Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-02-02
CHATTER XNNIV.
We MAKE OUR LsCAPE.


said |, hut lot at all in atone OF misgiving.
CHAPTER XNNIV
We MAKE OH. LsCAPE.
1t was getting dark when we overlook
train IF miserable convicis marching with
clanking chains along the road. About an
hour later we reached the etape, where we
were To stay for the night.
! had heard much of the horrors of these
, stations and the loathscme "kameras." or
sleeping places. in which the couvicts were
| hcrt!e!, and had seen them in the coliec-
! TONS of paintings ,%hibitcd by Taras. |
WI, til, ruiure ;Istonishei to find the log
! hut Ill which | passed the night so decent
and habitabe. 1t was not oyercrowded.
There was rough carpet on the floor. and
the only real hardship was the absence of
bed and bedding, for we had to sleep on
sloping board and in our clothes.
was much better off than my compan-
ion, who was thrust into a den built to &C
commodate go prisoners, with no less than
40 criminals of all sorts, and the horrors
Of that night We're more, believe, than he
| could make light of, for he was extremely
reticent upon the subject. All that he told
me was that he had found no room to lie
down and had breathed little atmos-
phere of his own by smoking all night.
However," he said cheerfully, that's
all past. and l shall make up for sleep
less night by good long snooze this after
nood-if we don't come to the end of our
journey before"
We went on by another mail sledge, but
| with the same guard who had left St.
Petersburg with US.
These two Cossacks never left us through
out our long journey, which continued
| without any break, save the nightly halt
at convict station, for three weeks after
| we had passed through Moscow Soon
after leaving that city behind US noticed
a change in poor Gordon. His spirits
seemed to be losing their elasticity, his
gayety to be little forced, his pipe more
necessary.
! But despite the bitter reflections that
| must have arisen to his mind his attitude
toward me displayed no sign Of luminosity.
There was no lapse in his gentleness and
tender consideration for my comfort. His
kindness was unvarying. Our common
misfortune, which thought would imbit-
ter our hearts, served only as link OF
sympathy to hold us together
Gordon still spoke hopefully. though at
rare and rarer intervals, of our being re-
called to st. Petersburg, but for my part
had quite abandoned the hope Of any revo-
| cation OF our fate when an accident &C.
Cured which gave new turn to our for
| tunes.
One night l was awakened by a strange
outcry of distant voices. AS turned upon
the wooden platform that served as my
sleeping place, the woman next to me. who
had already sprung up, cried:
Holy God, we are on firel'
At that cry all Of us slipped to the ground
in moment. with mingled EXPLANATIONS
Of dismay.
The kamera was full Of smoke-it choked
us as We breathed-and through the one
small easement dull red glow fell upon
us. When we perceived that it was not
our kamera, but another, which was in
flames, we concluded that it must be the one
in which the men were confined, and shrek
ing the names of our friends we rushed at
the door. vainly trying to break it open.
The muff1ed clamor Of voices told us that
the men were still shut up. Suddenly there
was great outburst of voices as they forced
their door. and the next instant they were
crying to us from the outside Of our hut
and beating furiously at the door which
separated us. We stood back as the heavy
panels creaked under the pressure of sturdy
shoulders. and presently a mighty thrust
] burst the lock away, and the door few back.
In the midst of the wild confusion that
followed felt my arm grasped and found
Gordon by my side.
"Come along, little woman Don't give
way; there's a brick-it's all right"
Half fainting with fright and the suf-
locating effect Of the dense smoke blowing
down upon us. staggered along by his
side. past a crowd of panic stricken
wretches surging about the gate Of the
yard in expectation of its being opened for
them to escape. and then through shower
Of sparks and past roaring and cracking
mass Of fire into an open space, where it
was possible to breathe freely and get Q
comprehensive idea Of what was going on.
This etape. like most others, consisted Of
four or Eve log buildings Of a single story.
Enclosed by a high palisade of solid logs,
planted side by side. and each cut to sharp
point at the top. One OF the buildings,
used as q storehouse and carpenters shop,
had taken fire, and the wind, which was
blowing f1ercely. carried the flames and
smoke down upon the kamera- The end
Of that one in which Gordon had been shut
up was already blazing. and it looked as II
all the huts In succession must catch fire
and be destroyed. for the officials could do
solely occupied in dragging what movables
were worth saving into the space where we
and . few others stood.
Just In front Of us was On ugly little man
with red beard. A sarlonic grin was on
his impish face.
Look at them" he said. pointing to q
party Of warders hauling along Q cum
brous piece Of furniture. HALF q dozen
men choking themselves to save q piece of
wood not worth a couple Of kopecks. and
not one will stir foot to prevent those
poor wretched devils trampling each other
to death at the locked gate"
us there any danger herew asked. He
turned around and answered bitterly:
Eyes; there's the danger of living to see
the mines OF Kara or any other pit OF
Tophet that our holy car In his mercy con-
signs us to-"
Shading his eyes from the glare Of the
flames and looking into the smoke. he
said:
III those fools. instead of pounding each
other into . jelly. would only pile them
selves into a heap systematically, there
would be chance for some Of us to snatch
q few days respite in the forest. Hellor
he exclaimed as q lull came in the conflict
Of screams and curses. They're not such
fools after all; they've got the gate on Its
hinges-I'm OFF, And with that he dis
appeared into the smoke.
The wardens also discovered what had
happened Half q dozen ran across to q
shed and returned with rifles In their hands.
The noise at the gates was over now. The
cracking Of timber. the soft whirl of
rising flame. an occasional thud as a beam
fell-these were the only sounds that
reached us for a minute or two. Then q
shot was fired. and another and another
half a dozen shots perhaps. and two or
three yells answered for echo.
~
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