The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1905-07-22
CHAPTER X

train stopped at Merv station, over five
hundred miles from Uxan Ada. We have
seven hours to stop at Merv, and In
company with Major Noltitz do the
town. On our return to the station
Popof runs up TO me, saying;
Il know the name"
~And ii isl''
~Yen Lou. the great mandarin Yen
Lou Of Pekin-"
Thank you. Popof."
rush to the telegraph once. and from
there l send telegram to the Twsnti-
eth Century.
'Merv. 18th May. p m.
Train. Grand Transasiatie, Just leav-
ing MeFv. Took from Douchak the body
Of the great mandarin Yen Lou coming
from Persia to Pekin."
1t cost a good deal. did this telegram.
but you viii admit il was well worth its
price. The name Of Yen Lou was imme-
diately communicated to our fellow trav-
elers. and Il seemed to me that my lord
Faruskiar smiled when he heard It.
We left the station at eight O'Clock
precisely. Forty minutes afterward we
passed near old Merv. and the night be-
ing dark. could see nothing Of H.
Our train l. running northeast The
stations are twenty or thirty miles
apart We cross the desert, the real
desert. without a thread Of water. where
artesian wells have to be sunk 70 supply
the reservoirs along the line. Gradually
my companions go to sleep. and our car
Ftags Is transformed into a sleeping car.
The train enters Tchardjoui Station to
the minute Our stop here ought to last
q quarter OF an hour. A few travellers
Ill -Ak 81
which contains about thirty thousand In
habitants, Others get In to proceed 10
B0khara and Samarkand, but these ars
only sscOnd-class passengers This pro
duces a certain amount Of hustle on the
platform.
| also get out and take a walk up
and down by the side Of the front van.
and notice the door silently open and
shut. A man creeps out on to the plat
form and slips away through the station.
which is dimly lighted by a few petro-
ieum lamps.
II Is my Roumanian. Il can be no
one else. He has not been seen, and
there he Is, lost among the other trav-
elers- Why this escape? Is il to renew
his provisions at the refreshment bari
On the contrary. Is it not his intention,
as l am afraid Il IS. 10 get away from
US?
Shall stop him? will make myself
known to him; promise to help him. Be
hold me then following him without ap-
pearing 10 do 80. Amid all this hurryinS
to and fro he Is in little danger Of being
noticed Neither Popof nor any Of the
company's servants would suspect him to
be swindlsr. Is he going toward the
gate TO escape mel
No! He only wants TO stretch Ais legs
better than he can do IN the van. After
an Imprisonment which has lasrai since
he left Baku-that Is TO say, aborH sixty
hours-hs has earned ten minutes Of
freedom
He IS q maA Of middle height. 1.-the In
his movements, and with a gliding kind
of walk He could roll himself up Ike
a eat and find quite room enough in his
case He wears an old vest, his trous-
ers are held up By a belt and bis cap
Is fur One-al Of dark color.
l am at ease regarding his Intentions
He returns toward the van. mounts the
platform and shuts the door gently be-
hind him. As soon as the train Is on the
move | will knock az the panel, and this
time
More Of the unexpected Instead Of
waiting at Tchardjoui one quarter Of an
hour. we have to wait three A slight
injury to one Of the brakes Of the en-
CINE has had to be repaired, and, not
withstandins the German barOn's remoa-
strances. We do not leave the station be-
fore half past three. as the day Is be-
ginning to dawn.
At o'clock In the morning the train
stops at the ca pital Of the Khanata If
Bokhara, 1,107 miles from Cbun Ada. I
Bokhara, the capital Of Khsnate. Is the
Rome Of Islam, thu Noble City, the City
OF Temples, the reversd center Of the
hohammedan religion.
Major Noltitz advised me 70 visit the
town In which he had lived several |
tunes. He could not accompany me. hav- !
ing several visits 10 pay. We were 70 |
start again at II O'Clock In the morning. !
Five hours only to wait, and the town |
some distance from the railway station. |
In four hours | have seen most Of the |
notable things In Bokhara, and al 1870 |
alishted at the railway station. | see |
at glance that all my numbers ara on |
the platform, including my German bar |
on. In the rear Of the train the Per
STA rs are keeping faithful guard around |
three Of our travelling companions are |
observing them with persistent curiosity; |
these are the suspicious looking Mon
gols we picked up at Douchak. As
pass near them fancy that Faruakiar |
makes q signal to them. which do not |
understand. Does he know them7 Any
how. this circumstances rather puzzles |
me.
The train IL no sooner Oh than the
passengers 60 to the dining car. The |
places next 10 mine and the nstor's |
which had been occupied since the start. |
are now vacant, and the young China |
man. followed by DT. Ticking, take ad- !
Of II TO come near as Pan
Chno knows l am on the staff Of the
Twentieth Century, and be Is apparently !
as DESTROYS Of talking 10 me as / am OF |
"a king TO him.
am not mistaken. He Is a true Pa |
rinan VI the Boulevard. In the clothes |
Of Celestial He has spent three year.
Ia the world where raonfa nu,u.o e.,