The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-10-05

where she was much admired in So
ciety. Ferdinand appeared somewhat
i'll at ease when asked this question,
but Verneys demeanor was so inno-
cent and ingratiating that the counts
son quickly regained his self posses
sion, and replied that he was fortu-
| nate to be acquainted with the lady.
| Further questioning by Verney ELECTED
| the fact that madame had left Eng
| land to pay a visit to her old home in
| st. Petersburg; and then, as though
| tired Of the subject, the father turned
the conversation into other channels.
Late that night Michael Danevitch
| restored to his former self, sought an
| interview with Count Borolosky, and
| in the privacy of the latters study I'M
| folded to him the horrifying story of
| his sons treachery. At first Borolo-
| sky refused to admit the possibility of
Ferdinand's double dealing; but was
stunned into silence when the detect
| i've exhibited to him a confession
signed by his son, in which the latter
asserted that he had stolen the pa
pers at the instigation of the woman
with whom he had fallen in love. AS
q matter of fact, Danevitch had relied
largely on taking Ferdinand by sur
prise when he extorted the confession
from him. The device had succeeded
| for the counts son imagined from
| the detectives confident bearing and
emphatic assertions that he was in
| possession of much stronger evidence
| than he really had. 1t might have
| been a difficult matter under English
| law to have procured Ferdinand's ar
rest: also such a proceeding would have
made the whole matter public, and
| probably resulted in some of Madame
Dubois friends conveying to her full
| details of the affair Danevitch was
anxious to keep her in ignorance, and
| If possible, secure her arrest in st.
| Petersburg with the discriminating
| documents in her possession. With
view to that end he agreed with the
unhappy father that the best thing
that could be done was to connive at
Ferdinand's escape to another coun-
| try. This was done, and the infatu-
| ated young man went to India, where
| he lived until a year later, when he
died of malignant fever.
Meanwhile no change was manifest
| in the political attitude OF the Austrian
| government, and it was evident that
| Madame Dubois had not yet succeeded
| In disposing of her secret. Danevitch
| lost no time in fastening back to st.
| Petersburg, where he put all the re-
sources of his police bureau into the
work of watching the movements of
madame and her confederates. During
the Investigations which followed 1t
became clear that the members of the
revolutionary branch of which Madame
| Sophia was an active head, were con-
templating the execution of a new and
fiendish plot that threatened the de-
| struction of the car and his entire
cabinet. For this reason Danevitch
kept his hands off madame. He was
gradually weaving together the meshes
of a net in which he hoped to catch
all the conspirators together, and at
last the night arrived when he re-
solved to strike the final blow
Over the dirty spaces of the Viborg
district are scattered squat and tum-
ble-down structures. The isolated
streets and alleys of this quarter fur
nished a rendezvous for the dregs of
the populace of st. Petersburg. Gangs
of thieves had established their head
quarters there. Escaped convicts from
Siberia found security in this refuge
until new crimes found them out
when they were flogged and sent back
into exile. In one of the most remote
and lonely streets of the district there
stood a large one-story house, which
| had long been unoccupied. It's shut
| tiers were never seen to open, and the
yard, which had not been trodden by
| human feet in years, was covered with
tall weeds. This building had once
belonged to rich usurer, who settled
| in this resort Of thieves for the con-
venience of trading in stolen goods.
| The usurer died intestate, and the dis
| tant relatives had been fighting each
| other in the courts for years to OBJ
tain title to the property. Every
dark night figures could be seen walk
ing noiselessly, one by one, through
the yard endeavoring not to leave
any traces behind them. Turning
around the corner OF the house. they
would disappear as If they had been
swallowed up by the earth. On this
particular night the house was i'm
mersed, as usual, in complete dark
ness; only at times dim light would
appear on the spot where the spectral
forms disappeared.
The mysterious figures had, in fact,
descended into q cellar. There were
assembled there eighteen or twenty
persons, several of whom were wom-
en-. The assemblage was made up of
disaffected military officers, writer's,
students, and Of the youth who sought
to create a revolution in Russia. The
fate of so many Of their predecessors,