The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-13
CHAPTER xxx. Alban Goes to Warsaw.

ms journey 10 N afSaW- The swiftly changing seorss. rio lteN eoGntries tht uproar and strife of cities. the glamor of the sea, put upon his ripe imagination SC heavy a harden 'daI lie lived as one apart, almost as d dreamer who had for gotten how to dream. If he carried an abiding impression it was that of the miracle of LaYea and the wonders that travel cc'.id work. h twenty hours he had almost forgotten the existence of lae England nc had left. Chains of bondage fell scm his willing shoulders He felt as one 4e1oased from a prison house to all the freeuom of boundless world.
 And so at last he came to the beautiful city of Warsaw and his sterner task be- gan. Here, as in London that pleasant person Count Sergius Zamoysk reminded him how considerable was the service he could confer, not alone upon his patron, but upon the friends of his evil days
 Tt has all been a mistake" the Count would say with fine protestation of re- gret; my government arrested that poor old fellow Boriskoff, but it would gladly let him go. To begin with, however, We must have pledges. You know perfectly well that the man is d fanatic and Will work a great mischief unless some saner head prevents it. We must find his daughter and see that sine promises to hold her tongue concerning our friend al Hampstead. When that is done, we shall pack off the pair to London and they will carry q good round sum in their pockets. Herr Gessner is not the man to deal ln- generously with them-nor to you to whom he may owe much"
 He was q shrewd man of the world, this amable diplomat, and who can won der that so simple a youth as Alban Ken nedy proved match for him. Alban honestly believed that he would be help ing both Gessner and his old friends, the Borskoffs should he discover little Lois whereabouts and take dher back to Lon don. A very natural longing to see her once more added to the settlements of the journey. He would not have been willing 10 confess this interest, but it prompted him secretly so that he was often reminding himself of the old days when Lois had been his daily companion and their mutual condolences had been their mutual pleasure. Just a knight errant of the old time might set out to seek his mistress, did Alban go to Warsaw determined to succeed. He would find Lois in this whirling wonder land of delight, and, finding her, would return triumphant to their home.
 Now. they arrived in Warsaw upon the Thursday evening after the memorable interview at Hampstead; and driving through the crowded streets of that pleas ant city, by its squares, its gardens, and its famous palaces, they descended at last at the door of the Hotel de France; and there they heard the fateful news which the city itself had discussed all day and would discuss far into the night.
 General Trubenoff, the new Dictator, had been shot dead at the gate of the Arsenal that very afternoon, men said, and the Revolutionaries were already armed and abroad. What would happen in the next few hours, heaven and the Deputy Governor alone could tell. Were this not sufficiently significant the aspect of the great square itself was menacing enough to awe the imagination even of the least impressionable of travellers. Ex- cited crowds passed and repassed; Cos casks were riding by at the gallop-eVen the reports of distant rifle shots were to be heard and. from time to time, the e screams and curses of those upon whose faces and shoulders the soldiers whips fell so pitilessly. H
 In the great hall of the hotel itself pan demonium reigned. Afraid of the streets and of their homes. the wives and daugh- ters of many officials fled hither as 10 haven of refuge which would never be suspected. They crowded the passages, the staircases the reception rooms They beseiged tho officers for news of that which befell without. Their terrified faces remained q striking tribute to the feroeity of their enemies and the reality of the peril.
 Let it be said in justice that this ma iestic spectacle of tragedy found Alban Kennedy well prepared to understand it's meaning. Had he told the truth he would have said that the mob orators of Union street had prepared him for such a state of things as he now beheld The CossacSs, were they not the Cossaclls whom old Paul had called "the enemies of the human race?'' The gilt-belarded generals, had he not seen them cast upon inc screen in England and there heard their names with curses? Just as they had told him would be the case, so now he had stumbled upon autocracy face to face with its ancient enemy, the people. He saw the brutal Cossacks with their puny horses and their terrible whips parading beneath his balcony and treat ing all the poor folk with that insolence for which they are famous. He beheid the huddled crowds lifting white faces to the sky and covering before the re- lentess lash Not whit had the patriot eXiles in London exaggerated these things or mlsrepresented them. Men, and women too, were struck down, their faces ripped by the throngs, their shoulders lac erated before his very eyes. And all this, as he vaguely understood, that freedom might be denied to this nation and justice withheld from her citizens. Truly had he travelled far since he left England a few short days ago.
 Sergius Zamoyski had engaged a hand
 
 of the magnificent modern hotel which looks down upon. the Aleia avenue, and to these they went al once upon their ar rival. It was something at least to es- cape from the excited throngs below and to stand apart, alike from the rabble and the soldiers Nor was the advantage of their situation to be despsed; for they had but to step out upon the veranda be- fore their sitting rooms to command the whole prospect of the avenue. and there, at their will, to be observers of the con nict To Sergius Zamoyski, familiar with such scenes. Warsaw offered no surprises whatever. TO Alban it remained a city of whirlwind, and of human strife and suffering beyond all imagination terrible. He would have been content to remain out there upon that high balcony until the last trooper had ridden from the street and the last bitter cry been raised. The Counts invitation to dinner seemed grotesque in it's reversion to common place affairs.
 "All this Is an everyday affair hero now" that young man remarked with amazing nonchalance; "since the work men began to shoot the patrols the city has had no peace. I see that it interests you very much. You will find 1t less amusing when you have been in Russia for Q month or two Now let us dress r and dine while we can. Those Vultnres down below will not leave a bone of the carcass if we don't take eare.'