The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-27

I up so much and must be very satisfac- tory. Would you have any objection to telling me what you are going to do with the girl I have just left?'
 Hanilon smiled
 "I have no objection at all. When the ministry at St Petersburg condeseends to inform me. you shall share my informa- tion. At present I am going to keep her under lock and key. and if she is obstin- ate I am going to fog her."
 Do the people at St. Petersburg wish you to do that?'
 ' do not consult their feelings" was the clyt reply.
 They fell to silence once more and the carriage rolled on through the busy streets. It had escaped Albans notice hitherto. that an escort of Cossacks ac- companied them. but as he turned into the great avenue he caught a glimpse Of bright aeeoutrements and of horsemen going at a gentle canter The avenue itself was almost deserted save by the ever-present infantry who lined it's walks as though some great cavalcade were to pass When they had gone another hun< dred paces the need for the presence of the soldiers declared itself in a heap or blackened ruins and a great fire still smouldering. Zaniloff smiled grimly when they passed the place,
 Half an hour ago that was the palace | gius," he said, almost as though the in- teligence were matter of personal satis- faction to him.
 Alban looked at the smouldering ruins and could not help remembering the strange threats he had heard in Union street on the very eve of his departure from England. Had any of the old mad orators a hand in this? Those wild fig ures of the platforms and the slums, had they achieved so much, if indeed it were achievement at all?
 "They are fools to make war upon bricks and mortar" Zaniloff remarked in his old quiet way.
 "I told them so in London, sir"
 You told them: do you enjoy the honor of their acquaintance then?'
 q know as much about them as any of your people, and that Is saying a good deal. They are very ignorant men who are suffering great wrongs If your gov ernment would make an effort to learn what the world is thinking about today, you would soon end all this. But you will never do 1t bN the whip, and guns will not help you"
 Zaniloff laid hand upon his shoulder Nlmost in kindly way.
 My honor alone forbids me to believe that" he exclaimed.
 They arrived at the hotel while he spoke and passed immediately to the prl- vate apartments above. A brief intima- ton that Alban must consider himself still q prisoner and not leave his rooms under any circumstances whatever found a ready acauiescence from one who had heard an echo ill Lois words of his own farewell to Russia That the authorities would detain him he did not believe, and he knew that his long task was not here. He must return to England and save Lois How or by what means he could | 11p for il m n Q threat light ly spoken affrighted him when he was alone and left him a coward. How, in deed, if he went to the fanatics of Union street and said to them-"Richard Cess ner is your enemy; strike at him." there would be vengeance surely, but he had received too many kndnesses at Hamp- stead that he should contemplate such an infamy. And what other course lay be- fore him? He could not say, his life seemed lived. Neither ambition hor de- sire, apart from the prison he had left, remained to him.
 The French valet Malette waited upon him in his rooms and gave him such news of the Count as the sentinels of the sick room permitted. Oh yes, his excellency was a little better. He had spoken few | words and asked for his English friend. | Nothing was known of the madman who struck him save that which the papers in his pocket told them. The fellow had been shot as he left the grand dukes pal ace; some thought that he had been form erly in the counts service and that this was merely an act of vengeance, mais terrible, as Malette added with emphasis. l Later on his excellency would be able to tell the story for himself His grand con- stltution had meant very much to him to- day.
 The interview took place at o'clock in the afternoon, the doctors having left | ZanilOn being again at the prison. The bed had now been wheeled a little way from the window and the room set in pleasant or der by clever and willing hands. The count himself had lost none of his cour- age. The attack In truth had nerved him to believe that he had nothing further to fear in Warsaw, for who would think about man already as good as buried by the newspapers. Here was something to help the surgeons and bring some little flush of color to the patients pallid cheeks. He spoke as a man who had been through the valley of the shadow and had suffered little inconvenience by the jour- ney.
 'I am forbidden to talk he said to AL ban and immediately began to talk Tn defiance of nurses protests.
 f, 50 you have been to prison, mon vieux. well, 1t is so much experience for you, and experience Is useful l have done a | good morning s WOTkR as you see. lnl- agne it. I open my door to a policeman, and when l ask him what he has got for me, he whips out butchers knife and makes thrust at my ribs. Happily for me, 1 come from 0 bony race. The sur geons have now gone to fight a duel about it. One is for septic pneumonia, the other for the removal of the lungs. I shall be out of Poland in my beautiful France by the time they agree"
 He flushed with the exertion and cast reproachful eyes upon the nurse who stood up to forbid his further eloQuence. Alban, in turn, began to tell him of the adventure of the morning.
 Ut was Jack and Jill business. ex- cept that Jill does not come tumbling after." he said. What is going to hap pen cannot tell you. Lois will not leave Poland until her father is released, and l have it from her that he never will be released. Don't you see count. that MT. Gessner is . fool to play with fire like this. Does he believe that this secret will be kept because these two are in prison l know that it will not. If he Is to be saved, it must be by generosity and cour- age. l should have thought he would 1 have known it from the beginning. Let him hct fairly by old Paul Boriskoff and l will answer for his safety. If he does not do so, he must blame himself for the consequences.
 Pride never planes itself. Kennedy. even when 1t is foolish. l like your wis dom and shall give a good account of it. Of course. there is the other side of the picture, and that is not very pretty. How