Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1904-10-28
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
Yerack draws chair to the table,
close to my elbow, and with Slow delib-
Grafton, and an expression of supreme
satisfaction, takes from his tunic large,
bloated-looking pocketbook, out of which
he abstracts a folded paper.
"Now, Nikor Andreivitch Tcherevin,,"
he says, mouthing his words with an unc-
tuous information. I'm reply to your ap-
peal for permission of leave Of absence
on the plea of i'll health, / have the pleas
ure to hand over to you from the Arch
imandrite Of your diocese this paper,
which you will perceive, entities you to
months sejourn abroad
1 take the paper he holds toward me,
and unfold it. Sure enough, there is the
ecclesiastical seal, the wavering sigma
ture Of the aged church dignitary, and
en- scanning it l find that here inaeea is
| a formal leave of absence to: My aili11g
son, the Reverend and Holy Father
Nikor Andreivitch Tcherevin, extending
oyer a period Of one month, to enable
him, by medical advice, to drink the wat
ers of Kissingen." 1 suppose l look
my amazement, for Yerack, watching
me, begins to grin. Kalatch, who has
come up behind my chair, spells it out
slowly and exclaims:
Tell us about it. How hast thou
| procured it?'
Yes; how? Who is Nikor Andrea
vitchY' l manage to stammer.
| This seems toe much for Yerack. He
| throws himself back and INDUCES in one
of his mighty roars
1aPt hn
| echoes. "Ah, Nikor Andreivitch! my
| poor Kikov; it is indeed time something
was done for thy health"
Ere / have time for further question,
he produces familiar looking little
greenback, the sight Of which makes my
| heart jump; and this time, without any
previous speech, he puts it into my hand.
1t proves to be passport made out
in the name Of this same Nikor Andrea
witch, travelling to Germany. l read the
! description of myself as now appear,
| in sort of stupefaction. l cannot take
in my good fortune all at once.
Age-thirty.
Height-above average.
Eyes-brown.
Hair and beard-brown and curled.
Csmplexion-fair and fresh colered.
Nese-aquiline.
Grasping the precious talisnan, and
realizing what it meHhs to nae, nay ex-
citement BECOMES SO great that 1 cqn
no longer SIT still rise precipitate1y
and fail to pacing the floor, While l vain
| ly struggle fer speech. Joy and graft
| tude strike me dumb, and like woman
| the tears rush to my eyes and flow down
my cheeks.
At length I go up to yerack, and plac-
| ing my hands on each of his shoulders,
| look down into his broad, joyial face.
| There comes a strange stir in it, but in
al instant he jumps to his feet and
laughs boisterously.
"Ha, ha, ha! Come, friend Nikor, if
thou wouldst catch the evening express
in Wilma, thou must bestir myself"
| Meanwhile have sufficiently mastered
my emotion to say:
"Yerack, my friend-my noble friend!
| Thou wouldst escape my thanks. And
| the gratitude of my life long is all may
| give thee. Generous Yerack; she, too
how she will bless thee for what thou
| hast done for us! Would that she were
| here to thank thee in her sweet, gracious
wayw
Let be. let be. Thou canst not i'm
agine how l have enjoyed this escapade
| To have tricked them so cleverly! All,
| only to have seen the face Of that warder
this morning when he entered the cell!
Ho, no! That skinny little project. How
small he would look when they told him
of the tragedy! How he would fume
and stamp! Oh it is splendid, Splendid
But l want to know how thou earnest
by the documents, and in so short
time, tooT' interrupts Kalatch, impa-
tiently.
Yerack gives d contemptueus snort.
What fuss thou makest about so
small ,matter!" he responds. Zone
would think thou hadst been born and
bred thousand miles from Russia, and
knew naught of the customs of the coun-
try. -reubles-reubles! What
is there in Russia that cannot be bought
with Russian roubles? l rustic a hand
full of dirty rouble notes, and without
@ werd Of persuasion a government clerk
writes out the passport to my dictation.
A Holy Father prepares the other docu-
ment from one he has in his possession
and hands it to me with a Bless thee,
my son! And never a remenstranee save
when I pressed little token Of my graf
itude into his palm"
Thou must have spent fortune over
me, Yerack," 1 say remorsefully. The
weight of so many obligations Expresses
me.
And If thou hadst knocked the life
out of me that time, as / deserved, what
use would my money have been to nae
then? Moreover, I assure thee, that I
speak truth when say have more than
l need. Trust Yerack for looking after
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