Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1915-09-09
CHAPTER xvII-contluued.

II
I'm sheer desperation went to the
ministry of the interior and sought
an interview with the baron, who.
when | told him Of the disaster, ap.
peared greatly concerned. and went at
once to the notice department to make
inquiry. Next day, however, he came
to me with the news that the charge
against my mother had been proved
by a statement of the woman Ship
Foff herself, and that she had already
ptkrted on her long journey to ST.
heria-she had been exiled to one of
Eaose dreaded Arctic settlements be-
Eond Yakutsk, a place where it is al
most eternal winter, and where the
conditions of life are such that half
fhe convicts are insane. The baron,
however, declared that, as my fathers
Ariend, it was his duty to act as guar
dian to me, and that as my father had
been English I ought to be put to an
English school. Therefore, with his
self-assumed title of uncle, he took
Fne to Chichester. For years / re-
manned there, until one day he came
suddenly and fetched me away, TAX
Ding me over to Helsingfors-for the
GEAR had now appointed him governor
general to Finland. There, for the
first time, he introduced me to his son
michael, a pimply-faced lieutenant of
cavalry, and said in a most decisive
manner that l must marry him. |
naturally refused to marry a mar of
whom | knew so little, whereupon,
finding me obdurate, he quickly al
tered his tactics and became kind
ness itself, saying that as | was young
he would allow me a year in which to
make up my mind.
"A week later, while living in the
palace at Helsingfors, l overheard a
conversation between the governor
general and his son, which revealed to
me a staggering truth that had never
suspected. 1t was Oberg himself who
had denounced my mother to the
minister of the interior, and had
made those cruel, baseless charges
against her! Then l discerned the
reason. She being exiled, her fortune,
as well as that Of my father, came to
me. The reason they were scheming
for Michael to marry me was in order
ito obtain control Of my money, and
then, after the necessary legal for
malities, l should, on a trumped-up
charge of conspiracy, share the same
fate as my mother had DONE
The internal s%coundrel!" sjacu.
lated, when l read her words while
from Jack, who had been looking over
my shoulder, escaped a fierce and for
chile vow of vengeance.
The baron took me with him to
Petersburg when he went oN official
business, and we remained there near
ly a month" the narrative went on.
N'While there l received a secret mes
sage from The Red Priest the unseen
and unknown power of nihilism, who
has for so many years baffled the po-
lice. | went to see him, and he re-
vealed to me how Oberg had con
trived to have my mother banished
upon a false charge. He warned me
against the man who had pretended tc
be my fathers friend, and also told
me that he had known my father in
timately, and that if l got into any
further diff culty l was to communi
cate with him and he would assist
me. Oberg took me back to Helsing
fors a few months later, and in sum
mer we went to England. He was 6
m%arvelously clever diplomatist. Hi:
tactics he could change at will. Wher
j was at school he was rough and bru
tai in his manner towards me, as hi
was to all; but now he seemed to bC
endeavoring to inspire my confidence
by treating mt with kindly regart
and pleasant ~affability.
"In London, at Claridge's, we me
my old schoolfellow Muriel and he
father-a friend of Oberg's-and il
pon to their invitation went TO
a cruise on their yacht, the Iris, from
Southampton. Our party was a yer,
pleasant one, and included WOODROW
and Chatter, while our cruise acros
the Bay of Biscay and along the Portr
guese coast proved most delightful
One night, while we we're lying outsid
Libson, Woodroffe and Chatter, togetl
er with olinto, went ashore, and whe
they returned in the early hours G
the morning they awoke me by eros
Ding the deck above my head. Then
heard someone outside my cabin doc
working as though with a screw
driver, unscrewing a screw from tn
woodwork, This aroused my interes
and next day ! made a minute exan
ination of the paneling, where, in on
mart. | found two small brass screw
that had evidently been recently r
moved. Therefore / succeeded in &c