Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1907-01-24
CHAPTER I.

CRY 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-the an
nouncement that, speculated upon,
even smiled at, at the time, assumed
such significance in the light OF after
events.
At s o'clock the news spread through
the house OF commons, bur st 8 men in
the inner Hobbies were GossiplnE, not
go much upon how far Russia, while
ostensibly upholding 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 in the
faces of the government.
More than once before Lakely, the
owner and editor of the st. Georges.
had stepped outside the decorous circle
of tradition and taken Il plunge into
modern journalism. but tonight he es-
fayed 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 antagoulsm than
a first faint index of long cherished
ltussian scheme, growing to a 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
she smiling unconcern on the minis
serial benches, and the government
had an uneasy sense that behind the
newly kinded interest on the other
side Of the house lay some mysterious
seeming 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 ChilcOte, member for East
Wark He passed out of the house
quickly. with the half furtive quick.
ness that marks a self absorbed man.
and as he passed the policeman stand
ing stolidly under the arched doorway
of the big courtyard he swerved lit
tie, as if startled out Of his thoughts.
lie realized his swerve almost before
1t was accomplished and pulled him
self together with nervous irritability.
"Foggy night, constable" he said,
with elaborate carelessnesG
"Foggv night. sir and thickening up
west" responded the man.
"Ah, indeed" Chilcote's answer was
absent. The constabe's CHEEKY voice
Jared on him, and for the second time
he was conscious of senseless irrita-
ton. Without a further glance at the
man, he slipped out into the courtyard
and turned toward the main gate.
At the gateway two cab lamps show
ed through the mist of shifting fog
like the eyes of a great cat, and the
familiar Hanson, sir?' came to him
indistinctly.
He paused by force of custom and
stepping forward, had almost touched
caused him to draw back.
NO" he said hurriedly; no I'll
walk"
The cabman muttered, lasled his
horse and, with n clatter of hoofs and
harness. wheeled away, while Chilcote
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 garden
that faces the houses of parliament
the statues were visible in a spectral
way. But Chilcote's glance was unsta
bic and indifferent He sklrted The
ratings heedlcssly and, crossing the
road with the speed of long familiar
ity, gained Whitehall on the left hand
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 Horse
guards and that beyond lay nothing.
Unconscious Of this caprlcious alter
nation between darkness and light
Chilcote continued his course To
close observer the manner OF his goln,
had both Interest and suggestion, 70
though he walked on, apparently sci
engrossed, yet at every dozen steps h
started at some sound or some touch
like a man whose nervous system 1
painfully overstrung.
Maintaining his haste, he went de
liberately forward, oblivious of til
fact that at each step the curtain o
darkness about him became closer
damper, more tangible; that at eacI
second the passersby jostled eacI
other with greater frequency. Then
abruptly, with n sudden realization O
what had happened, he stood quit
still. Without anticipation or prepa
ration he had walked full into tn
thickness Of the fog-a thickness s
dense that, as by an enchanter's wand
the figures OF moment before melted
the street lamps were sucked up int
the night.
His first feeling was a sense of PAM
at the sudden isolation, his second
thrill OF nervous apprehension at ii
oblivion that had allowed him to be s
entrapped. The second feeling ou
weighed the first. He moved forward
then paused again, uncertain Of hin
self. Finally, with the CONSCIOUSNESS