Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-12-15

. THE BLACK TERROR )
: a Romance Of Russia. Z
O Dy JOHN TX. LEYs. *
O *
O o 0 0 0 o o 0 Q o 0 0 0 o J
nArrE III. ocontinued)
Dy JOHN X. LEYS.

CHAPTER II. tContinurd)
"By descent | am; but 10y birth ] am n
subject OF the Gar. and | am as much
n Russian by education and sympathy
as any moujik in the land. Understand
me. Ii is not merely. Or chiefly. thai
VIC demand 4 share in legislation IN
my opinion. Il despotic form OF govern
ment does not i'm Itself Justify reyolu-
ton. But we ask The rights OF free
men. We say that 40 nan should la
BILE to he tried. sentenced and eXiled By
n secret tribunal. Administrative or
ders, under which no mans liberty Is
safe. should be abolished. More than
that-wc demand the blessings of elu-
cation for the peasant ms well ms ior
the shopkecpcr or the professional
classes. We claim the right 10 travel
when and where we choose. We insist
that we ourselves. families and our
property. shall be beyond the reach OF
an arbitrary decree of the Car. Until
that is gained. we are. as / have said.
slaves-slaves. for the most part. alas!
contented TO be in chainsi'
IF the people don't want the bless
ings OF freedom, | don't see how YOU
are going TO force them TO strike a
blow 10 gain them" | observed.
Exactly. But Is Ii Just that all
should be enslaved because the major
ity care nothing for freedom? Besides.
yeu cannot really suppose that Russia
can long remain i'm the state of semi
barbarism she Is in now. 1t is impos-
siblc. The law Of change, OF passing
TO n higher. wider life. is the law Of
humanity. Sooner or later 1T u he
obeyed. But II will make a vast diff
ference whether the change. when it
comes, finds our people in some meas
ure prepared for liberty or not. II the
people are first OF all taught that they
are men, and not brute beasts: II they
are taught lessons of justice. OF gener-
osi;y, or fidelity. they may use the pow
err we'll when ii comes to them. But il
n0t-Good heavens! Taink of it, Think
OF n hundred million slaves suddenly
awaking TO the knowledge that the
power Is In their own hands-that the
men who are Sent to shoot them down
are their brothers-that all the power
Ia in their h~ands--that the mere weight
OF their numbers is enough to crush
their enemies to the carth--I say. think
VI lii tilltt fttA ttlS Eltuts pAp
pie realizes these things. and stands mp
TO take vengeance for centuries OF
wroaGi
II tell you. the scenes of the French
Revolution. dreadful as they We're.
would be multiplied a hundred, n thou
sand times, till Mat has been deemed
one OF the most awfui vr.sSsfss in the
worlds history would seem trivial by
comparison. IL Is precisely to save
Russia from such n catastrophe that
we labor, without thanks from noble or
peasant. without reward, or hope OF re
ward always in peril. often risking
our lives. We labor to spread the
ability to read-that first great step in
intellectual development-over the
length and breadth Of Russia. That
alone Is enough to earn us the bitter
ill-will of the Government, and of all
who arc interested in keeping the peo-
pie in their present ignorance. Then
we preach TO them-nOt socialism. still
less atheism. MS our enemies declare;
but the right of every mai TO be his
own master. to have only written. 'iefi-
mite laws to obey. and to be no longer
the mere slave OF the local tax-gather-
or. Our organization already embraces
a large part OF the country. and-yes!
there is little wonder that the govern
ment OF the Gar hates and fears US"
"And these assassinntions- they are
quite things of the past. l supposeY'
$40 be frank with you, | will cot
quite say that replied Won Mitschka,
after a pause. where there have been
great expressions. horrible cruclties. ii
NAV be our duty to show the tyrants.
by the only means in our power. that
they cannot outrage the laws OF God
and Nature with impunity. But at
tempts on the lives OF persons in high
station. simply because of the position
they occupy. we hold to be not only
crimes MS we'll"
81 am glad to hear you say that" |
returned. rising as | spoke from the log
ON which ! had been sitting; 'but 1t is
time that I left you. for
The words seemed To freeze on nv
lips. for at that moment we both heard
n low. balf-stjlcd cough close by In the
darkness! Our conversation had been
overheard: aud what was meant for
my companion. IL not for myself, l
could only guess.
I stood stock still, but could hear
that Won Mitschka was creeping, with
cat-like tread, in the direction from
which the faint sound had come.
He had gone but q few feet when he
stopped short. There was a move
ment among the timber. n shout. and
then the loud crack of a revolver rang
In my startled ears.