Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1905-01-13
CHAPTER VI.

w nllSC we nave Deen taking Cne
shades Of night have been closing in,
until now, leaning together as we sit,
we can barely see each others faces.
Maruscha rises to light the lamp, and
in the silence l hear how the wind,
which has been blowing gale all day, is
rattling the window in it's frame and
bowling wildly round the house. From
a gale it has developed to a tempest
Ivan will see thee home, Maruscha,"
l observed "It is a wild night"
Suddenly flying steps startle us as
cending the stairs! The handle of the
door is shaken, and breathless whisper,
which is not Ivan's, comes to us:
"Open-open quickly! 1t is I-Pavel"
Maruscha, pale of sudden to the lips,
is at the door before 1, in my surprise
and CONSERVATION, find the power to stir.
l sit gazing and expectant Of l know not
what, but something of ill-and Pavel is
before me. He must have sped quickly,
for he puts his hand to his heaving side,
and with wild eyes darting at me, gasps
forth:
Hide! Hide for thy life! They are
upon us!"
Maruscha wrings her hands. "Fly!
fly! stand not thus, Vladimir"
l am beginning to make blindly for the
moor, when Pavel's voice arrests me.
Mono time they will meet thee
thou must hidev'
laugh stupidly.
"The window-it is darkw 1t is Ma
ruscha who speaks, pointing upward.
at is chance" gasps Pavel.
The window rises from the roof. 1t is
high. Already Maruscha is dragging for
ward a chair for me to mount.
my shoulders gasps Pavel
again, instantly turning to me his back
and lowering his body.
Something of their anxious energy Is
lent to me in this supreme moment.
spring with marvellous agility to the prof
| fered shoulders-.-I open the window, and
with a rush of wind comes to me the
tramp, tramp of gendarmes! The wind
compasses me about-it tears, it roars
at me. l clutch the window frame-my
feet are on the sloping roof, which
seems to move away under them.
| Pavel's head shoots up for moment
through the window. l see the wind
seize his black hair and toss it about in
waGton fury ere it disappears and the
widow is shut. l have now got firm
grip of the projecting states that edge
the dormer roof. Fortunately, l am
shod with soft slippers, so that my feet
can bend with them and get a certain
purchase on the states. l move eau
ticusly sideways, until can extend my
left arm over a corner Of the projection
Thus by bending py body forward
can see into the room, myself unseen.
Maruscha is sitting at the table. Hel
eyes are turned to the door, as IL il
startled surprise. Pavel is at the door
holding it open to admit four police
officers, two of whom have Ivan In Gus
tody. Pavel's manner is perfect. Hi
eyebrows are raised. He looks astonish
ment personifed. With polite gestur,
he seems to invite the intruders to en-
ter, search, examine-anything they like
so that they are satisfied.
There is an air of baff1ed mystificatioI
on the faces of all the officers as thei
glances travel about the room. One O
them, a superior, locks the door and put
, the key in his pocket.
Ivan, standing apart, with gyvet
wrists, wears look of sullen indiffer
ence. Only once l catch him dart
swift glance at Maruscha, who has risel
, to her feet and stands with proud, up
lifted head in mute protest at the un
3 seemly interruption.
The superior officer steps forward h
E front of Pavel, and holding him witt
stern eye, evidently commences t
D question him. l strain every nerve t
hear what Is being said, but what wit
!, the swish of the wind and the interven
, ing glass, cannot distinguish q singl