Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1892-10-27
CHAPTER XIV.
FOR A WoMAN's SAKE,


iAlexiehs sorrow and concern when he
heard OF Rachels imprisonment, concern
that was rendered more poignant and hard
q to bear by the knowledge that it was i'm.
posi- bic TO ald her in any way as far as he
was concerned. Nothing was easier than
to lmprisOn person in Russia, and moth
ing harder than to obtain that PERSONS
freedom. Gentle women had been thrown
into dungeons and brutally tortured for
simply saying that it was "a shame that
people shou Il be condemned unheard."
And men had been shot, hanged or sent
to Siberia tor expressing hope that the
day might dawn when the grooming mil
lions OF Russia would be freed from bond
age. How. then, could Nv IN expect to get
out released? He knew that if he showed
any opposition to his aher what his own
fate would be. Hitherto in spite of his
father, he had attempted to WOO Rachel,
but now all cffectual barrier had been rear
ed betw cen him and her. and the chances
We're that they might never come to-ether
again.
notwithstanding the risks, however. he
could not remain inactive. and he took
8 ecret means to get up an agitation amongst
the Jews, who, through the medium of
certain papers which they were abb to in
Bfiuence, demanded an investigation into
the charges that had been made q ainst
amongst the better class of Christians, for
! tosthe honor of the Christian community
i and Of Russia ITSELF be it said, there are
3 men and women in that benighted country
who have no sympathy with the ince>sant
persecution Of the jewish people. and who
do not he itate to dcpreca,e the cruelti es
Spractised towards them.
VI Nor were Peter AlieXieff's enemies slow
I to- seize the occasion. Peter had never
been popular. and the cry having been
raised against him, there were plenty
feady to keep itup. By-andby it leaked
Sclmstance.. that the beautiful and genie
Rachel had been logged in goal in the
Il presence of the Chief o the Police and OF
Count Nicholas Suvorof; and it being so
well known that the Count and AleXietf
were lanai cal haters of The Jews, the storm
of indignation grew louder. The pendu-
Il lnm w6s swinging the other way now. 1t
twas the reaction alter the lever OF excite
nlent and the passionate ontburst of fury
which had led to the mas>acres and bu:n-
sSings. The people. however, who We're at
ssRresent asitating had remained dumb and
ssBsilent while the Jews were being harried
and slain and dcspoiled of their ropertv.
Nov it was the other way about, and the
ssriO tiers held their peace
8& Perhaps after all there would not have
been such an cutlery had the matter not
reached the ears OF those who were high
above even the Count Suvorof' and the
Minister Of Justice was at last instructed to
Slowly i'll Russia, and these inquiries oc-
Coupled six months. But the result was.
ssanuch to the joy of Peter Alexieff's enc.
#smies. that he was deposed. Through
having powerful friends at Court, he was
Simmediateey appointed to a governship in
getting; rid of an official who had brought
the authorities into bad od"ur, and the ex-
Chief of the St. Petersburg Police was Or
dereti to proceed at once to Sakhalin.
Most other men would have felt some
what appalled, at the journey to the far
distant and desola'e, region of sakhaIin.
But Alexietf was rather elated at the pros
pect, for he knew that the pay was good,
and the appointment could be made the
stepping-stone 10 something better; while
every governor in Siberia. and particular
~ those in the eastern provinces, had
absolute shs power c in their ; ;, hands an, u.s.
became- petty kings and autocrats, and
could give unrestrained vent to their pas
sions and their hates.
The consideration Of these points could
not TAIL to weigh with such man as Peter
Alexieff; and though for the time he would
have to abandon. the comforts and gaiety
compensated for that by the power that
would he his. A fallen official iii st. Peters.
burg would have to remain a nonentity,
but in Siberia, where he was far removed
from the seat of government, he could be-
come person of inlportance and rule his
subjects With rod Of iron, according to
his caprice and his will.
And SO AleXieff set off for his new sphere
OF action with a sense of delight, consider
ably enhanced by the knowledge that pre-
ceding him was the unfortunate victim OF
his hatred. Aaron Arama. who, without
yrov~ l. L.. l. II.
Russian law. had been condemned to exile,
OH the grounds that he was suspected OF
subvcrsive ideas" and had shown 'revolu-
tionary spirit against the authorities" The
place Of his exile was Sakhalin, whittier
Alexietf was going as governor.
Peter Alexietf would have liked to have
studying for the Civil Service and
he absolutely refused to accom-
Pany his father, who consoled himself with
the thought that all danger of Ivan and
kachel ever coming together had now pass
ed.
10 those unacquainted with the ways
and mysteries or legal procedure in Russia,
which, more than any other country in the
moves in rut from which it seems as if no
power on earth could lift it, it will appear
strange that Rachel Arama was not releas-
ed Immediately. But when once the Gov
IinMcnt, Ill the name OF the law. gets Its
hold unon person, it is singularly reluct-
ant to let 20 that hold. TO US, with our
Western notions of the sacred rights of the
subject, all this sounds almost incredible.
and yet, alas. It's true. Russia is still ruled
oy therod. and her people groan in chains.
Some day they will rend these chains and
ihen woe to them who have Kept them SO
long enthralled, until they have hardly
been able to call their souls their own.
And 80 it came to pass that
more than year elapsed before Rachel
Arama recovered her freedom, and then
1t was only bestowed upon her as
an extreme favor, notwithstanding that it
was proved that she had been committed
ona groundless charge. When she cmer.
sed from the prison she was an utterly
changed woman. The iron had ground it.
seifNnto her very heart. and had empoison-
en and embitted her The recollection OF
al she had endured and suffered madden-
ed her, and she was stirred and Ill cd
With fierce desire Tor vengeance on him