The times., 1898-10-23

1t is interesting to learn from st. Pc
tersburg letter that the ancient and erst-
while respectable guild of highwaymen still
fiourishes in the Caucasus, despite the III
full efforts of Cossacks and Circassians to
inaugurate a reign relative of peace in
that wild and mountainous country. The
inhabitants are resigned to their lot, how
ever, and merely shed vain tear or aim
a rifle bullet or two at the picturesquely
dressed ruffians who lift their cattle or
take their jewelry. Wearisome journeys
are also becoming less and less popular,
and long and fervent are the prayers Of
fered up at the outset as a preservative
against the dangers of the road. The
fact which has changed all this, and pro-
duced thrill of sensation Throughout,
the Caucasus, is the knowledge that the
highwaymen's life is attended with such
charms and delights as to prove attractive
to the fair and feeble sex, and even fr-
resistible TO some of its more adventur-
Gus members. This might web seem in
credible were is not that a favorabiy-
know lady named Barbara DaneIia, who
suddenly disappeared soma ten years ago
from the village of Bandza, in the govern
ment of Kntais, has now been identified
as the leader of band of the most polite,
gentle. and successful bandits who ever
turned the Cars highway into a no.
thoroughfare. The lady has, l say. been
identified. but not before law court.
for she is still very much at large. and
snaps her fingers at Cassacks govern
ments. and police, with the same conf
dence in her own good luck which has
accompanied her ever since she took to
the mountains.
mot that the course of her strange love
OF adventure has always run smooth.
barbara, who is now thirty-five years
old, and possesses a very sympathetic
face and figure, despite her calling. has
had downs as well as ups in her curious
career, some of which would keep a con-
temporary novelist employed for a twelve
month. -Four or five times, for instance
the lady was surprised or betrayed and
arrested. But her lack never left her
Once her prison door-it was a manor
house-was opened at night, if not by an
angel of the Lord, at least by a friend
of the lady, whereupon she rose up and
walked away before her accusers could
bring her to trial. Another time her
jailer set her free, and went with her
to the mountains, where he is now one
of the most fearless daredevils of her
gang The third time that Barbara found
herself in durance vile nothing happened
to held her, and she was duly sent for
trial. Her jailer would probably have
fallen in love with her had he known
that his sympathetic prisoner belonged
to the female sex. But, as Nine. Da-
nelia has Invariably worn the picturesque
costume of male Georgian ever since
she took to the hills, the janitor of the
jail entertained an angel unawareS, and
conscientiously looked after her. The
trial, therefore. duly came on. and owing
to some curious conflict of evidence Bar
bara duly got off, whereupon she re-
turned to her lawiess subjects and her
mode of life.
This curious highwaywoman is one of
the most artistic riders in a country
which has produced the best human sub
stitute for Centaurs that the world has
vet seen. She will jump anything. She is
also an excellent shot, and can hit the
edge of a Russian silver coin, smaller
than our sixpence. with rife bullet at
n distance which would make the eyes of
Bisley candidates start from their sockets
were l to mention it. The number of men,
able-bodied, strong armed men. whom Bar
bara single-handed (she loves to work
alone) stopped on the highway and robbed
is legion And, be it remembered, not
unarmed men only. Many of these lords
of creation not only possessed, but used,
their weapons, too. as certain marks on