Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1914-04-09

~~-Ae~S " ~ AoE IL was U OedOiy pOlSOu.
l was for some time a prey to con-
nicting emotions. Had 1t not been for
the personality Of the girl and its effect
upon me ! would not for moment
have been tempted to meet her with the
likely result Of being drawn into a
dangerous position. Visions Of dun
geons. Of Siberia, Of the scafYold haunt
ed me. On the other hand, could not
Danish her from my mind. was hor-
ror stricken that one so young, so
beautiful. should be implicated and
longed to prevent her going a step fur
ther and becoming an assassin.
thought Of her working in the mines
at Kara or dragged to the scaffold. and
while doing so ! considered making
her acquaintance and using the secret
l possessed to compel her to desist
from political crime.
Nevertheless l did nothing at the
time and would have done nothing had
not fate thrown a second and q much
greater temptation in my way. Months
passed. and. having finished my work
In st. Petersburg. l applied for my
passport and started for America. At
the railway station climbed into
compartment Of car. taking q seat
by the window on the opposite side
from which had entered. There was
but one other person In the compart-
ment. and the light was insufficient for
me to see him or her distinctly, for l
could not make out whether / was
looking at man or woman. A long
ulster reaching from the chin to the
ankles concealed the figure, but
thought ! saw slight adornment to
the felt hat indicating that the wear
er was woman.
The passenger was looking out of the
window, apparently watching for some
one Presently the guard shut the
door. but my fellow traveller did not
cease to watch. The train was NOV
ing out Of the station when heard
gasp more like that Of woman than
a man. and. looking out. saw a man
running to catch the train. The train
gathered speed, but from my position
| could not see the man chasing It,
The passenger put her head out the
window. but soon withdrew it and fell
back on the cushion.
did he catch it," asked.
There was no reply for a few mo-
ments; then suddenly the other person.
starting up, threw open the ulster and
revealed the figure Of woman.
Great heavens! She was the girl
who had handed me the phial at the
Winter palace.
"He is on the footboard. When the
train stops he will come to arrest me.
That means for me the mines. Death
is far preferable. l am going to die. "
She made a spring for the window.
but caught her.
Sacrifce-very great sacri6ce-rarely
comes when we are in our sober
senses. 1t takes us by impulse Look
ing backward, wonder how l could
have done what did then. and
shudder. l defied the car of all the
Russias. persuaded the girl to give
me her ulster and her hat. while
transferred to her my fur overcoat,
my travelling cap and a steamer rug
for lap robe. With these articles
the cap drawn down over her eyes,
she was well covered and. sitting in a
far corner. could not be told from a
man. | put on her ulster and her hat
and when the train stopped was sit
ting by the door. while Vera Nicho
laevna sat where | had BEEN pretend
ing to sleep. When the train stopped
l knew search was being made. and
presently the door of our compart
ment opened. and an officer of police
looked in.
voice.
The officer wanted no better evi
dence that l was his quarry. l was
ordered to get out of the car. the door
was closed. and my captor told the
guard that the train could 60 on.
My object was to deceive the Officer
as to my Identity as long as possible
and this was not an easy matter. since
l was man and he was looking for a
woman. l wrapped my ulster about
me and kept my hat well down over
my face. 1t was night. and this helped
me. Luckily l wore no beard. l was
taken to the Jail of the town in which
was captured and locked up. As
soon as the key was turned on me
muttered:
"Thank heaven, she may be saved!
The next morning the mistake was
discovered. was sent to st. Peters
burg charged with assisting politica
prisoner to escape. wrote to the
American ambassador to help me, but
had little expectation that my letter
would be given him. 1t was not, and
l languished in a dungeon.
wrote again to the ambassador
but my letter was not permitted to
reach him. Some unknown person in
formed him Of my condition. where,
upon he worked hard for me. he
would have failed had he not made
personal application to the czar. Tho
emperor was at the time asking for a
concession on the part Of the United
States in a matter pending between