The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-08-24

ed to be i'm st. Petersburg. Il was the
concluding festival of his brief sojourn
i'm the capital. With 10 he raised his
glass . car.we to ~ wn ;e rdcrs ana
set lis face to he East As ~ Stood
in the midst of his frlenjs the st ami
sparkle of his nature was revealed
Laughter punctuated the worls failing
from his lips, and one kntN almost in
stlnctively that his many admirable
qualities deserved a better setting than
this atmosphere of orgies.
A few hours later we met at the rail-
way station, where outside the car.
riages of a troop train he was receiving
and giving farewell messages and bro
therly embraces. Again one noted the
commanding figure, the alert eyes. as
one caught the tones of his rAucous
voice. There was no disputing the
splendor of his physical PROJECTIONS. La
tent force, brutal and irresistible, dis
tinguished him, and one experienced
that feeling of pleasure with which one
looks upon the lion among animals. The
supple swing of his limbs, the vigor of
his movements, were each associated
with that dominating sense of mastery
which describes the king of beasts.
We were travelling in different tra IS
and ten days elapsed before we met
again. He had halted at Irkutsk with
a view to exercising his horses. Be
yond Lake Baikal we We're passengers
in the same train, he with his regiment
al officers, 7 with my travelling COM
panions, colleagues in industry. We
saw little of him, however. At the sta
tions he remainder in the train, the
usual opiates, cards, and drink occupy
ing his attention. Occasionally in a
more sober moment, he thought of our
existence, when, attended by an order
ly carrying bottles of beer and a large
box of cigarettes, he invaded our coln-
partment. He ate little these days;
hard-boiled eggs and black bread sus-
tanned him, and as he generally de-
stroyed as much as he ate the floor 81
his compartment was always littere
with refuse. However nothing disturb
ed him, and although he spoke no Ian
guage but Russian, he conducted long
conversations, the gist of which in some
manner he contrived to understand. His
signs and the play of his hands were
eloquent, particularly if his losses AT
cards had been beyond his means. Upon
these occasions he would come to us "a
make good his payments. In all ne Dor
rowed some 80 roubles, paying then
back if the luck of the cards We're with
him, adding to the amount if his hands
were against him. In this he was un.
fortunate, for in the end his losses were
so against him that he remains oui
debtor. In this manner the journey
passed, and we arrived at Hardin. AT
ter the abence of a day my Colonel APP
peared, becoming the occupant of tbs
best apartment of the house where W.
were stopping. Expenses We're a mat.
, tr of Indifference to him, but he haC
found a friend whose knowledge Of
English constituted him the medium o
our intercourse with the Colonel. II
this way the Colonel became our cues
5 at several little gatherings. Then of {
? sudden the wish to return our hospital
ity seized him. He invited us, and W.
= attended. Many glasses We're broker
1 over the toasts which he proposed, ant
= in the end he was supported from tn
l room to his compartment in the train
= the wreck of his former self, yet not s.
= Indifferent to the situation that he wa
+, unable to express the hope of a speed.
2 meeting in Japan.
Thus passed from my ken an officer o
( Cossacks, bound south for the 'front.'
D Hardin correspondent of Sydney Hire
= aid.