The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-02-10

| Is the mistress or the caDln your LnoVn-
err" l said to the boy.
"No."
who are you, then"
"a poor orphan" he replied.
"Has the mistress any children"
"She has one daughter, who has gone to
sea with Tartar"
"What Tartar"
"How do l know, A Tartar of the
Crimea, bcatman from Kertch."
l went into the hut. Two benches, a
table and large wardrobe placed near the
stove composed the whole of the furniture.
No holy image against the wall-bad signl
Ny Cossack took possession of one of the
benches. Ten minutes afterward he was
fast asleep. ], however, was still awake,
and could not drive from my mind the inn
preston made upon me by the boy, with
his two white eyes.
An hour passed. Through the window
fell upon the floor the fantastic light Of the
moon.
Suddenly shadow was cast, where be-
fore there had been bright light. I
sprang up and went to the window &
human figure passed once more, and then
disappeared knows where could
scarcely believe that it had escaped by the
issue
Throwing on my overcoat and taking
my saber l went out of the cabin and saw
the blind boy before me. / concealed my
self behind the wall and he passed on con-
| fdently, but with a certain cautiodsness
He was carrying something under his arm
and advanced slowly down the slope to-
ward the sea. This is the hour" said
to myself, ''in which speech is restored to
the dumb and sight to the blind"
| He was now so near to the sea that with
another step he would be lost. But this
was not the first Of his nocturnal expedi-
| tions; SO at least concluded from the agiI-
ity with which he now sprang from rock
to rock, while the sea poured in beneath
his feet. Suddenly he stopped as though
he had heard some noise, sat down upon a
rock and placed his burden by his side. He
was now joined by white figure walking
along the shore. I had concealed myself
behind one of the rocks and overheard the
| following conversation:
| "The wind" said woman's voice, els
very violent; Janko will not come"
"Janko," replied the blind boy; "Janko
| is not afraid of the wind"
"But the clouds get thicker and thicker"
'In the darkness it is easier to escape the
coast guard"
"And what if he gets drowned?"
"You will have no more bright ribbons
to wear on Sunday"
As listened to the colloquy I remarked
that the blind boy who had spoken to me
| in the Little Russian dialect talked quite
correctly the true Russian language.
You see," he continued, clapping his
hands, II was right. Janko fears neither
the sea, nor the wind, nor the fog, nor the
coast guard. Listenl 1t is not the break
ing of the waves hear. No, it is the noise
of his oars"
The woman got up, and with an anxious
look tried to pierce the darkness, You
are wrong" she said, Il hear nothing"
| also tried to see whether there was
some sort of craft in the distance, but could
distinguish nothing. A moment later,
however, black speck showed itself
among the waves, now rising, now falling.
At last l could make out the form of a
boat dancing on the waters and rapidly ap
preaching the shore.
The man who was guiding it mnst have
been bold sailor to cross on such night
an arm OF the sea some fourteen miles
across, and must have had good reasons
for Drawing so much danger. / watched
the frail little craft which was now diving
and plunging like a duck through the
breakers. 1t seemed as though she must
the next moment be dashed to pieces on
the shore, when suddenly the skillful
rover turned into little bay, and there,
in comparatively calm water, effected a
landing
The man was of middle height, and wore
on his head a cap of black sheepskin.
He made a sign with his hand when the
two mysterious persons who had been talk
ing Joined him. Then the three united
their forces to drag from the boat burden
which seemed to be so heavy that / cannot
even now understand how so light craft
could have supported such weight They
at last hoisted the cargo on their shoulders,
then walked away and soon disappeared.
The best thing for me to do now was to
return to my resting place. But the
strange scene had witnessed had so struck
me that waited impatiently for daybreak.
Ny Cossack was much surprised when
on waking up he found me fully dressed
! said nothing to him about my nocturnal
excursion, but remained for some little
time looking through the window with adj
miratiOn at the blue sky, studded with lit
tie clouds and the distant shore, the
Crimea, stretched along the horizon like
streak of violet, ending in rock above
which could be seen the tower of a light
house. Then / went out and walked to the
fort of Chanaogra to ask the commandment
when could go TO Ghelendchik.
Unfortunately the commandment could
give me no positive answer; the only YES
sells in port were stationary ones, and trad
ing vessels which had not yet taken in
their cargo. Perhaps" he said, ''in three
or four days mail packet will come in
and then something can be arranged"
went back in very bad humor to my
lodging. At the door stood the Cossack.
who, coming toward me with rather a
scared look, said inquiringly:
Bad newsg"
eyes" | answered. Heaven knows
when we shall get away from here"
At these words the anxiety OF the soldier
seemed to increase. He came close to me
and murmured in low voice:
This is not place to stop at. | met just
now Black sea Cossack OF my aequaint-
ance; we were serving in the same detach-
ment last year When ! told him where
we had put up, Bad place, he said: bad
people And what do you think Of that
blind boy? Did any one ever before see a
blind person running about from one place
TO another, going TO the bazar, bringing in
bread and water? Here they seem 10 think
nothing of it,"
Has the mistress Of the place come in?"
This morning while you were out an
old woman came with her daughter"
What daughter? Her daughter is
away"
al don't know who it is then. But look,
there IS the old woman sitting down in