Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-08-30
A SENTRY'S LOVE.

Q tohI ~
been found guilty of the crime OF AID
! ing the escape of prisoner No. I'D
from the mine Of Gorkaya-Balka. Be
fore sentence is passed the court de-
sires to hear from you your version OF
| be circumstances of the prisoners es-
! a and the motives which induced
you to be false to the trust imposed on
you. We understand that you dispute
the correctness of some Of the VIII
! nesses' statements. We warn you to
| speak the strict truth. Stand at At
tention."
As the president finished, a slim
Young fellow. standing between two
glittering bayonets, drew himself up to
attention glanced at the spectators
and faced the court.
go on" said the president.
your Excellency," began the sol
| der. Il don't want mercy, and l don't
expect it; but you have asked me TO
tell the truth, and 1 will tell it. 1t was
on a Saturday night, showing hard ana
bitterly cold. Sergeant Petroff march
ed me up to the entrance OF Gorkaya-
Balka mine and / relieved the sentry
on duty there. / was to remain until
midnight, and / received the I'LL
orders to stop anyone who tried to
enter or leave the gallery, and to MOOT
them IL they persisted. / was SILVER
ing with cold, and kept tramping about
in front Of the entrance to keep warm.
After the barrack clock had struck 10,
/ noticed some n croucbing In the
shadow Of the old to~ol-house-a woman,
l thought. 1t seemed darker there than
out in the open. The snow was driv-
ing In my face. / felt queer and timid
that night. Turning sharply round at
the end of my beat farthest from the
house, 1 saw approaching me the figure
Of a woman in black. I got opposite
the entry into the gallery, and stood
silent. l don't know why l felt scared.
There was No one else about or nearer
than the overseer's house. She came
swiftly over the snow, and her face
was covered with a veil. 1 couldn't
frozen. She put her hands on my
shoulders. and looked up into my face"
What was she likeT' demanded the
president.
Your excellency, I cannot describe
her. l only saw her eyes, then, and
they were IN fire and went right
straight through me. She told me
much that / can not recall, for / was
looking. not listening. But at last /
understood her to be talking of her
brother in the mine. She said she had
had come all the way from Russia to
see him, and that he was dying.
She said that if | would let her into
the mine for a few minutes she would
always pray for me, and devote her
whole life to make me happy.
Her great black eyes bewitched me,
and l believed her. / said nothing,
but pointed to the mine. and in a mo-
ment she had fled into the dark open
ing to the gallery. i never thought f
what l was doing. / was dazed and
stood stock still, and the snow kept
falling all the time, and the night was
growing darker. / had my eyes fixed
on the entrance, and saw the figure
emerge and run toward me.
Soldier she said, you have made
me happy for life. Make yourself
happy and fly with us. Let my bro
Their pass. l will lead you and him
to a place where we will be happy to-
gether. Be good t. me-, soldier,
and l will give you all you ask from
me. l will be yours; l will live for
you and die for you
Don't smile, EScellency. I was in
toxicated with her words. / believed
her. Her arms were around my neck,
and her face was lovely as the Madon-
mas. 1 seized my rifle and flung it
with all my strength out into the snow.
She put a file into my hands and /
followed her to the gallery. There
the darkness was thicker still, but we
CROPPED u way to where a mar stood
chained to a thick wooden stanchion.
/ knew what / had to do. The man
said nothing, but the woman kissed
me-kissed me, Excellency. So / work
ed like a mailman. He was soon free.
We reached the entrance as the bar
racks clock was striking IL. There
was a whole hour yet before the guard
would be changed. We ran through
the little wood and crossed the frozen
river, and away beyond a wide. open
space, where the snow was very deem.
we entered the pine woods.
The IN knew where she was
leading us, for we came to a hut where
we found clothes and food. / buried
my uniform in the snow. All that
night we moved rapidly through the
woods, hardly speaking to one another
ut first. But the man and woman went
on in front, walking arm in arm, and
often they kissed n another, laughing
and crying in turns. When / was
close to them they sometimes spoke
French. AS soon as it was light !
never let my eyes leave her face. Her
eyes were large and dark, but her hair
was like gold, and hung down her back
wet on her black cloak"
Stand at attention. sir.' said the
president, sharply.
The prisoner stood erect again and
resumed his story.
The morning was clear and frostv.
The man had fallen several times dur
ing the night. His strength was gone.
L saw he was pale as death, and blood
oozed from his mouth. The woman
grew frantic with fear that he wouId
be caught. The man, however, could
go no further. He lay down on the
snow just as WE were leaving the
woods and coming out on the sterpe.
Thought he would have died. l took
MN In my arms and carried him yerst