The herald., 1893-10-21
NIGHT In RUSSIA.

Love us in black; every $50 viii ,ors rs in
red.-Russicn Proverb.
Al was o university rsan, gospodeen
'sir). and an officer in the guards. too
Gods my witncss--befoFe tcvli to
sEullzing at street corners without cop
per copeck TO pay for nights shelter.
It is a true saying, Let no man ever
scorn the beggar's lnap5ack nor the con-
vict's cell, nor spit IN the well he may
havc TO drink FROM"
These words, issued from q heap of
blacllness darker than the dusky back
ground of the dead wall close to which
1t covered. brought me to q standstill
ut the corner Of lonely street in Kiev,
the mother of Russian cities. don't
know exactly why I stopped to Eeten,
for l was never before IN a less chari-
table mood than on that wild winters
night. The frost would have frozen up
shc milk of human kindness in the breast
81 saint and made s.oic morose and
selfish. Although but few minutes
past 8, the streets were as deserted as at
midnight, and the few stragglers still
abroad were foundering helplessly about
in TIE deep snow, the sharp prickly par
ticles 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 20 shave DssS
laid egg.
Heavens, what windi An English
northeaster is gentle zephyr to it. 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 40 degrees between its
resting place and freezing point, rely
upon it, circulation is going on under
sufficiently serious difficulties. But the
storm made the air feel fully 90 degrees
colder. The frost penetrating the body
like a shot from Manlicher regulation
rifle, you had no time to shiver or shud-
der, but your heart began to futter like
a bird beating its wings against the cage
bars, and your teeth were set firmly as
in lockjaw. Then you remembered the
sins of your youth and meditated upon
death.
That is how felt, although physically
enveloped from head to foot in a warm
fur shooba mantle), in which my own
mother would not have recognized
her son. Moreover, was in q peevish,
discontented frame of mind. Every
thing had gone agley with me all that
day, and l had been for the past 10 min
utes keeping one eye half open in hopes
of sighting a stray sleigh to take me
away from the 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 temper.
/ had twice measured my full length
ON the ground, getting the snow down
my neck and smashing my new maxi
mum thermometer in my efforts to rise,
while the wind made my cheeks and eye
lids ache, numbed my nose, till in sheer
self defense l had to rub it briskly 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 only had
slaves to do my bidding, and failing
that could have sat down where / was
and cried with rage and vexation, but |
have always been opposed to suicide on
principle.
Such were the circumstances under
which | was suddenly confronted by a
lazy hulk of fellow who, for aught
lnew, might follow up his appeal for
aims by the magic assurance that he had
nothing in the world to call his own but
a single revolver and 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
hiehwaymen. 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
MANI" | asked, uncertain what to say.
'Work?" he replied, interrogating.
Work" (bitterly). "Tobies are dress
ed in shoobas, as they ought to be this
time of the year. Who'll give work TO
the outcast-to the jetsam and hotsam
of a rotten society? I've fallen to the
very bottom of the social staircase-the
next step is the grave, and shant 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 requite you for your kindness,
gospodeen. Good night"
''Stop moment" 1 exclaimed, des-
perately working my way toward the
receding bundle of darkness. "You have
willfully misunderstood me and insulted
me to boot, and you should be the last
man to do that. For the wolf there's
hunger; for the fox toothsome morsels,'
says the proverb. What / meant to
say was that if you were telling me the
truth and really desired to become hon
est and Industrious again, | would at
-h'm--that is, could-h'm-if-
mean that, if saw my way, might
right things somewhat again for you.
Where do you liver"
"In space"
"No lodgings?"
"No, nor the price of them either"
"Where did you live-that is, HIM,
lodge, sleep, meant"
''In hayloft."
"And before that?"
''In church"
"Now, look here; draw nearer to the
lamp; yes, that's it. Just come with me,
and I'll put you in my kitchen for to-