The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1900-02-23
CHAPTER XNIV.
THE COUNTS EMILE 10 SIBERIA

II COUNTS EMILE TO SIBERIA.
edo yon mean | said. 'thnt yor
will be able to provide evidence that
this man Andre is the convict Kornilol
and not my fatherY'
perhaps. " said the student. smiling
conceitedly.
1T is ridiculous. | cried hotly. '"tc
suppose that the police will refuse tc
accept the evidence OF n mans own
wife and child and will believe yours
Tor the asking.
1T may be ridiculous, but the police
never admit a blunder IL they can make
any one else suffer for it instead of
themselves. As for my part in the bust.
ness, you forget that / possess informa.
tion Of various kinds with regard to
Andre. which might be useful and even
important to them and might throw a
light on this matter"
~ see.' I said. "But | shall be both
surprised and disgusted If 1t prove to
be as you say. and the authorities re.
fuse to believe our evidence. I shall
leave you now and consult my friends
l believe your story as to fathers cap.
ture; go You may consider your check
safe. At the same time you are to re-.
main where you are until other mat.
ters are settled. You have no objection
to continue as my guest?"
$50 long as my safety Is guaranteed
I shall be charmed to remain" said the
student. "Does Andre enjoy the run
Of the house? He must not see me or
know that I am here. He would muir.
der me. and your cause would BE-
ruined.
HE shall not come here or know Of
your presence. shall see that only
trusted persons are aware that I have a
IAN acquaintance staying in the
house..
"Goodl See that the same wine IL
served to me, like the generous host
you are, and plenty Of itl' He shouted
the last words ut me as l left the room.
II shall have you watched, my fine
fellow | said to myself as I hurried
away to confide my great news to Percy
and Borofsky, "for you are a pearl OF
great price And I may say in this
place that from this time until--well,
until certain things had happened.
either Percy or Borofsky or l was con-
stantly on duty in the passage outside
the students room, both to ses that he
did not attempt to escape and to guard
against surprises from without. Andre
being a kind Of bugbear that one must
suspect and fear all times.
| found Borofsky and Percy playing
billiards.
"Welly' cried the latter. What
luckY" Both he and Borofsky laid down
their cuessand waited for me to speak.
Now that ! was here and my heart
bursting with the news | had to tell
them, | was unable to utter a single
word, | suppose / dreaded being dis
couraged, l had formed lovely hopes NC
many times and on each occasion they
had been dashed from me that ! sup
pose | feared to be told by Borofsky
that all this which my student had told
me was mere buncomhe; that he had
taken me in, and there was not u word
of truth in his story,
"You'll probably say it's all a tissne
Of lies, | blurted at length, with diff.
Guilty.
"That's extremely probable" said
Borofsky, who had been soured of late
by his Ill successes and was not in the
best Of humors,
"At any rate, old man, We'll con
slider II In Its bearings, /" said Percy
"Three heads are better than one,.
though | admit yours In not such a had
one, IL 1t so very incredible"
son the contrary, ! don't think it Ia
20 at all, said, "but Bcrofsky may
with his detective order of mind, and !
dread to be told there's nothing
IN it--because"-
"Well-because what ?" said Borof-
~ shall criticise, II Ia my duty
But ] shall be only too glad to recognize
4 real clewl"
~ think II IL a real olew, and that !
now know what became OF my poor fa'
thor, F" said, lyon see, tho atudeat
aouldn't have known that wei
"stopl Won forget that we should
Ike to hear the tale itself before listen
70 your comments ON IT," laughed
Horofsky
Then | told them M clearly M | eonld,
md without tho decentralization that
eoaeeited student gaFnished the tale
with, how father had been cruelty
md wickedly eatrappad aud substituted
or "A wretch who WRa wanted nv tho