Evening journal., 1909-04-26
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By THERESA c. HOLT.

work-she was a schoolteacher in Ber-
lin--climbed the stairs to her garret.
The days were short, and the twilight
had died away. An exile from Russia
for the crime of educating the peasants,
she now used her own education as a
means to a living in the German capi-
tai
Anna Nickalaevna was an orphan.
Her father and mother had died when
she was a child. She had had a
brother, but he had been conscripted
for the Japanese war. She had heard
that he was killed in battle. A young
er sister, Sonia, had disappeared after
Annals fight supposedly for some po-
litical offense, and Anna had not "eard
from her in years. Whether her sister
was in Siberian prison or dead she
did not know. One who had been in
the prisons of Siberia had told her that
her sister was not there. 1t was there
fore to be supposed that she was dead.
AS one year succeeded another and
none of her relatives could send any
word of the missing girl Anna at last
came to consider her sister dead. She
experienced that awful loneliness one
feels at being the last of a family.
The exile opened the door of her
room and was about to strike a light
when she heard some one breathing.
She did not give way to fright-nrst,
because she was made Of sterner stuff,
and, second, the breathing seemed to
come from sleeper. Nevertheless she
had always had some expectation of
extradition and had kept a revolver in
her bureau drawer, resolved to die
rather than be dragged back to Rus
sia. Instinctively she pulled the draw
er open and grasped the weapon. Then
she stood and listened. The breathing
was evidently that Of one sleeping.
Another would have inferred that
some one had come into her room and
fallen asleep. But Anna Nickalaevna
had been hunted in her own country,
had made a long and perilous journey
in constant fear Of capture from east
ern Russia to the border, and ever
since she had lived in the expectation
of either arrest by Russian agents un-
der a trumped up criminal charge or
oEhAtNA away bJ Au1l AlAtEuA4es AZ
she listened to the breathing she
formed plans for action in case the
sleeper were an enemy.
But, feeling that the enemy-if such
1t were-was at a disadvantage and
not likely to be easily awakened, she
resolved to make some move to find
out more about who was in the room
She crept toward the bed. where the
sleeper lay. Standing at its foot, she
stealthlly put out her hand to feel. She
drew it away quickly. She felt a
mans boot.
Anna thought Of every probable or
! possible occurrence to account for a
man sleeping in her room. She did
not understand how one could have
! gained access there. The fraulein who
rented rooms would only admit men in
case they were Of the same family as
her women dodgers. As the breathing
continued heavily she resolved upon
! further investigation. Going again to
the bed. she put out her hand. One
cannot easily move in a straight line
In the dark, and this time she struck
the other end, for, extending her hand.
1t rested on face. She was relieved
that there was no beard on it.
All fear Of danger was now gone.
Going to where she kept her matches,
she took the box and, again approach
/ ing the bed, stood near the sleeper and
struck a light She started. After all,
the sleeper was woman. One foot
with a mans boot on It extended be-
low the skirt-if the tattered garment
could be called a skirt-but the Sleep
er's face was-turned away.
The match burned out and Anna
struck another one, bending over to
get a different view. A start, a sup
pressed exclamation, the burning match
dropped to the fioor and again all was
/ darkness. Scratching another, she
lighted a lamp, and, taking It to the
bed, she held it before the face Of the
sleeper. The first happiness she had
known in years was expressed in her
own face.
1t was Sonia, her lost sister.
But, oh, that tired. hunted lookl
The cheeks and eyes were sunken. and
the body seemed to be only bones and
rags. Anna gazed, and despite the
gladness in her heart she sighed But
she had been through all this herself
and was now strong. Sonia. now that
there were no more weary night jour
neys under the stars, hidings in huts
or snowdrifts by day, would be herself
again and-the loneliness that was
breaking down Anna would be no
more.
Leaving her treasure to sleep on, she
opened her larder. put the samovar
on the stove and stood ready TO fur
nish food when Sonia should awaken.
Then she went back to the bed and
feasted on the loved one with hungry
eyes.
She did not intend to awaken her
sister. but she could not help taking
the risk Of putting her arms about her.
Tired and worn as was the fugitive.
the fear under which she had so long
lived awakened her with a start. but
the sight OF Anna transfgured it to
happiness. Without word the two
were locked in each others arms. How
It all came about could wait.
The story came later, or a brief sy-
nopsis of It, over a cozy supper and a
cup Of hot tea. But it was one OF
! thousands. all alike as to their suf-
fering. but Of infinite variety as to
dofofle KVhor a. rr,oe taY1 49, oofl.