Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-03-23

after MhMYEARS
BY ALFRED WILLIAMS.
Af4J 4 (Copyright.)
sRagorsk," announced Ivan, pointing
to the village plainly visible over the
intervening miles.
Ragorsk! What q world Of bitter
sweet memories rose within me!
l longed, yet dreaded, to be there
Was Katrina still there? How would
she receive me? And Paul-ah, yes.
Paul! Itshuddered at the thought OF
him. But l must get to my destina'
ton; l must know the facts-the truth.
As Ivan dashed up the horse it &C.
Cured to ame that l had not known
peace Of mind for a quarter of a cen
fury. Often had l wished to make the
trip, but a flourishing business had
required almost constant attention,
Settling back in the robes, l thought.
The landscape had not altered; no
recent buildings marked progress,
though the line Of telegraph poles
along the roadside was new Just
round the, bend the horse floundered
to his shoulders in a mudhole; the
~tarantass ckeeled to n side and ]
alighted to assist Ivan.
1t was then l caught sight of the old
Cossack guardhouse, high up on the
hill. Again / shuddered.
Originally constructed from bricks
Of baked clay and quartz sand, during
the Tatar invasion in GATHERINGS
time, it had later been used as a shel.
ter in the troublesome military days
Of two hundred years ago. Near by
were the ruins of the officers quar-
tiers, and beyond, those of the lei
= But the old guardhouse, partially
built into the solid, frowning rock, had
resisted the ravages Of time. 1t vas
within the grim walls that l had seer
the last of Paul previous to my depar.
ture for America.
Again I let Ivan talk. With much
crossing, he told me of it's history; of
the scenes, brutal and cruel, that had
taken place there! of the ghost that
made his home in the building, and
how everyone summed the very hill.
Even the priests were afraid of it, he
said. I laughed to myself, forJI had
been there many times, and Paul had
been there once-just once.
On a sudden impulse l determined to
60 there before going to the village.
Ivan paled at the thought; not for a
million rubles would he accompany
me. Tremblingly, he agreed to wait
for me, and I ascended the steep hill.
Paul and l had been boys of an age.
We had many quarrels and always
hated each other with On intensity
that almost amounted to affection.
Perhaps the expression sounds
strange; it is not-that IL. to my mind.
Both sons Of comparatively rich
parents, w had been orphaned about
the same time. He did me many in.
juries. petty meannesses Of boyhood
and l retaliated in like manner. No.
not In like manner; for my brain was
quicker than his and more fertile In
deyising subtle revenges, as you viii
see. A.
But these are small things; little
nothings Of no consequence compared
with the cause Of my great hatred
Katrina. the starosta's daughter
Katrina Of the Golden Hair, l called
her; for all the other girls we're dark
and Katrina-ah! who can describe
Katrina? n
That she could prefer Paul sneve,
once entered my mind. III was ;fal
c%leyerer, far better set-up. But there
is no accounting for a woman's choice
Paul won; he and my Katrina were
engaged.
At first I set about for revenge, bu
soon realized that nothing / could ID
in the way Of retaliation could make
up for that. Katrina his, Paul coule
afford to laugh at me. Finally, I coult
stand it no longer; ! made up my
mind to leave for America, where F.!
had relatives.
Setting my affairs in order, I solt
out my interests, houses, mill ani
land.
Paul was away on q trip at the time
so did not hurry, but sent my bag
gage ahead to Karnoul, where it woult
await my arrival. On the day of my
departure, l drove over to a neighbor
ing village, Pulaski, transacted my
business, and in the afternoon drove
back along the road below the guard
house.
The trip that had taken Paul away
had been to a remote district on thu
Manchurian border, and as the way
lay across the foothills, the road being
rough, it had ~necessitated travel BY
rook Do,,0 wo MT ovnoo$od hooL IN,