The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-15

which Kazimofr replied that he would kill him if he did.
 At the height of their quarrel, when both men were besides themselves they suddenly found themselves at close quar- ters with two wild boars. and started of Tn not haste to get a shot at the game The attendants were left far behind. but they heard the sound of many gunshots and concluded that the two noblemen were having good sport.
 Nearly an hour later Count Kaximoff rejoined the party of beaters and in quired where Delgorouki was, Deigorou- Xii. however. had not been seen, and as he did not put in an appearance when darkness set in a search was made for him, but in vain. The next day the search was resumed. and guided by marks of blood. the rescue party found his dead body buried in ten feet of snow about half a mile from the spot where he had last been seen In the company of his host. Count Kazimoff. who was at once arrested on suspicion of having committed the murder.
 A Frightful Ordeal.
 Of. course. the evidence against the count was overwhelming. The enmity between the two young men which had led to the duel, the sudden reconciliation, the invitation to hunt on Kazimoff's es- tate. the renewed quarrel and the gun shots heard by the beaters all pointed to Kazimoff's guilt. He was accused of having feigned reconciliation with Del gorouki in order to lure him to his re- mote estate, and there to butcher him in tn ewoods, confident in the assump- tion that his own retainers would not give evidence against him. No stranger had been seen in the neighborhood for weeks, and no one else was in that part of the forest when the crime was com mitted.
 Kazimoff protested his innocence. but his protestations were disregarded and he was found guilty of murder and sen- fenced to death. This sentence was comuted to one of lifelong banishment to Siberia. with penal servitude for the first ten years. Before his start east ward Count Kazimof had to undergo the terrible ordeal of being formerly degrad- ed from his rank as an officer. This ceremony. which is more relentiessly se- were in Russia than in any other country worse even than the ordeal Dreyfus had to undergo in France-was perform ed in the presence Of all the ofncers ana men of Kazimoff's regiment. Count kaz- imoff was brought to the parade grounds in chains. and two common soldiers stripped him of his uniform and dressed him in convict garb before the eyes of the assembled regiment. This accom- plished. they tok his sword out of its scabbard, broke 1t. and beat him with the blunt edge of the severed halves.
 Next, one-half of Kazimoff's head was shaved bald and the hair on the remain ing half cropped close. Finally he was led around in front of all the ranks, while the two soldiers showered blows on his bare back with the dreaded knouts used by the Cossacks. This process. 1t is interesting to note. Is still practiced in Russia in case of degradation Of ofncers from their rank.
 Count Kazimoff broke down utterly before the degrading ceremony was hali over, wept bitterly. and toward the end had to be dragged around in falnting
 Rxryn L. ed on his long and terrible journey to Siberia. To put the finishing touch to 1t all the last two items of news that he heard from the outside world pc fore leaving St. Petersburg were that ms fiancee had become tho Detrothed Of an other man and that Fedora Tebloff had cursed him as the murderer of her lover DolgorouN
 Kazimoff was henceforth Convict number l0S," and was dispatched into exile in company with a gang of other unfortunate condemned to the same fate They were chained together ana, as was customary in those days, they uiu the whole of the journey on foot. goad- ed by the cruel knouts Of the Cossachs sent to escort them.
 Chained to Four Brutes.
 Their destination was Zistam. some hundred miles north of Tomsk. and on arrival there they were put to work in the mines Kazimoff was chained night and day to four other convicts. ali coarse. brutal fellows. and all under going punishment for crimes of excep- fional violence. What torture this per manent lack of privacy and this forced association with four ruffians was to a man of Kazimoff's stamp may well be imagined.
 For ten hours every day the five pris oners had to work together in the mines, and at night they slept together in a miserable hut When there was work to be done the fou. plebian criminals com bined to give their aristocratic com panion the biggest share of 1t. and when ra tions were served they took care that he received the smallest share. When they found that he would not participate in their coarse conversation and their vile jokes they beat and kicked him to knock the pride out of him. ss they put it.