Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-09-28
CABINETS TERROR.

II was in st. Petersburg the winter be-
fore last, and a fine life | had there.
That's the place for Il man to live. HI
winter, | do believe, | was out every night
balls, dinners, the opera, the French
theater and what not.
"Now | ought to tell you. If you weren't
in st. Petersburg that winter-that just
about that time there was u great to do
about street robberies, One fellow in par
ticular seemed to have a regular system Of
his own. He used to take u cabman and
make him drive slowly about the streets
after dark till somebody came in sight
with a specially good fur cap on, and then,
while the cabman put his horse to the gal
lop, the thief would lean forward, snatch
off the mans cap as he passed and be out
Of sight in a moment.
''However, he caught a Tartar at last,
for a man who had heard OF him went out
one night with u new fur cap tied on
tightly, ard when the thief clutched at 1t
he seized him by the wrist, whisked him
out Of the drosky on to the pavement and
gave him such Il thrashing that every limb
of his body was as soft as porridge.
but this was not all, for now there
began to get abroad tales of people who
have gone out to evening parties and had
never come home again; of cabmen with
rich furs and silks in their possession
which they couldn't account for; of bodies
discovered under the ice of the canals, and
other tales of the kind, till at last there
was q regular panic, and no lady would
stir out alone after dark.
Most of the subalterhs-and I myself
among them, | must confess-poohpoobed
the whole thing and said 1t was nothing
moro than a big hoax, got up to take in
people who knew no better, but the older
heads among us, who had seen such things
before, thought otherwise.
"Well, one night just after New Years
there was a grand fancy ball at Princess
P--'s, and some of our fellows were in.
vited, l among the number. A famous
evening we had of it, and it wasn't till 2
o~'clock-the very deadest and loneliest
time OF the whole night, in fact-that l
started to go home.
''Now, l should tell you that as my
luck would have 1t l had just bought q
new fur coat the day before.
"But unluckily other people have eyes
for good fur as well as oneself, and the
moment my cabman got his eyes upon
this new fur coat Of mine-worth $50
rubles good If it was worth q kopeck-I
saw them glitter like fire.
There were two ways to get to my
quarters-one rather long, but passing
through well frequented streets, the other
somewhat shorter, but going past one of
the great burial grounds, through the very
lonelicst part of the whole town. l took
it for granted that my driver would go by
the f%requented way, and, being rather tired
with having been on my feet all night, l
fell asleep before I could see whether he
did or not.
%"Suddcnly he stopped and woke me
Whatever do you mean9' asked l, pre-
tending to be very frightened.
"'Get out, said he, this minutel And
he jumps off the box and catches hold Of
me.
Nov, before l go any further l must
tell you the character l had assumed that
night was that of a demon-horns, tail,
black face, fiery eyes and all-and really l
looked a very grisly object.
"Well, when the fellow caught hold Of
me l scrambled out Of the sledge In q
helpless kind of way, as if l were fright
ened out Of my wits. He seized my coat
by the collar and threw it open, my cap
falling off at the same time, and there l
stood revealed in all my ~terrors, as grim a
demon as ever breathed fire, with a face as
black as ink and eyes flaming like live
Goals.
1--WE seen men frightened in my time,
but never anything like that fellow! For
a moment he stood like a statue, with his
eyes starting out of his head, and then he
gave a yell that might have been heard a
mile off and fell fiat on his face as If he
were killed, and l sat down on the rim Of
the sledge and laughed till every grave in
the churchyard ha had in answer.
However, l had something more to do
than sit there laughing, SO as soon as l got
my breath again I bundled the fellow neck
and crop into the sledge, got OH to the box
myself and drove as hard as l could pelt
to the nearest police station. When l got
there in my diabolical guise, l created al-
most as great a sensation as l had done
with my friend the cabman, but the whole
business was soon explained, and when
they heard the story there was such a laugh
that 1t almost tore the roof of. ,
II didn't want to be hard upon the poor
chap after the fright l had given him, but
the inspector said that now the thing had
got to such o height an example must be
made and he would see that the fellow
got his deserts, and so he did too; but
from that night forward our officers never
called me anything else but IzvoshtchikOf
Strakh 1.-THE cabman s ~terror), and l haven't
got rid of the name yet. London News.