The Green Forest tribune., 1915-09-24

"sheu' surprised that he shouId occunv so hlgh place in Russian officialdom -'he representative of the czar win powers as great as the emneror him self. i0i niili-
 At the Government palace, in Hel- singfors."
 Ana Elma Heath is herein this grim fortress! Why?"
 An, m'sieur, how can I tellq pv reason of family secrets. perhans lhey account for so much, you know"
 Ahe Iact that the baron was ruler of Flhland amazed me, for had half ex- pected hlm to be some clever adven. turer. Yet as the events of the mast mashed through my brain, I recollected eAat In Rannoch Wood had been found tue miniature of the Russian Order of saint Anne, distinction which. in all prooablllty, had been conferred upon hlm' II So' the coincidence, to say the l ledSt' was a remarkable one. 1 oues- uoned my companion further regard ing the baron.
 An, m'sieur," she declared. they call him The Strangler of the Finns.' It was ne who ordered the peasants of hasko to be fiogged until four of them dled-and the czar gave him the Star or White Eagle for it-he who SUD- | pressed half the newspapers and nut eighteen editors in prison for publish ing report of meeting of the sWedes in Helsingfors; he who eneour- ages corruption and bribery among the olncials for the furtherance of Russian | interests; he who has ordered Rus. ] sian to be the official language, who has restricted public education, who has overtaxed and ground down the people until now the mine is laid, and Finland is ready for open revolt The prisons are filled with the innocent; women are f1ogged; the poor are starv- ing, and The Strangler,' as they cali him, reports to the czar that Finland is submissive and is Russianized!"
 had heard something of this abom- inable state of affairs from time to time from the English press, but had never taken notice of the name of the oppressor. So the uncle of Elma Heath was The Strangler of Finland. . the man who, in four years, had re- duced prosperous country to state of ruin and revolt!
 Cannot 1 see her at once?" 1 asked feeling that we had remained too long there If my presence in that place was perilous the sooner escaped from it the better.
 Yes, come," she said. But silence. Walk softly" and holding up the old | horn lantern to give me light. she led me out into the low stone corridor again, conducting me through a mum Der of intricate passages, all bare and gloomy, the stones worn hollow by the | feet of ages, into a small, square chamber, the floor of which was car peted, and where, suspended high above, was lamp that shed but a | faint light over the barelyfurnished place. Beyond was another smaller room into which the old nun disap- peared for a moment; then she came 1 forth leading a strange wan little fig ure in a gray gown, figure whose l face was the most perfect and most 1 lovely I had ever seen. Her wealth of chestnut hair fell disheveled about her shoulders, and as her hands were clasped before her she looked straight at me in surprise as she was led to- | wards me.
 She walked but feebly, and her coun- tenance was deathly pale. Her dress. as she came beneath the lamp, was, saw. coarse, yet clean, and her beauti- | full, regular features, which in her | photograph had held me in such fasci- nation, were even more sweet ana more matchless than I had believed them to be. I stood before her dum- founded in admiration.
 Tn silence she bowed gracefully, and | then looked at me with astonishment. | apparently wondering what l, per feet stranger, required of her. Miss Elma Heath, l presumeT exclaimed at last. May l introduce myself to you? My name is Gordon Gregg, English by birth, cosmopolitan bv instinct. I have come here to ask you a question-a question that con cerns myself. Lydia Moreton has sent me to you" noticed that her great brown eyes watched my lips and not my face
 Her own lips moved, but she looked at me with an inexpressible sadness No sound escaped her.
 stood rigid before her as one turned to stone, for in that instant Ill a flash indeed, I realized the aWful truth.
 She was both deaf and dumb!
 She raised her clasped hands to ms in silence, yet with tears yelling in her splendid eyes. I saw that upon her wrists were a pair of bright steer gyves. .,o,
 What is this placer" l demanded of the woman in the religious habit. when I recovered from the shock oi the poor girls terrible afhlctioh' Where am I?"
 This is the Castle of ka;ana-the criminal Iunatic asylum of Finland wos her answer. "The prisoner, as