The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-10-24


chooses to face the danger Of assassination,
as probably he willi"
"What thenf You will not find him uu-
prepared nor me either"
1T is not with me that you will have to
deal next time, but with one whose pur-
pose Is unbiased by friendship"
'Friendshipl' Isaid through my clcnched
teeth, feeling that should strike the man
for the blasphenious use of word so sacred
TO my heart. How dare you speak Of
friendship DO you think am an idiot to
be fooled by LIEF What proof of friend
ship have you given-you, who have done
your utmost to injure the man who trusted
mot my utmost. Another pinch of pow
der i'm his glass, and Taras would never have
Awoke again."
IF you did not kill him." said, detect
ing, as thought, an expression of coward.
Zee in those soft eyes. 1t was because you
dared not"
His silence confirmed my suspicion, and
continued hotiy;
zone thing is certain-you dare not try
to do it now"
mo-" he replied quietly, Tdare not even
try to save him again, fear"
Then he rose and walked across the room,
seeing the hopelesancss Of persuading me
and the increasing hostility his words pro-
toked.
"Wli at shnll ynu DO WHOM Tnrat wakcsf"
he asked as he turned aud came vack to
ward ne. $.
"Tell him everything--all that has hap
pened, all you have said"
He nodded, as IL this were no more than
he expected, and took another turn across
the room in silent meditation. AS he seated
himself again in front Of me he said:
1--WE should be friends, having one object
in common. The hope that animates US
poth is only to be realized by joining forces
and acting in concert. You doubt my in
tegrity- ity-trutl:-sincerity. will try to
prove it by confession which places me
at your mercy. put my life in your hands.
At word you can destroy me as surely as
the car can destroy Taras. A stronger
proof of sincerity no man could give, anl
all ask in return is that you will hear me
patiently and Judge me without prejudice.
''I'll hear what you have to say at any
rate" said /.
He stepped to the door noiselessly, look
cd out into the passage, and coming back
seated himself still nearer to me, that he
might drop his voice to q tone which could
not DC heard outside.
II am nihilist," he began, "a member
of the same secret body to which Taras be-
longs. In the service Of this society OBJ
tanned a post in the ministerial bureau at
ST. Petersburg, where every movement Of
the secret police came under my observa-
tion. BY these means l was enabled to
warn my society of any action about to be
taken against suspected members You
understand mef"
"Yes; you were a kind Of spy on the po-
lice"
~ was spy, and risked my life in this
service. At any moment might have been
discovered and hanged for my zeal. While
was In this office the order came from the
car to silence Taras Taras was then, as
he Is now, my dearest friend, and you can
imagine my horror when heard that this
order was to be executed without delay.
Happily the minister found it difficult 10
lay his hand on man for his purpose. 1t
was very delicate business. AS Taras
was in London /. was necessary that the
agent should speak English, not only for
the practical working out of the design, but
to avoid political complications. 1t would
never do for the Russian government to be
discovered in this plot to violate the free
honored as Taras There was one man in
to have the Job, and that was Rudersdorf,
an avowed enemy of Taras. The chief OBJ
lection to employing him was that he did
not understand a word of English.
Zone morning the minister, after explain
ing this difficulty and the objection to Ru-
dersdorf, asked me bluntly IL would un-
dertake to silence Taras. I don't ask you
to kill him. he said, seeing some sign Of
repugnance in my face probably. One rea-
son for not employing Rudersdorf is that
you to bring Taras back to Russia. That
will please the czar far more than the death
of man for whom he still entertains a
strong feeling of admiration. can give
you but "a hours to consider the proposal,
but If you will not do this business Ru-
dersdorf must. "And now" said Kavanagh
pointedly, what answer would you have
given in my placer"
hesitation.
~ am sure you would. But it was not
an undertaking to accept lightly, for you
must see as clearly as i that l was bound
TO fulfill my promise"
NO, uOnb bcc tuilt. III you COuiu uV
ceive the minister one way. you could an
other. You must have told lies from tho
very first, and one moro couldn't make any
great difference to you"
Lying in this case would have been
worse than useless. The lie would be found
out as soon as 1t was seen that made no
effort to silence Taras. Jealousy would
prompt Rudersdorf to watch me, and he
would be the first to denounce me to the
ministry. The result is certain. Riders
dorf would have been charged with the mis-
sion he coveted. The lie would only havo
delayed the execution of the sentence, and
scarcely so long "a delayed It by those
acts which have already confessed to. Do
you follow mei"
Eyes"
"You see that II had refused the offer
should certainly have consented to the
murder Of Taras by his enemy, Ruders-
dorff~
"Yes.~
"And you see that for the same reason
am compelled now to keep the promise
made"