The new age. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1902-190?, 1902-10-18
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! FRIENDS
. WITH "A
, NIHILIST
y Copyright, 1901, by p. Edgar
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by PETTIGREw EDGAR

had been doing Poland i'm leisure
/ ly way-a young Englishman who had
/ plenty of money and could go where
I he pleased-when | fell into trouble at
/ Sandowin, on the Austrian border. IL
/ is no use TO tell an Englishman or an
American that he must keep his mouth
/ shut while travelling i'm the dominions
/ of the ear. He sets out intending to
l do so. but something is sure to happen
sooner or later TO arouse his sympa-
thies Or Indignation. and he finds him
self expressing an opinion that gets
him into hot water.
Now and then as | journeyed had
heard of cases where citizens had been
imprisoned or sent off to Siberia with
out trial. and had witnessed many in
cidents of autocratic power, but had
come out of them unscathed. 1t was
while | was mixing with the rather
strange crowd at the hotel in San
DOWN that l learned, almost by acct
dent, OF the case of a returned exile.
lie was man named Ostrov. who had
formerly been quite prominent citi-
zen of the town and had considerable
wealth. 1t was in my own room that
he told the story of his experience TO
three of us. He had been arrested at
minutes notice and started off for ST.
IBERIA without legal trial. His proper
ty had been confiscated, his family OPP
pressed and driven out. and it was
only when he was ready to set out on
the long journey that he was told he
had been sentenced to penal servitude
for fifteen years'@or having said that
taxes were too high. He had served his
time and returned to find all his family
dead or scattered beyond recall. He
was an old man now. broken i'm health
and having but short time to live,
and when he told us of his treatment
our Indignation was intense. | pitied
him, and | know l used strong Ian
guaSe and also made him a cash pres
ent.
You will scarcely credit me when |
say that Ostrov rewarded me by going
straight to the police and reporting all
that | had said. 1t is possible that it
was required of him, but / think he
did it in a trucking way In order to
curry favor. Before noon next day
received an official visit and was
warned to get out of the country. |
had sense enough to realize what that
meant and to go. In the eyes of the
Russian authorities | had become a
suspect" and had l been n Polander
1t would have meant n dungeon for
me. l headed for Cracow. just within
the Austrian border, and as soon as
had crossed the border the matter was
settled. While Austria is almost as
autocratic as Russia, in one way you
are not debarred from expressing a
free opinion about other countries. /
therefore took satisfaction in telling
my story and abusing Russia.
1t was this story that brought about
my acquaintance with Poland nihilist
named Grodno. | knew at once, Of
that he was a Polander, but it
was a fortnight before | learned that
he was an exile and a nihilist. He was
forty years old. well educated and Of
good address. and his story was that
OF hundred other exiles. At the age
of twenty-eight. while a professor in
one of the colleges at Warsaw and
while thoroughly loyal to the car in
every thought. he had expressed a DO
litieal opinion that caused his down