The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-26
PART I.


If there was man in the whole Of st.
Petersburg who had never excited the
smallest suspicion In the minds OF the
secret police 1t was Alexander Chance.
Englishman and physician. At one
time he had practiced amOngs- his fell
low-countrymen in the city, but for
several years now he had resigned all
the more usual work of his profession,
and lived a retired life In large ana
stately house on the Ligovka canal.
The fact of his having such house
with a commodious garden attached
proved his wealth, otherwise he lived
in very simple and retired manner.
He was a man of between fifty ana SIX
ty years of age, thin in appearance,
and somewhat ascetic looking. lie had
an aquiline nose, piercing but small
dark eyes, and full. broad eXpanse OF
forehead In stature he was slightly
above the middle height. His manner
was courteous, polite, refined, and quite
unapproachable He was spoken Of as
a man of iron will and undoubtcd abil-
fly. Society, however-the brilliant so
ciety of st. Petersburg-saw little or
nothing of him-he spent almost the
whole of his time within his house, or
attached to the house He had wife
and two daughters His wife was of
partly Russian, partly German eNtrac-
ton. The girls at the time of this
story We're sixteen and fifteen years of
age respectively. 1t was their fathers
wish to have them brought up in the
English fashion, and for this purpose
he generally hal English 2ovcrnesses
to teach them. BY his fellow physi-
clans DR.. Chance was regarded as a
clever man whose whim it was to de-
vote his time to the practice Of the
more obscure branches of the profes-
sion. His friends spoke o. him as a
good fellow, reserved, and almost a
crank, for surely no one else with so
much wealth would take suca small
enjoyment out of life.
1t was early in the spring of 1895 that
all previous conjectures with regard to
AleXande| Chance were oVerthrOwn.
In a city where terrible things are
done, and those who are prudent think
II best to be silert about them, his
name attained a brief and startling no
toriety For shCrt time it was in ev-
eryone'j mouth. The following story
told by one of his victims will explain
why:
TOLD BY MADELINE RENNICK.
When decided to accept the offer of
a situation as governess in a Russian
family, / bought, amongst other things,
a small silver mounted revolver and
fifty cartridges. l do not really know
what prompted me to make this pur-
chase, but 1 had a certain sense of
pleasure in spending Il couple of SOW
ereigns upon it, and / slowed my re-
volver carefully away in the very bot
tom of one Of my largest trunks.
Before proceeding to tell this story l
had better say one or two words
about myself. My name is Madeline
Rennick; l am an orphan and have no
near relations. When DIR. Chance Of
fered me hundred pounds per annum
to educate his two daughters, 1 de-
termined to accept the situation with
out a moments hesitation. l bade my
friends adieu and reached st. Peters,
burg without any sort oc adventure.
DR.. Chance met me at the station. He
was a somewhat handsome, but near
sighted man on quite the shady side
of fifty. He was coldly polite to me,
gave directions about my luggage, and
took me straight to his house on the
Ligovka canal. There I was received
by Mrs. Chance, a lady in every respect
the antipodes of her husband. She had
a roly-poly figure, a round, moon
shaped face, small, pale blue eyes, and
a curious and yet thoroughly unsym-
pathetic manner My pupils were rath-
er pretty girls, the elder was tall, and
had the dark eyes of her father-she
had fine, open expression; her name
was Olga. The younger was dark and
small in stature, with a .piquant and
pretty face; she was called Maroussa.
The girls could talk English tolerably
well, and the warmth of their greet
ing made uD for their mothers indif-
ference. ] began my duties on the