The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-12-15
THE LIEUTENANT'S FATE.
TFrom the Cornhin Magazine


1.-THE third time I laid out the cards. :"
said the lieutenant exactly the same
thing happened again; the queen of
! hearts at the top, meaning love, the king
of clubs to the right of her, showing he
roic character. and the seven Of spades
in the last three, showing that the sign
was to be fulfilled Immediately. .
/ I had always hoped that / shouldn't
4 marry heroine;I can't stand your mas
culine women" He sighed with Slavon-
| ic resignation and added, tsRoku ne
/ minovat," which is Russian for Kismet.
/ pitied him from the bottom of my
| heart, and was glad that the cards had
no such power over destiny in England
as they have in Russia
We We're marching along the white
road under Kislovodsk, down into the
/ green valley of the Terek. I with my
! wanderers wardrobe and sketching
pack slung over my shoulders. The six
! soldiers of the 1ieute34sant's detachment
! tramped behind US, softly singing; the
/ big corporal was taking his turn as So
/ loist, the five privates joining in with
monotonouS "Ay lulf, lulf,' at the end
of each line The shadows of the hills
were creeping slowly up to the white
top of Mount Elbruz, which faced us inn
! perturbably over velvet forests from the
/ distance.
The lieutenant's orders were TO reach
| Colonel Orsha's house. on the lower
! slopes of the Okova, by nightfall, and
mold 1t against the rebeIlious ChechenS;
and |, the peaceful landscape painter,
mad been swept away protesting in the
current or his march. Sketching un brel-
la and all, from my roadside attitude of
artistic unconcern with the quarreis
of governments and subjects
The trouble between the trfbesmen
and the Russians had arisen from the
inveterate incompatibility of their ideas
as to the right method of acquiring pro-
f perty in horses. Arak, son of the pow
erful chieftain FeraZ, was to be married
! to Bella of Sizi-aul; and by way of
/ kolym or dOwry, the bridegroom was to
/ present Bela's father with 20 mountain
/ horses F'eraz had no horses to spare.
/ What Chechen has? They must be got.
But in matters of hprsef1esh a Chechen-
ian aristocrat cannot stoop to the sordid
methods of purchase; nor would a Che
/ chenian bridegroom be respected by a
| wife who could say to him: He bought
/ horse Therefore father and son raid
/ ed the war Office pastures. A alireling
! Waterman betrayed them; orders were
! issued Tor their arrest, and six villages
/ went on the warpath for the honor OF
! the tribal custom. It was plain that the
I tribesmen would try to hold the Okova
range, as they had done in '93; the bust
ness OF the heutenant'S regiment was to
/ anticipate them and Colonel Orsha'
mouse was one of the first positions to
! be occupied, for it commanded access to
the hills from the Tereix side.
! The lieutenant and I stopped at the
divide and waited for the soldiers 10
come up.
Which is the way. Pavel?" asked my
/ Up here, replied the giant. pointing
! to a narrow path which wound its way
up among the fir trees to our right.
Lead the way said the lieutenant
and the corporal Joined US in the front
He willingly impaired his large
4 knowledge of the people and places
about US He told US of the exploits of
/ Colonel Orsha. against the aillrren in tl,a
/ days before he lost his right leg in an
au1 of the Gruzians
The apple lies near the apple tree. as
the saving is, masters; like father, like
daughter Narvara Petrovna's a fine
lass, tall and strong, and as bold as a
llon When the Gruzians broke into the
empty barracks that day and the stable
men fed to their stalls, she faced the
Iepers hke man and rated them for
their cowardice till they skunk awav
from before her with their tails between
B f3lgir I leg t,.daa -, a fine lass!
/ enlng when you see her. A heroine she
IS! Every one says so; a true heroine,
/ me lieutenant and I eyed each other
with wild surmise." Were the cards
true prophets?
Half an hours climbing brought us to
Coio1sl OrshaS house,a low white build
ing on a rocky promontory. Passing the
! wall Which cut off the prOuontorx froy,
the hillside, we stepped on 10 q fresh
/ green lawn running up to the house
/ from the rocks to the right dubbed a
sprlng, whose waters ran in a little
StFeafn across the lawn and flashed
down the sheer hillside to the left. Re
4 yond the stream stood a girl=a little
! slender figure clad in pink and TONED nv
7 broad straw tShe was feeding a flock
| or white Caucasian pigeons: some yrars
picking the bread crumbs from the
! grass at her feet. others were pojsad in
the air waiting for a morsel to be
/ thrown them, and one was seated on her
/ arm helping himself from the Mate
| which she held in her hand Her back
| was turned to US, and she did not notice
our approach but as we stenned on To
| blanks which
| the pigeons flew up into the cedars.# and
she turned toward us-a bright oval
lace, with loose brown hair shading the
/ soft eyes. Her lips quivered in SURPRISE
at the sudden apparition of the armed
/ band.
Forgive our intrusion, madernofselle.'
SAD the lieutenant, saluting her. Have
tne honor of addressing Mile Orsha p,
NO, that is my cousin; but
| what are the soldiers come for?"
70 deIend your house, mademoiselIe
regret to say that the hillmen are in
| revolt And permit me to suggest that
/ under the circumstances it will be bet
ter for you to retire within doors'
There was no need for the reconnen-
cation Before the heutenant's sentence
1 was ended the little pink figure was in
| full flight for the house. Another figure
| appeared IN the open doorway as the
fugitive disappeared; a tall, handsome
| young woman, with a high aquiline
nose and a commanding presence. came
! down the steps to meet us. She listened
| without any appearance of surprise,
! while the lieutenant stated his mis-
/ sion.
Pray send your men to the kitchen"
| she said, land follow me to the drawing
room My father will be glad of the
| opportunity of putting his house and
| goods at the service of his country
The evening passed without alarms
The doors were barricaded, the windows
| loopholed with mattresses and bags of
| sand, and sentinels were posted on the
| hillside and Waterman on the roof.
| At supper the colonel RECALLED us with
| stories of his daughter and his family.
| The colonel was descended in a direct
| line from Boyarin Orsha of Ivan the
Terrible's time, and all his forebears had
been mighty men of battle. Varvara
Petrovna's great grandmother was the