Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1905-06-30
CHATTER /.

at Tifis.
This Is what the telegram said:
AS the matters in hand will terminate
on the 10th instant, Claudius Bombarnac
will 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 it's correspond
ent, who can draw on its bankers to any
extent he may deem necessary"
1t was the very morning had arrived
at Tifiis, with the intention Of spending
three weeks there in 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. / had hardly arrived before was
obliged to be of again without unstrap-
ping my portmanteaul
1t was hard, but there was no way out
of it. And to begin with, at what o'clock
did the train for Tihis 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 thereT
Seven o'clock in the morning"
Is that in time to catch the boat for
Uzun Ada?'
The man at the trap door replied to
my 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 Armenians,
Georgians, Mingrelians, Tartars, Kurds,
Israelites, Russians, from the shores Of
the Caspian, some taking their tickets
direct for Baku, some for intermediate
stations
take ticket for Baku, first class. /
90 down on the platform to the carriages.
According to my custom, install myself
IN a comfortable corner A few travel
ers follow me, while the cosmopolitan |
populace invade the second and third |
class carriages. The doors are shut at
ter the visit Of the ticket inspector. A |
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-and catch |
these words IN German:
'Stopl Stop"
put down the window and look out
a fat man, bag in hand, travelling cap on
head, his legs embarrassed in the skirts
of huge 0vercoat, short and breathless.
He Is late. The porters 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 traveller had obligingly left open
The train begins to move at the same in
slant, the engine wheels begin to slip on
the rails, then the speed increases. We
are off.
It is still daylight at o'clock in the
evening in this latitude. have bought
a time table and / consult 1t. Then /
began to examine my travelling compan-
ions. There were four Of us. and / need
N~@ANSAJ sal NhNt VIC OCGARAcu tue IOuE
corners Of the compartment / 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-evidentl they
were Georgians, as far as / could see
In front Of me was quite a different |
type, with nothing Of the oriental about /
III thirty-two to thirty-dve years old, face
with a reddish beard very much alive Ii
look, nose like that Of a dog standing at
point mouth only too glad to talk, hands !
free and easy, ready for q 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 4
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 home. He looked like CONNER i
cial traveller. ! noticed that his jewelry h
was in profusion rings on his fingers, pin
IN his scarf, studs on his cuffs with pho +
tographic views in them, snowy trinkets !
hanging from the watch chain across his
waist coat. ! should not have been sur
prised II he turned out to be an Ameri- !
can. !
II / am not mistaken, he win be Just /
as glad to speak to me as l am to speak !
to him-and reciprocally. / will see. But 1
1 fear Restraints me- Suppose this Amer n
can should also be a special correspond a
INT, and suppose he has also been or v
tered to do this Grand Asiatic. That q
would be most annoyingl He would be q
ivail
CHAPTER II.
At last I was about to open my mouth
ghen my companion prevented me.
-You are a Frenchmanr' he said in