The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-12-21

wife, Paraskovia Petroyna, and ami
able and prepossessing lady of 40, the
thoughts and aspirations of the ma
jority were centered upon his seven
teen-yar-old daughter Masha.
But, like many other girls of her age
and station in the Russian provinces,
Masha had been brought up on the
French novel, and was passionately in
love with a poor army officer, who
lived a few versts away from. her
fathers estates, and who Seciprocated
her love. But MaSha's parents posi-
tively objected to the match. and the
young mans welcome became cooler
every day. This, however, did not
hinder the lovers from corresponding
or from meeting frequently in the for
est. Amid romantic surroundings, with
no human being to detect OF to over
hear them, they would pledge to each
other eternal love, bewail their fate,
and devise all sorts Of schemes. Elope-
ment was, of course, proposed in due
season by the young man, and as
Masha was an ardent admirer of all
SORTS Of adventure pertaining to hero
dsm 1t more than pleased her romantic
imagination.
Inc cold winter put an end to their
secret interviews; the more volumin-
GUS, however, became their correspond
ence. Vladimir would entreat his be-
loved in every letter to intrllst her des-
tiny to him; to elope, to keep out Of
sight until the excitement should be
over, then to appear before her par
ents. who would undoubtedly become
resigned to the inevitable, to kneel
down before them and beg their for
giveness and blessing. And this, ac-
cording to his calculations, would
surely end in: Come. children. to our
embrace and be happy" All this
seemed very fascinating to Masha, and
without much meditation she consent
ed to follow the course suggested by
her lover. And the course was this:
on the day Of her departure she was
ITO decline taking her meals with her
parents at the table, pretending to suf-
fer with severe headache Thus she
would be enabled to make the neces-
sary preparations for her journey in
her room. Her servant. who was in
the secret, was to accompany her to
the garden gate, where a trOika, or
span of three horses, sent by Vladimir,
would be in waiting. They were then
to drive as fast as the horses could
carry them to the church in the village
OF Dshadrino, where Vladimir would
he sure to meet them
Vladimir had his hands full all day.
In the morning he visited the Dsha-
drlnO minister, who, after conSide1u bic
difficulty and upon receiving a hand
some deposit, consented to marry him.
Then he set out in search of the nee
essary three witnesses.
The day drew to it's close Night set
in. A strong northern wind filled the
air with burning cold. ga miatel!''
(storm Vladimir thought to himself,
as he sat in the sleigh, driving as rap
idly as his horse could carry him to
Dshadrino, where he intended to ar
rive before Masha. The road to Dsha-
drino was familiar to him, and he ex-
pected to traverse the short distance
in an hour at most. The reverse Of his
expectations, however, WAS the result.
The wind grew stronger and stronger,
eliminating soon in a raging and blind
ing snow storm. The road was swept
out Of sight, the familiar surroundings
vanished Vladimir's efforts to keep
the right track were fruitless. The
horse went on at haphazard. now as
cending a snowdrift and now falling
and upsetting the sleigh in ravine
An noun, two hours passed, but not
the slightest sign Of Dshadrino.
At last a welcome object presented
itself to his sight. It was small for
est. BLESSED be the Lord he thought
to himself. ''Dshadrino must be near"
Thus encouraged, he drove onward.
He hshed the horse; the poor animal
made an effort to move. He lashed it
again and again, but it would not trot.
Gradually, 44owever, he passed the for
est. The plain, snowy field, stretching
in the distance as far as his eye could
reach, presented itself once more to