The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1905-04-26
CHAPTER 7.

at Tifis.
This is what the telegram said:
AS the matters in hand will terminate
on the 10th instant, Claudius Bombarnac
VIII repair to Uzun Ada, a port on the
east coast Of the Caspian. There he
will take the train by the direct Grand
Transasiatic, between the European from
tier and the capital Of the Celestial En-
pire. He will transmit his impressions
in the way of news, interviewing remark
able people on the road. and report the
most trivial incidents by letter or tele-
gram as necessity dictates. The Twenti-
eth Century trusts to the zeal, intelli-
gence, activity and tact Of its correspond
ent. who can draw on its bankers TO any
extent he may deem necessary"
1t was the very morning | had arrived
at Tifis, with the intention of spending
three weeks there in a visit to the
Georgian provinces for the benefit OF my
newspaper, and also | hoped for that of
its readers.
Here was the unexpected. indeed; the
uncertainty of a special correspondents
life. I had hardly arrived before was
obliged to be off again without unstrap-
ping my portmanteau!
1t was hard. but there was no way out
of it. And to begin with, at what o'clock
did the train for Titiis start from the
Caspian? / went to the railway station
at a run, and rushed into the departure
office.
when is there a train for Baku:" |
asked.
six o'clock tonight"
"And when does it get thcrcF'
"Seven o'clock in the morning.
us that in time to catch the boat for
Uzun Ada?"
The man at the trap door replied to
nv salute by a salute Of mechanical pre-
cision. The question of passport did not
trouble me. The French consul would
know how to give me all the references
required by the Russian administration
At 5 o'clock, having secured my pass
port, l hurry to the railway station.
There there is a crowd of Armeni2ns,
Georgians. Mingrelians, Tartars. Kurds,
Israelites, Russians, from the shores of
the Caspian. some taking their tickets
direct for Baku, some for intermediate
stations.
| take a ticket for Baku. first class. l
60 down on the platform to thc carriages.
According to my custom, L install! myself
in "A comfortable corner. y few travel
! ers follow me. while the cosmopolitan
populace invade the second and tAird
class carriages. The doors are shut af-
ter the visit of the ticket Inspector. y
last scream OF the whistle announces that
the train is about to start. Suddenly
there is a shout-a shout in which anger
is mingled with despair-aHd | catch
these words in German:
"Stop. Stop
/ put down the window AMI LOOK out.
A fat man. bag in hand, travelling cap on
head. his legs embarrassed i'll the skirts
of a huge overcoat, short and GREATNESS.
He is late. The pOrtcrs try to stop him.
Try to stop a bomb in the middle OF its
trajectory. Once again has right to give
place to might.
The Teuton bomb describes a well-cal-
culated curve, and has just fallen into the
compartment next to ours, through the
door a traveller had obligingly left open.
The train begins TO move ut the same In
slant, the engine wheels begin TO slip on
the rails, then the speed increases. We
are off.
It is still daylight Mt 6 o'clock in the
evening in this latitude. | have bought
q time table and / consult it. Then |
began to examine my travelling compan-
ions. There were four of US, and need
scarcely say that we occupied the four
corners of the compartment. l had taken
the furthest corner, facing the engine.
At the two opposite angles two travellers
were seated facing each other. AS soon
as they got in they pulled their caps
down on their eyes and wrapped them
selves up in their cloaks-evidently they
were Georgians, as far as J. could see.
In front Of me was quite a different
type. with nothing Of the oriental o
1t; thirty-two to thirty-ive years old, face
with a reddish beard, very much alive in
look. nose like that of a dog standing at
point, mouth only too glad to talk, hands
free and easy, ready for a shake with
anybody; a tall, vigorous, broad-shoul-
dered, powerful man. BY the way in
which he settled himself and put down
his bag, and unrolled his travelling rug
of bright-hued tartan, | had recognized
the Anglo-Saxon traveller, more accus-
toned to long journeys by land and sea
than to the comforts Of his home. If he
had a home. He looked like a CONNER
cial traveller. / noticed that his jewelry
was In profusion; rings on his fingers, pin
in his scarf, studs on his cuffs with pho
Geographic views in them, snowy trinkets
hanging from the watch chain across his
waist coat. / should not have been sur
prised il he turned out to be an Ameri-
can.
II l am not mistaken, he will be just
rs glad to speak to me as | am to speak
to him-and reciprocally. l will see. But
q fear restraints me. Suppose this Amer
lean should also be a special correspond
emit, and suppose he has also been or
dered to do this Grand Asiatic. That
would be most annoying! He would be a