The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-17
A DETECTIVE IN RUSSIA.


Us IN rBu- ''-ItuSSlau prOVer0
Il was university man, gospodeen
sir, and an officer in the guards, too
God S my witness-before l took TO skulk-
ing at street corners without a copper
copeck to pay for a nights shelter 1t is
a true saying, Let no man ever scorn
the beggar's knapsack nor the convict's
cell, nor spit in the well he may have TO
drink from -
These words, issued from a heap of
blackness, darker than the dusky back
ground Of the dead wall close to which it
! covered, brought me to a standstill at the
corner OF a lonely street in Kieff, the
mother of Russian cities. l don't know
exactly why | stopped to listen, for l was
never before in a less charitable mood
than on that wild winters night. The
frost would have frozen up the milk of
human kindness in the breast of a saint.
and made stole morose and selfish AL
though but few minutes past o'clock,
the streets were as deserted as at mid
night, and the few stragglerS still abroad
were houndering helplessly about in the
deep snow, the sharp prickly particles OF
which were being well rubbed into their
faces and ears by an icy wind violent
enough to root up the paving stones,
and sharp enough to shave a new
laid egg. Heavens, what a wind An
to 1t. And the air was cold enough in all
conscience to dispense with the Fictitious
aid of wind, for when the mercury sinks
away till it has put As degrees between its
resting place and freezing point, rely upon
1t circulation isgoing on under sufficiently
serious difficulties. But the storm made
the air feel fully 20 degrees colder. The
frost penetrating the body like a shot
| from Manllcher regulation rife, you
had no time to SILVER or shudder, but
your heart began to futter like a bird
beating its wings against the cage bars,
and your teeth were set firmly as in lock-
jaw. Then you remembered the sins of
yourSouth, and meditated upon death
That is how | felt, although physically
enveloped from head to foot in warm
fur shOoba (fur mantle), in which my
own mother would not have recognized
her son Moreover, l was in a peevish,
discontinued frame of mind Everything
had gone aglee with me all that day, and
/ had been for the last ten minutes keep
ing one eye half open in hopes of sighting
a stray sleigh to take me away from the
1 scene of my tribulation, but there was
not vehicle of any kind within hail.
The hills and hollows of slippery snow
that beset my path had also tried my tenn
per. had twice measured my full length
on the ground, getting the snow down my
neck and smashing my new Maximum
thermometer in my efforts to rise; while
the wind made my cheeks and eyelids
ache, numbed my nose till, in sheer self
defense, had to rub it brislkly with
snow, and continually blew my shooba
wide open, threatening me with inf1am-
nation of the lungs and consumption. l
could have punished that wind as Xerxes
punished the waves, if l only had slaves
to do my bidding, and, failing that, /
could have sat down where / was and
cried with rage and vexation-but l have
! oil, hy,v .oI 70 a.
ciple.
Such were the circumstances under
which l was suddenly confronted by
lazy hulk of fellow, who for, aught
knew might follow up his uappeal for
aims by the magic assurance that he had
nothing in the world to call his own ex-
cept a single revolver and a few miserable
cartridges with which it was loaded.
BeggarS In Russia are as plentiful as
blackberries, as persuasive as Irish law
yers, and sometimes as desperate as high
| waymen. A years experience of their
ways, without exactly turning you
into an unfeeling cynic, Develops thin
crust of ice around your heart which it
needs something more than the fire of
everyday eloquence to thaw.
'Why don't you work like an honest
man?' 1 asked, uncertain what to say
''Work?' he replied interrogating.
'Work?' (bitterly). Tobies are dressed
in shoobas, as they ought to be this time
of year. Who'll give work to the outcast
to the jetsam and fioatsam of rotten
2 society? I've fallen to the very bottom
of the social staircase; the next stage is
the grave. and l shan't have very long to
wait for that now. Night is as good a
season for death as day, and frost not
more painful than hunger. May God re-
quite you for your kindness, gospodeen.
2 | Good night" stop moment" | eX-
-Tay +,I,r
ward the receding bundle of darkness :;
You have wilfully misunderstood me-
9 and insulted me to boot, and you should
f be the last man to do that, For the
wolf there's hunger; for the
5 fox toothsome morsels,' says
| the proverb, What I meant to say
was that if you were telling me the truth
and really desired to become honest and in
dustrious again, would at once, HIM, that
? is, | could, I'm, if, | mean that, if | saw
p my way, might right things somewhat
l again for you. Where do you live?' ''In
space" mo lodgingsl" mo, nor the
5 price of that, either" where did YOU
? iive-that is, HIM, lodge, sleep, I meant"
Z I'm hayloft." And before that" I'm
a church" ''Now, look here, draw near
1 to the lamp; yes, that's it. just come
5 with me and I'll put you up in my
, kitchen for tonight, and tomorrow I'll
see what | can do for you. I'm taking
! you db your OWH 6oblllldUG, uluu, anu L
= hope you'll Justify"
It's not very extravagant one, fan
l cy. An outcast, l believe l said-the
flotsam." X *,"Why will you persist in
G misunderstanding me! l mean as to your
. past" well, that won't throw very
T. much light on my future. Don't think [
5 want to touch your heart Perhaps | did
= when I first accosted you. Hunger and
e cold make a man do strange things But
e now ! don't care cedar nut what be-
! falls me- It's all fate. I'll go with you
/ if you like. If you don't like, why, pu
= tuck myself up in the snow. There are
not seven deaths in store for us and we
g can't steer clear of one" What you
i want, my friend, is common sense and
S moderation. Oh, dash this snow, I've
broken my arm, swear. The sidewalk
\ ought to be strewn with sand, instead of
e which, They've strewni it with snow -
: he broke in, very impertnently, as it
= seemed to me, for although / had not
1 broken my arm l had hurt it, and | did
t not relish being laughed at by a beggar.
4 l bottled up my rage, however, by way of
f giving him an object lesson in self-mas-
o terry; and we soon came up to a sleigh,
Y the driver of which was wildly dancing
n in order to keep away the bitter cold and
| oh