Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1902-06-28

LelC little anxiety. IL was therefore
complete surprise to him when, about
10 OF the forenoon, he was summoned
10 trial. The announcement was coldly
made by the officer who had managed
his arrest upon the previous evening.
Darrell demanded counsel and was
Informed that It was not customary.
He insisted upon an interview with the
official representative Of his country
and received the reply that his letter
had been forwarded and that nothing
more could be done. There was no al
tentative. He was forced to accept
trial on the prosecutors terms.
He was led before q singular tribu-
nal The judge sat in a courtroom
bare as barn, and there were not
dozen persons present, including pris-
oner. guards and clerks A villainous
looking individual with face so I'M
symmetrical that he seemed to be made
from the halves of two very different
men that had been split longitudinally
acted as states attorney. He charged
the prisoner with being an escaped ST.
berian convict, Sergius Bilowski. His
opening remarks were brief, and he
galloped through them at such a gait
that Darrell had hard work to follow
him. Witnesses were then admitted,
one at a time, from an adjoining room
They swore to the prisoners identity
with such alacrity that three of them
testified within five minutes. Darrell
was not permitted to question them,
but at the close Of the farce he had a
chance to testify in his own behalf.
AS IL to make the proceedings perfect
ly fair, nobody questioned him. When
he had said his say. the judge signed
some documents, and the officer who
had brought Darrell In received them.
'"The prisoner will be taken to Cred
skov," said the Judge. "and will be re-
turned to Siberia at the earliest oppor-
tunity."
he then left the bench. vanishing
through a door behind IL. Darrell was
led back TO the room In which he had
been previously confined. He was not
fettered. and there was no added sever
ity In the treatment OF him except that
an armed guard was placed within the
room, gigantic fellow with n good ma
tured face. who sat on stool tilted
back against the door with short gun,
like n cavalry carbine. across his knees.
Darrell had struggled to preserve his
self command throughout the tragic
farce Of the trial, well aware that the
approval OF his own sense OF honor was
all he had TO hope for. He had main
tanned a calm demeanor from first to
last, and In his prison room he adj
dressed his guard cheerfully.
"Where is this Gredskovr' he asked.
"Gredskov." was the reply, with a
sort of plying grin, ''ls prison city in
the Caucasian mountains. 1t is main
tanned for the purpose OF guarding the
captives taken among the rogues OF
the mountains-Circassian robbers,
Turks or any Of the bad men who seek
to plot against the car. Every three
months a prison train is made up for
Siberia, where the prisoners are di-
vided among the mining towns"
Darrells stay in Stavropol was short.
On the following morning he was
placed with about dozen other prison
ers, all seemingly of the lowest type of
peasants, and was conducted under a
strong guard to the city gate. He had
not been dressed In any sort OF prison
garb and still retained his minor be-
longings and the money that the
searchers had missed, but his hat had
been replaced by a cap and his over
coat by ragged garment that might
have been part OF an officers outfit
in the far past.
Outside Of Stavropol the road was
smooth for a considerable distance, and
the eavalcade moved slowly along
through a rural scene OF what might
have been prosperous comfort and
wealth had II not been for the stagna-
uon arising from the policy OF the
deputized government OF Getchikoff.
At the end of the days march they
rested at n little post village. In the
morning they again advanced and at
night reached Glugiersk. on the main
road leading to the pass over the eau
casus to Tifiis.
Darrell was treated with no more
and no less consideration than any
other OF the prisoners. To the officers
and soldiers OF the escort be was sim
ply the nihilist Sergius Bilowski, and
no argument could make him anything
more.
After leaving Glugiersk the way be-
came more rugged, though the road it
self was smooth and hard, travelled as
it was by the numerous trading cara
vans from north to south that crossed
and recrosSed the mountains.
Finally they reached Mozdok, where
a stay Of two days was made. Their
next stopping place was Vladikaukas,
on the upward slope Of the steep noun
tain pass.
Ten hours after leaving Vladikaukas,
in the morning, the turrets OF Cred
skov could be seen.
Darrell knew nothing Of 6redskov,
and as none Of the soldiers would talk
to him and he was not allowed to
speak to his fellow prisoners he could
obtain no information IN regard to It
But as the frowning battlements could
be seen rising above the trees he no
diced that tho other prisoners became