Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-05-18
CHAPTER XVI.

y Tlnra is no CLOAK Tor tears like
,.,rb-or. lie is a strong man who mere
j.. 5,as nothing in the midst Of tears.
;[ost men either laugh or weep, but some
2 are who remain grave.
Matthew Mark Easton was not
sang man. The last meeting of the
s,soriation he was pleased to call Guy
Tankes" was looked forward to by him
with positive dread. He did not hold
t;mspIf responsible for Pavloski and his
-,r,a compatriots, for he knew we'll
,Dongh that he himself was but a means
=, the end If these four Russians had
mt met with him, they would still have
-,ra TO Siberia; for they were branded,
.5oir souls were scared by the hot iron
,ba rLrice-heated iron Of unquenchable
7engeance.
rrrsius Pavloski was the first to ar
rive. Immaculate, cold, and self-contain-
n IS usual; his oId-fashioned dress clothes
.orupuIously brushed, his large amethyst
s5irr studs brightly polished. There was
g, steady glitter in his unpleasantly veil
d eyes, but his manners were always
spave and courtly.
An, Smith !" cried Easton "punctual
as usual We business men know its
value, eh?-especially at meal times"
When the guests were assembled Eas-
ton led the way to another room, where
dinner was served. The usual silence up
On the subject of their meeting was OBJ
served until the meal was over, and all
chairs we're drawn round the fire.
Then the informal proceedings COM
nencad. Matthew Mark Easton was a
rifo more restless than usual his mo-
bile features alternated between grave
and gay, while his dancing eyes were
never still.
"Gentlemen,' he said, 1--WE have done
a vast deal of talking, and now at last
some Of us are going into action. Each
one Of you knows his part, and each one
Of YOU, of course, will do his best. The
three gentlemen who leave tonight for
Siberia take absolutely nothing with
them except little money. There are
no maps, no letters, no instructions, moth
ing that an enemy can get hold of. We
have. however, taken measures to supply
them with money at various stages of the
journey. We have also completed a meth
Od Of communication, by means of which
the safe progress of the travellers can
from time to time be reported to st. Pc
rarsburg, and subsequently, to the head
quarters in London. But in case of par
tial failure, it is quite understood that
the others go on. Mr.. Tyars undertakes
to get his ship round Cape Chelyuskin,
and to wait for you at the, meeting place
arranged, namely, the wasternmost mouth
Of the river Yana, not far from Gust
lansk where we have good friend. On
the lOJh of July he sails thence to COM
pete the northeast passage, and reach
the coast of Alaska. That date, gentle
men, is fixed. If no one 'comes to meet
him, he goes on alone, but he hopes to
see you all three, and each with a party
not exceeding fifteen persons"
The three men turned their dull eyes
toward the two Englishmen seated side
by side. Unconsciously the seven men
assembled had grouped themselves in or
der. The stout Russian and Easton were
seated side by side with their backs to
the table, and on their left were placed
the three young Russians, while on the
right the two sailors sat side by side-a
big man and small one-the lesser and
The greater power
'Ot course" went OF Easton, "the dis
tances are enormous, but we have endeav-
ored to equalize them as much as posi-
Die. The meeting point has been fixed
with view to this. 1t is the southern
most anchorage obtainable east of Cape
ChelyuSkin, though it is far within the
Arctic Circle. We have succeeded, | sur
mise, in keeping our scheme completely
secret No one knows of it except our
selves; not even the Nihilist party in
London. We must remember that we are
not Nlhllists, but merely seven men en-
gagged upon a private enterprise. We
nave friends who have been unjustly ex-
He'd many Of them without trial-upon
mere suspicion. We are attempting to
rescue those friends; that is ALL"
Yes echoed the stout man, speaking
Tor the first time, that is all. I seek
my daughter"
And my sister," said one.
And | my brother" said another.
1t is" added Pavloski, slowly, "a wife
with me-"
Iyars and Grace said nothing. They
mad not quite thought it out. and were
unprepared with a reason. Easton was
more at ease now. He consulted a little
notebook hitherto concealed in his waist
coat pocket.
l have endeavored," he continued,
Without taking his eyes from the pocket
oook, 10 make every department indie
pendent as far as possible. For instance,
my own death would in no wise affect the
expedition. The money and information
would after such an event, continue 10
INTER- through to Siberia by prearranged
channels. In case of the death or impris-
onNent of our agent in St. Petersburg,
TIE same communications would be kept
open. We have each a substitute, and
,1a arrangements are so simple that these
will have no difficulty in car
TElnS them out. l need scarcely tell you
mat heavy brides have been sent to the
right quarters in Siberia-high official
quarters"
The StOrt man oT,unted in a knowing