Connecticut western news., 1895-01-24
CANAAN, CONN, THURSDAY JANUARY 24 1895.

hlm, for whom the messenger SO unac- countably delayed. He had seen Gen eral Garashinin in court from day to day, and once glance of intelligence, he persuaded himself, had passed be- tween them. Vaiyly the two warders, whose duty 1t was towatch him, sought to induce him to take rest.
 ''He may come at any moment, he kept saying to himself, land had bet ter keep awake in case of any misun- derstanding.
 His throat was parched, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, but he refused every offer of water or wine, overcome as he was with the ter rible anxiety of impending doom, an anxiety rendered all the greater by the conviction that such doom was not in- tended for him.
 At last faint grayness began to man. ifest itself through the close bars of his cell It was the light, the herald of a new day, the last for the condemned men. And now Radovitch began to ex- plain, in husky tones, that his convic- tion was all blunder. The two men looked intelligently at each other and pityingly upon the wretched prisoner, but said not word
 In few minutes all the ten were as- seInbled in the courtyard of the prison, nine of them calm and collected, for the bitterness of death was already past, one prey to mortal fear and sickening terror and evidencing it all too plainly in his trembling limbs and livid coun- tenance. In the hurried goodbys they exchanged with each other Radovitch came in for more than his share of at tention.
 Come, Dimtri,' said one, i've all owe nature death. As we'll pay 1t now as later"
 ''Cheer up, comrade," whispered an- other ''It makes these hirelings rejoice to see you afraid
 "It's all a mistake" mumbled the wketched man. Where is General Gar aslnnin?"
 ''He is never present at executions, !" replied the soldier he addressed. ''He issued his final orders last night"
 And then melancholy procession be- gan to move toward the glacis of the fortress prison. A priest led the way, holding aloft large cross before the eyes of the doomed men, who followed in single file, their ordinary dress GOV cred with a long robe of white linen, at once a covering for the living and a shroud for the dead The morning sun had not yet risen as the procession wend- ed its way slowly to the place of execu- tion, their life's. span narrowed to a few minutes and narrowing with fear ful rapidity at every step they took. At last they reached the place ap- pointed. Five stakes had been driven into the ground near the summit of the long, even slope of the rampant. To these they were bound in couples, fac ing the east, now kindling with the warm flush of the rising sun, whose coming was to be the signal for their death. Ranged in front of them, at a distance of 15 yards, was a company of soldiers with loaded rifles, whose cap- tain, standing little way apart, held in his hand white handkerchief, at whose fall 60 tongues of fire would leap forth and 60 bullets seek the hearts of the unhappy men.
 There was still time for the last scene but one in the tragedy before the sun should rise. The cross was held before the lips of each man for a final kiss in turn. Then dagger was broken over their heads by soldier detailed from the thousands drawn up to witness the vengeance of the czar. At that moment the sun seemed to bound into space, and every heart almost stopped.
 But the officer has not let the signal handkerchief fall. Instead the retreat is sounded on a score of bugles, and the troops march off the ground. The kneel- ing men were informed that the emper- or had been graciously pleased to grant them their lives. They were unbound, and, as if in dream, tried to realize all that had happened and to congratu- late one another ere the last couple had been reached. One of these had fallen forward on his face as far as his bonds permitted. It was Radovitch. ''He has fainted," said a soldier.
 Bring me some water, sharp"
 "No need to trouble" said the doc tor. who had rapidly examined him. s'He is dead The fright has killed 1 him. v
 It was too true The chief of the SC. cret police had carried out his promise only too literally. The spy had no longer any reason to fear his betrayed com rades' revenge.-London Tit-Bits.