Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1910-03-10
The Wage of
Treason

This, as on every evening, Profes-
sor Alexis Ivanovitch scientist and d.
rector of the Imperial Gymnasium at
st. Petersburg, pressed kiss, half
tender, half mechanical, upon the fair
white forehead of Dounia, and stole
away from the conjugal domicile,
while Dounia remained alone and re-
flected Where did Alexis Ivanovitch's
nocturnal excursions take him? The
professor was no longer a young man
he had passed his fiftieth year-and
science and his absorbing duties as
director Of the Imperial Gymnasium,
where five hundred pupils studied un-
der him, left him no time to devote
to amorous intrigues. And then, was
not Dounia young, robust, and beau
tiful, with her luxuriant auburn hair,
her stee-colored eyes, and her per-
verse, enigmatical smile? She was
poor, obscure, and ignorant when he
married her; he rich, grand digni-
tary of the Slav University, and
councillor to his majesty, the Car. But
love had conquered all obstacles, and
Dounia, daughter of a shepherd of the
Caucasus, became the idoliZed wife Of
the director of the gymnasium. The
seductive Circassian had indeed often
triumphed in the heart of the savant
over despotic duty. How frequently
he sat by her. admiring her, and list
ening as she babbled in French, gent
ly criticising her linguistic errors.
Was not her naive conversation worth
I, IL, t1oe
tile literary and philosophical discus
sions in which he engaged with the
lettered men Of st. Petersburg? Since
several months, however, Alexis Ivano-
vitch's interest in Dounia's French les
sons had tagged. He permitted her
to confound the lenses, to ignore gen.
der, and to forget the elementary
rules of syntaX without correcting her.
as formerly. Moreover, he left the
house regularly every evening and
did not return until late at night Was
Alexis Ivanovitch deceiving her? She
had discarded that supposition long
ago. Dounia was too sure of herself,
too proud of her extraordinary beauty,
to suppose she could have a rival.
absence every night? He did not gam
BILE, for the money in the safe was new.
er disturbed, and it is not usual to
visit the games with empty pockets.
Once only, person of unpreposses-
sing aspect and poorly attired pre-
sented himself at the door with a let
ter. Alexis, having read it, handed
Of G,n
bles without the least remark, the
stranger accepting the same without
even giving thanks. Gambling debts
are not paid in such manner, and
when Alexis was asked about the in
cident he merely answered, 81 am
helping along good cause" and
Dounia did not dare to question any
further.
She was patient and waited, hoping
the inexplicable absence of her hus-
band would cease soon; the thought
to follow and spy his actions never oc-
Cured to her. This evening" however,
he had hardly crossed the threshold
when enveloped in heavy furs, her
face hidden by a hood, and her feet
ed rapidly in his footsteps. She shad-
owed him through the snow-covered
streets, oppressed and anxious, the
blood mounting to her temples, and
her heart beating violently
This conjugal pursuit in the night
and through the snow, did not have
jealousy for it's only motive. In fact,
Dounia had not the right to be jealous.
Dounia was guilty. A young instruc-
tor at the gymnasium, German
named Karl Strueber. profiting by the
directors occupation and the isolation
OF his wife, had won her. And it was
the thought of this that tortured her
that perhaps she alone was guilty,
and that he loved her still, and might
be able to justify his nightly absence
and convict her of treason, ignoble
and objectionable. All, could she but
establish his faithlessness! She would
then be excusabe for her own.
This is why Dounia followed her
husband, on that clear and frosty
night, through strange and labyrinth
Inc quarter of the city, whose narrow
streets We're scarcely illuminated by
the mysterious moonlight
Alexis, having arrived at his des-
tination, was about to rap on the door
of house, within which all seemed
silent and dark, when he paused. Re-
treating hastily, he hid behind the an
gle of the house and listened. Light
footsteps We're coming in his direction.
Il am being followed" he thought.
Coolly and resolutely he drew a revol-
yer from his pocket, cooked it, and
waited Alexis raised his pistol ready
to fire. Just then Dounia, surprised at
seeing no one, and believing she had
been outwitted, threw back her hood
In order to get better view of the To-
cality The moonlight revealed her
features plainly. and Alexis, recogniz-
ing her. ran from his hiding-place.