Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1902-05-28


two soldiers came and led him to an
other house, seemingly without pur-
pose, for the quarters did not differ
in any particular that he could per-
ceive.
"You have been very badly fed" said
one of his new guards. 1.-THE general
heard about it and raised row. Here
is another supper for you"
If Darrell had not been SO careful in
the written instructions for Gordon
which he had given to Getchikoff in
pursuance Of their agreement, he might
have seen something suspicious in food
thus offered, especially when accompa-
MED by small bottle of good wine.
Though the chances We're that Darrell
would be shot in Stavropol, he had no
wish to be poisoned or otherwise dis
posed of on the route, and he had ex-
plicitly provided In the agreement for
IN open execution or none ut ALL Being
satisfied of Getchikoff's good faith in
the matter, he ate the food and drank
the wine, and when next he became
aware Of his own existence it was
broad daylight, and he was lying on
the floor, having apparently fallen out
Of his bunk.
His head ached most distressingly,
and his senses were dull. He could not
even wonder at the absence of guards
The principal object Of interest for
his bedimmed and struggling intellect
was n large knife which stood up
straight from the table where he had
eaten his supper. Even while lying
on the floor he could see the end OF
the knife's handle, which shone In the
sun, and the thing seemed odd.
He arose with some difficulty and
stood staring at the knife. 1t was
really u dagger of rich workmanship,
the hilt incrusted with small but fine
gems.
"Vera'sw he cried and staggered to
the table. -
The dagger was thrust through u
sheet Of coarse paper, upon which a
diagram was rudely drawn in ink.
There was square marked with a
star in corner Of the paper, and from
1t u line ran among other squares, stop
ping with flourish ut one Of them,
which was also starred. It then turn
ed and ran across the paper toward the
left, encountering square marked
"Botka" and ending in large circle
bearing the name paris"
Darrell pulled out the knife and eyed
1t with wonder. slowly augmenting as
his senses cleared. OF course 1t was
possible that this weapon had been
taken from Vera and had come into
Getchikoff's possession, but why was
1t there? What was he expected to do
with It? Murder his guards?
At the thought he walked to the door
and shook 1t. calling "Hello!" which
is good in all languages.
There was no answer. Darrell cross
ed to the window. 1t was not fasten-
ed. No guards were to be seen. He
raised the sash and thrust out his
head. The town was still except for
the songs of birds, glad of the bright
morning.
Darrell returned to the table and sat
down upon the edge of it, his right
hand pressed against his aching fore
head.
'They drugged me-" he muttered;
that's clear. And I had some rath-
er remarkable visions in the course
Of the night, as they now come back
to me; but this beats them all"
He removed Vera's dagger from the
table and thrust 1t through the belt Of
his blouse, putting the diagram. into
his breast. Then he went to the win.
dow and climbed out. A shot from q
concealed guard would not have sur
prised him, but it did not come.
1t began to dawn upon him that he
was really free, but his mind was not
yet clear enough to comprehend the
manner Of it. Dimly he now remem-
bered that at some point of the night
he had been half reused by the noise
of rife shots. They had been quite
near, but the drug had held his senses
prisoner. However, he recalled the
direction from which most of the noise
had seemed to come, and, turning to
look that way along the rambling vii
lage street, he saw the form Of man
lying on the turf by the wayside. 1t
proved to be Circussian soldier, and
the man was dead He had been shot
through the body.
1t was impossible that an attack had
been made and Getchlkoff and his es-
cort driven out. No force Of Circas.
slams capable of such feat could have
been In those parts, and had the deed
been done there would be more evil
dence Of the struggle. He could see
only this dead man and the battered
door and windows of building across
the way to justify conclusion that u
rescue had been attempted.
Looking at the building more closely,
he discovered that 1t was the one in
which he had been n prisoner for his
first few hours In the town. Could
Vera have led a party to free him? If so,
and she had so far succeeded as to be
able to leave her dagger In the room
where he lay asleep, why had she gone
out again and locked the door behind
her? He laughed at the absurdity.
Returning to the dead Circassian aft
er viewing the wrecked house, he loo!.-
ed more closely at the body and reach
ed the extraordinary conclusion that
the man had been shot after death. To
the eye of one instructed In such mat
tiers it was quite plain that the soldier
had died from the effects Of blow on
the top of the head, received several
days ago. Indeed there was indication
that the wound had received medical
attention, but this was the more diff
cult to decide because, like many 9TH
ers Of his race, the poor fellow had
been accustomed to shave his crown.
In field bordering the road was an
other CircassIan, shot through the head,
but there was every reason to believe
that he had died of fever.
Clearly" said Darrell, "this is a
fake rescue. Getchikoff did not dare