Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1899-02-16

having cone here on the faith OF my
promise, it seems TO me that 1t must be
kept
This Is madness.' exclaimed the
Ihir CO, ~passionately. ''To let an abb
surd scruple cf that kind interfere
with your plain duty. You would not
condemn me to live out the rest OF my
life herc?'
mo. Prince. / hope II will not come
TO that. There is n chance, though a
faint one, that | may be able to- get the
Committee of Public safety. as they
choose TO be called. TO release you OF
their own accord. There is a certain
service they want ne to undertake for
them. What ii is | do not know; and,
therefore, ! do not know whether IL
will be possible for me to attempt it.
SO, I.would advise you not to build too
many hopes on the chance of my being
able to do ii. Still, there is a chance.
1t is not quite hopeless.
At firsf the ey IS OF the Prince fairly
darced with joy. Then, as he contin-
ued to hang upon my words, and I
warned him that the service required
of me might turn out to be one that |
could no or would rot perform. n fook
Of extreme anxiety came into his face.
'Rut you will 10 1t, Mr.. Heath. won't
YOU" he cried, eagerly Selling n,e by
the arm. There can't be much danger
in doing 1t, whatever Ii Is. And You
are an Englishman-you are not afraid
of danger. Only say that you will do
what they want of you, onl get me ont
of this foul den, and | will give you
any sum Of money that YOU like 10
name-anything in reason, that Is.
You will consent? I am sure you will!''
The mans selfishness Disguised me.
and | answered, coldly that, until /
knew what the service required of ME
was, | could not possibly pledge my
self to perform 1t. IF it were to COM
NIT a murder. you would tot expect
me to do thatg' l added. with a smile.
wei, no, | suppose not. And yet,
there a great many men in the Cars
service who would not be much missed.
Something would depend upon the per-
son In such a case. wouldn't ", Mr..
Health And then, it could hardly be
called murder. you know, being done
for so good an object. l am sure that,
under the circumstances, when l come
to explain all the points involved to
His Majesty, he would pardon you.
ever supposing that the thing leaked
out: for there are many men of rank
and influence here. and, of course. /
could inform the police and get them
all rescued, IL | were once at liberty.
SO, I don't think you need be too scru-
pulous about falling in with the views
Of those scoundrels. And, remember,
the reward would be enormousw
~ fItInr., xx,aC N ,afx ~ ,.a ~ a,.in ui mo- 1nd
patronage in the of this proud
man, as he feebly tried to extract a
promise from me that / would do what
vas necessary for his release at all
costs 10 myself, and at any sacrifice of
principle or morality, chat disgusted
me even more than his u%nblushing self
ishncss. 1t was with the greatest diff
ficulty that | could conceal my y
tempt for him. For answer, / could
only repeat what / had said before.
Besides" l added. "on the way here
we were kept sailing about SO long
that. as / was prevented from looking
at the compass, and had no idea OF the
distance we covered, i could not posi-
bly, give directions from which anyone
could make out the position of this ISL
and On the map"
ut Is an island, then? I thought sou
I heard the Prince say to himself in a
low tone: and | saw that l had been
i~ndiscreet.
How was@it that you came to md
out what had become of me? And why
did you not give information to the POI
lice at oncey' asked the Prince, abb
ruptly.
I explained that | had gone TO st.
Petersburg to make inquiries ON be-
half of Princess K%ropenski, and that,
accidentally, meeting a friend there. L
had gained through him positive in
formation that he was a prisoner IN
the hands Of the Nihilists. n finally
obtained permission to visit him, on
condition of giving a solemn promise
Of secrecy
"By the way. how is the Princessy'
he asked. 1t was the first time her
name had been mentioned between us.
j answered. that she was I'm her usu-
al state of health. but. Of course, suf-
fering from anxiety on his account.
The Prince listened with an absent
expression, as though he were think
ing of something OF the greatest mo-
ment.
WI ycu tdii a. itttti itOhi ht ~
he::" he asked. 1T shall be a mere
note bIt 1t concerns important family
matters so that. even II l had the OPP
perjury, l could not intrust it to a
stranger. i know 1t would be abso-
lutely safe in your hands"
II think l ~cas,.promise to carry the
note for YOU" | answered. after think
ing a moment. but 1t must deal only
with private family matters, and there
must be nothing in 1t that would give
a hint as to where you are, or what has
happened to you. 1t will be enough to
say that you are: well and hope TO re-
join her soon.."
"Oh. that is quite understood. | will
be discretion itself" said the Prince.
There was a small table in a corner
of the cell. which held writing materl
ais. as well as two on three hooks. In
five minutes the Prince had written
his letter and handed it to me. 1t was
addressed + the Princess Kropenski,
and sealed with q morsel OF gummed
paper. which appeared TO have been
torn from an old envelope.
Scarcely had I put the missive In my
breast pocket when the door Of the cell