The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1908-05-26
Under Suspicion.

the honor on one occasion of befriend- H
ing and entertaining Colonel Swartz
of the Royal German artillery. This
was in London. where they were both
strangers and both happened to be
stopping at the same hotel. The Ger
man colonel was assaulted and robbed
on the street in the evening. and for
week, or until be could send for money.
he was the guest of the American.
There was something rather queer
about the incident The two gentle
men were stunning when a public |
carriage suddenly halted beside them
and two men sprang to the ground and |
attacked the German. while a third !
sought to hold back the American.
The attempt was made to force the !
German fnto the carriage, and It might |
have been that his money was lost
during the struggle. The American
fought for his companion. and the fel-
lows were finally driven on. 1t looked
more like a case of attempted abduc-
ton than of holdup, but as the Ger
man argued the other way the Amer
lean had to be satisfied.
1t was five years before the two met
again. This time it was on the Ger
man frontier. and both were bound
for st. Petersburg. Colonel Jayne was
travelling for pleasure; the other ex-
planned that he was on secret mission
for his government He made this ex=
PLANTATION because he had shaved on
his luxuriant whiskers and was other
wise disguised and recognition was ac-
cidental. Colonel Swartz was well ac-
quainted in the capital city. and It was
arranged that the two should stop at
the same hotel and take in the sights
together. They did take adjoining
rooms on their arrival. hut ~ 3erman
EI;1's e p' sss
jayne Jet out with Yankee Impotence
| to see the sights. Three times during
the forenoon strangers approached him
and muttered some words. They were
Russians who evidently belonged to
the middle class. and in each case the
colonel thought they were inquiring
their way. He therefore shook his
head and passed on. During the after
noon he discovered that his footsteps
were being logged. but he took this
rather as joke than otherwise. He
did not return to his hotel until just
at dinner time and then found couple
of police officers waiting to arrest him.
They had already visited his rooms
and overhauled his baggage Colonel
Swartz was missing and had been
since noon. His baggage had also been
overhauled. and the officers seemed
much chagrined at the mans escape
Colonel Jayne had known absolutely
nothing of the German before meeting
him at the hotel in London. He had
taken the man for what he claimed to
be. He had no idea that he was an
impostor. so far as name and rank
went. and that he was one of the most
, active nihilists in or out of Russia.
The three men that had approached
the American on the streets probably
belonged to that order as well. The
German happened to be returning to
' Russia at that time. and accident had
discovered the two men to each other
, After being under examination fol
half dey Colonel Jayne was sent to
an official higher up. Here he was met
by the papers taken from his baggage
He had made a months stay In Lon
don before starting for Russia and had
received several letters from friends
at home. One of them had loosely
written:
Don't forget that the first thing tt
be done on your arrival in St. Peters
burg is to call on the emperor and give
him my love and tell him to hang OF
to his job as long as the pay comes II
every Saturday night" =
How can you, person entirely un
known here. secure audience with hii
=. majestyY' was asked.
: 81 can't. of course" was the reply.
"Then why should this person hav'
e thus written?'
r HE is what we call joker"
t Joker? Joker? Does he dare holt
# his majesty up to ridicule! And yoi
are to give his love to the car of al
Russia. just as one peasant woman
sends her love to another! And how I
this about holding his job? What doe
job meant"
His place. Sir"
But his -majesty's PLACE is the high
est in the land. and to Speak Of it a
! Job is to speak with disrespect
v And the pay every Saturday night a
If the great car was but a common
laborer!''
81 shall take great pleasure in tellinl
the writer of that letter what an as
: he is the very first thing when &c
u home" replied the colonel.
r "And here is another letter in whic
ic you are advised not to make any ez
a. -. ~-~.~