The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-02-25
The Great Stroke


out to avoid the little pools of water which
stayed there from the rain of the night
before.
sThey were half way to the church
when two horsemen galloped around cor
ner and came toward them. They were n,
other than Dmitri Gorgos and his eternal
companion, Paul Maxady. At sight of the
train they drew rein very sharply, SO that
Gorgos' horse slid to halt with braced
feet and sent a little shower of slush
sprinkling upon lila Nadasky. Of course,
she was too overawed by the nearness of
the great man to cry out, but I'll wager that
shower of mud on her wedding dress hurt
her more than if it had fallen on her bare
heart.
Georges leaned from his horst a little
and smiled upon her beauty. He was a
rather ugly man, but his smile could make
his face almost handsome. There again
is the Russian for you He asked her name,
but his eyes. were fixed so fast upon her
face that he did not seem to hear when
Maxim Rotanoff answered for her. Then
he gave Rotanoff a glance, delved into his
pocket of his riding breechs, and tossd the
groom gold coin.
"Of course itw as a fortune to them
more than they had saved in the whole
three years. They were so dumb with JOY
that they could not say word of thanks,
but the crowd behind marked the yellow
flash of the coin as Dmitri Gorgos tossed it,
and how they shouted and cheered their
beneficent lord as he galloped off down
side street with his companion!
Strangely enough when the procession
came. in sight of the church the noble was
outside it in the act of remounting his
horse. For some reason he had circled
back on his course, for he had been riding
in the opposite direction when he first
passed them. However, it gave the crowd
another opportunity to cheer, and this
time you may be sure that Maxim Rotanoff
led the shouting. After such happiness
after such glorious good fortune-sorrow
had an added tang, and it followed quickly
enough.
when they reached the church they
found the priest gone. He had left word
behind-itwas very vague-that business.
a sudden death on the Gorgos estate, called
MN away, and that he could not celebrate
the wedding until the next day.
Poor Rotanoff and $Ila Nadasky merely
stood and stared at each other The rest of
the procession broke into groans. You see,
both liza and the groom were very popular
with the peasants and every one had looked
ahead for long time to this wedding.
Nevertheless, the two had the gold coin
to balance against the postponement of the
marriage. They sat up late that night
whispering plans for their future And ev-
erything was given an added color and
brightness by the sheen of that yellow
metal. All things seemed possible to Them
They spoke confidently of great sums of
money which they would earn and save.
Maxim oRtanoff even mentioned thousand
rubles. At that they both stared at each
other in speeches. excitement, and they
finally broke into laughter together There
again, you see, is the Russian nature"
And the next morning the girl was gone
that was the great stroke?" broke in
JORDAN. That was what changed Ro-
tanoff2"
I could have throttled him, and the sug-
gestion of frown troubled Menevals
placed forehead
"The next morning the girl was gone"
he said coldly, "but that was not the great
stroke. Her mother came running little
after dawn to oRtanoff, telling him that the
girl had gone out Of the house to borrow
salt from neighbor, and she had not come
back and neither had she been to the neigh
boris house. Of course you have guessed
it already. Two of Dmitri Gorgos' servants
carried her away the moment she left her
mothers house. That was ALL
ut was three days-three heart-broken
days-before Rotanoff learned what had