Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1905-04-07
TIE DfS[RTfR
oNNNNNNO~

~ peeh urlnklng steadily, hlc-
coughed his anecdotes. "Yel-
low imps! That's what they are, with
teeth as long as your finger. First
they shoot and then they eat you.
Ugh"
Stepanovitch shivered. He was re-
viving from the stupor in which the
events of the past few hours had
plunged him. He had never expected
to be called upon-he, a man just mar
ried. 1t was unfair-horrible. Why
should he be sent out to this far and
perilous country, called Manchuria, to
he eaten by these yellow goblins? If
what the corporal said was true, he
would never come back alive. None
or them all would come back alive.
Why had he been such fool when
the yellow card was given him, to go
to the depot and be enrolled? Why
had he not done as the others-crept
nut in the night and met the German
agent who helped men to cross the
frontier and go In a ship to a coun-
try where there was much gold? Was
1t too late?
The train rolled on through the
frosty flats. 1t was bitter cold night,
but the carriage was sitting. The 9TH
er recruits were asleep, or stupid with
fright. They lay back against the
wooden walls of the carriage with
AF ho inIt rDh
corporal, who had taken yet another
drink from his bottle, seemed to be
sleeping, too. He was a fierce looking
man in his sleep, tiercer even than
when he was awake; but it was a
thing to be thankful for that there
was breathing space from those mon
strous stories of his. They hurt
mans inside, those stories.
To get rid Of the feel of them, Ste
panovitch tried to fix his thoughts on
katinka. She was a good girl and la
borious, and 1t was a shame that she
should be left-as good as widowed
so soon. How she had wept when the
yellow card came. She had wept SO
much indeed that when the hour for
his departing arrived her eyes had
been quite dry. He hoped that she
would not forget the instructions he
had given her, in case he came back;
especially with regard to any money
she might save. 1t was not likely that
she would save any. Very few did in
their village, and Katinka was a hun
cry one always. That was perhaps
why she was so plump. She was the
plumpest girl for miles around, and 1t
was for this reason that Stepanovitch
had loved her. Well, 1t was not to be
supposed that she could stay plump
forever, especially with her man away.
She would not have the food. That
was natural enough-not to have much
food when ones man Is away-and
Stepanovitch did not regret that he
had kept secret from her the place I'M
der the floor in which his savings were
stored. She might have been tempted
to spend them if she had known where
they lay: and then when he came back
and needed them there would be moth
ing left.
But would he ever come back? 1t
seemed the question would recur what
ever one fixed ones mind on The
railway carriage was altogether asleep
now. There was nothing but snores
through the whole of it-snores that
kept time with the monotonOus vibra-
tion of the train. Stepanovitch, who
was in the corner by the door, put
his hand on the handle and turned it.
He had not meant to open the door,
but suddenly 1t was open. The train
went very slow; he could see that by
looking through the veriest chink that
caused no draught and disturbed no
sleeper. A man could drop into the
snow very easily and take no harm.
Two days later in the evening, Ste
panovitch stood outside the cottage
In which he had left Katinka. 1t
seemed year since he had left her,
but it was only two nights. He had
walked all the time, and run, too, ex-
cept in the daylight, when he had hid
den himself in a straw stack. He had
eaten nothing and slept not wink.
All the time, while he walked and
while he hid, he had thought Of this
moment and of what a surprise it
would be to Katinka. He would 20
very cautiously in, put his hand on her
lips lest she should cry out and, TAX
ing his money from the place under
the floor, beckon her to fly with him.
That very night they would cross the
frontier with the help Of the German
agent; and in the morning he would