New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-07-31


thy slrSStf rearing no others, and keeping their
be men, Now begone, and tell thy master
promls.vxs thou hast seen In pit, for OF
what .n Of thy accursed breed shall ever set
dot in II again. o,,,,c tho. tho man In ,be
Now .,nn;forrn desired more ardently, now that
green ;,nss was at an end. than to get himself
bis Ps;s men out OF Dit with whole skins.
s he p 5ens able ep to do So s ss.
Sa., at the khan held but nominal
II mo over most OF the assembled tribes
HH mt after one Of the most mauvais quarts
pen 1 he had ever experienced, milder coun-
ef.n,ro,ya,led. and by one Of those strange In
ses p,SSS;es so common in the Afridi character.
e0n.."r,, men who but a short time before had
De 'c Jssmoring for his death allowed him and
~ s.~ escort TO leave. with no worse accompani-
bis s s,tan the ieers and mud flung after them
men. schjldren None the less. IL was not until
W ue many hours hard riding with their
after mon their shoulder" that they were able
n D essi themselves In comparative safety.
49,, ,ourth morning OF Major Stephanoffs
l ,s,v had come. and he was lying on his
espu, he'd listlessly smoking one OF his few re-
eair;,s cigarettes. Stephanoh was not so
mannsst as many another man would have
oon";i 10 his position. He had quickly recognized
~, no per sonal injury was intended. either to
t ~ his men: indeed his guardians had
nun "A him with a rude consideration that had
us."asuishad him. and his early sense of bitter
as.u a md disappointment had gradually merged
iase -" sort Of philosophical curiosity as to how
nv u oil going TO end due partly to his train
II va" nartly TO the vein of Oriental fatalism
ing anu in All Russians Escape he plainly saw
IAN. ',r,ncssibIe and neither threats nor brides
We, va rrHducad any effect on his jailer. thick
Ia, nao Ipvish-lO0king Afghan: nor could he ex-
~, any information from nm as TO where ne
uHe' - IN, whose orders he was detained there.
va ID 6rally made up his mind that the whole
iV VAS in some way intended as piece of
.arhoric 6iplomacy on the part OF the Khan OF
Tg, and as he lay there apparently idly watch
&C. tho sunlight streaming IN through loop
, ne b;sb IN in the wall Of his prison. his busy
NJ, was really at work trying to discover the
tpar's reason for such an act, and how he could
=, checkinate Il. when the SOUND OF 4 not very
~ 5is,ant rifle shot. followed by spluttering
,r from the roof OF his prison, suddenly set
-, nerya in his body tingling and racing with
svcitement moments GREATNESS suspense,
."noUpd by the crash Of a much nearer and
,,ojncd troops caused the delighted Russian to
oonclude that his mishap had been heard OF at
Reshat and that party had been sent thence
g. HE rescue For several maddening minutes
the unseen engagement RACED iiercely' put the
Gre from the tower gradually slackened before
,be steady section Vclleys Of the attacking force
and AT last ceased altogether Hoarseiy shouted
directions rang through the building there was
n rush of sandaed feet and swish OF long
skir,ed robes: presently one or two dropping
sbo,s rang out al some distance from the tower,
and then in the silence that ensued Stephanoff
realized the fact that his mysterious captors had
evacuated the place and taken to flight A rev
anxious moments passed. and then came the
s,eady tramp Of drilled and booted feet outside.
Some orders were given in Pushtoo by an I'M
European voice, his prison door was
wrenched OPEN and-in place Of the fellow
countrymcn the MAJOR had fondly hoped 10 De
hold lie was confronted by a sandy-haired'
youth clad in kharki UNIFORM
which the Disguised StephanOff recognized as
British and who addressed him in a tongue
which even such a master Of languages as ne al
most failed TO recognize as French-as she Is
spoke al Sandhurst.
"Fskpr vous ttes Ter trayelleur FrOngsay, ker
-ker'- Here he stopped for further inspra-
ton. and Stephanoff broke in with pleasant
smile. Excuse ne, ! speak English; but am
Russian not a Frenchman'
ooh well" rejoined the newcomer. obviously
relieved at reapsing into his native tongue,
am aWfly glad TO see you. whoever you are
Nv name is Brown, and | am in command OF
The native levy at Fort Chardagh; that's our
nearest post TO here. you know The Russian
nodded as though to affirm that he thought he
had heard vague rumOrs OF the existence oil
such a place, though as a matter OF iact Dut TWO
months before he had forwarded most accurate
sketch Of it TO the Intelligence Department at
ST. Petersburg. I'VE heard went on the I'M
blushing lieutenant that some or THESE thun-
dering thieves OF Pathans had COllared for
nigner a nd got him shut up in this old tower. so
our political officer at the fort sent me off at
)nce % try and rescue him. When did they nall
sou? -Four days ago? BY Jove! what a filthy
line you must have had Lucky for you they
lidn't cut your throat at once. Looted all your
iii. too. ] see We'll. it's a good job it's no
worse: and perhaps my fellows will catch some
d them before they get into the hills Helloi
what's this? Why they've got some Of them al
.eady. apparently" he went on. viewing with an
.ir Of intense surprise the four Turcomans or the
Russians escort who were being dragged out
d the tower by his own men.
The majors cheek Redeemed ever so slightly at
he sight but he suavely broke in ALLOW me
10 introduce myself / am Major Alexis Ste
phanoff and for some time / have been en-
ployed by my Government in botanical re-
searches in Central Asia. These men formed
the military escort without which l was not
allowed to travel. and which"-he gave depre-
catory smile-"has not proved of much use.