Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-04-12
The Secret Dispatch
BY JAMES GRANT


the love l bear my sister, leave you
unquestioned and free"
Il thank you, BASIL. said Balgonie.
sadly, and with heightened color. caus-
ed by irrepressible annoyance at the last
remark of Mierowitz
But We have all sworn before the
altar TO devote our lives to the matter III
hand; so retreat is mpossible-adyice
and entreaty alike unavailing. The blow
once struck, we shall be joined by the
| Cossacks of the Ukarine and the Don.
among whom we have many impatient
adherents. and by all who hold of the
Houses of BrunswickW olfenbutteI. of
Holstein Gottorp, and of all who hate
Anhalt Zer5st: all Russia will soon fol-
low. from the shores of the Black Sea
/ to those of the White-from Revel to the
/ Utal Mountains. We have not forgot
ten the reign Of Elizabeth; how many
noses were slit. how many foreheads
were branded. how many ears cropped,
and tongues shortened. and how many
eyes were darkened forever during the
time of tyranny; how many backs fayed
by the knout; how many Ibles banished
to Siberia or drowned in prison vaults
! by the swollen waters of the NeYa Pure
nationality is dying now; but we must
revive Russia-not as it is ruled by a
woman, but Holy Russia of Peter the
| Great-strong. invincible, and the terror
alike of the Eastern and Western world
Let us save our country from those who
Cypress it, and replace upon its throne
the grand duke, the Czar-the Emperor
Ivan; for the right given by God and by
inheritance can never be destroyed
without cannon, you can not mean
to assault a place so strong as Schlus-
selburg, fortified as it has been by all
the skill of Todleben - said Balgonie,
after a pause.
Ask me not what we mean to do.
Carl; for your own sake, my dear friend,
the less you know of us, and of our
plans, the better. We shall come upon
you when you least expect us, and in that
hour take no heed of what YOU see or
hear. Mix yourself up with it as little
as you can; if we fail, we perish in our
failure; if we triumph. and Ivan is re-
placed upon his throne. be assured that
Basil Mierowitz will not forget the lover
of his sister-the comrade of many a
brave and happy day with the Regiment
OF SmOlensko. Now adieu-and come
hither no more lest your steps be watch
ed"
Balgonie pressed the hands of his two
friends, whom he viewed as fated and
foredoomed men; he kissed Natalie with
a tenderness that was at once sorrowful
and despairing, for he trembled in his
heart lest he should never see her more;
and, in another moment or so. like one in
\ hewildering dream, he had descended
the rope ladder and was traversing the
forest-the Wood of the Honey Tree
forgetful or oblivious of whether he was
watched or not.
He foresaw but woe and ruin now
and proceeded slowly back to Schlussel-
burg, with his mind a prey to doubt,
anxiety and dread of what might be the
sequel to the impending catastrophe. He
felt assured of one thing oniy-that n
deed, bold, reckless and desperate. would
be the result of his friends desertiou
from Livonia, their political rancor. and
personal desire for vengeance on the EN-
press and her favorites
In that deed. and its too probable fail
ure, he foresaw the destruction of his
love, and he felt bitterly that rather than
have known and lost Natalie. it would
have been better had fate drowned him
when the Palatine ship was burned or
shot him hen warning in Silesia!