The Washington herald., 1919-04-01


was caught. AS was Russian and
a new member OF the organization, 1
succeeded by persistent denials of any
knowledge OF the band increating a
doubt in the minds of my captors as
to my participation in the projected
raid. But / was arrested and sent to
the Irkutsk prison, where was kept
for a whole year, There / can in
contact with many politicals and was
converted to their ideas. Finally, for
lack of evidence, / was set free.
'Disgraced, I returned homs. My
father had arrived at an understand
Ing with his partner whereby he was
to pa in monthly installments the
sum had gambled away. He would
not let me enter the house, but my
mother defended me. There was a
quarrel. which ended in an agreement
/ that I be allowed to occupy this barn.
But father sworS that he would dis
inherit me. giving my share of his
estate to his other sons"
I soon had occasion to discover that
Yasha was considered a suspicious
! character by the local police. because
of his imprisonment. His kindness.
too, was his misfortune. Freed or es-
eaped prisoners would sometimes visit
him secretly and he would give them
shirt. But l liked him all the more
his last penny. piece of bread or
for that, for 1t was this warm heart
in him that had rescued me from
death. We vowed to be faithful to
each other forever. And l entered
upon my duties as a housewife.
harm wi
to live was filled with rubbish. and
had never been cleaned. applied
myself studiously to make 1t habit
able. 1t was not an easy task, but
finally succeeded. We received a
gift / of 100 rubles from Yasha's
parents. and decided to estab-
lish a butcher shop of our own.
We got some lumber and built a small
store. Then Yasha bought three cows
and the two of us led them to the
| slaughter house, where I learned how
to butcher. Yasha ran the shop. l
was the first woman butcher in that
locality.
One summer day, while walking in
the street, I saw some boys peddling
ice cream. l had learned how to make
ice cream during my apprenticeship
with Nastasia Deontievna. 1t occurred
to me that I could make ice cream to
sell Finding out from the boys how
much they paid for it. l offered them
a lesser price and a better cream and
asked them to come for 1t the next
day. / Immediately returned home and
! bought milk from Yasha's mother.
who offered to give It free to me upon
learning the purpose for which IL was
intended. The ice cream l prepared
IN a. 4
quickly. During the summer earned
two or three rubles daily from this
source
I led a life of toll and peace with
Yasha for about three years. Every
morning I would get up at O'Clock
and go with him to the slaughter
house. Then all day I would spend
at home There were always many
/ poor people, mostly women and chill
dren. stranded in our town, which
was the junction OF a railway and
| river line. They would wander about
the streets. begging for bread and
shelter. The larger part of them
would land In our barn-home. At
times they would fill the cabin com
pletely, sleeping in rows on the floor.
Frequently they were sick fed
them. washed them, tended to their
children.
1asha would often demonstrate with
me Tor laboring so necessarily and so
| hard. But / had my reward in the
, gratitude and blessings those women
bestowed upon me. There was joy in
being able to serve. In addition, I
sent regularly to my mother ten ru-
hles a month. Yasha taught me in
| leisure moments how to read.
My name became a household word
IN the neighborhood Wherever
went l was blessed. There goes
Buk-Botchkareva" people would point
at me, whispering. Yasha's parents
also grew very attached TO me.
IL all ended one evening. in May.
l9l2. There was a peculiar knock at
the door. and Yasha went out to ad-
init man of about 30. well
dressed, with beard
RAD Escaped and pince-nez, of
from distinguished appear
frison. ance. He was pale
and apparently agi-
tated. He stood with Yasha in the
passageway for ten minutes. confer
ring inaudibly He was then introduced
to me as an old friend of Yasha's. He
had escaped from prison and IT was
up to US to hide him, as his capture
| would mean his death. The unexpect-
ed guest was no less a person than
the revolutionary slayer of a notorious
| Siberian governor.
TO BE CONTINUED.