The Dickinson press., 1892-01-09
woman driven to desperation by wrong
and cruelty cannot be looked upon witE

and cruelty cannot be looked upon witE
indifference.
In Nikolacvsk was Catherine Petrovna
and in Sakhalin were Rachel Arama and
Paul Pelrovna. The Governor had told
Rachel that she would have to leave in TIVE
or three days, but i'll order to gain time she
feigned illness, and the journey to tht
coast was postponed,
1t CHARGED at this time that in Nikcla-
evsk there was an exceedingly small garri-
son, altogether not more than twenty
soldiers; and the garrison OF Sakha!in was
much below even i'll its winter strength,
while the convicts numbered nearly three
thousand. Amongst these the ar,cl
brought its inilnencc to bear and with
strength, and men bound themselv,s by
solemn oaths not to hctiny each other,
aud to make bold fight iur liberty when
the hour came.
Paul, having money, managed by means
OF II bribe TO get Il message, which liz wro'e
in prc-arran2ed cipher, conveyed to his
wife that at Il given hour on IL given day
the inhabitants of Nikolavesk, or such o.
them as could be trusted, We're To rise, and
seiZing tEe steamer proceed to- the island
andwait events there 1t wa>a e>peralc ven
ture, but what Will people not do when situ-
a,cd rs The nnta; py convic;s OF Sakhalin
were? To utter the word ''freedom" to
them was to ut once arouse in them the
fierce desire for it. and tina, being
dom" nothing would seem impossible.
Furious as Ca hcrine was II being seI.,-
rated from her husband. and at TIE treat.
ment he had been subjected 10. She was a
host i'll he sci and she INSPIRED Others with
her feeling. Silrntlv. steadily, and secret
Is she natu"ed her llan> and one evening
she and anumhcr of other women who.e
re aivcs pircd aud laborcd on Sakhalin
lnrcd IL lar-e proportion of the Garrison to
NihninpvSE 4 . y, Y,l lar m
| there was in the town, and when these
| men were more or less ,,azcd with vodka,
and Mterly without any suspicion OF dam
ger, they were suddenly SET upon Ivy the
women and their male friends, ami being
| deprived o their arms some We're slain
and Others were bou:ld hand aud oot, and
thus rendered help ess.
Then the whole town was reused by the
roiters. and the excitement spreading, q
rush WAS made for the a",acilS, which
readily ELI into their hands before any de-
fence could be made, thoug some of them
paid Tor their temcrity with their lives.
| "ut i'll the course o an hour from the oilt-
lr,nk the little place was entirely in the
hands st the mob, and !: the head oi them
was Catherine. Who havin whet,cd her
f:ngs so tn speak. was no likely to bc su>Iy
restrained. he arm"ry was forced, ard
aqnanti,y of arms and Ammunition was
seized, and then the desperate vcut,lrcrs
rushed on board the steamer and stored
| her tor the island.
So far then The revolt had been eucc 'ss-
,ul But this was only the initial stage,
and there was yet much t, he dono and
unless similar success attended the attempt
that was to be made OH the island, the
rising would collapse and terrible would be
the penalty that would he eXacted.
| AT the station on the island most of the
convicts were employed at some coal
mines, though whit the coal was extracted
Il frr, l.. ~
be shipped awav. it could not be used; but
itthe eXiles had not done this they could
not have done anything else, for coal-and
n very inte!i ior quality it Sis the only
mineral the island produces. The coal is
largely got out by blasting and for some
quantities of the blasting powder until the
amount bee me formidable.
AT nighttime very little watch and ward
was kept over the prisoners, tor the author
titles never dreamed of revolt. and escape
seemed out of the question. | olated
quent, but the convict wa, generally
brought back, or killed Ly the
natives, who were encouraged there
to by rewards. And SO it came
to pass that nirht was chosen that cor
responded with the rising in Nikolaevsk
and little band OF desperate men carried
the powder they had saved, and aggregate
ing it, they filled a large empty Oil can, to
which they attached Il fuse. and then
lighting the fuse, thev placed, the can
against the barracks occupied by some of
the garrison, and in such position that
the explosion could not fail to work incal-
cNlablc mischief.
The explosion was terrific. The building
waS sl'at'crc and wreck ed. and nearly all
who were occupying it at the time were
killed or MANNED. Then in the panic that
ensued the successful rebels possessed
themselves OF arms, and those WHO could
not get firearms got stones, sticks, iron
bars anything, in fuct, that would answe'
The turpose of u weapon, either of defence
or attack.
fight fierce and sangninary,, ensned,
| and the weird W llernc>s resoundeu with
cries and oatls, and the desperate strug-
CLING of men, some who fought for irce-
dom, Others to restrain them from rcgain-
ing their freedom. But the spirit of revolt
had seized like 81 lever upol all the con-
yicts, young and old a ike; and
led and encouraged bv Paul petrov-
ma. who seemed tor the nonce to be
endowed with superhuman strength and
energy, they hurled themselves aguins. the
soldiers again and again.
But though the soldiers fare,l badly, aud
numbers of their comrades, dead and dying
s'rewel the grolll'l, they were encoura ed
to rer>evere BIZ Peter AleXici1 who showed
that, bad and infamous as lie was lie was
not lacking in courage of kind, and
though he seemed to take care not 10 ex-
pose himself to the stoim OF passion that
ragged, he kept his men to their posts by
threats or promises of reward.
For hours the battle ragged. At one time
fortune seemed to favor the rebels, and at
another it was on the side of the garrison.
1t was a terrible scene, and the p lie 'aced
moon looked tearlully through a veil of
mist. For many days Rachel Arama
had hcen an inmate of the hospital
a wooden building that stood apart
from the Others. But she had not becn in
active, though she had but one hope. one
object. She hoped for tAc death OF Peter
AleXiefi; aud her object was accomplished
in his death. And She had asked of Paul
Petrovna that he would make an effort to
have the Governor seized and bound, and
thai done she might be inform ell of it.
AS the tigh. progressed. she waited with
anxious beating heart for news of the re-
suit, and when she heard how the Govern.
or was inspirin. his men to deeds OF eX-
traordinary vAlor while he himself kept
out of harms way, she grew SEX with the
fear that after all the purpose of her lon.
journey would be unaccomplishctl. and all
she had endured, would so unavcn-ed.
The suspense was fearful, the strain upon
the mind all hut cndurabe. But suddenly
a voice exclaimed in her cars:-
"Rache, my hclovcd!'
And the II Xt MON mt she was ciaspcd in
the arms OF Ivan AlcXief.