Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1894-02-03
Dayton Nevada, Saturday. February 3, 1894.

that2"
Nothing easier. have simply to point
| out Gordon and say, That Is Taras' He
would believe it without question"
My courage and resolution quailed before
| the possibilities this hint revealed.
"Then he would kill poor Gordon" ]
faltered.
God forbid! Even to save Taras would
| not be instrumental to the death of Gordon.
Both are my friends. No. The letter
read to you shows that while Rudersdorf is
under my direction he will be held respon-
sible for the life of his prisoner He values
his own interest too keenly to disregard the
order of his chief"
"What would happen them"
"Gordon would be seized and taken to
Russia in the place of Taras.'
but the moment he seizes Gordon he
will discover his mistake"
"HowY"
Gordon does not speak Russian. He
knows only little French. He would say
at once in English that he was not Taras."
| "Rudersdorf would laugh in his face.
Nearly every prisoner tries to get off by
pretending he is not the real man, but
somebody else. They would ask him for
his papers to prove his identity. An Eng
lishman never carries papers, and Gordon's
inability to produce them would convict
him at once in the eyes of a Russian official
unacquainted with our customs"
For a moment ceased to think Of Taras,
and | saw only Gordon, my genial, kind
hearted friend, torn away from his friends
and the occupation which had given him
new zest for life.
Poor GordonP' murmured.
Seeing that opposition served better than
persuasion to stimulate my resolution.
kavanagh shifted his ground
Poor Gordon!" he echoed. "a man who
never injured any living creature"
What of thatf" l fired up. He has
done nothing for mankind that Others have
not DONE There are thousands of men as
good as he There is not another In the
world like Taras"
THAT is true. But it seems a cruel, an
awful shame to make him suffer for no
fault of his IT'S villainous thing to do.
No, hang It'll | can't bring myself to play
this treacherous part. | must think Of it.
p
"But you are certain that his life will not
be taken"
"As certain as am that the sun will rise
tomorrow. But to him freedom"--
"They will not keep him prisoner for
ever" interrupted again.
Mo- he said with a smile. But" he
added gravely. "he may be kept prisoner
for months"
"MonthsP' exclaimed, astonished by the
lightness of the penalty.
Possibly" He seemed to misinterpret
my surprise. ION the other hand, he may
be set at liberty I'M few weeks. 1t all de-
pends upon the length of time he has to
wait for official examination. The minister
of police of course knows Taras and the
moment he sees Gordon the mistake will
be discovered"
"A few weeks-a few months-that is
nothingr
ITO YOU"
"Or TO him. A man with half his kind
ness would undergo that cheerfully to save
his friend. Gordon will agree to it him
self, know"
II believe he would If we could make
him party to the scheme. Unfortunate
ly we cannot. He is the worst actor in the
world The slightest evidence of compile
ity on his part would arouse Rudersdorf's
suspicious, and the thing would fall
through"
nodded assent to this, knowing how awk.
ward poor Gordon was. But Kavanaghs 8
hesitation to act still mystified me.
"A short period of captivity seems to you
a trifle in comparison with the life of a
friend" he observed.
''Yes, it is, and cannot understand why
you hold back"
There are good many things that wonl-
en- do not understand, and honor between
friends is one of them, fear. And it is
not only this breach Of honor which have
to consider" he added in a less resentful
tone, seeing that my perpleXity had not
been removed. "You have lost sight OF
the fact thas this affair dooms me to per
petual exile, if not to death"
"Yes, forgot that. | understand now.
But surely the society will forgive you
everything for having saved Taras"
He shook his head mournfully.
''The society is governed by hard and fast
rules and permits no member to do harm
for the sake of the good it may produce
Besides" he added quickly to avoid criti
, cism of this very antinihilistic principle
"they will certainly regard this as an eXpe
dient to escape the penalty of previous acts
1t is useless to cheat myself with false
hopes. If we carry out this scheme, must
| prepare to fly the country the day that Cor
don returns"
We both sat silent for little time, l feel
y ing that the sacrifice could only be made by
4 free will.
Zone thing" said Kavanagh at length il
y a lighter tone-"one thing that pleases m'
in this idea is that it would completed.
r crush the enemy. When Gordon came
+ back and made his experiences public, ther'
a would be such blaze up in the papers tha
the Russian government would not dare tt
make any further attempt to kidnap Taras
4 Rudersdorf for permitting himself to b.
cheated, would probably be awarded life
a long post at Archangel as reward for hi
a services, and Taras would be suffered Il
live in peace"
THAT is worth great sacrifice" said.
;. "Yes, will think of it. Come, 1t is TIM
4 to return"
On our way back he said;
: ~ am glad have talked it out with you
One sees things SO much more clearly b,
the light another mind throws on them"
And as the brougham stopped before tn
4 door he said:
II shall have made up my mind by to
4 morrow, and you shall know the result"