The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-11-01
OUT
THE JAWS OF DEATH



you all. With your help we must have
succeeded"-
I'm what9"
"In getting Taras safely away. At this
moment he might have been on the steam
er waiting for him on the river and on his
way to Russia"
l could only look at him in speechless as
Constituent for time. Then, doubling
whether | had rightly caught the sense Of
his words, / said;
'You think would have consented to
such u thing as thatP
"Yes; IL l had shown you that 1t was the
only way of saving his life. Understand
this, the czar has said that Taras must be
silenced-that means that he must be taken
back to Russia, where he will be prevented
from publishing works offensive to the
czar, or that he will be secretly assassinat-
ed, for 1t is hopeless to think of restraining
him while he lives here in freedom. have
done my utmost in that direction. made
1t impossible for him to burn the group of
statuary until Gordon undertook to build
a kiln for that purpose, and it was who
destroyed the group the day before 1t was
to be cast. You know now that it was the
hand Of a friend, and not an enemy, who
did that"
"You call yourself friend, who did
thati" exclaimed.
Eyes. and you would do the same II you
perfectly realized his position"
Destroy what he has made-the work so
dear to himf Neverl"
Would you rather that he himself
should be destroyedf" He paused for an
answer, but as found no reply to make
he continues;
"Unfortunately. nothing is to be gained
by it, or it should be beaten down again.
He has said that he will carry the work
through, though he have to stand by it
with a revolver by his side from first to
last"
"And he will" cried
II was as fully convinced on that point
as you are before abandoned the idea
No, there is no other alternative. He must
go back to Russia
"He would rather die"
"But we would rather that he lived.
And surely If the means of preserving him
were offered you-if another opportunity
of removing him should occur"--
II will not listen to you," cried with
Indignation as l started to my feet Moth
ing in the world could persuade me to Join
you in this shameful plot"
For heavens sake, be reasonable, my
poor girll' said he In a soothing tone
"You have seen those pictures OF prison
life and fancy that Taras would be exposed
to such cruelty and hardships as are repre-
sented in them You are altogether mis-.
taken, as he himself would tell you IL you
asked him His rank alone secures him
against i'll treatment. The czar is not urr
mercifuL Imperial interests compel him
to take strong measures. His hostility
toward Taras is tempered with profound
respect for a political adversary of high at
tainments and unimpeachable honesty In
in vNo. nil h.a atnI ,xrtt Al,
most consideration and kindness. He will
be allowed to live where he likes, and the
only restriction put upon his liberty will
be with regard to the propagation of revo-
lutionary IDEAS and this restriction will
be but temporary. The country is ripe for
revolution, and in short time the present
government will be overthrown, and then
Taras will be free. On the other hand, II
he Is not conveyed to Russia, his fate is
death. Can you hesitate in choosing which
lot shall be his'"
at isn't for me to choose, nor for YOU
Tell Taras what you have told me and let
him decide. He is not fool or child that
we should take his guidance in our hands"
He is a child in some things-in sim
plicity and recklessness Suppose he
chooses to face the danger of assassination.
as probably he will2"
what thent You will not find him un-
prepared nor me either"
ut is not with me that you will have to
+ deah next time but with one whose pur-
pose is unbiased by friendship"
Friendship l said through my clenched
teeth, feeling that should strike the man
for the blasphemous use OF IA word SO sacred
to my heart. How dare you speak of
friendship? Do you think am an idiot to
be fooled by a lief What proof Of friend
ship have you given-you, who have done
your utmost to injure the man who trusted
youS"
der in his g'ass. and Taras would never have
awoke again"
"If you did not kill him." said, detect
ing, as thought an expression of coward
ice in those soft eyes, 'it was because you
dared not"
His silence confirmed my suspicion, and
continued hotly:
''one thing is certain-you dare not try
to do it now"
NO." he replied quietly. "Idare not even
try to save him again, fenr."
Then he rose and walked across the ROOM
seeing the hopelessness of persuading me
and the increasing hostility his words pro-
voked.
What shall you do when Taras wakess"
ne asked a. he turned and came back to
ward me-
''Tell him everything-all that has hap
pened, all you have said"
He nodded, as if 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
We should be friends, having one object
in common. The hope that animates us
both is only to be realized by joining forces
and acting in concert. You doubt my in
tegrity-truth-sinc l will try to
prove it by u 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, and
all l ask In return is that you will hear me
patiently and judge me without prejudice"
"Ill hear what you have to say at any
rate said l.
He stepped to tho door noiselessly, look
ed out Into the passage and coming back
seated himself still nearer to me, that he
might drop his voice to tono which could
not be heard outside
II am a nihilist," he began, "a member
of the same secret body to which Taras be-
longs. In the service of this society OBJ
taiued a post In the ministerial bureau at
st. Petersburg, where eYery movement Of
the secret police came under my obseryar
tion- BY these means | was enabled to
warn my society of any action about to be
taken against suspected members You
understand mean
Yes; you were kind of spy on the po-
lice."
Il 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
s