The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-05-12

tending TO be interested In my alleHa'
tions. "What do you want OF mer
81 desire you to give the Mademoiselle
Heath her complete freedom" l said.
"Is that all?"
"All-for the present"
"But her future is not in my hands.
The Minister in Petersburg has decreed
her removal to Saghalien as a person
dangerous to the State"
(Which means that she will be i'll.
treated-knouted to death, perhaps"
1--WE do not use the knout in the Rus
sian prisons nowadays" he said briefly.
His Majesty has decreed its abolition"
"But you adopt torture in Kajana and
Schusselburg instead"
"My time is too limited to discuss our
penal system, m'sieur," he exclaimed i'm.
patiently, while l could we'll see that he
was anxious to escape before l made any
further charges against him. ! had al
ready shown him that Elma had spoken,
and he feared that she had told the
truth. While this would embitter him
against her and cause him to seek to
silence her at all hazards, it was of
course in my own interests that he
should fear any revelations that / might
make.
"You have posed in England as the
uncle of Elma Heath, and yet you here
hold her prisoner For what reason?"
| demanded.
"She is held prisoner by the State
for conspiracy against Russian rule-not
by herself personally
"Who enticed her here? Why, you,
yourself. Who conspired to throw the
guilt of this attempted murder of the
generals wife upon her? You-you,
the man whom they call The Stranger
of Finland!' But l will avenge the cruel
and abominable aifliction you have
placed upon her. Her secret-your Sc
cret, Baron Oberg-shall be published to
the world. You are her enemy-and
therefore minep
Every WE'LL" he growled between his
teeth, advancing towards me threaten.
ingly, his fists clenched in his rage
"Recollect, m'sieur, that you have in
suited me. Recollect that l am Cover.
nor General of Finland"
IF you were Car himself, I should
not hesitate to denounce you as the ty.
rant and mutilator of poor defense
less woman"
"And to whom, pray, will you tell this
romantic story of yoursY' he laughed
harshly. ITO your prison walls below
the lake at Kajana. Yes, M'sieur Gregg,
you will 60 there, and once within the
fortress you shall never see the light of
day. You threaten me-the Governor
General of Finland" he laughed in a
strange, high-pitched key as he threw
himself into chair and scrubbed some.
thing rapidly upon paper, appending his
signature in his small grabbed hand.
writing.
Il do not threaten" 1 said in open de-
fance, 81 shall act"
"And SO shall l." he said with an evil
grin upon his bony face as he blotted
what he had written and took it UP,
adding: I'm the darkness and silence
of your living tomb, You can tell what
ever strange stories you like concerning
me. They are used to idiots where you
are going" he added grimly.
"Oh! and where am ] going!"
Back to Kanaja. This order con.
signs you to confinement there as a dan.
gerous political conspirator, as one who
had threatened met consigns you to
the cells below the lake-for life!"
laughed aloud, and my hand sought
my wallet wherein was that all.powerful
document-the order of the Emperor
which gave me, as an imperial guest, i'm.
munity from arrest. l would produce it
as my trump-card.
Next second, however, l held my
breath, and l think | must have turned
pale. My pocket was empty! My wal.
let had been stolen! Entirely and help.
lessly had fallen into the hands Of the
tyrant of the Car.
His own personal interest would be TO
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