Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1905-04-20
their tight against terrible ODDS. " /
hoped that you would be interested in

their tight against terrible ouds. : 1
hoped that you would be interested In
them"
She looked down curiously at the lit
tie wooden huts, half buried in the
snow, the smoking chimneys, the twin
king, curtainless windows.
"What do you expect me to dos" she
asked in a queer voice.
He looked at her in a sort of Won
derment. Perhaps it seemed to him
that q woman should have no need to
ask such a question.
at is a long story" he said. II will
tell you about it another time. You
are tired now after your Journey"
His arm slipped from her waist.
They stood side by side, and both were
conscious of a feeling of difference.
They We're not the same as they had
been in London. The atmosphere Of
Russia seemed to have had some sub
tie effect upon them.
Eta turned and sat slowly down on
a low chair before the fire. She had
thrown her furs aside, and they lay
in a luxurious heap on the floor. The
maids, hearing that the prince and
princess We're together, waited silently
in the next room behind the closed
door.
81 think l had better hear it now"
said Eta.
But you are tired" protested her
husband. "You had better rest until
dinner time"
mo, I am not tired"
He came toward her and stood with
one elbow on the mantelpiece, looking
down at her, q quiet, strong man, who
had already forgotten his feat Of en-
durance of a few hours earlier.
"These people," he said, would die
Of starvation and cold and sickness if
we did not help them. 1t is simply i'm
possible for them in the few months
that they can work the land to cult
vate it so as to yield any more than
their taxes. They are overtaxed, and
no one cares. The army must be kept
up and a huge civil service, and no one
cares what happens to the peasants.
Some day the peasants must turn, but
not yet. 1t is q question for all Rus
sian landowners to face, and nobody
faces it. If any n tries to improve
| the condition Of his peasants-they
were happier a thousand times as serfs
1.-The bureaucrats Of st. Petersburg
mark him down, and he is forced to
| Ioora &ha oo,,rfrr Tho rhoJo 20 hr{o
Of this government is rotten, but every
one except the peasants would suffer
by its fall, and therefore it stands"
Eta was staring into the fire. 1t
was impossible to say whether she
heard with comprehension or not.
Paul went n
"There is nothing left, therefore, but
to go and do good by stealth. 1 studied
medicine with that view. Steinmetz
has scraped and economical the work
ing Of the estate for the same purpose.
The government will not allow US to
have a doctor. They prevent us from
organizing relief and education on any
thing like an adequate scale. They
do it all by underhand means. They
have not the pluck to oppose US open
ly. For years we have been doing
what we can. We have almost eradi-
Gated cholera. They do not die Of
starvation now. And they are learn
ing-very slowly, but still they are
learning. We-I-thought you might
be interested in your people. You
might want to help"
She gave q short little nod. There
was a suggestion Of suspense in her
whole being and attitude, as if she
were waiting to hear something which
she knew could not be avoided.
"a few years ago." he went on, "a
gigantic scheme was set on foot. I
told you a little about 1.-THE Charity
league" ......
Her lips moved, but no sound came
from them, so she nodded a second
time.
"rhat fell through" he went on, "as
l told you. 1t was betrayed. Stepan
Lanovitch was banished. He has es-
capped. however. Steinmetz has seen
him. He succeeded in destroying some
Of the papers before the place was
searched after the robbery, one paper
In particular. If he had not DESTROYED
that I should have been banished.
was n of the leaders of the Charity
league. Steinmetz and 1 got the thing
up. 1t would have been for the happi-