The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-02-01
Behind the
Stats
Story of Revenge For
"A Political Crime
By EDWARD COOLIDGE

my hand carried light alpenstock.
One morning l started from Interlak-
en- to walk to Thun. The road l took
leads along the west bank Of Lake
Thun, or Thunder lake, one Of the
prettiest bodies Of water In Switzer-
land. From the road one has a per-
petual view of the Bernese Alps, the
Eiger, the Monk and the Jungfrau.
whose snowy peaks rising high in the
heavens may often be mistaken for
light clouds. The sun was shining on
the lake, over whose bosom the little
steamers running between Interlaken
and Thun loaded with tourists were
passing back and forth.
Not far from lnterlaken the road
passes through a tunnel In a perpen-
dicular cliff that forms the bank of
the lake. While walking through this
tunnel | caught up with youth who,
| Judging from his pack. was making a
foot journey the same as l. He spoke
,, to me In German, the language of that
part of Switzerland, but signified that
I did not understand him, and he re-
! peated his question in French.
| How far IS 1t, sir, to Thun?"
| Ten or twelve miles, l believe"
| He was inclined to let me go on
ahead Of him; but, preferring compa-
ny, 1 adapted my gait to his. He was
apparently not more than eighteen
years old. No beard had yet started
ion were fair. took him for Swede
or a Norwegian, though such light hair
and skin are common In northern Ger
many. We walked on together, chat
ting and enjoying the beautiful pam
Drama Of the lake, the hills beyond and
still beyond these the mountains. For
awhile the young man was guarded in
his speech. He then discovered that
was an American-he had supposed
me to be an Englshman-and this
seemed to awaken confidence, though
1t was not quite fellow feeling, for he
kept me still In ignorance as to who
he was or where he was going.
that he was highly educated and one
of those persons who are born to think
deeply. was astonished ut his familiar
ity with the various schools of philos-
ophy. That he was dreamer as well
as a thinker was apparent from ideas
lie advanced, which to me seemed a
century ahead Of the times.
| I'll, hnl 90
con, eating sandwiches and drinking
beer ut table under the trees In front
of hotel. We rested for an hour aft
er luncheon, smoking, my pipe. my
companion cigarettes 1.-THE usual form
of II smoke in that coHntry).
The subject that most interested him
was America and how to get there.
told him that 1t all depended on where
one started from and waited for him
to tell me from which point he would
begin. THE Riviera" was his reply
Whereupon l informed him that from
any point on the Riviera-say Nice OF
! Nentone-one might by short rail
way journey reach Genoa, from which
H port steamers are constantly leaving
for the United States. He seemed
much interested in this and more sc
/ when l told him that l had engaged
\ passage by that route myself. When
Il asked him if he had any intention Of
\ visiting my country he replied that HI
\ had not.
II We reached Thun about 8 o'clock
and, after refreshing ourselves witt
u glass OF beer in the gardens of til,
L Kursaal. went to my hotel, my com
u panion going | knew not where. On,
meets all kinds of people trayelin,
abroad, especially IL one likes to form
| acquaintance, as l do. OF all thos
have met in any Of my tours tn
person who made the most impression
upon me was the young philosophe
about whom l learned nothing.
II l went by rail from Thun to Paris
from there to Nice and from Nice I
Mentone found at Mentone Genera
1 A., who had been minister of the ii
II terror In Russia. Indeed, l stayed q
the same hotel with him. Those VIII
knew told me that several attempt
had been made upon his life by revl
lutionists. or. as they were then callet
nhilists. and that he was closely guart
ed. During his incumbency In offlc
he had sent hundreds Of people
Siberia, besides those he had executes
He had been prescribed by the nihi
lists. they having vowed to kin him.
asked why he should dread his en-,
mics SO far from home and was tol
that they could work to better adval
tage beyond the Russian borders tina
within them. In Russia the COVER
ment could act directly. In other coui
tries more sr less red tape was nece
sary to arrest a suspect, and before
could be done an assassination mig
take place. General A. was spendir
season at Mentone for his health. b
ing afflicted with some nervous disc
der 1t seemed to me that a man Ii