Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-06-30
The Argus Daily Short Story
An Avenger-B.~C L. Pioneer.
Copyrighted. 1910. By Associated Literary Presa

was making tour of Switzerland
on foot. All the luggage / had with
me was strapped on my back, and In
my hand l carried light alpenstock.
One morning l started from Inter
Iaken to walk to Thun. The road I
took leads along the west bank Of
Lake Thun, or Thunder lake, one Of
the prettiest bodies of water in Swift
zerland From the road one has a per-
petual view ofVthe Bernese Alps. the
Eiger. the Monk and the Jungfrau.
whose snowy peaks rising high in the
heavens may often be mistaken for
light clouds The sun was shining on
the lake. over whose bosom the little
steamers running between Interlaken
and Thur loaded with tourists were
passing back and forth.
Not far from Interlaken the road
passes through a tunnel in a perpendic.
ular cliff that forms the bank OF the
lake. While walking through this tun-
mel / caught up with a youth who,
judging from his pack. was making
foot journey the same as i. He spoke
to me in German. the language Of that
part of Switzerland, but signified that
1 did not understand him, and he re-
peated his question in French
How far is it, sir. to Thun?'
"Tep or twelve miles. believe"
He was inclined to let me go on
ahead of him; but, preferring compa
ny, L adapted my gait to his. He was
apparently not more than eighteen
years old. No beard had yet started
on his face, and his hair and complex
ion We're fair. / took him for Swede
or a Norwegian, though such light hair
and skin are common in northern Ger
many. We walked on together. chat
ting and enjoying the beautiful pan
Drama of the lake. the hills beyond and
still beyond these the mountains. For
awhile the young man was guarded in
his speech. He then discovered that 1
was an American-he had supposed
me to be an Englishman-and this
seemed to awaken confidence. though
it was rather a fellow feeling, for he
kept me still in ignorance as to who
he was or where he was going. /
knew. however. from his conversation
that he was highly educated and one
of those persons who are born to think
deep. I was astonished at his familiar
ity with the various schools Of philos-
ophy. That he was a dreamer as we'll
as a thinker was apparent from ideas
he advanced. which to me seemed a
century ahead of the times.
At Meiringen we halted for lunch
con, eating sandwiches and drinking
beer at table under the trees in front
of a hotel. We rested for an hour
after luncheon, smoking. I my pipe,
my companion cigarettes (the usual
form of a smoke in that country.
The subject that most interested him
was America and how to get there.
told him that it all depended on where
one started from and waited for him
to tell me from what point he would
begin. THE Riviera" was his reply.
Whereupon informed him that from
any point on the Riviera-say Nice or
Mentone-one might by short rail-
way journey reach Genoa, from which
port steamers are constantly leaving
for the United States. He seemed
much interested in this and more so
when / told him that 1 had engaged
passage by that route myself. When L
asked him If he had any intention of
visiting my country he replied that
he had not.
We reached Thun about o'clock,
and, after refreshing ourselves with a
glass of beer in the gardens Of the
Kursaal. went to my hotel, my COM
panion going | knew not where. One
meets all kinds of people travelling
abroad, especially If one likes to form
acquaintance as 1 do. OF all those
/ have met in any of my tours the
person who made the most impression
upon me was the young philosopher
about whom learned nothing.
1 went by rail from Thun to Paris,
from there to Nice, and from Nice to
Mentone. found at Mentone General
A, who had been minister OF the
interior in Russia. Indeed, stopped
in the same hotel with him. Those
who knew told me that several at
tempts had been made upon his life
revolutionists, or. as they were then
called. nihilists, and that he was close
ly guarded. During his incumbency
in Office he had sent hundreds Of 'peo-
pie to Siberia, besides those he had ex-
ecuted. He had been prescribed by
the nihilists, they having vowed to
kill him. / asked why he should dread
his enemies so far from home and was