The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-03-21
: The Fate of a Spy. !:
How q Russian Circle Handled
. One of Them. .



foreign Influences For instance we
have thuuetnds If Russian political
refugees HrnUn@ W.. and We have hun
dreds of Russian government spies to
watch them We are rs unconscious
of the plot aud cu,Iuterri"t constantly
going on bet " cen these Two foreign
classes rs w, are nf the vast traffic in
the suhwayS underlying the city Of
New York II j. only when we 90
down there that we see lifc and mu
ton such us are above. and it is only
when on" gets the confidence of a
Russian refugee that he is introduced
tn this constant war between them
md the spies
Fate led ~" 10 such IN introduetion
and enabled me 10 tell this story. One
morning, having injured my watch,
stopped ut watchmaker's shop ta
have it repaired found there
will call him Ivan AlexieT- Russian
and went there afterwarh quite fire.
uuently 10 get him to u" little jobs
for me One morning | found him
with his head resting in his arms OH
his work table sohhing convu'siye1y
Then came his confidence He told
me that the year before on that day
his brother had been executed in ST
Petersburg for completely with n plot
to aSSasSinate the ear Ivan Alexien
at the same time fed to the United
States lie was gentleman born
among his peers to educate their chill
drcn to some trade had learned to he
a matchmaker There were four 9th
err refugees. with whom he met nj
stated periods for consultation with q
view Of their mutual protection. Not
tive either by the eXecutiOner or in tn"
desolate wilds of Siberia.
I became deeply interested in Alex
Jeff. and he came to confide in me as
implicitly as in his fellow refugees
Indeed. l did some detective work for
morning in great tribulation. He told
me that some time before refugee
had come to the place and been admit
ted to their circle They now suspect
ed that he was Il spy in the pay of the
Russian government The man passed
under the name of Ohiendof and kept
little cake and candy shop.
| agreed to make the acquaintance
of ObiendotT and see if ! could &c, his
confidence ard his secret Iricked W
child on the street. took him in the
shop. bought him candy and chat'cd
with the owner This repeated often
talked bitterly of nssassins In Russia
and in time told him | knew of several
circles of refugees In that very town
when l told him of the one | did
know about ! gained his confidence
and it was not long before ! went to
my friend the matchmaker with un
doubted proof that the suspect was n
spy
A plan was laid. and meeting Of
the circle was called. at which the spy
was present The leader locked the
door and announced to the members
that one of their number was a spy
He then submitted a declaration to
UNFAIRLY committed suicide All signed
the paper. the spy maintaining good
nerve and signing with the others. He
must have known that he was suspect
ed
The leaders next move was to take
a pistol from desk drawer and show
the members that its six chambers
were empty After this he put ball
cartridge IN one chamber and. hold
ing the hammer. turned the cylinder
rapidly giving every member permits
sion to do the same with averted gaze.
Thus the position of the cartridge was
lost The leader then took the pistol
and slipped rubber band over the
cylinder. holding the weapon under
the table while he did SO. presumably
that no one could see where the car
fridge lay Then he said:
Zone Of us must die. and the spy.
whoever he may the. must take his
chances with us. l will fire the first
shot ut myself and If not killed will
pass the weapon to my left. each man
to fire his in turn
Raising the pistol to his temple, he
drew the trigger There was snap.
but no explosion. The second man did
the same, with the same result. and SO
on till the pistol came to the fourth
man. the spy. He was white as
sheet, but still held his nerve. Posi-
bly, he conceived the affair a bluff
that the cartridge was sham. At
any rate. putting the pistol to his tenn
pie. he pulled the trigger and fell
dead
The next morning the papers con-
tanned an account Of suicide of a
stranger, supposed to be a Russian.
The deed was committed in a room the
renter of which did not appear, but
the suicide left a paper acknowledging
his intention. AS soon as l read this
account l knew that the circle had
made away with the spy. | went to
once to the matchmaker and found
him. as usual, mending watches.
showed him the article. He glanced
it over, shook his head and went back
to work without uttering a word.
The same day a member of the cir