The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-12-24
ISHMAEL'S SAD STORY
An Exile Fell Painting in the
Cabin Ofan American Settler.
He Was a Russian Outcast, and Died
While witnessing a Wonderful
Mirage of ST. Petersburg.
Grace Duffie-Roe. in Chicago Post.

he said. and father resting his kindly eyes
upon the dark unhappy face, held out
welcoming hand and let the stranger in.
He had found him leaning against gray
column of the white piazza when he opened
the door-a tall. weird figure In tattered.
dust-covered garments, and with bare and
bleeding feet His hair, matted and I'M
kempt, hung like a cowl sprinkled with
ashes over his deep-set, smoldering eyes,
and half concealed the hole where bullet
might have lain. above his brow. He start
ed at the creaking Of the hinges and
Strengthened his weary form into dignified
posture.
why do you open your door," he ques-
toned, and the rags of his sleeve f1uttered
with an imperious gesture. 81 did not
knock I only sought few moments rest
in the shade before pressing on. Does the
city lie to westward?'
He spoke with feverish anxiety, and his
slight frame trembled as with an ague.
Father, with a comprehending glance into
his face, answered gently:
1.-The knock was at my breast. L knew
that some waited for the cup of cold
water that l had TO give. Come in. Rest
and refresh yourself"
but the city, the city," The travellers
eyes were wild with delirium. Father, dear
heart, in his tender piety, misunderstood
his meaning He lifted UP his eyes to the
Olympian hills, royal in the purple and
gold of sunset, and said solemniy:
''The city is just beyond"
The m An looked at him anxiously, hest
tated, passed his hand YEARLY across his
forehead and fell fainting upon the white
sanded floor of the little room; entering,
unknOwing and unknown, the home where
fate had kept place for him, and where
he was to remain for many years, becons
inc time mas q m a n
affectionate pride as Is the possession OF
some volume Illuminated by a hand
that centuries ago returned to dust, and
written in a long-forgotten tongue. We
who became his friends his family, knew
nothing of his life beyond the chapter
which began at our own door. In the long
days of Illness which followed his arrival
his piteOuS rawlings were in a language UNI
familiar to us all, and what father learned
while watching him when life and
death were struggling for the mastery he
never told.
"A mans life is his own" he said to us
when were curious to learn more of our
fireside sharer; ''who he was before he
came to us we have no right to question.
We are concerned only in who he is to-
day. We have decided that he Is our
friend
HE CARRIED A SECRET.
We were not always quite satisfied, 1T is
true but that was fathers way, and We
never thought of disputing him or choosing
another. and now after many years l know
that he was right quite r1Snt
"Ishmael," as he insisted on being called,
came slowly out of 1.-The valley of the shad
ow of DEATH" and took his place, as natur-
ally as though it had been ahmed among
US. We lived in a sparselX/settled district
of that glorious land where rolls the Ore
gon," and school facilities were not what
mother wished fSatssf little flock. Father
soon discovered that Ishmaels hand had
touched the topmost branches Of the tree
of knowledge, and was well htted to bend
also observed that his manners, courtly and
dignified as they were. had lost the i'm
stood footsoTe, wayWorn and ragged at our
door. He had become teacher, guide, phil
osopher and friend; q permanent member
of our household and fathers unfailing
adviser and assistant. Free from all re-
straint and apprehension of any kind, he
shone in all the beauty of splendid man
hood, and yet in moments OF repOSe his
face would move us to tears, so full was 1t
of utter loneliness.
The Indians in the locality held for him
into affectionate regard. He made a study
Of their sign language history and tradi-
tons. and felt the liveliest sympathy for
from the extreme northwestern portion Of
the Territory camDed In our valley for a
| element evident among them and finally
| the chief, with whom lshmael had become
acquainted. told him the reason for it. 1t
| dark, stately figures standing face TO face,
| and Ii must have been some hidden chord
together. The chief said that number of
his braves had been for some time along
| the northern waters of the Columbia, and
mirage which they had named the silent
| City" He declared that they had been
able to distinguish streets, spires and build
| ings with startling diStinctness,. and feared
that a mighty city had risen in night up
on their own lands and that they should
| return but to repeat the experiences which
had so often been their own-tO find a blue
line of soldiery between them and their
hunting grounds, ready TO drive them far
Their on at the point of cleaning bayonets.
| There was no city in Alaska OF the beauty
and magnitude of the one mirrored in the
| clouds, and no one had been able to identify
| 1t.
| POWER OVER THE INDIANS
Ishmael explained the phenomenon as
| best he could by telling them that objects
| 10000 miles distant might be transported
| in reflection, as well as those in the imme-
| date vicinity. The Indians, gifted in the
love of nature far beyond our comprehen-
| sion, finally accepted his hypothesis and re-
| sumed their former confidence.
| The years went by, and in the latter part
| Of May, 1889, our family party set out for
an extended trip along the palisaded Co.
| lumbia and up the blue Pacific into Alas
| ka, 1shmael, of course, accompanying u.s.
| Ollc dIlcilIOOu early June, as We were
| riding slowly along over the foothills 10
| inspect a rumored FL Dorado, we observed
that heavy mist was lifting like q silver
| vel from the Scared face of the great
| glacier and moving slowly UP toward the
| perfect sky. All at once a ray of light
| brilliant and scintillating as the wand OF
| some tabled genii swept over il and left a
| wonderful mirage in the air. A city divided
| by a river and built with palaces, cathe-
| drals, great public squares and gardens was
| photographed upon the clouds, presenting
| 10 our aStoniShed gaze the streets, the ar
chitectural beauty the very life of the
| strange metropolis in exact vertsimilitude
| 1Shmael was walking q little in ad-
| vance OF us, one arm thrown over the neck
| of the patient burro and the other holding
| the folds Of the gay Navajo blanket thar
| hung like the mantle of Roman senator
| over his shoulder. His head was bowed n
| thought, and he did not share the Illusion
| until attracted by orr noisy delight At a
sign from one of us ne lifted his eyes For
| a moment he wavered as though in a
| dream, and then a light vivid as the trans
forming scepter in the sky iasned over his
| face. He gave strange shout ringing
and exultant:
"St. Petersburg" he cried. "St Peters
burg, MY love! l could not go back to you
| but you have came to me!'
He stretched his arms toward the vision
in the clouds and murmured low, inarticu-
late words of joy and tenderness, his face
| working with intense emotion. He turned
II am rot Ishmael. but john" ne said
| Behold a new apoCalypSe-SL Petersburg
| St. Petersburg"
He beat his hands against his breast as
If 10 still the heart leaping against It's
| prison walls, and turning ran a few steps
| in the direction OF the fast vanishing tow.
ers and cathedrals above the glacier
| heights and then fell with uplifted arms
| face downward upon the mountain path as
he had fallen upon the floor of our little
room so many years before.
| We bent over him, frantic with grief. as
father laid his hand upon his heart and
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