The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06
t@NflcsS .>.--.---.-..-.-.--. 10
y "A Russian
New Year Story.

You are an educated man. I'm only {
peasant. / am ignorant and stupid. You're
a smart man. So tell me what to do"
Suppose l give you my word of honor
not to give you away. VIII that do you?'
l asked, with smile
He shook his head obviously
"Ycu wouldn't keep your promise.
know you won't. Nobody would II was
sure you'd keep il all TO yourself I'd give
I you back half Of your money. I'm no muir
] derer, master There has never been a
/ black spot on my soul. and l don't care
/ to have il stained with blood on New Year
+ Eve. Not l."
''Ycu seem to be a nice fellow said l,
musingly. Il really don't see why you
should not return all you have taken from
my pockets and let us call it square If
you do that you will be safe l can assure
you"
He shook his head. Then he stood i'm
i, mersed in helpless meditation for few
minutes, and finally he said:
Il can afford to wait. Some people may
turn up. anyhow. II was the evil spirit
that got me to do this, but once l have
done it, think l must go the whole hog
| can't take chances A robber is not
much better than a murderer. anyhow
There was awful determination in his
voice as he said this. and the moon lighted
up the grim look of his eyes and the frown
on his forehead My heart sank within me
as looked him over. He could have kill
ed three midgets like myself The real
fear of death came home to me for the
| first time. My instinct of self-preserva-
| tion told me TO play upon his supersti-
tious nature; so | said:
But look here You ought to know
that when a person promises something
on New Year Eve and swears three times
that he will fulfill his promise he is sure
to live up to it."
But he did not seem to hear me. He
was all excitement and his lips were
twitching painfully. as he grabbed me by
my arm and snarled:
Come along, and if you cry out I viii
tear You to pieces. You know I've nothing
TO lose
My blood was again up in me- With a
desperate jerk l wrenched myself free.
dealt him Z smart blow on the head end
broke away across the field, calling for
help. He ran after me- 1t was quite
chase. The moon overhead was shining
with particular brilliancy and distinctly
remember the queer feeling with which
it inspired me. 1t seemed to me as if
this beautiful disk of spotless silver was
the only friend l had, as If everything
else was siding with the man behind me.
1t was vague feeling. of course. Indeed
who thinks of moons and stars at no
ment when one feels within an ace from
death? But the sensation was there, and
now that l am recording the whole event
and seek to analyze my experience it
comes back 10 me with remarkable dis
tinctness. can realize It all the more
clearly now than l did on the spot. In
deed. now that the whole thing is over
and l can look back upon 1t coolly ! see
all those details which were swamped in
the all-absorbing sensation of the moment
the sensation OF fear, of the desire to
live. T-.
If could get nearer to the moon. it
seemed to me. would be safe. for behold
it was looking down at me with SO much
sympathy. so anxious to come TO my res
cue. Another thing / well remember is
the heavy breathing OF the robber as he
was drawing near me. Somehow teath az
ISOLATED itself in y mind with this re-
voting so'.-l which rang in my ears like
the sssostiy whisper of thousand devils.
stop stop,' he growled.
/ ran on, with fresh energy and for a
minute or two | was increasing the dis
lance between US, but my poor strength
was rapidly ebbing, and presently was in
the grasp of the position. | felt some |
thing heavy strike me on my head. Wheth- |
er ! made an outcry don't know What l
do remember is how / lay on the ground |
with that big brute bending over me, his |
hands on my throat when, harkl the |
distance. There was a town within a |
short distance of US, although al that time |
I did not know It, and IT being u o'clock, |
the three churches of the place were well |
coming the New Year with the music OF |
the belfry The charming music, 1t was |
as II a dear friend suddenly become aware |
Of my plight, had called to me not to give |
up the struggle, and that he was hasten |
ing TO my rescue. l am a lover of music, |
10,
and enchanting in the works of the great |
but those chimes, as they i'm !
pressed me at that moment, we're the most |
wonderful tones l had ever heard.
The brute gave a start. There is some
thing peculiarly fascinating in the chimes |
Of midnight, when the old year makes way
for the new. Add to this that the chimes
came from the distance, mufled, floating
from some invisible spot through the
white star-spangled silence of the night |
floating under a sky of endless blue and
over waste of interminable silver, add
this and you will realize the effect it had
on the wretch. I repeat: He was no
hard-baked criminal. There was some
thing good in this scoundrel. and the
chimes cast their spell on him. AS he
was kneeling down on me, hand at my
threat, he suddenly loosened his grasp and
listened.
"Ding-dong, Ding dong, Ding dong"
! can almost see the fTown that came |
into his face as he listened. Do you re- |
member the scene in Faust when Me- |
phisto shrinks under the chant OF the |
crowd? The position must have been IN |
der a similar influence. The holy chimes |
with all the beautiful associations that go |
with them seemed to have overwhelmed |
the devil In him. to have suddenly dis |
armed the evil spirit which the thought of |
my treasury notes had been aroused in |
this usually decent villager.
! saw my oppor tunity, and, having pres |
encc of mind enough to concoct another |
story, I said:
Il don't know whether you are a mar
rled man, but l suppose you have heard |
what is written in the holy books about
The wife, children, sisters, brothers, and |
relatives of the man who sheds human |
blood to the accompaniment of the chimes |
IF New Year,"
lie made no answer. but his grasp grew |
ooser still, and he seemed to be willing |
10 listen.
Ding dong, ding-dong!"
do you know what It means to die forty |
thousand deaths?" [ asked him. BY this
time / somehow felt that 1t would come
out all right. l was perfectly calm, and /
was even beginning TO take a humorous
view Of the situation. Indeed, my weav- !
Ing these fbs as | lay on my back with
this giant over me- In an attempt to
strdngle me. was certainly not devoid of
the comic element. So | went on talking,
the invisible bells playing welcome ac-
10 my words You see,
wnen q person dies with his soul free from
blood stains, he dies one death When he
murder he dies a thousand
deaths, and when he commits murder