The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-11-10
CHAPTER xxxvI.

CHAPTER XXXvI.
| FREEDOM AT A RUBLE A DAY.
"You seem to treat the danger pretty
lightly" said Gordon. perhaps you are
tired of liberty"
mot a bit Of it. have just bought free
dom for three days at the rate of ruble q
day, and here it is" said Ivan Dontremem-
Der, striking the sack on which he sat.
What have you got thereP' Gordon
asked eagerly.
Freedom, l tell you, for three days. It's
indispensable. How long do you think you
are going to keep up on fir conesp Twelve
hours at the oatside, should say, by the
look Of madam"
What have you got in tho sack, askS'
Gordon repeated savagely.
Bread, and I'll guard it as l would my
llife," Ivan Dontremember answered, catch
|ing the CLEAN Of desperation which lit my
eyes as well as Gordon's.
"We are starving; we have eaten nothing
for four days. You must give us some"
you can get as much as you want at the
post. Schemyl must keep his prisoners
alive till the patrol comes round to collect
them. Why should shorten my term OF
freedom to prolong yoursS"
Gordon looked at me. 'Shall we give our
selves upf' his eyes asked, and mine an
swering Eyes, " he held out his hand to me
and said:
Come"
II am afraid you are leaving with bad
opinion of me- said Ivan Dontremember
as l rose. "That's the worst of being per.
fectly reasonable-one's sure to offend some
amiable fool. Now, you only had ruble
or two"-
"Whatp cried Gordon, tearing open his
coat to get at his note case. you will sell
your libertyf'
"Of course will. Schemyl always keeps
a good stock on hand on the chance of a
moneyed customer dropping in. Plenty
more where this came from, - he continued,
untieinR his sack and producing loaf.
TITS rather high price-a ruble a loaf,
pretty nearly half n crown OF your money
but these poor government officials must
live"
Without word Gordon snatched note
from his case, thrust it into VANS hand
and took possession of the loaf. Then, with
horrible laughter, we tore the loaf in two
and ate with the ravenous fury of starved
beasts. For time we forgot everything
but the animal joy of satisfying our crav-
ing appetite. Whether Ivan spoke to us or
not i do not know. 1t was not until our
think of him.
"What right have you to put temptation
in poor devils way2' he growled. "Do
you know the value of the note you gave
mef"
Gordon shook his head, still eating.
"a Thousand rubles-three years. free
doml Lifelong freedom, who knows2 Take
it back, or may be tempted yet to knock
you on the head" .." "
He pushed the note into Gordon's hand
and turning away set his elbows on his
knees, dropped his bristly red beard in his
palms and rocked himself slowly backward
and forward, scowling into the fire.
Gordon looked at him and then at me in
silent perpleXity; we both doubted whether
the little man was in his right mind. Pres
emily glancing round and perceiving that
Gordon still held the note in his hand, Ivan
Dontremember said angriIy:
Put it away, l tell you-hide 1t up
Don't you know that the forest is alive
with desperate mem Any one of them
would murder the pair of you to get that
Why shouldn't theyp Necessity knows no
law but self preservation. Do you know IL
was in my mind to brain You as you sat
there in an ecstasy of animal pleasureS AT
least you would have gone out of the world
happy; it would have saved you-and the
government-yeaIs of trouble, and me too
Oh, there was enough justification. Rea-
son was on my side and opportunity as
well. You would have done it in my place
There was murder in your eye when you
asked for bread Bread is only a means to
/ living; the end of living is freedom. A
man will fight for life while there's n hope
! of freedom; when that hope is gone, he will
blow his brains OUT
eWifh V0ur \iaNyg - said Gordon at mn,
surprised that you did not at least make
. off with the note"
perhaps l overlooked that alternative
in the greater temptation to kill you. Tn,
probability was that you had other note,
!. In your case-money enough to make escap,
q certain"
) "If you felt yourself justified, why didn'
you kill mef"
! For a fool of reason-a sentimental
one. Something in your build, your face
!. not the murderous expression in it, yot
i may be sure-deterred me / felt. just n
: the critical moment, as If We're about t,
kill my dearest friend. And can't shak
# off this womanly feeling while look a
Z you-that's the queer thing
a "Some personal resemblancefn Gordol
: suggested.
Z Ivan Dontremember nodded gloomil,
e and turned his eyes ngain on the fire.
IT Its IN odd coincidence that my resem
e blance to Russian has not only saved m,
81 life but was the cause of my life being il
s jeopardy"
& what Russianf" asked Ivan, turnin
n quickly.
"Taras-Prince Borgensky"
T. "Tarasl" cried Ivan, starting to his feet
n as he aliveff
HE was when we left him not tw
y months ago"
" Where was he theno ~
SIN London
U "Thank the fates"
you know himfr
ii what honest Russian who lived fiv
10 years ago does not know Tarasi"
~ Then he broke into Russian, apostrt
IL phizing Taras with poetical fervor in word
a that l failed to follow. Suddenly h
Il. checked himself, and turning to us he sait
l as if to excuse himself:
II have been dead five years and burie
tn in the fortress of Pctropavlovsk. One heal
nothing there. There was no political pri
IT. oner in our gang-all cutthroats an
p- scoundrels-tney could tell me nothing
What should they know of Taras'"
ed And after pause he added, with p
re thetic tremor in his voice:
Nd Il thought he must be dead, tom
TO friend"
m, He walked slowly round the fire to i
On dulge his reflections, touching an emb
here and there absently with his site
op Coming close to where we sat, silent
sympathy, he said:
"a Ibid you know him-Tarasi"
On ultimately
"f as lie well' What is he doingi He
go. does he pass his days2 Tell me all abo
y" him" :
FRO Hr CoSTtvUED.1
----------