The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-05-15

third, and, as | understood him, the |
mixing took place with unexpected |
suddenness. He has endeavored to ex-
plain to me the reaction, as he calls it, |
which occurred, but 1 seem to have no
head for chemistry, and, besides, if 1 |
am to be blown through the roof some |
of these days it will be no consolation |
to me when I come down upon the
pavement outside to know accurately
the different elements which contrib
uted to my elevation. Jack is very
patient in trying to instruct me, but he
could not resist tho temptation of max
ing me ashamed by saying that your
friend, Miss Katherine Kempt, would
have known at once the full particulars
of the reaction. Indeed, he says she
warned him of the disaster by mark
ing q passage in a book she gave him
which foreshadowed this very thing
She must be q most remarkable young
woman, and it shows how stupid / am
that 1 did not In the least appreciate
this fact when in her company"
The next letter was received a week
later. He was getting on swimming
ly, both at the foreign Office and at
the Russian admiralty. All the Off
Gals he had met were most courteous
and anxious to advance his interests
He wrote about the misapprehensions
held in England regarding Russia and
expressed his resolve to do what he
could when he returned to remove
these false impressions.
"Of course" he went on, mo Amer
lean or Englishman can support or
justify the represslve measures so Of
ten carried out ruthlessly by the Rus
sian police. Still even these may be
exaggerated, for the police have to
deal with a people very much different
from our own. 1t is rather curious
that at this moment 1 am in vague
trouble concerning the police. 1 am
sure this place Is watched, and I am
also certain that my friend Jack is be-
ing Swallowed. He dresses like a work
man. His grimy blouse would de-
light the heart of his friend Tolstoi,
but he is known to be a prince, and [
think the authorities imagine he is
playing up to the laboring class, whom
they despise. l lay it all to that un-
fortunate explosion, which gathered the
police about US as if they had sprung
from the ground. There was an off,
cial examination of course, and Jack
explained, apparently to every body's
satisfaction, exactly how he came to
make the mistake that resulted in the
loss of his beard and his windows 1
don't know exactly how to describe the
feeling of uneasiness which has come
over me.
J ''At first sight this city did not strike
} me as so very much different from
New York or London, and, meeting, as
did, so many refined gentlemen in
high places, l had come to think st.
: Petersburg was, after all, very much
/ like Paris or Berlin or Rome. But it is
: different, and the difference makes it.
/ self subtly felt, just as the air in some
coast towns of Britain is relaxing and
, in others bracing. In these towns a
, man doesn't notice the effect at first
} but later on he begins to feel it, and so
it is here in st. Petersburg. Great
, numbers Of workmen pass down our
! street. They all seem to know who the
prince Is, and the first days we were
l here they saluted him with a Difference
| which l supposed was due to his rank
, in spite of the greasy clothes he wore
, Since the explosion an indefnable
! change has come over these workmen
: They salute the prince still when we
meet them on the street, but there Is
in their attitude a certain sly sympa
! thy, if I may so term it, a bond Of
camaraderie, which Is implied in theil
manner rather than expressed. Jack
, says this is all fancy on my part, bu
=, 1 don't think 1t is. These men imagine
:, that Prince Ivan Lermontoff, who live:
among them and dresses like them, Il
concocting some explosive which may
;. yet rid them of the tyrants who make
their lives so unsafe. All this would
: not matter, but what does matter il
the chemical reaction, as 1 believe Jacl
: would term it. which has taken plac,
! among the authorities. The authoritie
undoubtedly have their spies anon:
the workingmen and know we'll wha
they are thinking about and talkin!
: about. 1 do not believe they were sat
isfied with the explanations Jack CAV
: regarding the disaster. / have triet
{ to impress upon Jack that he must b
+ more careful In walking about tn
) town, and l have tried to persuad
/ him after work to dress like the ger
s tleman he is, but he laughs at my fear
) and assures me that have gone fror
one extreme to the other in my Opinion
t of st. Petersburg First l thought
t was like all other capitals; now l hav
o swung too far in the other direction
: He says the police Of st. Petersbur
n would not dare arrest him, but I'm nc
Il so sure Of that A number Of thing
e occur TO me, as usual. too late. Russil
5 with her perfect secret service system
e must know that Prince Lermonton ha
S been serving in the British navy. The
p know he returned to ST. Petersbur: