The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-05-11

English. ''You might tell the ladies
that 1 have gone out and will dine
alone when come back"
Steinmetz shrugged his broad shoul-
ders.
IL think you are FOOL" he said, t'to
go alone. If they discover your iden-
tity they will tear you to pieces
II am not afraid of them,' replied
Paul, with his head in the medicine
cupboard, "any more than am afraid
Of horse. They are like horses; they
do not know their own strength"
with this difference" added Stein
metz, 'that the moujik will one day
make the discovery. He is beginning
to make it now. The starosta is quite
right, Paul. There is something in the
air. 1t is about time that you took the
ladies away from here and left me to
manage it alone"
''That time will never come again.
answered Paul. II am not going to
leave you alone again"
He was pushing his arms into the
sleeves Of the old brown coat reaching
to his heels, a garment which COM
manded as much love and respect in
Osterno as ever would an angels wing.
Steinmetz opened the drawer of his
bureau and laid revolver on the table.
"At all events" he said, 'you may
as we'll have the wherewithal to make
a fight of it if the worst comes to the
worst
Gas you like answered Paul. Slip
ping the 6rearm into his pocket.
The starosta moved away a pace or
two. He was essentially q man OF
peace.
Half an hour later it became known
in the village that the Moscow doctor
was in the house of one Ivan Krass,
where he was prepared to see all pa
tients who were now suffering from
infectious complaints. The door Of
this cottage was soon besieged by the
sick and the idle, while the starosta
stood in the doorway and kept order.
Paul, standing by the table with
two parafin lamps placed behind him,
saw each suppliant in turn, and all the
while he kept up a running conversa-
ton with the more intelligent, some
of whom fingered on to talk and watch.
"Ah, John, the son Of john" he
would say, what is the matter with
you? It is not often I see you I
thought you were clean and thrifty
To which John, the son Of John, re-
piled that the winter had been hard
and fuel scarce, that his wife was dead
and his children stricken with influ-
enza
"But you have had relief. Our good
friend the starosta''-
docs what he CAM grumbled John,
"but he dare not do much The BARNS
will not let him. The mobiles want all
the money for themselves The en-
peror is living in his palace, where
there are fountains of wine. We pay
for that with our taxes. You see my
hand. I cannot work, but I must pay
the taxes or else we shall be turned
out into the street,
But the winter is over now. You
are mistaken about the mobiles. They
do What they can. The emperor pays
for the relief that you have had all
these months. 1t is foolish to talk as
you do.'
Il only tell the TRUTH" replied the
man. 1--WE know now why it is that
we are all so poor.''
"Why?' asked Paul, pouring some
lotion over a wad Of lint and speaking
indifferently.
Because the nobles''- began the
man. And some one nudgea him from
behind, urging him to silence.
''You need not be afraid of me-" said
Paul. II tell no tales, and l take no
money
"Then why do you Gomez" asked a
voice in the background. 'Some one
pays you. Who is it?'
"Ah, Tula!' said Paul without look
ing up. "You are there, are you? The
great Tula! There is a Woodworking,
sober man, my little fathers, who nev-
er beats his wife and never drinks and
never borrows money"
There was little laugh. But Paul,
who knew these people, was quite alive
to the difference of feeling toward him
self. They still accepted his care, his
help, his medicine, but they were be-
ginning to doubt him.
''There is your own prince he went
on fearlessly to the man whose hand
he was binding up. "He will help you
when there is real Distress
An onlinous silence greeted this OBJ
servation.
Paul raised his head and looked
round. In the dim light of the two
smoky lamps he saw a ring of wild
faces - men with shaggy boards and
hair all entangled and unkempt, with
fierce eyes and lowering glances; wom-
en- with faces that unsexed them. There
were despair and desperation and ut
ter recklessness in the air, in the atti-
tude, in the hearts, of these people.
And Paul had worked among them for
years. The sight would have been
heartbreaking had Paul Howard Alex
is been the sort of man to admit the
possibility of broken heart. All that
he had done had heen f,11Stra tod l,x, +ho