The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-10-20


 l whose order they were sent. here was
 wine of life so intoxicating that man
 might sell his very soul to possess It. l Sergius did not believe that there was ! any need for such a bargain as ths-he ] had been consistently successful hitherto
 h cluding even the paltriest consequences l whispered a word which even the bravest of his employment. But the dark hours
 came none the less, and coming, they
 may shudder to hear,
 He slept but ftfully. listening for any
 sounds from the city without and anXious
 for the hotel to awaken to it's daily rou.
 tine. The cooler argument of the passing i hour declared it most unlikely that any l plan would be ventured until Lois Borisk-
 off fate was known and Alban had Yis- tied her this morning. If there were dan- ger to be apprehended the moment of it
 would arrive when the girl was arrested
 and the story of Alban Kennedys mis-
 adventure made known to her friends
 Sergius began to perceive that he must not finger an hour in Warsaw when this
 were done. He could direct operations
 as easily from Paris or London as from 1 this conspicuous hotel, and with infinitely l less risk to himself and his empire Sometimes he wondered that he had been so foolish as to enter Russia at all. Why ] could he not have telegraphed to the i chief of the police to arrest the girl as soon as might be and to fog her into a confession. The whip would have pur- 1 chased her secret readily enough, then i the others could have been arrested also i and Gessner left treasured beyond ques- i ton. Sergius blamed himself very much ] that he had permitted a finer chivalry i to guide his acts. ''I came because this
 young man persuaded me to come,' he
 admitted, and added the thought that he
 had been a fool for his pains.
 This would have been about o'clock of
 the morning. He slept a little while
 upon it, but woke again at and sat up l in bed to mark step on the landing
 without and to ask himself who had the right to be there at such an hour. When | he had waited a little while he came to 1 the conclusion that two people were ap- 1 preaching his door and making little se- l cret of their coming. Presently a knock 1 informed him that he had nothing what
 ever to fear; and upon asking the ques- | ton What do you want? voice an- 1 swered immediately, From the bureau, 1 your excellency with a letter." This he 1 concluded to mean that the chief of the | police had some important news to con vey to him and had sent his own mes- | senger to the hotel.
 wait a moment and I will let you in," | he replied, and asked, 'I suppose you l can wait little while?"
 1 Tt is very urgent, eXcellency-you hau | better open at once.
 | The Count sprang up from his bed and drew the curtains back from the window. 1 A warm glow of sunlight instantly suf- | fused the cold room and warmed it with 1 welcome beams. Down there in tho
 streets the Cossacks still nodded upon l patient horses as though no event of the | night had disturbed them. A drosky 1 passed. driving an old man to the rail-
 way station-there were porters at the l doors of some of the houses and a few wagons going down toward the river. l All this Sergius perceived instantly in one swift vision. Then he opened the door | and admitted the officer.
 'There were two of you" he exclaimed, peering down the passage.
 1 'It is true, excellency, myself and the nlght-porter, but he has gone to sleep again."
 "From the chief, excellency, with this ! letter.
 l He held out great square document,
 grotesquely sealed and carefully folded. 1 A small man with q pock-marked face, | he wore the uniform of ordinary gen- l darme and aped that role to perfection.
 Saluting gravely. he permitted the letter l to pass from his hands. Then he closed l the door and leaned his back against it. 1 NAAN eXcellency."
 The Count read few lines of the doc
 ument and looked up uneaslly.
 You say that you were commanded to
 wake me up-for ths?"
 1 Those are my orders.
 'Zaniloff must have lost his wts-there
 was nothing else?o
 The man took one stride forward.
 Yes" he cried in a low voice, there
 was this, excellency."
 Alban slept no better than his friend; 1 in truth he hardly closed his eyes until
 they walked him and told him of the trag-
 edy. He had said little to Sergius during
 the evening, but the perplexities of the l long day remained with him and were ] not to be readily senced.
 That his patron sent no reply to their urgent telegram he thought a little 1 strange. MT. Gessner's silence could only
 mean that he had left London suddenly, l perhaps had set out to join them in War 1 saw. Meanwhile Alban perceived very 1 clearly in what a position of danger Lois
 stood and how difficult it would be to 1 help her if others did not come to his l assistance.
 Accustomed to regard all the ReVolu-
 tionaries from the standpoint of the wild | creatures who talked nonsense in the l East End of London, he could not believe 1 in old Herr Petermanns optimism or pay 1 much attention to the wild plan of es- , pc he had devised. 1t must be absurd 1 to think that Lois could leave Poland 1 disguised as q servant. Alban himself 1 would readily have recognized her in her 1 disguise if he had been seeking her at l the time, and the police would very soon ] detect it when their minds were set upon 1 the purpose. In his own opinion, and tins i was shrewd enough, their hope of saliva ] ton lay in Richard Gessner's frank &C., i ceptance of the position. The banker had i influence enough with the Russian au- l thorities to release both Lois and her fla l ther. He must do so or accept the con
 sequences of his obstinacy.
 l All this and much more was in Alban's ] head while he tossed restlessly upon his strange bed and waited impatiently for 1 the day. The oldest fancies came to
 him, the most fantastic ideas. Now he would be living in London again, a drudge
 at the works, the nightly companion of ] little Lois, the adventurer of the streets
 and the slums. Then, as readily, he would
 recall the most trifing incidents of his
 life in Richard Gessners house, the days
 of the miracles, the wonderful hours
 when he had worshipped Anna Gessner
 and believed almost in her divinity. This l had been a false faith, surely. He knew ! now that he would never marry Anna. ] and that must mean return to the Wilder
 ness, the bitter days of poverty and dil | the old-time strife with circumstance. It l would have been easier, he thought. 1T ] those weeks of wonderland had never ! been Richard Gessner had done him no ] service-rich men rarely help those whom ! they lJatronze for their own ends.