The Dickinson press., 1892-10-08
CHAPTER x.
IN THE PASSION OF WOUNDED PRIDE.

The suggestion that the unfortunate
Jew was no in safe keeping in the fortress
ofSt. Peter and Paul was absurd. In this
dreadful prison the horrors Of which could
not be exaggerated prisoners could be SUBJ
iected to the most brutal torture. and even
privately executed without the world know.
PRO iaiss o. csc escape aO we're in ni Hesis liz
small. The dungeonsin the various case
mates are below the level of the river. and
exude such moisture and miasma that pris-
oners confined in them contract the most
horrible diseases. And to add to their suf-
fering they are objected to constant esspion-
spy, places, by means of which the warders
and guards can always see the prisoner
without being seen.
This awful place of gloom and
misery is. said to be built on
dead mems bodies, for when the
foundations were being laid in the MAS
matte matte swamp sH a maIg,h o. u 9 Jan ssa.d h THOUSANDS nads Of
where they died, and during its unhallowed
existence it has played no part that would
entitle it to the grateful remembrance OF a
patriotic people. 1t was erected as a living
gri We for the enemies Of autocratic Russia,
and the human suffering that has been en-
can ever depict. Surely the day will come
when the long-sutfering Russian people
will rend the blood-stained building stone
from stone n sow the execrable spot
with salt. Three hundred acres ofland are
covered by the fortress. which literally
thousands of prisoners, and the dungeons
are so numerous that no IL save the
Governor knows them all. Mos. ofthcse
cells are constructed i'll q remarkable way.
The walls are o, unusual thickness, and
are covered with painted felt. The floor is
also covered with felt Of great
thisRnsss. of But u te ,1i; inches is not aewa ali iis At Ms,l =
is a wire netting, which zoe from
floor to ceiling, and over the netting is
tightly stretched painted canvas. This ar
rangement not only prevents prisoners
from communicating with each other by
means oftaps on the wall or floor. but it
a grave. No sign from the outer
world reaches it, and the horrible silence
drives the prisoner slowly mad. The mind
rots in the body, as it were. The warders.
under heavy penalties, are not allowed to
speak to a prisoner nor to answer even the
most casual question.
Schlusselburg is forty miles from st.
Petersburg, a.. the source of the Neva as it
flows from the great lake Laioga. Here
on q lonely island the fortress is erected.
At IS I'VE nom everything save the wretch
ed and desolate village of the same name,
IT, which only q limited number of inhabi.
tants are allowed to reside, and they are
The prisoners who are sentt to Schlusselburg
are conveyed there in the dead OF night.
They simply bear q number on
their clothes, and save those who are
responsible tor their being sent, nobody
knows who they arenor whence they come.
Once there they may, by secret orders,
conveyed in a letter sealed with the arms of
the Car of All the Russias. beshot. strang-
led. poisoned, or drownedin the lake. The
penalty OF breaking this seal by anyone ex-
cept the person to whom the letter is adj
dressed is death.
In this hideous place are oubliettes.cthat
Is. dungeons where prisoners are confined
who are to be forgotten and lost to the
world. although nv,ng Such prisoners
are fed on the most mea2re of diet. They
hear no sound and see no living thing, ior
their food. such as it is, is thrust in to them
through a trap door. No light save the
glimmer OF a small lamp. which is allowed
reaches the dismal dungeon, and the pris-
oner loses all account OF time, knowing
not when it is day or when it is night. At
last he becomes iMbecile, N is slowly
starved to death.
Let it be remembered that this horrible
exists at the present hour in holy and Chris
tain Russia, and under the so-called benign
government of the present Gar. 1t was to
Schlusselburg that Aaron Arama was re-
moved, under all order which Peter Alexieft
presented with a yindictive pleasure that
he knew not how to conceal. And that
pleasure would have been enhanced could
he have sent Rachel to the same place:
But his power after all, was limited. and
though he had many tools and creatures
under him, he himself was only the tool of
those in higher authority. and it was
necessary that some external show Of civili-
cation should be made. Therefore, without
some semblance OF legal right, it was not
deemed advisable to arrest q person, espec.
tally a woman OF course, it was no diff
cult mater to produce this semblance. But
nobody. save the depraved Alexieff had
any desire to deprive Rachel of her liberty,
for she was not considered of the slightest
political importance. Her lover had been
condemned and sent to Siberia; now her
father, whose Independence of spirit asd
superior intellect mad him a power to
be dreaded. wa char I'd with the double