The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-01-22

was her servant. One of the men was
rather arlstocratic in appearance He
said he occupied n minor ministerial
office and color was given to his state.
ment by the portfolio which he had
in his hand. The other man, named
Lubkin, was consumptive, about 20
| years of age.
Where is your printing press?" de-
manded the officer.
Madame shrugged her delicate
shoulders and outstretched her hands
In manner which said plainly enough
that the police were welcome to any
printing presses they might find in
that place.
A printing press is a bulky thing.
1t should not be hard to find. But the
officers searched the house from cellar
TO garrett without result All the while
the quartet sat In the large dining.
room, prisoners. On the return Of the
police, the two men and the two
women were put through the sweat
ing process, but they revealed moth.
Ing. The MISUNDERSTANDING young
man laid his portfolio aside for a mo-
ment. One OF the policemen picked 1t
up and opened It. Astonishment made
him speeches.. He silently handed the
portfolio to his chief.iIt was filled with
manuscripts and proofs OF Il pro.
hlbited nlhilist paper called Land and
Liberty" The aristocratic.looking per.
son with the portfolio merely smiled
at the CONSERVATION of the officials.
He realized the gravity of his offense
He knew the penalty. But he never
quailcd for an instant.
Come" shouted the chief. you're
convicted already. You might as wen
confess. Where liz the press?"
The quartet remained silent. They
were not offensive. It was the silence
of submissIon-but not of fear. Sud.
denly the chief gave shout of sur.
prise and pointed to the cupboard. The
other policemen followed the course in.
dictated by his accusing finger. They
saw nothing aud their blank coun.
tenances said as much.
Don't you seer" almost shrleked
the official.
mo" replied his chief lieutenant.
what is it?"
"A daub of ink on the door of that
closet"
"A daub Of ink?" repeated the other.
parrotlike and with no indica.
ton of intelligence.
yes! Yes!" he retorted, "a daub OF
printers ink"
Slowly consciousness of the mean.
ing of his words penetrated their duh
heads. At the same moment they
made simultaneous dash for the
cupboard. To their amazement they
met with resistance. Nine. Kriloff, her
servant. the aristocratic man Of the
portfolio, and the consumptive com.
posltor were lined up In front of the
cupboard. All were armed and Nine
Kriloff, pointing her pistol at the head
OF the chief officer, said with great de-
liberation:
Advance a single step and III blow
out your brains. We're desperate.
Life means little to us now. Save
yours"
Here was a dilemma. The chief
knew If he made a move to reach for
his pistol this frenzled woman would
carry out her threat. Only two other
policemen were in the room with him
and they were covered by the aristo-
crat and the consumptive compositor.
The remainder of his men were In 9th.
err parts of the house. He backed out
by degrees. 1t was humiliating, but he
felt that 1t was polite. He must have
time TO think ard plan. His two COM
panions retreated with him AS they
reached the outer sill of the floor the
consumptive compositor slammed the
door violently and one of his asso-
ciates bolted It, The racket brought
the other policemen to the aid OF their ,
chief There on the landing they held
a council OF war. The besieged nihil- |
lists, on their part, were sparring for
tlme-they had something TO conceal
or destroy.
The house was already strongly |
guarded on the outside and the siege |
held out for less than a minute. The |
door was broken in and after fierce |
resistance the four nihilists sur,
rendered. The aristocrat fought like a
demon and at the last asked quarter
only for the women. While the police
were completing their work the con.
suinptive compositor had a violent