Morris tribune., 1902-02-01

cidence,' thought he, between thl
proclamation expelling all foreigners o
Asiatic origin and the words exchanged
@ last evening between those two gyp
sizes Of the Iingari race! THE Isathe
himself se:ids US where we wish to go,
that old man said. But the Father i:
the emperor. He is never called any
thing else among the people How
could those gypsies have foreseen the
measure taken against them? How
could they have known it beforehand
and where do they wish to go? Those
are suspicious people, and it seems tic
me that to them the government procla.
nation must be more useful than in
furious" 1880
~ But these reflections, though certain
~ correct. were completely dispelled by
another, which drove every other
thought out of Michaels mind He for
got the Zingaris, their suspicious words,
the strange coincidence which resulted
& from the proclamation. The remem-
brance of the young Liyonian girl sud
denly rushed into his mind.
s~ee'sss.sPoor childp' he thought to himself.
( a4She cannot now cross the frontier"
In truth the young girl was from
Riga. She was LiVonian, consequent
q ~ Russian, and now could not leave
Russian territory The permit which
had been given her before the new
measures had been promulgated was
Z evidently no longer available. AL
routes to Siberia had just been pftiless-
" closed TO her, and whatever was the
motive which was taking her to r.
kutsk, she was now forbidden to go
there.
This thought greatly occupied Mi
chael Strogoff. He said to himself,
vaguely at first, that without neglect
ing anything Of what was due to his
important mission it would perhaps
be possible for him to be of some use
to this brave girl, and this idea pleased
him. Knowing how serious were the
dangers which he, an energetic and
vigorous man, would have personally
to encounter through a country OF
which, however, the roads were IA
miliar, he could not conceal from him
self how infinitely greater they would
prove to young, unprotected girl. AS
she was going to 'Irkutsk, she would
be obliged to follow the same road as
himself; she would have to pass
through the bands of invaders, as he
was about to attempt doing himself. 4
If, moreover, and according to all prob
ability, she had at her disposal only
the resources necessary for a journey
taken under ordinary circumstances,
how could she manage to accomplish it
under conditions which late events
would render not only perilous, but ex-
pensive? All z-.-f >A "
..'Well,' said he, eff she takes the
route to Perm it is nearly impossible
but that | shall fall in with her. Then
/ will watch over her without her sus-
pecting it, and as she appears to be as
anxious as myself to reach Irkutsk she
will cause me no delay"
But one thought leads to another.
Michael Strogoff had till now reasoned
on the supposition of doing kind &C.
ton, of rendering a service, but now
another idea flashed into his brain, and |
the question presented itself under |
quite new aspect.
t'The fact isl said he to himself, |
shat have much more need Of her
than she can have Of me. Her pres (
ence will be useful in drawing off sus-
picion from me. A man travelling alone |
across the steppes may be easily guess
ed to be courier to the car. If, on |
the contrary. this young girl accompa-
MES me, | shall appear in the eyes Of
all the Nicholas Korpanof Of my podo-
ROMA. Therefore she must accompany
me. Therefore must find her again
at any cost. It is not probable that
since yesterday evening she has been
able to get carriage and leave Mini
Noygorod. must look for her. And
may God guide me!''
Michael left the great square of Mini
Npygorod, where the tumult produced
by the carrying out of the prescribed
measures had now reached It's height 1
determinations from the banished
shouts from the agents and
Cossacks who were using them so bru-
tally, all together made an indeseriba-
bic uproar. The girl for whom he
searched could not be there. It was
now 9 O'clock in the morning. The
steamboat did not start till II. Mi
chael StrogoG had therefore nearly
three hours to employ in search 1g for
cling companion.
He crossed the Volga again and hunt
ed through the quarters On the other