The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-11-09
OUT
I HE JAWS OF DEATH
IooMI,luEp.I /
CHAPTER XXXIv.


hour later we reached the etape, where we
were to stay for the night.
had heard much of the horrors of these
stntions and the loathsome "kameras," or
sleeping places, in which the convicts were
hdrded, and had seen them in the collec-
tibns Of paintings exhibited by Taras.
whs therefore astonished to find the log
hut in which passed the night so decent
ard habitable 1t was not overcrowded.
There was rough carpet on the floor, and
the only real hardship WAS the absence of
bed and bedding, for we had to sleep on
a sloping board and in our clothes.
1 was much better off than my compan-
ion, who was thrust into den built to ac-
cdmmodate $50 prisoners, with no less than
7lD criminals Of all sorts, and the horrors
Of that night were more, 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 little atmos-
phere of his own by smoking all night.
However," he said cheerfully, that's
all past. and shall make up for Sleep
less night by good long snooze this after
ndod-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 a convict station, for three weeks after
WI had passed through Moscow. Soon
after leaving that city behind us noticed
q change in poor Gordon. His spirits
seemed to be losing their elasticity, his
gayety to be a 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 animosty.
There was no lapse in his gentleness and
tender consideration for my comfort. His
kindness was unvarying. Our common
misfortune, wnlcn 1 unougnU wouIu ImulJ-
ter our hearts, served only as 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 1
had quite abandoned the hope of any revo-
cation of our fate when an accident oc-
carred which gave new turn to our for
tunes.
One night 1 was awakened by a strange
outcry 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 frel'
At that cry all of us slipped to the ground
ina moment, with mingled eXclamations
of dismay.
The kamera was full of smoke-it choked
us rs we breathed-and through the one
small easement 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 were confined, and shriek-
ing the names of our friends we rushed at
the door, vainly trying to break it open.
The mufiled clamor of voices told us that
the men were still shut up. Suddenly there
was great outburst of voices as they forced
their door, and the next instant they were
crying TO us from the outside of our hut
ard beating furiously at the door which
separated us. We stood bnck as 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 felt my arm grasped and found
Gordon by my side.
Come along, little woman. Don't give
way; there's brick-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
| si4eszpast crowd of panic stricken
wtetSAes Surging about the gate of the
| yard m,expectation of its being opened for
| them to escape, and then through 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 a
comprehensive idea of what was going on.
| This etape, like most others, consisted OF
four or Eve log buildings of n single story,
inclosed by q high palisade of solid logs,
planted side by side, and each cut to sharp
| pdint 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 1t looked as if
all the huts in succession must catch fire
| and be destroyed, for the officials could do
| nothing to extinguish the flames and were
solely occupied in dragging what movables
were worth saving into the space where we
and few others stood.
| Just in front of us was an ugly little man
| with a red beard A sardonic grin was on
his impish face.
Look at them" he said, pointing to a
party of warders hauling along a cum
btous piece of furniture Half a dozen
men choking themselves to save piece OF
wood not worth couple of kopecks, and
not one will stir foot to prevent those
poor wretched devils trampling each other
I'd death at the locked gate"
''Is there any danger here2" asked. He
turned around and answered bitterly
| "Yes; there's the danger of living to see
tile mines Of Kara or any other pit oi
Tbphet that our holy czar in his mercy con
signs us to-
Shading his eyes from the glare of the
| intn ba bs
said:
| s'If those fools, instead of pounding each
other into a jelly, would only pile them
selves into a heap Systematically, there
would be chance for some of us to snatch
a few days respite in the forest Hellov
he exclaimed as lull came in the conflict
of screams and curses. They're not such
fools after all; they've got the gate off its
hinges-I'm OFF, And with that he dis
appeared into the smoke.
| The wardens also discovered what had
happened Half dozen ran across to d
SHED and returned with rifles in their hands
The noise at the gates was over now. The
cracking of timber, the soft whrl OF
rising flame, an occasional thud as beam
fell-these were the only sounds that
reached us for minute or two Then 9
slot was fired, and another aud another
half a dozen shots perhaps, and two OF
three yels answered for echo
We stood still till the warders returned
one by one, and all was still. Then Gordon
drawing closer to me, whispered:
'Shall we try?n
Eyes, yes--we will try" I answered
eagerly, for the thought that we also might
escape had just then occurred to me.
Gordon slipped down his hand ant
grasped mine tightly. Between us and tn,
gateway, on which the smoke still blew
down in thick column, charged witt
whirling sparks and dropping flakes o
fiery embers, stood a couple of warders
One was charging his rifle.
I'VE must make slip behind them ant
make dash for the SMOKE" said Gordor