The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-01-13

sacrifice 4 woman is capable of. One
woman siiuccd the weight of COM
radc's hca"y wheelbavrow. She chung
10 the wc"I, fors;ilicn man, embraced
hin with he: nuinIcl arms, and
warmed the poor wretch with her
kisses and tears. a few hours ago she
had been pitiablc bcggar; now she
was u ;tc2c:ous-soulcd princess
Once some of the prisoners tried to
escape, .ialisal,oT writes:
'Baikaljctf informs me that several
were preparing To flee and tina. he
woaid go with them. | did not fee.
strong enough FOR The journey and de-
cidcd with unsrcakable agony of mind
to remain. BaiilAi JET took my memoirs,
which were hidden in Il hole in the cave,
and swore that if he got free he would
see that they reached the hands of nv
vile or my parents, but if this were
not possible that he would try to get
them published. The troop of fugitivcs
intended to set out on the night of
March > 1854. On this day tl.. guards
of the mine had every year Il great
carouse, which lasted all night. Prison
ers who had lived many years in the
mines relate that on such occasions all
the guards get completely drunk, and
that the mine is then generally I'M
guarded. The plan was for the fupi-
tivcs not to leave the mine by the OPEN
ing by which we entered, but by the
lower cave of the third gallery, where
the water which flowed out into the
ocean reached to the hips, and where
of late nobody went and nobody was
on guard.
II left Baillaljef, agreeing that Mt
given signal would get up and with
two of the men in my cell accompany
the fugltivcs as far as the cave When
the hour of rest had arrived the only
member OF the guard who remained
oehind was surprised in his
sleep, bound, gagged and locked in
an untcnanted cave, whcrcupon the
prisoners crcpt cautiously to the lower
shaft. In a stiffness like that of the
grave was heard only the cautious
sliding of feet, the crcalling Of one or
two whcelbarrows which could not %
loosencd, and the rafting of cha ms. I
sought BailSaljcff among the fugitivcs,
but could not find him. Meanwhile we
had gained the lower opening. From
the star-spangled heavens two silver
rays of the moon pierced the cave and
tremblcd on the dirty water flowing
out thcrefrom. We softly whispered our
farcwclls and they went into the
water For short time | could see
their bodies above its level, but thcy
became darker and darker, and Mt last
vanished altogether rctraced my
steps. OF my two companions only
one remained, the other. evidently
overcome by a longing for freedom,
| had with hn
heavy heart we returned to our cave.
Deep stiffness rcigncd throughout
the lower gallery, us if nothing had
happened, and when l returned to my
resting place | felt as if were sur
rounded Ivy death. BESIDES us two
| there was not a soul III our cave. All
had fed prayed and sobbcd, but at
last was overcome by sleep. awokc
on hearing the shout of Il harsh, rude
| voice crying out to us. staggered to
my feet and salutcd but the guard re-
ccivcd me with blows. The other
prisoners were also dragged forth
from their caves and logged On
bending down I saw Bailialjeff, who,
as he told me afterward, had oversight
himself and remained. A little further
off lay the dead body of the night
| guard. The unfortunate man had died
OF suffocation from the gag. For three
days we were made to sutfcr cruel
torture because we had not prevented
the flight. On the fourth day an un-
usual noise was heard in the gallery.
And then we saw Il number of
| guards driving before them the fur-
itivcs. who had been captured and
logged till they blcd. A fearful fate
awaited them. Even the women had
all their clothes torn off their backs
Each one was bound to thick board.
so that they could not move, and
thrasEcd with leaden- weighted knots
till the blood spurtcd and they were in
capable of utterancc. This scene was
enacted every day for some days, and
we were obliged 10 stand by and see it
done, the guards shouting to us: Only
try to escape and the same thing will
happen to you OF those who fled not
one is living. Not one was able to en-
durc the torture longer than five DAYS
Many died at the first few strokes. and
to-day the last four have been released
from their agonics."
The convicts always lived under
ground; they were never led into the
air. Those who died were pushed into
some unused gallery. a decree CT the
summer of 1854 ordered that the pris-
oners should be taken out for an airing
from to time and that only the worst
cases were to be kept in the mine at
night. The others were to live in a
prison built outside. But even after
this the condition of the convicts was
not much better. The heavy work and
brutal treatment remained. The WON.
en- who had followed their husbands
into exile were not safe from the per-
| sccutiOn of the rlininrr officials Sui-