The Red Cloud chief., 1906-12-07

IN character YET DOunu t0Setn-
er by results, marked the night
~ of Jan. %. On that night the
blacklist fog within a four years mem
DRY fell upon certain portions of Lon
don and also on that night came the
first announcement of the border ris-
ings against the Persian government
in the province of Khorassan-thc an
nounccment that, specialized upon,
even smiled at, at the time, assumed
such significance i'm the light of after
events.
Al : o'clock the news spread through
the house of nj but at 8 men in
the inner Hobbies were gossiping, not
so much upon how far Russia, while
%ostcnsibly unfolding the shah, had
pulled the strings by which the lnsur-
gents danced, as upon the manner in
which the st. Georges Gazette, the
Tory evening newspaper, had seized
upon the incident and shaken it i'm the
faces of the government.
More than once before Lakcly. the
owner and editor Of the st. Georges,
had stepped outside the decorous circle
W uhililIoh Nv N a. IlulSC lh'V
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 out
come of mere racial antagonism than
a first faint index of a long cherished
Russian scheme, growing to u gradual
maturity under the drift" policy OF
the present British government.
The effect produced by this pro
nouncement, If strong, was varied.
Members of the opposition saw, or
thought they saw a reflection of it In
the smiling or the minis
terial benches, and the government
had an uneasy sense that behind the
newly klndled interest on the other
side of the house lay some mysterious
scouting 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 Chllcote, member for East
Wark. He passed out of the house
quickly, with the half furtive quick
ness that marks Il self absorbed man,
and as he passed the policeman stand.
ing stolidly under the archcd doorway
OF the big courtyard he swerved n lit
tie. as il startled out of his thoughts.
He realized his swerve almost before
IL was accomplished and pulled him
self together with nervous irritability,
"Foggy night, constable" he said,
with elaborate .Carelessness.
'Foggy night, sir, ana t%hickcning up
west" responded the man.
"Ah. indeed" Chilcote's answer was
absent. The constable's CHEEKY voice
Jared on HIM and for the second time
he was conscious Of scnseless irrita'
ton. Without a further glance ut the
man, he slipped ont into the courtyard
and turned toward the main gate.
At the gateway two cab lamps show
ell through the mist of shifting fog
like the eyes of n great cat, and the
familiar Hanson, sir?' came to him
indistinctly.
lie paused by force of custom and
stepping forward, had almost touched
the open door when II new impulse
caused him to draw back.
mo" he said hurriedly; mo. II
walk"
The cabman muttered, dashed his
horse and, with a clatter of hoo"s ant
.z -IA,ta .,a, ,,,htIA Il,il.AtA
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 gardeI
that faces the houses of parliament
the statues were visible in a spectra
way. But Chilcote's glance was unsta
BILE and Indifferent. He sklrted tn
ratings heedlessly and, crossing tn
road with the speed of long familiar
ity, gained Whitehall on the left hanC
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 Hors
guards and that beyond lay nothing.
Unconscious Of this caprlcious altel
nation between darkness and ligh
Chilcote continued his course. To
close observer the Of his goin
had both interest and suggestion, fC
though he walked on, apparently Sc
~engrossed, yet at every dozen steps b
started at some sound or some toucl
like a man whose nervous system
painfully Overstrung.
Maintaining his haste. he went d.
kberately forward. oblivious Of tn
fact that at each step the curtain {