Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-11-23

DhhOuS coach numbered
IA SLOWLY. almost painfully. alon,
IL the narrow road that srirta5
- the base of mountain II was
lawn oy four horses. and upon the
sea' SAT two rough, unkempt Russians
que holding the reins, the other living
pacK In lazy doze. The month ,ros
June and all the world seemed soft
anu sweet and joyous. To the right
moved turbulent mountain stream
oolilng savagely with the alien waters
ol the flood season. Ahead Of tho
creaking coach rode four horsemen
Sii heavily armed; another quartette
ioiloWed some distance in the reor
AT tne side Of the coach an officer of
.ne hussipn mounted police was rid.
ins easily. jangling his accouterments
with a yigor that disheartened at least
one occupant OF the vehicle. The win.
vows OF the coach doors were lowered
permitting the fresh mountain air TO
caress fondly the face of the voung
woman who tried to find comfort in
one of the broad seats. Since eorlv
morn she had struggled with the hard.
Shlps Of that seat and the late after.
noon found her very much out of M.
tlehce. The opposite seat was the rest.
ing place of a substantial colored wo.
man and a stupendous pile of bags and
boxes. The boxes were continually
topping over, and the bags were for.
ever getting under the feet of the once
placid servant, whose face. quite luck.
NY was much too black to reflect the
anger she was able otherwise, through
years OF practice. to conceal.
How much farther have we to 60
ieutenant?' asked the girl on the rear
feat plaintively, even humbly. The
han was very deliberate with his
English. He had been recommended
to her as the best linguist in the serv-
zee at Radovitch, and he had a repu-
tatlon to sustain.
1T another hour is but yet" he man.
aged to inform her. with confident
smile
"Oh, dear" she sighed "a whole hour
of thisr'
I'VE soon be dar, Miss Bev'ly. Jes'
yo' max up yo' min to res easy-like,
an We But the faithful old colored
womans advice was lost in the wrath
full exclamation that accompanied an
other dlslodgment Of bags and boxes.
The wheels of the coach had dropped
suddenly into deep rut. Aunt Fan
ny's growls were scarcely more potent
than poor Miss Beverly's means.
1T is getting worse and worse" ex-
claimed Aunt FanIS's mistress petu-
lantly. I'm black and blue from head
to foot, aren't you. Aunt Fanny?'
"Ah cain say as to de blue. Miss
Bev'ly. Hits mos monstrous bad
road, sho 'nough. Stay up dar, will
yo'" she concluded, jamming a bag
into an upper corner
Miss Calhoun, tourist extraordinary,
again consulted the linguist in the sad
die. She knew at the outset that the
quest would be hopeless, but she could
think of no better way to pass the next
hour than to extract mite Of informa-
tion from the officer.
Now for good old chat" she said.
beaming a smile upon the grizzled Rus
sian. rs there a decent hotel in the
village?" she asked.
They We're on the edge of the village
before she succeeded in finding out all
that she could, and it was not a great
deal, either She learned that the town
of Balak was in Axphain, scarcely a
mile from the Graustark line There
was an eating and sleeping house on
the main street, and the population Of
the place did not exceed 800.
When Miss Beverly awoke the next
morning, sore and distressed. she look
ed back upon the night with horror
that sleep had been kind enough to in
terrupt only at intervals. The wretched
hostelry lived long in her secret cata-
logue of terrQrs. Her bed was not a
bed: it was Il torture The room. the
table, the-but it was all too odious for
description. Fatigue was her only
friend in that miserable hole. Aunt
Fanny had slept on the floor near her
mistress cot, and it was the good old
colored woman's grumbling that awoke
Beverly. The sun was climbing up the
mountains in the east and there was
an air of general activity about the
place Beverly's watch told her that it
was past S o'clock.
Good gracious! she exclaimed.
It's nearly noon, Aunt Fanny. Hurry
along here and get me up. We must
leave this abominable place in ten min
utes." She was up and racing about
eXcltedly.
"Befo' breakfast" demanded Aunt
Fanny wnntlv