Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1906-09-20
The fiiniIist kikamsk.
BY L. B. KINDER.

While anarchy ragged openly in the
chief cities of the Russian empire,
which threatened to collapse beneath
the assaults of the revolutionists, the
death of Prince Droboken. governor
of an obscure province on the eastern
border, attracted so little attention at
st. Petersburg that for months no sue
cessor was appointed. Nevertheless.
affairs went on as smoothly as before
under guidance of Princess Sonia, who
had in fact ruled in her fathers name
since the latter had been stricken with
paralysis ten years prior to his death.
Rumors of distant strife produced
but little effect upon the inhabitants
of this province, who had never had oc-
casion to protest against oppression
by the governor. Thus it was that
while the Little Father hid in bomb
proof chambers, the princess continued
to hold her Thursday afternoon levees
with perfect safety The only danger
to be feared was from outsiders, but
even here the good will Of her people
protected her as no guard could have
done. A dozen times revolutionary in
stigators were driven from the prov
ince or delivered into her hands by in
dlgnant peasants, who henceforward
regarded all strangers with suspicion.
Hostile eyes therefore greeted the
unfamiliar garb of the petitioner Lu-
pinski, who came from the mountain
region, a long days journey northeast
of Kikamsk. Sonia, however, received
him kindly and, although compelled
to deny his suit, gave her reasons in
detail and placed in his hands a purse
of silver. The good-looking young
peasant failed to grasp the meaning of
her words, until bestowing the purse,
she gently dismissed him. Then, real
izing that his petition had failed, his
dull eyes fared into a blaze and his
voice filed the room with passionate
cutlery.
The palace guards precipitously sur
rounded him and at Sonia's command
led him without injury to the city
safe, where he was set free with a
warning not to return. With that i'm
passive dignity for which her family
had long been noted, the princess re-
sumed her audience and continued to
receive petitioners until the last had
been heard.
Yet, when the days business was
over and she reclined in a massive
leather chair before her boudoir's open
fire, she trembled at thought of the
peasants frey eyes and menacing
words.
Soothed by the warmth of the fire
and the Quieting after-dinner coffee,
she at length forgot her fears. She
yawned and left the chair for a low,
wide couch, where she lay gazing into
the fire. Her large, white angora cat
stealing in from the outer room, sat
composed upon the hearth and washed
her face, then crouched and purred.
Gradually objects about Sonia
seemed absorbed in the Pickering fire.
light. Her head sank deeply into the
fluffy pillow and her eyes closed.
The blazing wood fell and a feath-
cry coating of ashes gathered upon the
Goals. The glow faded from the walls
and shadows crept up to the hearth,
where the angora still crouched, her
green eyes intently staring, as if fas-
tened upon some prey. The princess
slept, her SWEET face turned towards the
fire, her bosom rising slightly, the
pulse in her white throat throbbing
with the even pulsation of good health.
Y
The horror of th,.t awakening Sonia
will ever remember. A heavy body
struck her shoulder and sharp-nailed
fingers clutched her throat. With a
shrek she writhed back from her as
sailant and losing her balance, fell.
upon the floor.
Fortunately her cutlery had been
heard. Attendants rushed to her aid