Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-10-31

hour later we reached the etape, where we
were to stay for the night.
had heard much of the horrors of these
stations and the loathsome "kameras," or
sleeping places, in which the convicts were
herled, and had seen them in the collec-
lions of paintings exhibited by Taras. /
was therefore aStonished to find the log
hut in which l passed the night so decent
and habitable. 1t was not overcrowded.
There was rough carpet on the floor, aud
the only real hardship was the absence Of
bed and bedding, for we had to sleep on
a sloping board and in our clothes,
/ was much better off than my compan-
ion, who was thrust into a den built to &C
commodate go prisoners, with no less than
10 criminals Of all Sorts and the horrors
of that night were more, l believe, than he
could make light of, for he was extremely
reticent upon the subject. All that he told
ME was that he had found no room to lie
down and had breathed a little atmos-
phere of his own by smoking all night.
However, he said cheerfully, that's
all past, and shall make up for a sleep
less night by good long snooze this after
nOod-if we don't come to the end of our
journey before"
We went on by another mail sledge but
with the same guard who had left St.
Petersburg with us
These two CosSacks never left us through
out our long journey which continued
without any break, save the nightly halt
at n convict station, for three weeks after
we had passed through Moscow. Soon
after leaving that city behind us noticed
a change il poor Gordon. His spirits
seemed to be losing their elasticity, his
gayety to be little forced, his pipe more
necessary.
But despite the bitter reflections that
must have arisen to his mind his attitude
toward me displayed no sign of luminosity.
There was no lapse in his gentleneSs and
tender consideration for my CO, fnrt. His
kindness was unVarying. { common
misfortune, which thought would imbit-
ter our hearts, served only as a link of
sympathy to hold us together
Gordon still spoke hopefully, though at
rare and rarer intervals, of our being re-
called to St. Petersburg, but for my part
had quite abandoned the hope of any revo-
cation of our fate when an accident oc-
Cured which gave new turn to our for
tunes.
One night was awakened by strange
cutlery of distant voices. As turned upon
the wooden platform that served as my
sleeping place, the woman next to me- who
had already sprung up, cried:
Holy God, we are on fire
At that cry all of us slipped to the ground
i'll \ moment, with mingled EXPLANATIONS
of diSmay.
The kamera WAS full of smoke-it choked
us as we hreathcd-and through the one
small easement u dull red glow fell upon
us. When we perceived that it was not
our kamera, but another, which was in
flames, we concluded that it must be the one
in which the men We're confined, and shrek
ing the names of our friends we rushed at
the door, Vainly trying to break it open
The muffled clamor of voices told us that
the men We're still shut up. suddenly there
w;lS Il great out burst of voices as they forced
their door. and the next instant they were
crying TO us from the outside of our hut
and beating furiously at the door which
separated us. We stood back us the heavy
panels creaked under the pressure of sturdy
shoulders, and presently a mighty thrust
burst the lock away, and the door flew back.
In the midst of the wild confusion that
followed l felt my arm grasped and found
Gordon by my side.
Come along, little woman. Don't give
way; there's a hrick-it's all right"
Half fainting with fright and the sut-
locating effect of the dense smoke blowing
down upon us. l staggered along by his
side, past crowd of panic stricken
wretches surging about the gate of the
yard in expectation of its being opened for
them to escape, and then through a shower
of sparks and past a roaring and cracking
mass of fire into an open space, where it
was possible to breathe freely and get
comprehensive idea of what was going on.
This etape. like most others, consisted of
four or i've log buildings of a single story,
iuclo>ed by high paliSade OF solid logs,
planted side by side, and each cut to Il sharp
point at the top. One of the buildings,
used as a storehouSe and carpenters shop,
had taken fire, and the wind, which was
blowing fiercely, carried the flames and
smoke down upon the kamera. The end
of that one in which Gordon had been shut
up was already blazing, and il looked as if
all the hutS in succession must catch fire
and be destroyed, for the officials could do
nothing to cNtinguish the flames and were
'aAely occupied in dragging what movables
were worth saving into the space where " e
and a few others stood.
Just il front of us was nm ugly little man
with red beard y sarlonic grin was on
his impish face,
Look at them,'' he said, pointing IL Il
party OF warders hauling along cum
brous piece of furniture. Half 4 dozen
men choking themselves to save Il piece OF
wood net worth couple of koPecks. and
not one will stir a foot to prevent those
poor wretched devils tr2mplinS each Other
to death at the locked gate"
is there any danger here" asked He
turned around and answered bitterly:
YES: there's the danger of living 10 SEA
the mines of Kara or any other pit o
Tophet that our holy car in his mercy con
signs us to-
Shading his eyes from the glare OF Tho
flames and looking into the smoke, Ia
said:
If those fools, instead of pounding racl
other into jelly, would only pile them
selves into Il heap Systematically, Their,
would be n chance for some of us to snatch
a few days respite in the forest. Hello
he exclaimed as n lull came in the cOnfiic
of screams and curses. They're no: sucl
fools after ali; they've got the gate off it
hinges-I'm off, And with that he dis
appeared into the smoke.
The wardens also discovered what ha'
happened. Half a dozen ran across to
shed and returned with rifles in their hands
The noise at the gates was over now. TIL
cracking of timber, the soft whirl @
rising flame, an occasional thud bean
fell-these We're the only sounds tina
reached us for minute or two. Then
shot was fired, and another and another
half dozen shots perhaps, and two O
three wells answered for echo.
We stood still till the warderS returned
one by one, and all was still. Then Condor
drawing closer to me, whispered;
shall we try;"
Yes, yes-we will try" l answere
eagerly, for the thought that we also Nigh
escape had just then occurred to me.
Gordon Slipped down his hand an
grasped mine tightly. Between us and II
gateway, on which the smoke still Bile
, down in a thick column, charged wit
whirling sparks and dropping flakes {
fiery embers, stood a couple of warder
n One was charging his rifle.
I'VE must make slip behind them an
make a dash for the smoke" said Gordo
as we edged that way.
. We waited one breathleSs minute, an
then as a roof fell in, throwing up a
eddying column of sparks, which drew O