Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-12-29

The White Fox Again.

For some minutes after Raoul ceased
speaking | sat dumb. vas more thah
amazed, was COMPOUNDED at the au-
dacity of this new plot against the es-
tablished order of things in Russia.
was astonished at the resources, both
of intrigue and of material things
command Of mel and of money-which
the carving out OF such schemes in
yclved, And / was horror-struck 70
think that a fate so awful should have
oyertaken one whom | had little rea-
sen TO regret. indeed. yet one whose
bread | had eaten for months. one with
whom / had been brought into famii-
lar, almost into daily, contact.
True. in a sense, he had deserved u ;
fate. OF that | felt pretty well as
sured. But that made it none the less
terrible. And the poor Princess, ms
wife, And Irene, What was 10 pc
come of them? Were they ever TO
know what had happened to usbah
and father? How could | summon UP
courage 10 tell tLem what | had Just
heard? And what good end could De
served by my doing so?
/ saw, too, that, in more ways th@n
one. the new policy was more TO nc
feared by the despotic rulers OF Russ u
than the policy of assassination which
ii had superseded. The oGium attached
to murder would be avoided. A rude
form Of justice. sufficient TO satisfy a
public conscience already d~ebauched
by legal injustice, would be apparent
in the device of intiicting upon the
agents of a rigid and cruel despotism
the very fate-imprisonment for an
unknown period without trial-which
they themselves had inflicted upon 9th
ers.
Ard there could not be a doubt that
the fear of this strange fate would eX-
ert a far more terrifying influence upon
governors Of provinces and of prisons,
heads of the police, officials of all class
es, than the mere fear of assassination,
The officials Of Russia, civil and mill
tary alike. are no towards; and they
might be supposed 10 meet the bullet or
bomb of the assassin as they would
meet the bayonets or bullets of an open
enemy.
But what man would not feel his
blood run chill TO be told that he was
TO follow in the footsteps of N who
had vanished from the green earth like
a ghost, without leaving as much as a
footprint to tell where he had gone?
The mind of the successor Of n who
had fallen a victim TO the Black Terror
must always be on the stretch-always
eagerly and nervously watching for
some sign OF the fate that was about to
overtake him, and wondering, with
now and then a sickening dread, what
yaunnnp Of fnfn that would No
The cruelties and the brutal neglect
of the man who had vanished would
be remembered. and the question would
force itself ON mems minds: Was he
now suffering such things himself? 1t
would take n bold man. it seemed 10
me, to risk drawing down on himself
the attention of the conspirators until
ii was at last known what had become
of their victims.
All this passed through my mind with
the rapidity OF lightning, and yet it
seemed a lcrg tine before Raoul broke
the silence with:
II see you do not disapproye of our
methodist
/ stared at him.
"You are quite wrong" / said, cold
ly.
He laughed, and said:
'Come, now, confess that, as you
English say, the disappearance of the
Prince suits your book down TO the
ground"
81 don't know what you meant /
cried, and ] knew that my face was
aflame, though my chief feeling was
one of establishment.
"Really-you don't know what /
mean!' exclaimed my friend, with a
laugh. ut never occurred to you that
IL you succeeded IN penetrating the
mystery that envelops the fate of the
Prince, and eventually restored him to
the arms of his family, you would es-
tablish the very strongest claims upon
the house of Kropenski? And yet,
have been told that the Princess Irene
is a lovely girlr'
Unpleasant as Ii was to hear my day
dreams, my hopes as yet too dim, too
presumptuous, TO be whispered even in
the solitude of my own chamber, thus
pilloried and insulteG, / had sense
enough TO keep command of my tenn
per, n burst into what seemed, |
hope, a hearty laugh ut Raoul's chaff.
| had the satisfaction Of seeing that
my manner, apparently free from any
thing like sensttiyeness on the subject,
somewhat disconnected him.
But you do want to know what has
become of the Prince?'' he asked.
Certainly i do; and | am sure the
Princess would pay handsomely for
any intelligence
| stopped in some confusion. for the
look on Raoul's face was an ugly a one
as had ever seer on the face Of o
man.
Don't misunderstood mel" l cried
Il only meant that perhaps the ON.
mittee would be willing to tell, for a
consideration, what had become of the
Prince, or perhaps, allow bis family tc
ransom him. never for a moment in
tended to hint that you were carable
TOT betrnying for money any secreti
that had been entrusted to YOU"
You little know what manne OF
men the members OF the Commits ara.'
said Raoul, coldly,' IF you think they
would sell any information, or parl
with II of their prisoners, for an,
consideration whatever" .
! replied that II was far from my
wish TO insult either Raoul or his
friends, and / had scarcely succeeded
In restoring him to his usual good ten,
per when the door opened, and a MAJ
dressed as a monjik entered.