The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-05-04

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
In the village OF Manduki there lived In
the last part of the Eighteenth Century a
very rich farmer. Denis Shpak, who had a
beautiful. golden-haired daughter, Nassa-
He had on his place a farm hand, Trokim
Iachnik. who had never known father nor
mother. but only a foster mother. the wild
ew OF an old soldier. who lived by begging.
Iachnik grew up 10 be a very handsome
boy and Shpak took a fancy to him and
took him into his service.
vassa fell in love with Trokim. but her
father would hear nothing of marriage: he
was no husband for his daughter.
But as Vassa would not leave him IN
peace. he finally said that he would send
Iachnik away and consent TO the marriage
II he came back dressed in a new suit Of
clothes and riding in his own carriage.
Trokim, who did not see how he should
ever be able to come back as rich as that,
decided to drown himself, but Pridebalka,
the chief gardener of the owner of the viii
lage, stopped him, took him to the inn and
let him tell about his SORROWS.
Why said Prldebalka. "Ts that all?
Then you can easily get out Of your trou-
BILE. There is just now a very rich mer-
chant stopping here with a load of all kinds
of goods. He will stay here until tonight
and then he will so on to the next village.
'on the way he must pass through a
dark forest. where the road runs along a
deep gorge.
"All you have to do is to wait for him
there. sandbag him and his coachman. take
the cloth and money you need. but leave
all his goods and some money there, and
throw the carriage and the bodies into the
gorge. and nobody will ever suspect you
People will think that they have been
killed by the fall and II anybody should
ask where you got the money tell them that
! lent 1t to you
Trokim carried this out to the letter and
came back with the cloth and 5000 rubles
Pridebalka had q fine suit made for him.
and bought him a horse and carriage.
But Trokim's conscience would not let
him rest, and he decided TO tell everything
to vassa. who advised him to 20 to the
place where he committed the crime and
God would surely tell him how he could
be forgiven.
Trokim did this and a voice said to himi
"I will punish thee in forty years"
He went back to Vassa and told her this,
and az they had forty years before them
they were married and went to a great city
to live.
Trokim went into business, made q for
tune and took the name OF Trofne Semion-
ovitch 1~achimkow. His wife always had
intended to make a pilgrimage to Klef to
pray that her husband might be forgiven.
but died before she had done SO.
Trofne married again and his fortune
grew larger every day.
Twenty years had passed, but bis con-
science always troubled him, and he finally
confessed all to the Archbishop, who told
him that IL he would build a fine church
his sin would be forgiven
He built the church.
He still continued to prosper; he owned
houses and gold mines; his daughter mar
ried a prince. and his son, Alexander, made
a brilliant career as a diplomatist
But the fatal fortieth year had come. and
his uneasiness was greater than ever.
To seek advice and consolation, he told
everything to q friend and started to con-
fess 1t to his son. but Alexander would
hear nothing of Gods punishment, declar-
ing that God did not exist.
The terrible fortieth anniversary passed
without anything happening, and the old
man thought that he had been forgiven.
This night when he, after having had
the conversation with his son. sat alone in
his room, his punishment began.
'There is no Godl There is no soul. no
punishment
How fortunate that isl How foolish I
have been to pine and worry all these long
years.
w are all fighting one another, killing
one another in the struggle for life, and
existence. and this struggle is the law;
there Is no other. Goblet me come out
victorious! God has let me-what do I sayy
Again this foolish habit of invoking God.
1T is not God: It is myself who killed the
man because 1 was stronger than he, and
the spoils Of my victory belong to myself.
1 have fought. won. and taken what be-
longed to me by right. That is lucky for
me. and still NV cop srfanco b,. ,o,,o.aa