The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1906-08-16
A. TRUE STORY 1.-THE :.
- RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

lOrlS1nal.
A member of the Russian revolution
airy committee in New York recently
came upon a man the sight of whom
startled him.
Why, Sergius, I thought you were
dead''
But you see am alive"
Your name certainly came through
our secret press as having been exc
cuted, together with a number of 9TH
ers."
The man addressed seemed haunted
by some danger, some memory-what it
was his friend could not tell. He
looked about him as though lie feared
a policeman or a Cossack was coming
from behind to cut him down.
Come with me- said the other ~
will take you where you will feel more
comfortable. You cannot have been in
this free country long or you would
not fear your shadow. When did you
arrive?"
Yesterday"
When they were settled at table
in cafe with something warm before
them to restore the courage of the new
ly arrived man he told the following
experience:
/. You know, of course, of the putting
down of the revolution in the Baltic
provinces. You also know that my
fathers paper did not support the revo.
luton, though it was liberal. Since the
CAR had promised liberty of the press
we supposed we We're safe. But the
troops We're all about us, and whenever
they entered town they would declare
martial law and by their drumhead
courts martial proceed to get rid of
those they thought proper to destroy.
One day our peaceful village received
such visitation. Some countries fear
hurricanes, some fear earthquakes. l
would prefer either to what came upon
US. The soldiers respected no one, old
o. young, sick or we'll, male or female.
Ny father was arrested as editor of
or paper, and l, having written for it,
was also arrested. was i'll at the time,
but that made no difference
We We're tried by the 'drumhead.'
which should be named the black
DEATH and, of course, convicted. 1t
mattered not whether we were limo
cent or guilty, a certain number must
be sacrificed to strike terror into those
who remained. There We're about
eighty of us selected to be shot, my
father and l among the number.
1T is a horrible thing-that which is
common at home today-to be marched
out in a gang to be shot down like
dogs. Men and women We're driven to-
gether to u pen while our fellow citi-
zens looked on without power to help
us. l can see my horror stricken COM
panions wailing, praying or nearing
their end in silence. can see"-he put
his hands over his eyes-"my father
standing among the rest and the look
he gave meme whom he had brought
up from a babe. can see that line of
death, hear the word Of command from
the officers. l saw these men raise
their pieces and bring them to an aim.
The suspense between the aim and the
fire was too much for me, weakened
as l was by illness. l tainted and as
the balls moved down my companions
fell, too, but from another cause.
When l came to myself, remember
ing the horrible situation, supposed
that l was in the agonies of death.
Then, in darkness, suffocating, a load
upon me, it occurred to me that had
been buried alive. l had struck the
truth. After the execution the bodies
were gathered and thrown into a
trench dug for the purpose. The bullet
intended for me had gone over my
head. and was not hurt. was thrown
in with the rest and all We're covered
over with earth, but not deep or 1
would not he here with you today.
But was not thinking OF this then.
l was working as well as my strength
would permit-of course it was greatly
magnified by my situation-and at last
scrambled out. AS lay on the surface
gasping to fill my lungs saw it was
night. There was chance for nv
life.
II lay still for some time, listening.
There was no sound near me that |
could hear. No sentry was needed to
guard the dead. Perhaps the troops
that had stricken us had passed on to
the next town. At last gained sutfi-
Gent strength and courage to crawl
away. Iol remember Ivan Droyou-
Sky. Well his house was not in the
town. 1t was on the outskirts and
near the shooting pen. went there
and called him up. When lie saw me
standing at his door he thought | was
my ghost. told him my story, and he
took me in and concealed me.
Fortunately, as you know, we were
not far from the German border and
my friends advised and helped me to
reach it. They furnished me with a
disguise and started with me, since |
was too weak to get on by myself. OF
course | had better chance than one
the police We're looking for. No one
looked for me, for | was supposed to
lie dead l reached the border safely
and. TRAVELLING throlIrl Gnrp,anv tool,