Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1894-01-12

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 cruel, an
awful shame to make him suffer for no
fault If hi u Il VilllinoIlS thing 10 do.
NJ, hang II, | cant bring myself IL play
THIS trcdcicrou- part. must think of it.
i
But ynu are certain that his life will not
be taken"
~, certain rs am that the sun will rise
tomorrow. But 10 HIM freedom -
hey VII not keep linn prisoner for
ever" | Interrupted again.
NO" lie said, with a smile. But" he
added eravely, he may be kept prisoner
! for months"
"Months!' exclaimed, astonished by the
/ lightness of the penalty.
/ Possibly" He seemed to misinterpret
my surprise. ''On the other hand, he may
/ be set at liberty in few weeks. 1t all de-
| ponds 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
nothing
TO you"
! "Or to him. \ man with half his kind
ness would undergo mat cheerfully to save
his friend. Gordon will agree to it him
self, l know"
Il believe he would if we could make
him a party to the scheme. Unfortunate
| ~ we cannot He is the worst actor in the
y; 4 -
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 Kavanagh's
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, 1t is, and cannot understand why
you hold back"
There are good many things that wom-
en- do not understand, and honor between
friends is one Of them, fear. And 1t 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 that this affair dooms me to per
petual exile, II not to death"
YES. forgot that. l understand now.
But surely the society will forgive you
everything for having saved Taras"
| He shook his head mournfully.
1.-THE society is governed by hard and fast
rules and permits no member to do harm
for the sake Of the good 1t may produce.
Besides" he added quickly to avoid criti-
cism of this very antinihilistic principle,
they will certainly regard this as an expe-
dent to escape the penalty Of previous acts.
1t Is useless to cheat myself with false
hopes II we carry out this scheme, must
prepare to fly the country the day that Cor
don returns"
We both sat silent for little time, feel
ing that the sacrifice could only be made by
free will
Zone thing" said Kavanagh at length in
lighter tone-"one thing that pleases me
in this idea is that 1t would completely
crush the enemy. When Gordon came
back and made his experiences public, there
would be such a blaze up in the papers that
the Russian government would not dare to
make any further attempt to kidnap Taras;
Rudersdorf, for permitting himself to be
cheated, would probably be awarded life
long post at Archangel as a reward for his
services, and Taras would be suffered to
live in peace"
THAT is worth great sacrifice" said.
"Yes, will think of 1t. Come, 1t is time
to return"
On our way back he said:
II am glad have talked it out with you.
One sees things so much more clearly by
the light another mind throws on them"
And as the brougham stopped before the
door he said:
II shall have made up my mind by to-
morrow, and you shall know the result"
Fervently prayed that he might decide
to carry out his design, and this probably
was the wish he had taken so much pains
to inspire.