The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-06-18

l have told thee who l am. then thou
wilt see. Hast thou heard of Vladimir
Alexandrovitch Lubanotf?" Whisper.
He starts and stares at me. ..All
Russia has heard of him." he replies.
Il am he"
AS l utter the words the Cossack
gazes at me as if l were a ghost. For
a moment he seems TO be smitten
dumb with amazement- His under lip
drops. Presently u flush Of color rushes
to his swarthy cheeks and a strange
light to his eyes. He raises his cap
and bows his head before me as if /
v5re a king.
Wonderful! Wonderful" he muir.
mus. Il believed not the rumor of
thy marvellous escape. There is truly
nothing too strange to happen in this
strangest Of worlds. Tell me about it
| pray thee
Then in low tones l relate to him
my history.
When | have come to an end he
clasps his brow with his broad fin
gers, and loses himself for full ten
minutes IN profound thought. Some
times he draws a heavy breath as one
does when encOuntering some obstacle
that must be overcome. At last he
looks up.
Il have hope" he says. .Be of
good cheer, my noble brother. LIS
ten. he bends low to my ear. '.One
OF the warders about the prison is a
friend Of mine. He is a Cossack,
though he has donned the government
uniform, and we came from the same
district. My term of Imprisonment
expires to- morrow. and if money and
old acquaintanceship fail to win him
over. | am not the son of my mother.
| know my Cossack! | will arouse in
him the slumbering lust for the wild,
Tree life of the steppes. l will make
the sight Of a uniform hateful to him
and discipline an uncomfortable yoke.
Then | will tell him Of thee. The Cos
sack loves generosity and worships
bravery, moreover: he is ever ready
for adventure. Nor is gold without
It's charms for him. and | have the
wherewith TO bride him. Only wait
patiently until we have put our heads
together and planned. And when the
time is ripe We will acti"
In spite Of my better judgement his
confidence affects me with hope.
After the impossible things that have
already happened To me. a very straw
OF hope is enough to cling to with
something Of trust. Yet / say
''Yerack, thou wilt but endanger
thyself and thy friend to no purpose.
What canst thou do? Thou canst not
save me from the midst of these men!
How were it possible even to make
the attempt surrounded as l am?
lake my advice, good friend, and
leave me to my fate.'
Never! II thou must perish I per-
ish with thee. My life belongs to
thee. Bear in mind always, after I
leave thee tomorrow. that Yerack the
tossack. who is called by his COM
rades The Fox, because OF the cum
ming Of his devices. is free and is
working in thy behalf! Remember it,
and let 1t cheer thee when things look
BLACKLIST"
Again he wrinkles his brow and
seems to think deeply with his eyes
on the ground. and again he turns to-
ward me to pour into my ear the re-
suit of his cogitations.
'1n a few hours. probably. thou
wilt be led before the project for pri-
vate examination. Encourage the
suspicion that thou art an important
political offender, then they will most
likely put thee in a private cell-or.
better still, confess at once who thou
art. and thou wilt make sure of soil
tary confinement. Under no circum-
stances canst thou gain aught but time
by withholding thy name; it must be
discovered sooner O: later"
TrO PIE CnN,rINI-En