The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-11-01


with their scarlet fezzes, and Jews
from Podolia.
little apart from the rest stood two
youthful figures with haggard faces in
whom we find it difficult to recognize
Maurice Hammond and Philip Danvers.
Partly by rail, partly by water, they
had journeyed, with many delays, along
the vast exile route.
Passing through the great fair city of
Mini Novgorod, the populous towns of
Kazan and Perm, they crossed the
ireary range of the Ural mountains,
passed the boundary line between Rus
STA and Siberia, and now, broken by
hardship and suffering, still ignorant of
their destination, they had reached
Tiumen, 1,700 miles from st. Peters
burg.
The past seems almost dream. Hope
sas fed long ago, and they have learn
'd to suffer in silence, thankful at least
hat they have not been separated from
zach other.
In tbsir character of political prison
ers they have been treated with some
slight consideration, to distinguish them
from the coarser class of criminals, but
all attempts to obtain audience with
any officials, in hope of convincing them
of the fearful mistake that has been
made, have been fruitless
Vladimir Saradoff's triumph is COM
plete. The net is woven tightly about
his victims, and there is no escape from
the living death to which he has con-
signed them.
Come on; they are going now," said
Maurice, and as he spoke connection
was visible among the exiles, and the
commanding officer shouted:
Forward, now! Get on boardv'
In groups of twos and threes the
wretched prisoners filed down the plat
form past the armed guards, who stood
30 feet apart, and crossed the floating
wharf to the barge.
This vessel was about 100 feet long.
At each extremity was built deck
house painted yellow, and the space be-
tween these was rooted over with tim
Der and faced with heavy wire screens.
In these pens the prisoners were placed.
Beneath the deck were dark, gloomy
holes, with tiers of narrow hunks,
where they were to sleep.
The boys sat down on the bare floor
in one corner of the pen and watched
for an hour or two the strange scene
that was taking place before them.
The prisoners, crowding up against
the screen, were carrying on a brisk
business with the peddlers and peasant
women who had come on board the
barge with bread, cakes, sailed cucum-
bers, strings of dried mushrooms and
fish pies.
The chatting and buying kept up
briskly until little past noon.
Then a steamer backed up to the YES
sci, with great blowing Of whistles, and
in few moments the convict barge
was speeding through the black current
of the river on its long voyage to Tomsk.
1t was evident that Captain Sasha,
the commandant of the Moscow prison,
had received special instructions con-
corning the two boys. They were guard
ed more closely, it is true, than the
common prisoners, but as yet they hao
not suffered the indignity OF being
chained, and they were supplied with
reasonably good food.
Moreover, although they did not
know it themselves, they were being
transported across Siberia with rapid
ity that is seldom granted to Russian
exiles. Instead of marching hundreds
of miles OH foot, they had journeyed en-
tirely by rail and by water.
With their fellow passengers they hat
little or nothing to do. They were al
low grade convicts-thieves, murderers
bandits-a fact which Maurice was no
slow to recognize.
I'm the past two months the boys hat
picked up slight smattering OF thu
Russian language and were now able u
understand the commands of the sol
diers and officers.
Day after day the barge moved slowl.
on its course, first up the sluggish cur
rent of the river Tobol and then dow
the more impetuous waters OF the I'd.
For hours at time the boys gaze'
YEARLY on the ever changing landscape
the forest clad hills and mountains, tn
pretty villages with their golden spires
and the waving fields of grain, for sue
was Siberian scenery at this season Q
the year. This vast continent is not al
WAYS the barren, snow clad desert tina
many believe it to be perpetually.
Among their fellow prisoners Tn
bows had made one acquaintance,
' middle aged Russian, who appeared
be of higher class than his associates
though he possessed cast OF feature
by no means prepossessing. he ha
scraped acquaintance with Maurice o
addressing him in French, languag
which the lad happened to have at
quired at college, and in his delight 9
finding some one from whom ne coui
obtain information Maurice gladly ove'
looked all other considerations.
The Russians name was Grodno, an
he very freely confessed to Maurice TIT
his offense was smuggling contraban
goods over the Russian border.
If he expected like return OF conf
dence, he was disappointed, for Mat
l. IN caa