The Ordway new era., 1911-10-27

rior and chief OF police. for which act
the official was exiled to Siberia In
1909. AZeff was tried by a revolutions.
AIRY court at Paris in his absence. and
condemned to death. He Is In hiding
II the revolutionists ever find him
Gould not the trcachery OF Azeff
be balanced with his revolutionary
work In helping to kill n grand duke
and n minister OF state?" was asked.
No" replied Mr. Menschikofr.
"Azeff was n beast"
James Persitz. late an official In the
Russian secret police. now In New
York engaged In writing his memoirs.
gave an account OF his adventures as
Il spy among terrorists.
"One society which l joined In the
course OF my duty provided me with an
experience which ! shall never forget.
by the ierceness OF my declarations
and the enegry l displayed rose un.
til ! was selected to carry out des-
perate deed involving the murder OF
n number OF prominent officials. Need
less to say. the plot was commitment
ed by me to the officials OF the secret
police. Communication with them
was. of course. extremely dangerous.
took the greatest possible care to
cover up the traces OF my handiwork.
but nevertheless the anarchist police
outwitted me and secured incontro-
vertible evidence that was a police
spy. Their method OF doing this was
interesting
The chief OF the society wrote out
the details OF an attempt to be made
on n certain high official. At n time
when only the leader and were In the
room he made some excuse for leav.
ing me alone for few moments. In
my eagerness to fulflll my duty rap
idly searched over the papers he had
left. noting the place and the date
when the scheme was to be put into
execution. Shortly afterward the an.
archist chief returned and pocketed
the documents.
"On the fateful night the chief in
formed me that the attempt had been
postponed. AS l afterward found out.
some members OF the anarchist police
sent to survey the neighborhood had
detected signs OF the watching officials
and realized that their plans had been
divulged to the police by some traitor.
Since the chief OF the anarchists and
myself were the only two people who
had any knowledge OF the intendd
outrag-which. Of course. was simply n
sham affair prepared to trap me.
was Immediately known to them in
my true light as a police spy
IT,
decoyed to lonely wood near sIos.
COW, bound hand and foot by the ter
rorists and ordered to confess. AT
first, rendered desperate by my peril.
l stoutly refused to admit my guilt.
shouting frantically. I deny 1t an!'
But, with many curses and blows.
they told me that was already con-
victed. They ordered me to divulge
10 them the secrets Of the political
police. This. however. I refused to
do. My captors then held consulta-
tion and decided to- follow the methods
OF the inquisition and wiring from me
by torture the particulars they were
seeking. Pins were forced in
to all parts of my body. each tormen-
tor apparently vying with the others
to discover a place which would pro-
duce the most excruciating pain.
The lash was applied in addition to
the pins. Then the captors. consid-
ering 1t vain to gain any information.
discussed methods Of killing the trail
tor. A handsome young Polish Jew
ess. says the narrator came forward
and exclaimed:
81 have an excellent idea. All the
deaths you suggest are too quick. He
Is tied; let us lay him on the railway.
The Petersburg express will shortly
be due, and the Gus will have the
pleasure Of lying helpless while he
sees the train coming nearer and near
er. 1t Will give him time to think
over his treachery.'
1.-The suggestion was heartily ap-
proved. With many a curse and blow
l was pre- mptly carried off and laid
across the rails of the Moscow-Peters-
burg railway. being tied face upper
most to the rails by the ropes that
bound my hands behind my back After
having brutally kicked me almost into
insensi0ility and wished me sarcastic
'goodby,' my onetime fellow anarch-
lists disappeared in the gathering dark
ness Of the night. .
Slowly the minutes passed away,
and, at last, to my horror, heard the
rumble of the approaching train.
Never shall l forget the unspeakable
terror o. that moment. Nerve racking
though the period of suspense had
been, it was as nothing to this. Pres
emily the rumble grew to a roar, and,
turning my head, I saw the lights of
the express approaching Then think
lost all control of myself. In a fren-
zy of fear l redoubled my efforts to
escape. finging myself this way and
that. Larger and larger grew those
glaring orbs of light, nearer and near