Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-02-23

obviously impuaotble to keep any prlS-
oners here alun. the release Of the
Prince. He might be able to give the
, police information which would lead to
the discovery Of the secret prison. The
Gear would be conveyed elsewhere,
and detained in custody until he
pledged his word in the most public
way to grant our country q Constitu-
ton such as you have in England.
That is all We would not even ask
for an act Of indemnity for ourselves.
| Let them catch us afterwards If they
can"
.sro me the whole scheme seems
wholly impracticable," said, after a
pause. 'sro take part in such plot
seems like running ones head into q
noose You will have to lay hands on
the monarch in his own palace"
perhaps so. But even then the
scheme need not be wholly impractic-
able. We have no better friends any
where than in the palace of the Czar."
I scarcely knew whether to believe
this statement, but did not care to ar
que the matter further. My brain was
fatigued, as If had been hard at work
for some hours. 1 felt the need of rest,
and yet knew that could not sleep
until had at least gone some way to-
wards deciding the question that lay
before me. So 1 fortified myself with
a modest portion of Scotch" and, fill
ing my pipe, retired to the space abaft
tile wheel, and sat down to think the
matter out.
AS to the moral aspect of the ques-
ton, was not disposed to make too
much of the objection that what was
proposed was crime. was not q
Russian subject; to me the person OF
| the Russian emperor was no more So
cred than the person Of any other
man. Again, did not propose to lay
finger on His Majesty, but merely to
become an accessory after the fact, by
screening those who had carried him
off. I confess that, considering the OBJ
iect of the conspirators was simply to-
gain such degree of liberty for their
fellow countrymen as our English fore
fathers fought for, my conscience did
not regard my completely in the plot as
very serious offense. 1 often doubted
whether in the court of ethics it were
an offense at all.
The real difficulty lay in the danger,
the extreme danger of the undertaking.
cred before 1 escaped, nothing could
save my life; and of that was well
aware And as I was totally unac-
quainted with the plans by which the
Nihilists proposed to carry out the alb
duction-supposing they had any,
which l very much doubted-it was
impossible for me to gauge the extent
of the danger. For aught I knew,
might not be merely running risk,
but incurring certainty Of dying a Vi
client death at the hands of the public
eNecutioner.
That is a prospect which may we'll
make amy man pause. But, on the oth-
er side, there was the ruin which
threatened the girl loved. SO long as
her father lived she was safe. But L
could not allow her to choose between
positive restitution and marrying q
man she disliked.
Mott was impossible. had made
uD nv mind. And then I knew that
in reality it had been made up long
ago. In the depth Of my heart had
known all along that, even putting
aside the possibility of my succeeding
in the. task, accomplishing the release
of the Prince, and so winning the
Princess Irene for my bride, 1 could
not have left her to the fate Won
Mitschka had sketched out.
The moment I confessed that my
mind was made UP, my resolution was
taken, experienced a great exhilara-
ton and lightness of spirits. Solar
from the danger lettering me, actu-
ally thought Of it as an additional at
traction. I could have shouted out an
old drinking song that hummed TO
myself as went to bed.
That night I slept soundly; and IN
the morning told Won Mitschka that
I had resolved to accept the offer OF
the Committee on certain conditions.
Won Mitschka leaped to his feet, and
held out his hand, which grasped In
mine. I saw that he could not speak,
and was surprised at the emotion ne
exhibited. l had no idea that he had
so thoroughly set his heart on the sue
cess Of this plot. He wrung my
hand in silence; and when reminded
him that my consent could only be
given on certain conditions, he turned
on me with a smile, as much as to say
they would be granted at once.
"First of ALL" 1 said, II make 1t
stipulation that under no circum-
stances, and under NO excuse Of SUI
prema lex or anything else, Is personal
injury to be offered to the Car. He Is
to be we'll treated, and accorded the re-
spect due to his station"
! "Granted"
"Secondly, he is not to be detained in
custody under any circumstances for a
longer period than six months. If he
holds out that time, You must let him
60. OF course, he may be led to sup
pose that his imprisonment will last
till he yields to your demands"
Won Mitschka reflected moment,
and then he smiled and repeated,
"Granted."
"And in the third place, if do all
/ that is required Of me, and the plot
fails through no fault of mine, you
| must iberate Prince Kropenski all the
same"
/ "Granted," said the chief, for the
third time "And now" he added, ''let
me tell you that you have made a very
! bad bargain. We do not consider the
liberty of Prince Kropenski as at all Of
equal value to the great service you
| Z.