The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-17
CHAPTER w.
THE WALK IN THE WOOD.

THE WALK IN THE WOOo.
Another day had passed. and the long
shadows from the Wawal hill were merS-
ing into the darkness of night the i'm
perial train, preceded by its fiery herald,
the pilot engine, Numbered past the KOS
ciusko monument into the ancient capital
of Poland No sooner had the long line
of coaches come to a standstill in the sta
ton than there began a general exodus
on TO the platform, for opposite the word
Cracow in the carefully prepared itinerary
was the magic legend, stop for dinner.
Though the station was surrounded by
a Gordon of Austrian cuirassiers, Restofski
and his subordinates at once encircled the
great green and gold saloon in the center
Of the train, for the Tsarina being tatigued
by the Vienna festivities, the imperial
couple had decided to have dinner served
I'm the train. Volborth, however, was COM
PEELED by his underlined position to accom-
pany the hungry crowd of his fellow-pas-
sengers who trooped into the waiting rooms
where covers had been laid for the suite.
Had he been free TO choose his course
il would still have been the same. His use
fulness at present was to be measured by
his propinquity to the junior aid-de-camp,
and intrigue had not yet damaged that stall
/
wart young soldiers hardness with knife
and fork
The remainder of the Vienna visit had
passed off without further alarms or dis
! coveries The postponed review had taken
place that morning on the Schmelz parade
ground. the Austrian cannon had thun-
dered, and the squadrons had galloped
past, the sovereigns had driven to their
af
had occurred to mar the completion OF
the programme. Not that the absence OF
visible danger brought any relief to Vol.
| borth's anxieties. With the capture OF
Anna Tchigorin he believed that the peri
was scotched for the moment, since il
was not probable that more than one at
tempt had been prepared for Vienna, bu
| in his mind was the conviction that it wa:
| only the first of a series in which eacT
scheme would be more subtle than the last
lie entered the improvised restaurant a
the elbow of Boris Dubrowski, to whom tbs
| Countess Vassili. already seated with lima
at a distant table, was reckoning franti
calIy The old lady still refusing to Sc,
that anything was wrong between thu
betrothed couple, had kept a place for Boris
at her side, though he had studiousl.
avoided mother and daughter during tn
day, and now turned his eyes in search o
a seat in any direction but theirs
Here you are, Dubrowski, here is a snu.
corner" said Volborth, seeing the position
| and steering the all too-willing young Off
Ger to a table at the opposite end of tn
! room. at which there only space 70
two. Let us dine togetherl en- garcon.
have beer making myself polite to tn
women all day, and L confess to feeling
little blase of the charming creatures"
Boris tried in vain to tone down a truI,
Russian acknowledgement of the mood which
Volborth had so adrOitly tickled
II share your sentiments, Paul, to tn
letter" he said as he seated himself. Il
is to be devoutly hoped that her Majest-
will remain in the mind which rumor at
tributes to her-to desert the tour at Kieff
and take her pack of pussy cats back L
Petersburg They are a nuisance in affair
of this kind. Travelling makes them merry
ous-and they scratch"
A waiter swooped down on them with III
menu, presenting il first to Volborth VIII
had taken his seat with his back to the wa
so that he could see what was going or
Having selected his dishes and whispers
them into the ear of the bowling waiter
| Volborth passed the carte TO Boris VIII
sat opposite, and the man. with well
drilled alacrity. crossed over and bent dow
at the side of the second diner. Thus whit
Boris was ordering, Volborth got his frs
full view of the waiter at fairly clos
quarters.
Like the other carefully selected servitor
this one was spick and span i'm swalIoy
tails and snowy shrt-front. But unlik
the others, who were mostly dark-skinne
Italians from lstra, he had complexio
of dull brickdust color, that made a ba
match to his shock of ccal-black hair.
was face which by all the usages o
! nature ought to have been surmounted b
locks of a more rudy hue.
! Volborth leaned back and lazily scanne
the man as he gave an obsequious ear I
Dubrowski's requirements, and i'm doing 5
ne became aware that he was himself bein
| subjected to similar process by the wal;
err Not directly by any means but Their
was an alert watchfulness at the corne
of the mans eye that Volborth's trainfn
told him was not entirely for the work /
hand The same furtive watchfulness wa
perceptible when the waiter returned wit
the first course. but NolboTth abstaine
from adding TO any uneasiness under whic
he might be laboring, and affected not [
notice him further.
The influence of the brilliant lights gilt
terlng plate good wine and the splendi
military music which Austrian hospitalit
had provided as a send-off TO their guests
temporarily cured Boris OF his ill-humol
and he chartered i'm the highest of boyis
spirits of the good time they would q
have in Paris. The French capital Wa