethey are allowed tohalt for abrief SPACE,
and then there are wringing of hands, and
weeping and wailing as the unhappy con-
ricts bid farewell to the land of their birth,
the land they have loved in spite OF its
drawbacks and the barbaritY Of it rulers.
And often with frantic sobs the poor people
kiss and embrace the cold stones of the
pillar until the order is given to fall in.
and with many backward glance and
sigl! Of sorrow they march away TO misery,
suffering and death.
From this point Rachel would if she could
so, have have donecontinued her journey by
the lonely northern route that would have
carried her over The weird desolate wastes
OF the tundras, which are swept by the pitt
less Arctic blasts. and frozen into world of
white death by the intense cold. In these
wild and pitiless regions almost entirely
deserted alike by man and beast she would
at least have been free from Insult and
molestation. But as one travelling on
suiferance as the daughter ola convict. she
was compelled by the law to keep main
exile road. Therefore she IL no alterna-
tive, and SO forth she went. but little
while before reaching the town of Tiumen
she was seized With sudden illness. and
was compelled to seek shelter and care in
lonely village For several days she lay
in u state bordering on uncon-
sciousness. But at last she began
to recover only to find that she had been
robbed OF nearly all her money. 1t was an
aw ul blow.
TO travel alone and travel quickly money
was Imperative, and without money there
was but one alternative, and that was to
seek permiss: on TO go forward with an exile
party; though that inecesstated prison fare;
prison regulations. and conforming to all
I'LL. e. &