The Iola register., 1901-12-06

fseneal Kissoff.
These words were exchanged about
Awo hours after midnight, at the mo-
ment when the fete given at the New
ihaface was at the nelgnt OF lts splen-
dor.
An hour later General Kissoff, who
had Just re-entered, quickly approached
mis- majesty.
"WellY' asked the latter abruptly, as
1he had done the former time.
kilograms reach Tomsk no longer,
sire
"a courier this moment" And, leav-
sng the hall, his majesty entered a
large antechamber adjoining.
The czar had not so suddenly left the
ballroom OF the New palace when the
fete he was giving to the civil and mill
tary authorities and principal people of
Moscow was AT the height of its bril-
liancy without ample cause, for he had
just received information that serious
events were taking place beyond the
frontiers of the Ural. 1t had become
evident that formidable rebellion
threatened to wrest the Siberian prov
Bnces from the Russian crown.
Asiatic Russia, or Siberia, covers n
superficial area of 1,790,20S square
miles and contains nearly 100000 Of
inhabitants. Extending from the Ural
mountains, which separate it from
Russia in Europe, to the shores OF the
Pacific ocean. it Is bounded ON the
south by Turkestan and the Chinese
empire, on the north by the Arctic
ocean, from the sea of Kara to Be-
ring strait. 1t is divided into several
governments or provinces, those of To-
iholsk, Yeniseisk, Irkutsk, Omsk and
Yakutsk; contains two districts, Ok
lhotsk and Kamchatka, and possesses
two countries, now under the Musco-
yite dominion-that of the kirghiz and
that of the Tshowktshes.
Two governor generals represent the
supreme authority of the c2ar over this
vast country. One resided at lrkutsk,
the capital OF western Siberia. The
mver Tchonna, a tributary Of the Yeni-
Be, separates the two Sibcrias.
No rail yet furrows these wide plains,
some of which are in reality extremely
fertile. No iron ways lead from these
precious mines which make the Sibe-
rian soil far richer below than above its
surface. The traveller journeys in sum
mer in kibick or telga; in winter in u
ssedge.
An electric telegraph. with a single
wire more than 5000 versts in length,
alone affords communication between
the western and eastern frontiers Of
siberia. On issuing from the Ural it
passes through Ekaterenburg, Kasi-
tmov, Tionmen. Ishim, Omsk, Elamsk.
Kalyvan, Tomsk. Krasnoiarsk, Mini
Bdinsk, Irkutsk, Verkne-Nertsckink.
istrelink. Alkaline. Blagowstenks, Rad
de. Orlomskaya, Alexandrewskoe and
Rikolaevsk, and rubles and 10 CO.
pecks are paid for every word sent
from one end to the other. From Irkutsk
there is a branch to Kiatka, on the
Monaghan frontier and from thence,
isor so copecks a word, the post CONVEYS
7the dispatches 10 Pcking in a fort
night.
1t was this wire, extending from Eka-
terenburg TO Nlkolaevsk. which had
been cut, first beyond Tomsk and then
between Tomsk and kalyvan.
This was the reason why the car, to
the communication made to him for
the second time by General Kissoff,
had only answered by the words, "a
courier this moment!'
The czar had remained motionless at
the window for few moments when
the door was again opened. The chief
of police appeared on the threshold.
Enter, general" said the czar brief
ly, "and tell me all you know of Ivan
Ogareff."
''IIe is an extremely dangerous man,
sire" replied the chief Of police.
HE ranked as colonel did he not?'
Yes, sire"
''Was he an intelligent otiicerY
every intelligent, but a man whose
spirit it was impossible TO subdue and
possessing an ambition which stopped
at nothing. He soon became involved
in secret ntrigues, and it was then that
he was degraded from his rank by his
highness the grand duke and exiled 10
Siberia"
"How long ago was thatW
1.-TWO years since. Pardoned after
six months Of exile by your maJesty's
favor, he returned to Russia"
"And since that time has he not re-
visited Siberian
Eyes, sire, but he voluntarily return
ed there" replied the chief of police,
adding and slightly lowering his voice,
There was n time, sire, when none re-
turned from Siberia"
"Well, while | live Siberia is and
shall be a country whence men can re-
turn"
The czar had the right to utter these
words with some pride for often by his
clemency he had shown that Russian
Justice knew how to pardon.
"Did not Ivan Ogareff," asked the
ear, 'return TO Russia "A second time
after that journey through the Siberian
provinces, the object of which remains
Il.