Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-08-01
n cnair ana sat down, his heart pal
plating wildly at the fear of discoy-

pllosAuS "AAuly at the rear OF diSCOv-
cry.
Followed as usual by the nan with
the lantern, the jailer came in. carving
a bowl OF hot, steaming soup, which he
placed on the table; then he took from
his pocket a spoon, a small hunk of
Dlack bread and a piece of cheese. In
the light of the lantern Lermontoff
consulted his watch and found 1t was
= o'clock. The jailer took the lantern
from his assistant, held it high and
looked round the room, while Lennon
toll gazed at him in anxiety, wonder
Ing whether that brutal looking Off.
cial suspected anything. Apparently
he did not, but merely wished to sat-
isfy himself that everything was in
order, for he said more mildly than he
had hitherto spoken:
1T Is a long time since any one oc.
cupied this CELL"
Then his eye rested on the vacant
corner shelf.
"Ah, excellency," he continued, "par
don me. I have forgotten. 1 must
bring you a BASIN"
I'D rather you brought me q can
die" said Lermontof nonchalantly, al
though his lips were dry, and he mois-
Tened them as he spoke. Then, to learn
Ehether money vas valueless on the
rock, as the governor had intimated,
he drew from his pocket one Of the re-
naming gold pieces, glad that he hap
pened to have so many, and slipped it
into the palm of the jailer's hand,
whose fingers clutched it as eagerly as
If he were in st. Petersburg.
II think a candle can be managed.
excellency. Shall 1 bring a cup?"
II wish you would"
The door was again locked and bolt
ed, but before Lermontoh had finished
his soup and bread and cheese it was
opened again. The iailer placed a tin
basin similar to the former one on the
ledge, put a candle and a candlestick
on the table and a tin cup beside them.
II thought there was no part Of Rus
STA where bribery was extinct" said
the prince to himself as the door closed
again for the night.
After supper Lermontoff again shift
ed his table, stood upon it, lit his can
die and resumed his tunneling, work
ing hard until after midnight. His
progress was deplorably slow, and the
spraying Of the rock proved about as
firing a task as ever he had undertak-
en-. His second basinful Of solution
was made a little stronger, but with
out p%erceptible improvement In its eff
feet. On ceasing operations for the
night he found himself in a situation
common to few prisoners-that Of be-
ing embarrassed with riches. He pos
sessed two basins, and one Of them
must be concealed. OF course he
might leave his working basin in the
upper tunnel where it had rested when
the jailer had brought in his supper,
but he realized that at any moment the
lanterns rays might strike its shining
surface and so bring on an %investiga-
ton Of the upper tunnel, certain to
prove the destruction Of his whole
scheme. A few minutes thought, how
ever, solved the problem admirably.
he placed the basin face downward in
the rapid stream, which swept it to
the iron bars between the two cells,
and there it lay quite concealed with
the swift water ripping over it. This
done, he flung off his clothes and got
into bed, not awakening until the jail
er and his assistant brought in bread,
cheese and coffee for breakfast.
The next day he began to feel the
inconvenience Of the governors friend
ship and wished he were safely back
to the time when one loaf lasted four
days, for If such were now the case he
would be free of the constant state Of
tension which the ever recurring visits
Of the jailer caused. He feared that
some day he might become so absorbed
in his occupation that he would not
hear the withdrawing of the bolt, and
thus, as it were, be caught in the act.
Shortly after lunch the governor Sent
for him and asked many questions per-
tanning to the running Of the dynamo.
Lermontof concealed his Impotence
and set about his instructions with ex-
emplary earnestness. Russian text
books on electricity at hand were Of
the most r%udimentary description. and,
although the governor could speak Ger
man, he could not read it, so the two
volumes he possessed in that language
were closed to him. Therefore John
was compelled to begin at the very A
B G of the science.
The governor. however, became so
deeply interested that he momentarily
forgot his caution, unlocked a door
and took Lermontoff into a room which
he saw was the armory and ammuni-
ton storehouse of the prison. On the
4 floor of this chamber the governor
pointed out a large battery of accumu-
lators and asked what they were for.
Lermontoff explained the purposes Of
the battery. meanwhile examining it
thoroughly and finding that many Of
the cells had been all but ruined in
transit through the falling away Of
the composition in the grids. Some
thing like half Of the accumulators,
however, were intact and workable.
These he %uncoupled and brought into
| tho dynamo rom whoro ho Showod