Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-12-28
,-t;. o,yn disreeard of precautIon.

aud nv his own disregard OF precautIon.
mt this apathy on the part of the secret
arov had been led to expect from the
e aa,,,,ersation of Taras and his friend Kava-
- They had said that probably no
s''s31,er attempt would be made for some
,sths Those months were now passed.
Tha critical time was at hand, for had
-.,t,..r..d from, one or two remarks that any
- offense to the car would be the sig
81 For a renewed and final effort to silence
Ta,as That fresh offense was about to be
,on,,nitted. The group of statuary was fin
;~Iad The work of casting and burning
49, tho striking allegory would be public
In exhibited for all the world to talk of.
= ~scsIled now, almost with stupefaction
=. nv Incredible indifference, an incident
hitch nroyed that the secret enemy was on
tha alert and fully acquainted with Taras
sr.;r,n 1'he proprietor of the pottery at
...i,;el, n was intended to burn the clay
'',.onn had called TO inquire if the subject
s,.as If a political character Taras of course
''s-,,;tted frankly that it was, and when Mr.
m for commercial reasons, mad begged
70 decline to give any assistance in the pro-
dnction he asked Mr. H what reason
he had for suspeeting that the work was a
political one. -, -
..co,,,e in the form of an anonymous letter,
a,,d for that reason felt that in justice to
uo, ought to have personal verification
~ the fact before declining the commits
sion"
o,,d declared that there was not a word of
truth in the statement.
.s1o ANONYMOUS letter was needed. Old
H has found out that you are Bergen
sIfv. the nihilist. and with the hope Of
tniohthood before him and the dread Of
Iosino a sale or two in Russia he thinks it
best to decline the job
Az the time that explanation was &C
eepted by me as readily as II was by
TaFas. but il was different with me now.
/ felt sure that the secret enemy had made
1 this communication
Who could he be2 Clearly some one who
had seen the group. and, not less obviously,
one Of the Russian visitors who called on
| Taras. But which Of themf To my eyes
they seemed all pretty much alike-meek,
| gloomy, unhappy looking men, dreadfully
1 out at elbow. and the shrug of pity or frown
| ~ discomfort with which Mere Lucas ex
messed her feeling regarding them wa
usually accompanied with significant
movement of the thumb and finger, which
led me to understand that their object was
70 get money out of Taras. There was none
who looked like traitor, and could not
believe that any would be base enough to
betray him to the police, for, however
unhappy they looked on arriving, not one
went away with disappointment ia his
face, and though Taras was careful to con
real his generosity l had reason to know
that he gave away to his distressed coun'
trymen infinitely more than he spent upon
himself.
All through the night taxed my brain
with conjectures and surmises without ar
irving at any definite conclusion with re-
gard to the identity of this dreaded enemy,
and all | could do to silence my self re
proach for past neglect was to vow that !
would be more watchful and vigilant in
the future.
And this vow was not made in vain.