The Washington herald., 1919-04-06

1tksoOAhtys nC pay yeA~AoA ~ @0 AAAss~
duced to Yasha and Immediately re-
marked upon his pale appearance and
his infiamed eyes
What ails your" he asked Xasha.
you seem to have fever. Let me
examine you"
The result Of the examination was
the advice to Yasha to go to a hos
pital for treatment, which he, OF
course, ridiculed. Privately, the doc
tor informed Prince Gutemurov that
Yasha's nerves had broken down and
that he was dangerous to live with.
as he might kill me for some trivial
cause. The physician urged that /
leave him at once. But / hesitated.
Another quarrel. however. was not
long coming. Yasha actually made
another attempt to kill me. but was
stopped by our comrades. The cup
was full / decided to escape
Day and night my imagination car
ried me to the fields of battle, and
my ears rang with the groans of my
wounded brethren. The impact OF the
mighty armies was heard even in un-
civilized Northern Siberia. There
were rumors in the air, rumors of
victory and defeat, and in low voices
people talked of torrents of blood and
of rivers of MANNED humanity, stream
ing back from the front. and already
overflowing into the Siberian plains.
My heart yearned to be there. in the
boiling caldron of war, to be baptized
in its fire and scorched in it's lava.
The spirit of sacrifice took possession
of me. My country called me. And
an irresistible force from within pulled
me.
/ only awaited the opportunity when
Yasha would be gone for several days.
1t arrived one September day. Some
Yakuts called for, Yasha. AS soon as
he ,lef l cut of my hair, dressed In
mems clothes and provided myself
with two loaves of bread. 1 had no
money to speak of. as 1 took no one
Of the colony into my confidence.
1t was evening when / stealthily
hurried out of Amiga and took the
road to Yakutsk. There were 10
versts of it before me. l ran at such
pace that night. as 1 could not ex-
pect to travel in thea day time with
out being recognized, that l covered.
by dawn, fifty versts.
Several times | had met Yakuts, and
answered their greetings in their ma
tive dialect. with which had grown
familiar. In the dark they must have
taken me for a Yakut. Otherwise,
the journey was uneventful. The
road was dry, the weather calm, and
only the stars lit my way, my fast
beating heart echoing my footsteps.
When day broke l stopped beside a
ltmpid stream and feasted on bread
and cold water. / then made a bed
of twigs in a hole Sby the road, lay
down, covered myself with branches
and went to sleep for the day l
awoke when evening came. offered my
prayers. to God, dined on some more
bread and water. and resumed my
journey. II took me six nights of
walking to arrive at Yakutsk. living
only on bread and water, and sleeping
in hidden hooks by the road during
the day.
There was new governor in
Yakutsk. Baron Kraft had gone to
Western Europe to join his wife at
some health resort, was stranded
there after the outbreak Of the war,
and later died a prisoner In the hands
of the enemy. The new governor re-
ceived me well. and granted my re-
quest to be sent home. TO Tomsk. at
the expense of the government. He
even offered me a convoy for protec-
ton.
tSNopt was sdNNtSss DuN MY
heart would not rejoice The image
of Yssha. stricken with grief. fran
tically searching for me, calling to
me. rose before my eyes, and demand
ed an account from my conscience.
Was it right was it just, to leave
poor Yasha all alone in forlorn Amiga?
Had 1 not vowed to remain eternally
faithful to him? Should / not return
to him. then, and give up this wild
fancy of going to war?
vacillated. Was il not true, on
the other hand. that Yasha had be-
come a professional gambler? Was
not life with him a perilous adven-
ture? Devotion to Yasha, a voice
within me spoke. did not mean perish
ing with him. but an effort to save
him. Indeed, to get Yasha out OF
that wilderness was an idea which
suddenly gripped my imagination.
And how could ever expect to find
a better opportunity to do so than by
distinguishing myself in war and then
petitioning the Gar in his behalf?
So there I was again in the magic
circle of war. \ asked an acquaint-
ance to write letter for me to Yasha.
Apologizing for my unusual departure.
1 informed him that 1 was going to
lOHlSh 10 tHlisl as sOlOlef, leaNe
for the front and win distinction for
bravery, then petition the Car to
pardon him, so as to enable us to re-
sumo our peaceful life in StretinsK.
1t was a plan with which Destiny,
that held no more peace for me, played
havoc. The war was to continue as
many years as 1 had expected it to
last months, shrouding Russia in.
darkness. sowing revolution. bearing
thunder and lightning in its wings,
spreading famine and chaos and seeds
of new world order. In those stormy
years Yasha was to retreat to the far
background of my life, then vanish
altogether But my heart was all
with him that autumn day of 1914
when l turned my eyes toward the
bleak north for the last time, as
boarded the barge that was to carry
me to Irkutsk, from there to Tomsk.
and thence to war.
ITO be Continued.)
(Copyrislt. 1919, by Frederick A. Stokes Com
pany. All Rights Reserved