Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-20

just attend to that, will you? Some
body go and tell the captain"
AYE, aye, sir"
The rest is soon told A long in
quiry followed, which led to the solu-
ton of the mystery and sent Count
Iuryi Leven to Siberia; for he was
Boris Leven's twin brother
The truth turned out to be that there
had been three brothers, the youngest
being Ivan, and they had all entered
the same Cossack regiment, and had
served in the Caucasus, where most
officers learn the Tartar language.
which is spoken by all the different
tribes. 1t will be simpler to designate
them by the English equivalents for
their names.
Boris behaved himself tolerably
well in the army, but both his broth
ers. John and George, who was his
twin, were broken for cheating at
cards, and emigrated to America. So
long as they all wore their boards as
officers of Cossack regiments usual
" do, they were very much alike.
They were all educated men of refined
tastes, and particularly fond of music.
When his two brothers were cash
tered, Boris resigned, entered the dip
lomatic service, married Lady Maud
FOxwell, and was killed by a bomb
in St. Petersburg
John and George separated in
America when they were tired of
punching cattle.
John was something of a naturalist
and was by far the most gifted of the
three as we'll as the most daring. He
gravitated to China and at last to
Mongolia. wandering alone in search
of plants and minerals. and it was to
him that Baraka showed the ruby
mine. He got back to civilization
with his treasure and took it to
Petersburg unmolested.
There he found George earning a
poor living in an obscure position in
the public service his conduct in the
army having been condoned or over
looked. John. who was the incarna-
ton of selfishness. would DO nothing
for him. George, exGsperated by him,
and half starved, murdered him in
such way that he was supposed to
have died by an accident, took posses
sion Of his hoard of unsold rubes. and
wrote to his twin brother to come and
share the fortune John had left them.
George and Boris had been in con-
slant correspondence. and had even
helped each other with money from
time to time. Some weeks elapsed
after Boris return to st. Petersburg
before his death, and during that time
he told George, who knew London
we'll and had, moreover, helped him in
his attempt to get a divorce. a vast
number of details about his married
life and his wife's behavior. her char
acter and tastes. Then Boris was
killed in the street. and George left
the country and changed his name,
with the vague idea that his own was
not very creditable one and that If
he Kept it he might be troubled by his
brother Boris numerous creditors. He
began life over again as Kralinsky.
He had not entertained the least in
tention of passing himself for Boris
and claiming Lady Maud as his wife
till he met her. and her beauty made
him lose his head completely when he
saw that she took him for her hus-
band. He would have been found out
inevitably sooner or later. but Van
Torp's vigorous action shortened Lady
Maud's torments.
George was tried. and Russian Jus
tice awoke. possibly under pressure
from England. The family history of
the Levens was exhumed and dis
sected before the courts. The creditors
of Boris Leven appeared in legions
and claimed that in proper course
he should have inherited the rubies
from his murdered brother. and would
then have been able to pay his debts.
The court thought so too. and ordered
the conflscated treasure to be sold.
But since 1t had been Boris. the |
law was obliged to declare that the
residue of the money, after paying the