Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-12-06
p 1.
.WO Incidents. widely different
in character vet bound togeth-
cr by results, marked the night

VI "'tAa 49, (i tAiNN = ti> +
blacklist fog within a four years mem
DRY fell upon certain portions OF Lon
don and also OH that uiGht came the
first announcement of the border riS-
ings against the PcHSiau government
in the province of khorl>>An-the an
nouncement that. specialized upon,
even smiled at. at the time, assumed
such significance in the light of after
events.
At S o'clock the news spread through
the house OF commons, but at 0 men in
the inner Hobbies We're gossiping, not
so much upon how far Russia, while
ostensibly upholding the shah, had
pulled the strings by which the insur-
gents danced, as upon the in
which the st. Georges Gazette. the
Tory evening newspaper. had seized
upon the incident and shaken it in the
faces of the government.
More than once before Lakely. the
had stepped outside the decorous circle
of tradition and taken a plunge into
modern journalism, but tonight he es-
sayed deeper waters than before and
under an almost sensational heading
declared that in this apparently limo
cent border rising We had less an u
come Of mere racial antagonism than
a first faint index of a long cherished
Russian scheme, growing to a gradual
maturity under the drift" policy of
the present British government.
The effect produced by this pro
n%ouncement, if strong, was varied.
Members of the opposition saw, or
thought they saw, a reflection of it in
the smiling %unconcern on the minis
terial benches, and the government
had an uneasy n that behind the
newly kindled interest on the other
side of the house lay some mysterious
seeming of battle from afar off. But
though these impressions ran like cleo
tricity through the atmosphere, moth
ing tangible marked their passage. and
the ordinary business Of the house pro
ceeded until half past II, when an ad-
journment was moved.
The first man to hurry from his place
was John Chilcote, member for East
Wark. He passed out Of the house
quickly. with the half furtive quick
ness that marks a self absorbed man,
and as he passed the policeman stand
ing stolidly under the arched doorway
Of the big courtyard he swerved a lit
tie, as if startled out of his thoughts.
He realized his swerve almost before
it was accomplished and pulled him
self together with nervous %irritability.
"Foggy night. constable" he said.
with elaborate carelessness.
"Foggy night, sir, and thickening up
west responded the man.
"Ah, indeed!" Chilcote's answer was
absent. The co%nstable's CHEEKY voice
Jared on him. and for the second tille
he was conscious of s%enseless irrita-
ton. Without a further glance at the
man, he slipped out into the courtyard
and turned toward the main gate.
At the gateway two cab lamps show
ed through the mist of shifting fog
like the eyes Of a great cat. and the
familiar Hanson, sir?" came to him
indistinctly.
He paused by force of custom and.
stepping forward, had almost touched
the open door when a new impulse
caused him to draw back.
NO. he said hurriedly; mo. I'll
walk"
The cabman muttered, dashed his
horse and, with a clatter of hoofs and
harness. wheeled away, while Chilcote,
still with uncertain haStiness, crossed
the road in the direction of Whitehall.
About the abbey the fog had par
tally lifted, and in the rallied garden
that faces the houses Of parliament
the statues We're visible in a spectral
way. But Chi1cote's glance was unsta-
BILE and Indifferent. He skirted the
ratings heedlessly and, crossing the
road with the speed of long familiar
ity, gained Whitehall on the left hand
side.
There the fog had dropped, and, look
ing upward toward Trafalgar square,
it seemed that the chain of lamps ex-
tended little farther than the Horse
guards and that beyond lay nothing.
OANC4ASSiOuEo VI ALAo Aopil\louS lux
nation between darkness and light
Chilcote continued his course. To a
close observer the manner of his going
had both interest and suggestion, fol-
though he walked on, apparently self
%engrossed, yet at every dozen steps he
started at some sound or some touch
like a man whose nervous system is
painfully overstrung.
Maintaining his haste, he went de
liberately forward, oblivious Of the
fact that at each step the curtain OF
darkness about him became closer
damper. more tangible; that at eacl
second the passersby jostled eacl
other with greater frequency. Then
abruptly, with a sudden realization o.
what had happened, he stood quite
still. Without anticipation or prcpa
ration he had walked full into tn,
thickness Of the fog-a thickness s,
dense that, as by an enchanter's wand
the figures Of a moment before melted
the street lamps were sucked up int,
the night.
His first feeling was II sense Of PAM,