The Portland daily press., 1893-06-05
SOME ODD STORIES.

"A Good Lesson at the Gates of Death-Th
Russian General and the Young Mamie
Stopped just Short of Wanton Murder.
The Buried Picture.
copyright, 1893. by American Press Associa-
toni
The Russian general Count Walstein, re-
gently deceased, was one of the ablest sol
diers of his time. But though personally
one Of the bravest of men and fairly well
educated he was singularly superstitious.
popularity no doubG attributable to the
fact that he was born and spent his early
years among the barbarous Cossacks of the
Don.
During the last war between Russia and
Turkey General Walstein had an impor-
tant command on the lower Danube Be-
Heving that the stars ruled his destiny, it
was his habit to spend part of the night
consulting them before he went to sleep,
He had his headquarters in a farmhouse,
and one night as he was looking out the
window from his darkened room, absorbed
in the contemplation of the stellar LIGHTS.
he felt himself violently struck on the back.
On the instant the general turned around.
his heart beating violently and the cold
sweat standing in beads on his brow, for he
knew that his chamber door was locked.
and that he was or should have been alone
He had no doubt at the time that this
blow was sign from heaven to warn him
OF impending danger. He could not sleep
that night, and the next day he was found
to be stepped in profound melancholy, nor
could his staff or any Of his friends obtain
the secret from him.
A Greek priest, who was the generals
chaplain, but who, unlike most of his class
in Russia, was not given to attribute to SUI
pernatural agencies everything he could not
understand, determined to investigate the
matter for himself, his superior having first
communicated to him under the secrecy of
the confessional the cause of his unusual
depression.
After careful investigation and with
much tact the priest succeeded in getting a
young page or orderly attached to General
Walstein's person to confess that it was he
who had struck his commander in the dark.
Intent on playing one of his comrades a
trick, this youth had concealed himself in
the apartment to which General Walstein
had retired, and mistaking the place as
well as the object of his sport, he struck
the blow. Learning his mistake when it
was too late, he escaped by the window.
! Having told us this, the page was in
great fear, for the general was violent
man, but the priest comforted him with
the assurance that no harm would come to
him. This done, the good man started off
to quiet the trepidations of the general.
General Walstein heard the story with
rising wrath, and when it was finished, to
the horror of the priest he sprang to his
feet and shouted:
by all the saints in the calendar, the
dog dies within the hour!'
"But gave my word" protested the
priest
No man has the right to pledge my con-
duct without consulting me- Keep your
own word, good father, and will carry out
my resolutionsp'
The general summoned his chief of staff,
and with manner that there was no mis-
taking he said:
Colonel Brodsky, my engineers know
how to erect gibbetP"
'They do, general was the response.
"How long will it take them to put up
one in front of these headquarters"
Less than an hour, general''
ut will be ready for hanging within an
hour9"
"Yes, general. If you SO desire it."
II do desire. Go! Make all haste" and
the general waved his hand to show that
the audience was at an end, and then began
to pace the room.
, After some minutes the furious COM
mander, noticing that the priest was still
present. stopped before him and thundered
out:
''This is not your place! Go tell this
wretch of his impending death and prepare
him to meet his Godp'
The priest, turning with mingled pity
and indignation, sought out the unfortu-
nate young man, who in the meantime had
been taken to the guardhouse, and told him
of Walsteip's resolution.
At first the poor lad was overcome by the
news, but with that fortitude that comes
from brave heart and a consciousness of
perfect innocence he soon rallied and much
calmer than the chaplain he Joined in the
prayers that were to be his last on earth
A few minutes before the guards came to
take him away he wrote letter, inclosing
in it his picture and a lock of his hair, and
begged the priest to send it to his mother
at Warsaw with his last love.
/ When the lad appeared at the foot of the
gibbet he saw up on the platform masked
hangman holding the moose in his hand.
1 Although usually impressive, the princi-
pal officers of the army could not conceal
their Indignation at what they regarded as
barbarous and wanton murder, and even
the phlegmatic Russian soldiers showed
their anger in their eyes.
i The confessor, at the last moment, begged
for mercy at the feet of the memorable COM
mander.
! The condemned youth had mounted to
the platform, and the executioner was
about to adjust the rope about his neck,
when suddenly General Walstein raised his
hand and shouted:
"Stopp'
Then in voice like thunder he said to
the page:
'Now, young man, you have experienced
what the terrors of death are You have
suffered for one hour what you made me
suffer for four and twenty. We are quits.
Go; you are free man, but remember the
lessonl"
! ''The Old Boy
He could not have been more than five
and twenty when he joined the regiment in
SeDtern her 1859 VET he had NOT hpep in tho