The Spectator., 1915-07-30


 the light of lantern held by guard, and already the sweet-faced girl be- side me seemed tired and terribly fla tigued.
 At last, breathless, we halted to listen. We were already in sight of that held so many secrets. There was not a sound We crept along the wa l ter's edge. until in the gray light we could distinguish two empty boats that of the guards and our own. We were again at the spot where we had disembarked.
 Let us row to the head of the lake, y suggested the Finn We may then land and escape them" And a mo- ment later we were all three in the l guards boat, rowing with all our might under the deep shadow of the bank northward in the opposite direc- tion to the town of Nystad. I think we must have rowed several miles, l for ere we landed again, upon a low, flat and barren shore, the first gray streak of day was showing in the east. Elma noticed it, and kept her great brown eyes fixed upon it thoughtfully. It was the dawn for her-the dawn of a new life. Our eyes met; she smiled at me, and then gazed again eastward, with silent meaning.
 Having landed. we drew the boat up and concealed it in the undergrowth so that the guards, on searching Should not know the direction we had | taken, and then we went straight on | northward across the low-lying lands to where the forest showed dark against the morning gray. The mist had now somewhat cleared, but to dis cover a path in forest forty miles wide is a natter of considerable diff culty. and for hours we wandered on and on, but alas! always in vain.
 Faint and hungry, yet We still kept courage Fortunately we found little spring, and all three of us drank ca gerly with our hands. But of food we had nothing, save small piece of hard rye bread which the Finn had in his pocket the remains of his evening meal, and this we gave to Elma, who, ~half famished, ate it quickly.
 How many miles we trudged I have no idea. Elma's torn shoe gave her considerable trouble, and noticing her limping, l induced her to sit down while I took it off, hoping to be able to mend it, but. having unlaced it, saw that upon her stocking was a large patch of congealed blood. where her foot itself had also been cut. managed to beat the nails of the shoe with stone, so that it's sole should not be lost. and she readjusted it. allowing me to lace it up for her and smiling the while.
 Forward we trudged, ever forward. across that enormous forest where the myriad tree trunks presented the same dismal scene everywhere, a forest un- trodden save by wild, half-savage lum- bermen. My only fear was that we should be compelled to spend another 1 night without shelter. and what its effect might be upon the delicately reared girl whose hand held tenderly in mine. Surely my position was strange one Her terrible aflhtion seemed to cause her to be entirely dependent upon me.
 Suddenly. just as the yellow sun light overhead had begun to fade, the fat-faced Finn. whose name he has told me was Felix Estlander. cried ioyfully:
 "Polushaite! Look. excellency! An! The road at last."
 And as we glanced before us we saw that his quick. well-trained eyes had detected away in the twilight, at some distance, path traversing our vista among the tree trunks. | Elma made a gesture of renewed hope, and all three of us redoubled our l pace. expecting every moment to come upon some log hut, the owner of which would surely give us hospitality for the night But darkness came on quickly, and yet we still pushed for. ward Poor Elma was limping, and knew that her injured foot was pain. ing her. even though she could tell me nothing
 l At last we saw before us a light | shining in a window, and five minutes later Felix was knocking at the door, and asking in Finnish the occupant to give hospitality to a lady lost in the l forest.
 We heard low growl like a nut. tered imprecation within. and when l the door opened there stood upon the threshold tall bearded. muscu- lar old fellow in dirty red shirt. with big revolver shining in his hand. A quick glance at us satisfied him that we were not thieves. and he invited us in while Felix explained that we had landed from the lake. and our boat having drifted away we had been com | pelled to take to the woods. The man heard the Finns picturesque story. and then said something to me which 1 Felix translated into Russian