The Dickinson press., 1892-10-29
FOR \. woMAN.s AXE.

AleXietfS sorrow and concern when he
heard OF Racheis imprisonment, a concern
that was rendered more poignant and hard
er to bear by the knowledge that it was i'm.
possible to aid her in any way as far as he
was concerned. Nothing va, easier than
to lmprison n person in Russia. and Moth
ing harder titan to obtain that person 5
freedom. Gen,le-womcn had been thrown
into dungeons and brutality tortured for
simply saying hat it was "a shame that
people Shuu d bc condemned unheard."
And men had been shot. hanged. or sent
TO Siberia tur expressing hope that the
day might dawn when the grooming mil
lions OF Russia would be freed from bond
age. How. then. could 1v,n expect to get
the woman To whom his heart had gone
out released lie knew that il he showed
any opposition 10 his a'her what his own
tate would he. Hitherto i'll spite of his
father. lie had attempted to o Rachel,
hut now an eifcctual barrier had been rear
ed between him and her, and the chances
were that they might never come together
again.
Notwithstanding the risks, however. he
could not remain inactive, and lie took
ccret means to get up an agitation amongst
llic Jews, WHO, through the medium OF
certain papers VIII oh they were abb. to in
%t!uence, demanded an investigation into
the charges that had been made a.ain>t
lltCIlc , slIltl lliIS tSltllIOu SEItlu cNell
mnonyst the better class ofChristians, for
to the honor of the Christian community
and of ltu>Sia itself, he it said, there are
men and women in that b%enighted country
who have no sympathy with the incessant
persecution ofthe Jewish people. and who
do not he llate To dcpreca;c the cruelties
practisCd towards them.
Nor were Peter AlicXictf's enemies slow
to seize the occasion. Peter had never
been p pnlar. and the cry having been
raised against him. there were plenty
ready tn keep it up. ~By-and-by it leaked
out, as it Was bound TO do under the cir.
cum>tance:. that the beautiful and genie
Rachel had been logged in goal in the
presence OF the Chief o the Police and OF
Count Nicholas Suvorof; and il being so
we'll known that the Count and AleXictt
We're tanatlcal haters oflhe Jews. the storm
of indignation grew louder. The pendu-
l:m WIS swinging the other way now 1t
was the reaction alter the lever OF excite
ment and the passionate outburst of fury
which had led TO the massacres and burn
ingS. The people, however. who We're at
silent while the Jews were being harried
and slain and dcsroiled of their ropertv.
Now it was the other way about, and the
rioters held their peace.
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 ut last instructed to
make soma inquiries. Things moved
slowly in Russia, and these inquiries &C.
cupied six months. But the result was,
much to the joy of Peter Alexieff's enc
mics, that he was deposed. Through
having powerful friends at Court, he was
Immediately appointed to q governship in
Siberia. 1t was the ordinary way OF
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
dered 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 Sakhalin.
But Alexieif was rather elated at the pros
pect, for he knew that the pay was good,
aud the appointment could be made the
stepping-stonc 10 something better: while
every governor in Siberia. and particular
ly those i'll the eastern provinces, had
absolute power in their hands,
the power of life and death. They
became. petty kings and autocrats, and
sions and their hates.
The consideration of these points could
not tail to weigh with such a man as Peter
AleXleil; and though for the time he would
have to abandon the comforts and gaiety
Of the great city, he felt that he would be
compensated iorthat by the power that
would be his. A fallen official iii St. Peters.
burg would have to remain a nonentity,
but i'll Siberia, where he was far removed
from the seat of government, he could be.
come a person Of Importance, and rule his
subjects with Il rod of iron, according to
his caprice and his wilt.
And SO AleNiclf set off for his new sphere
OF action with n sense of delight, consider.
ably enhanced by the know. edge that pre-.
| Cp1lnEp him WnS tho IN Unfortunate y;ot;p, nj
his hatred, Aaron Arama. who, without
trial and i'll accordance with the barbarous
Russian law, had been condemned to exile,
on the grounds that he was suspected o
subversive IDEAS and had shown ''revolu.
tionary spirit against the authorities" The
place Of his exile was Sakhalin, whittier
Alexietf was going as governor.
Peter Alexieff would have liked to have
taken his son with him.. but Ivan wa.
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 ant
Rachel ever coming together had now pass
ed.
10 those unacquainted with the way.
and mysteries OF legal procedure in Russia
which, more than any other country in tn,
world, is hampcred with red tape, ant
moves in u rut from which it seems as if nj
power on earth could lit it, it will appea
strange that Rachel Arama was not releas
ed Immediately. But when once the Gov
ernmcnt, i'll the name of the law, gets it
hold upon a person, it is singularly reluct
ant to let 20 that hold. To us, with GU
Western notions OF the sacred rights of til,
subject, all this sounds almost incredible
and yet, alas, tits true. Russia is still rule,
by therod, and her people groan i'll chains
Some day they will rend these chains, an,
then woo to them who have kept them s,
long enthralled, until they have ha.dl,
been able to call their souls their own.
And SO it came to pass tina
more than a year e apscd before Rache
Arama recovered her freedom. and thel
it was only bestowed upon her a
an extreme favor, Notwithstanding that
was proved that she had been commit.
on a g%loundless charge. When she cmer
g,ed from the prison she was an uttcrl,
changed woman The iron had ground ii
self INTO her very heart. and had empoison
ed and embitted her. The recollection
all she had endured and suffered maddcl
nd hos ~1