Evening star., 1922-07-13

|
to expect from them next. Still. 1
was hardly prepared one evening to
see tall. nervous foreigner stalk
noiselessly and unannounced into our
apartment and hand his card to Ken
nedy without saying a word.
! "Dr Nicholas Khark kor-hum-er.
; Jameson, you must have forgotten
koff, what can 1 do for you? 1t Is
evident something has upset you"
! The tall Russian put his fore
hnger to his lips and, taking one OF
| our good chairs. placed it by the
door. Then he stood on 1t and peered
| cautiously through the transom INTO
the hallway. Il think eluded him
this time" he exclaimed, as he nerv-
ously took a seat Prof. Kennedy,
| am being followed. Every step that
| I take somebody shadows me, from
! the moment ! leave my office until
| return. II is enough to drive me
mad. But that is only one reason why
! I have come here tonight. l believe
that | can trust you as friend OF
| justice-a friend of Russian free
DOM
He had included me in his earnest
! but somewhat vague query. 80 tha1
!
parently, he had heard OF Kennedy
rather liberal political views.
ut Is about Vassili Saratovsky, the
| father of the Russian revolution. as
we call him. that | have come 10
| consult you" he continued quickly
Just two weeks ago he was taken
Ill. 1t came on suddenly. violent
| fever which continued for a week.
Then he seemed to grow better, after
the crisis had passed. and even at
tended meeting of our central com
mittee the other night. But in the
meantime. Olga Samarova. the little
Russian dancer, whom you have per-
| haps seen, fell i'll in the same way
Samarova is an ardent revolut1onlst,
| you know. This morning the servant
| at my own home on East Broadway
was also stricken. and-who knows?
I-perhaps it will be my turn next.
For tonight Saratovsky had an, even
more violent return Of the fever. with
intense shivering excruciating pains
in the limbs and delirious headache.
1t is not like anything I ever saw
before Can you look into the case
| before /. grows any worse, professor?
| Again the Russian got on the char
and looked over the transom to be
sure that he was not being overheard
Il shall be only too glad to help
you in any way 1 can" returned Ken :
lnedy. his manner expressing the
genuine interest that he never feign-
ed over a particularly knotty problem
in science and crime. Il had the
pleasure of meeting Saratovsky once
in London. ] shall try to see him the
first thing in the morning.
DR.. kharkoff's face fell! mao
hoped you would see him tonight. II
ianything should happen
"Is it as urgent as that"
| ~ believe it is" whispered khar-
kofY. leaning forward earnestly. wv
can call a taxicab-it Will not take
long. sir Consider there are many
Lives possibly at stake" he pleaded.
VERY well. l will CO." consented
Kennedy.
| At the street door Kharkoff stopped
short and drew Kennedy back.
Look across the street in the shadow:
There is the man. If ! start toward
him he will disappear; he is very
clever He followed me from Sara
tovsky's here and has been waiting
| for me to come out"
| "There are two taxicabs waiting at
the stand" suggested Kennedy: Doc-
| tor, you jump in the first and Jane
son and I will take the second. Then
he can't follow US"
| 1t was done in a moment and We
were whisked away. to the chagrin OF
the figure. which glided impotently
out of the shadow in vain pursuit,
| too late even to catch the number OF
| the cab.
"A promising adventure comment
ed Kennedy, as we bumped along over
| New York's uneven asphalt. Have
you ever met Saratovsky
| NO l replied obviously. will
you guarantee that he Will not oio"
us up with a bomb?'
| "Grandmother" replied Craig. why.
| Walter. he is the most gentle, eneae-
| ing old philosopher
! THAT ever cut throat or scuttled
ship? I INTERRUPTED. .,, r.n
nedy, somewhat nettled, he is pa
| triarch. respected by every faction OF
the revolutionists. from the fighting
| organization to the believers in nom
! resistance and Tolstoy. I tell you.
Walter. the nation that can produce
man such as Saratovsky deserves
| and some day will win political free
dom. I have heard Of this DR.. Khar-
koff before, too. His life would be
short one If he were in Russia A re-
markable man. who fled after those
We are on Fifth avenue! I suspect
| that he is taking US to a club on the
lower part of the avenue, where a
number of the Russian reformers
live, patiently waiting and planning
for the great awakening in their
! native land."
| Kharkofrs cab had stopped. Our
quest had indeed brought US almost
to Washington square. Here we en-
F.! tered an old house of the past gem
Grafton. AS we passed through the
wide hall l noted the high ceilings.
stained by time. the long, narrow
rooms and a dirty white woodwork,
! and the threadbare furniture of black
walnut and horsehair.
| IJpstairs in a small back room we
found the venerable Saratovsky. toss
I l>IS, rrrtf fha
a disordered bed. His was strik-
ing figure in this sordid setting, with
a high intellectual forehead and deep
set, glowing Goals of eyes which gave
a hint at the things which had made
his life one of the strangest among
! all the revolutionists of Russia and
! the works he had done among the
| most daring. The brown dye was
scarcely yet out Of his flowing white
| beard-a relic of his last trip back
to his fatherland. where he had elud-
ed the secret police in the disguise OF
a German gymnasium professor.
| Saratovsky extended thin. hot,
| emaciated hand to us and we remain
ed standing. Kennedy said nothing
for the moment. The sick man mo-
toned feebly to us to come closer.
prof. Kennedy" he whispered,
nothing. Kharkofr has probably told
YOU of it. I am SO weak"
He groaned and sank back. over
come by a chill that seemed to rack
his poor gaunt form.
| "Kazanovitch can tell Prof. Ken
nedy something, doctor. am too
weak to talk. even at this critical
time. Take him to see Boris and
| Ekaterina."
| Almost reverently we withdrew
and Kharkoff led us down the hall to
another room. The door was ajar,
| and a light disclosed a man in a
Russian peasants blouse bending la