6 §P| : j .f jr^M?fi> He Suddenly Whipped the Pistol from His Pocket. SYNOPSIS. Frederick Hardy, a fashionable Boston Society man, lost hi* wealth, was Jilted by a girl and sent by a friend to take rliartfe of an American Trading Company •ton- in Russia. On his journey through Japan he met Stapleton Neville, .sup posedly a.i Knglishman. They agreed to Ko toyctin r to Russia. Because of sus picious circumstances the) weri several times molested by the Japanese. Hardy was arrested and found upon his person were papers showing tnaps of Jap forts. Hardy was proven guiltless On a train he met Alsorne Saim, daughter of a Jap merchant. In Neville's shoes Jap found pictures of forts, proving him to he a Russian spy. Hardy departed for Rus sia on a steamer, which was wrecked shortly afterward, lie was rescued by a Ttussian steamer. On reaching Vladi vostok he was well treated. 11<• started for Siberia meeting Prim • -ss II manovna or ths train. I lardy boarded a vessel for A nun Hardy showed the princess his ♦ Xpertr.. « a- a rifle shot. The steamer was stranded. Tie- prime** and her maid w• re attacked by Chinese. Hardy pav<«d their lives The princess thanked Hard? for his heroism Mamhurinns fired upon the craft. Hardy sb w their chief. Hurning arrows were hurled upon tin- Pu*i l in*s d> cks An attempt was made to board the v« -. ! The attacking Chinese wcr« r- puis. ,| Romanoff sin . red at Hard"'* uli« itude f< r the priri- ess Stnnka. a mes>, fur *ent for l.elp, wis nailed t«» a cross on the shore. To put an en.i to the awful lort re l Kaidy himself put Htanka nut of In ynt »ry, taking Ids own life In his hands I .a t fires men aced the \« ! Hardy volunteered to go f..r help. Reftj.ned permission h« jump'-! ov«;*board and started to swim with the princess' » tit -ag«- Ro manoff w < angry -«t H ird> for his brave efforts t" rev ue i) . prim*. >< n wooed i.«r In his own savage way li said Hards l<a«| made love «»{ .n! to a Jap niies** girl. Help 4sue ami the prim • > was r• .. ut 1 If trdy Jourm \edon a raf' Arriving at iiis • Unation lie took charge of the trading » > mpany't busi ness Hardy r««-lved a brier from a so clal l» id r Boston anil another from Aisorn* Ifndy t« k I -on: in It . shin of a )< w. tli u ion net *»t! vi itu •|f in (1 way with thai ra • Hardy reeeiv**d a letter from the Mrincess, Iha nk ing him for his bravers Hard) * teache? was la danu* t »112 ' tii li* • mpl« \• <1 Wang as a servant II rdv an tit to M..s« w. wit- i he was lnv|te«| to rail (ipoii the princess f|e ' It '1 112•»: the | iI home 112 prin cess it in. ovn.i II ii t aroused una COUtlt*lbl< j. *! ♦.«4 Vof Ilia Koroin ls»> by snno i ini thut he v. golio: to « all on tl ; e pi if." ll* e! <lrov>* him lo a large loci- an a ttoorh lighted -street Af'. i llig the llOU* Hai ■ alMli t w » i -pi I i \. < |. H* ||ij. lin i'oi. tot. i item p overful - \ p|o»l\« he hid II .ver. I Tl 1- *1 i| |||| arri * i an i m a I; -i m, po*?. a 'i tl J t mßf4y In urd*r t>» pi .te | th«ms#lv •» CHAPTER XXX Continued. At this moment th* * oinmittee ro «nt**r«*d th« room H had trail acted Its grisly hitsin* ss with dupairb J K«>mb ki u« t*a| as (Hike ■.man Mr i'lkaittnan and lireihu*n.' 112 he an no am d M ws have d <?ld*d that Ihe 1 must prai timl method is tu bind tfe* I prt»om* and drive an unl tutu tho ha*» t#f his brain VVf have with tia * hero a hot maker, *l,* ,m il t4f ; t»u»iMe > | o it? n Mir a ll| Tlm n t in the early tum* uf the tuoriiing, v-hathi •If* el Is (I* oiled. Wt rati tfcrow hiui into iirothei Ivan's «at drUn him tu »UU4e I' to i; , |ai| oil til baitlu of the ftteaUva *hd drop hiin luto ih« *au<r " j flu t nn.ie *tt«** al<« »dy appointed will art in thin i»att« r. # aid liMlUski in aha to *iig last »%tth the ad dittwh 4 l Mtoth lvi«u nfo, ** # gtf*»ng I.4»«. and llm « hwmnk** * Nan and flu and th» i|¥* n tu* mid to»aid Maidy ah' i' a ing the eul tji« «na m, l» I!'.«•». :,.|j «<»*•• iM«» ut*4Ui »&■' at :ifk( yu »fct >aki# , "Gentleman!" he cried, backing to the wall and speaking with an inspi ration born of despair and the imme diate presence of a horrible death, "hear me for one word!" The suddenness of his appeal caused his appointed executioners to halt, while every face in the audience turned toward him in wonderment. "No man is ever executed without be ing allowed a last word, a farewell. Even the law, which you say is an in vention of tyrants, permits that! Surely (as you say that you are kill ing mo in the interest of humanity) you cannot be unjust and savage. All 1 ask is one word before I die, a part ing message, perhaps, to be given to my friends." "Speak, then," commanded Bielin ski, "but be brief, as we have weighty matters to discuss. Do not waste your breath in pleading for mercy." "1 was going to visit the Princess Ilomanovna," said Hardy, pale as death, but speaking distinctly, "not because I am au aristocrat, for I come from America, tho most democratic country on earth. I was Invited to visit her because 1 saved her life on the Amur through my skill with the pistol. My skill, which has made me famous in my native land, enabled mo to kill two Chinese who were attempt ing to abduct her. It i.> second nature to me. I shoot with absolute pr»'- cision Had 1 my weapon here I could pick off in succession, from where I stand, the buttons ou Mr. Iliollnskl'a coat." "What Is that to us? asked the < hairman. "You are talking to kuiii lime. <}ive us your parting message and we will try to g.-t it to those for whom it I* Intended 1 could lilt," proceeded Hardy, that < xplosive ball yoiuler, the lltveii (ton of Mons 11 uliti, ami blow y«»u all to atoms, and by (iml! if any one here ■ tir* or attempts to lay hand- on me, I'll do It!" Willi these Mords he suddenly I * hipped (h« pistol front his pocket, uid, leaning forward, aimed at tho ! 1-411 | CHAPTER XXXI "In the Nimi of th* C«ar!" i 1 lie iiihiluu were thrown into panli hy I hi* sudd-u move nn the I p.trt o| Hardy Koi* the moment lot was in t ontrol ul the situation, if."ugh he was well swar.- H.u J,.- i uult) uoi remain so for long 'the \Uniii,;ii ij. ti ki d to il«f d'Kir, I still aiiuiiiK st the hall, y .*Md thro *li it afti i Him' tittle m oi&ii . fumhllUK lot Um> lt'.;ob, ilt ft ti| it !/> » ud i.ii. ami •i.tri'-d tu run ra|iii||y | •" id .i the •inpi > ruuw la a hit h |ie now foimd hitusidl, hot withteii, hua ■ik. i, making au . (fort to lot k tk» who a a 44 tm|MM»«thi<« ( as ihere I MO kvi UU thi outald. . wud go imlt A »a»ag«> uproar l>i<>S> |hu»m tu the i'ut'in * itH It gi had JtMt i|UMU t| (|a <'<4 ad u| iw«g siiuggliag. t Mftte- i -•'•••• <|ad ere hit god M»k«|»vd hail I tkv illllSl. •« ul the hail, Ike door h« CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1910. hind him flew open, and a half a dozen nihilists were vomited forth. Several of them were armed, and, pointing pistols at Hardy, they shrieked: "Drop that revolver, or we shoot! you cannot escape!" At this moment the hall door was thrown open and a man rushed to Hardy's side. It was Mordecai, the Jew, with his red eyes, his bushy red whiskers his big hook-nose. "Mr. Hardy!" he cried, "my dear! pupil!" and he sprang between the j American and the pistols that were j pointed at the latter's body. "Stop, j brothers, stop!" he shrieked. "What madness is this? What is this man ! accused of? I know him. He is a j friend, I will vouch for him on my life. I will defend him. If you kill him you must kill me, too." "He is a friend of aristocrats," ex plained Uielinski, stepping forward; "he entered here by mistake, he says, but it is possible that he is a spy. At any rate, he knows our secret; he has overheard our plans and he will betray us. He must die." And at this moment a loud ham mering was heard on the outer or street door. "Silence!" gasped rtielinskl, in a whisper—a whisper, nevertheless, that could be heard more distinctly in the sudden silence than a shout. "What is that?" As if in answer to his question, the door opening into the hall flew wide, and the old woman looked in, dishev | eled and pale, moaning as she crossed herself rapidly; "The police! The police!" Again that thundering on the door sounded through the house, and a stern voice could be heard command ing: "Open, in the name of the czar!" Hardy was forgotten. The czar, j their archenemy, was at the gates of their fortress and his name was a word of terror. Thef nihilists flew past the American on tip toe, into the hall, several of them jostling and al most knocking him over in their eag erness to escape. "Come with me!" whispered Ba ruch, who had regained his feet. "You must not be found here!"—and seiz ing Hardy by the arm, he also jumped for the open door. Hardy made no resistance, and was soon running down the long hall with the others, led by the Jew. They came to a narrow flight of stairs, leading to the cellar, and down this they crowded, scram bling and fighting, some of them los ing their footing and rolling to the bottom. A loud crash arrested Hardy s attention. He was standing in the darkness, but at the farther end of the hall was a hanging lamp, turned low, and by the light of this he could see the door fly in splinters and the officers of the law pour in. "Throw your bomb, brother, throw your bomb!" said Rielinskl; and Hulin, leaping like a cat into the mid dle of the passage, hurled the sphere j down the hall with an oath. There was a muffled report, not loud, and much jingling of glass. The light went out, but, by the momentary flash of the explosive. Hardy could see several policemen pitch forward on their faces. "Come, come away!" said Mordecai, and Hardy scurried down the dark cellar steps with the Jew. CHAPTER XXXII Hardy Buys an Overcoat. They were in utter darkness now. Above could be heard a hoarse uproar, faint and confused, shouts anil sounds of heavy boots on the flooring; here in the cellar, the shuffling feet of the escaping nihilists, the bump or rattle of nn occasional obstruction kicked or run against, muttered oaths. Morde cai. still holding Hardy by the arm, pulled him rapidly across the cellar until th«y stumbled against the feet of men crawling on their hands and knees. The American pitched for ward on the back of one of th<'.se, ! w '»o kicked him savagely and swore a foul oath under his breath. "(Jet down,' whispered Mordecai, | "and crawl, crawl with me!" I hey passed through an opening in the wall, so low that it brought the American flat on his stomach, ami still scratched his back. That It was i barely Hide enough for two at a HUM ; was evident from the fact that j though he had crowded close to Mor , decal, 'he wall scraped his right side I They were through in a trio* and still lin utter darkness The sound of j scuttling fe»'t again could be heard • I the sound of nihilists (teeing The (ooU'" muttered Mordecai, ! "they forgot to put ba. k the stone." It was evident from his grunts and s s« iat< lung sound that be was strug glllig Willi M<itte to svjf object. "There," lie mud' red at la u, "It Is Niuh now, and Ji. t In Hutu' Listen.! iu> dear pupil, do you nut bear them" j I bey are In the collar I'ut your ear I.»l III.' wall Hardy did as was requested. Mud he . could iud> ed bear faint sounds on the other side of the wall Wbttre art! w» now?" asked Wm are In tha cellar u( the ad I Ma lug house, be lunging to a ineiubei ' l 'I the Ofdei Ihe btullii i# have s§ — ~ i Y I I caped by an underground passage— by an old forgotten sewer. Rut it will not be safe for you to follow them. They will have recovered their wits by this time and some of them will lie in wait for you and kill you, feeling sure that you will tell what you have seen and heard." Hardy's eyes were becoming accus tomed to the darkness, and in the dis tance he could see a slit of dim gray light. He felt his way to it, striking | a barrel and hitting his head against I a hanging shelf on the way. By the 1 sense of touch he assured himself j that he had arrived at the cellar win j dow, boarded up, and that the slit of ; gray light came through an imperfect j joining. The door must be somewhere near. With his fingers against the wall, he took several steps to the left without finding it; then he returned to the right, made the same experi ment, and his efforts were rewarded with success. Mordecai was at his side. "What are you going to do?" asked the Jew. "I am going to walk boldly out of this door," replied Hardy. "The ex plosion will have drawn the whole neighborhood to the front of the house, on the other street, and I shall not be noticed. If I am, I can explain how I came here, and how I escaped. I am going to chance it, and the quicker I go the better"—and he pushed back the heavy bolt which he had found by this time. "Good-by, my friend, and thank you. I suppose you will rejoin your brethren. You have saved my life and I shall never forget it. For your sake, I will say nothing about what I have seen and heard this night. The nest is broken up for the present and the police do not seem to need my aid." The American walked a couple of squares, then turned sharply to the right and gained the main street. He was safe now, and he hailed a passing cab, ordered the isvoschik to take him to the Slaviansky Bazar. As he stood on the walk, waiting for the vehicle to draw up, he felt chilly and, his ex citement having subsided somewhat, he made a discovery that gave him a shock and filled him with a feeling of uneasiness that was destined to pos sess him for many days to come. He had left his overcoat behind somewhere in that den of nihilists. He got into the cab, and, as it tore through the streets, the wheels squeaking in the snow, he sat there shivering, his chin in his hand, rack ing his brain to remember, if possible, whether there was anything in the pockets, a letter, cards, a cigar-case, that might betray the identity of the owner. To save his life he could not settle this point in his mind. It was late when he reached the hotel, and just as the gray light of dawn began to sift in through the curtains, he fell into a sound slumber. It was fully ten o'clock when he went out into his office and sent for his coffee. As he was drinking it, Wang entered in great excitement, with a newspaper. "Look at this!" cried the boy. "The police raided a den of nihilists last night, and the latter threw a bomb, killing four of the officers and wound ing six others. It was the society known as "The Enemies of Russia,' made up of disaffected Russians, Poles, Finns, even Jews —all who hate this accursed government." Hardy glanced at the boy, marvel ing much at the revelation of hate in that ingenuous word, "accursed." "Why are you an enemy of Rus sia ?" he asked. "Oh, for no particular reason," fal tered the boy, turning pale. "I—per haps I um not. And the nihilists all disappeared, as though the earth had swallowed them up. Not a thing was left to prove the Identity of a mem ber, except one costly, fur lined over coat, which proves that this society numbers among Its members some of the wealthier classes, perhaps of the I nobility. 1 tell you"—and Wang' strm k the paper with his right hand In his excitement —"that this country is a house divided against Itself, heave it alone, and it will work out its own destruction and salvation!" The boy's eyes were llashlug now and his cheeks were so aflame with excitement that the scar nearly dls | appeared. Hardy gulped down his coffee and started for the door. ' If anybody calls for me, Wang," he aid, "tell theiu that 1 will be back in an hour." lie did return In that tluie, war ing an exact duplicate of the over ' . oat that he had lost the uight before ! Viol still there was uo sign of the police, lie felt reassured Had there been any ii-Utah- letters, cards or dot UUieUts lu the pockets of the llilsslllg I garment, the officers of the law, he reasoned, would liavo lost no time In I laying bauds on hiui. CHAPTER XXXIII, Hardy Makes a Call. Tim i'rltti Iti.iuuuovna was at tli wd In a Mow a of pale blue silk, decollete, ti limned with daiuty cream lace ||er uetk wa» .uilrd.d by u' string uf |-caria, of prlcflt > purity. «Vbun> ** ol sue sad pnrfet ilun uf, 1I " I if ~~ xMl ' i I "What Are You Going to Do?" Asked the Jew. form. There was something in the creamy softness and whiteness of her skin, faintly, almost imperceptibly glowing with the warm, red hue of health and youth, that suggested the delicate tinting of the interior of a sea-shell, or foam shot through with the first rays of the morning sun, and the pearls seemed at home with such a background. Her shoulders were so exquisitely modeled that revealment became a duty and a matter of course. Im modesty is the child of ugliness. Her arms were round and firm and beau tiful; when she bent them, there was no angle at the elbow, or unsightly projection, but a perfect, graceful curve, and when she straightened them out, the skin did not wrinkle there and corrugate, but dimpled rav ishingly. As he arose from the chair in which he sat awaiting her entrance, Hardy, accustomed to fashionable and high-bred women, noticed, as she ad vanced toward him with welcoming hand extended, that her soft, light hair was parted in the middle and combed low over her broad forehead, and that the thick, glossy knot, con fined in an invisible net, was set low down at the nape of her neck. She held her head high and haughtily as head of a queen, yet her red, full lip* parted lu a dazzling smile, and perfect friendliness shone from her blue eyes. "I received your note at ten o'clock this morning," she said in French, In the most natural way in the world, as though she had seen him only yes terday,"and, fortunately, 1 had uo unavoidable engagement until 11." They stood in the center of u lux urious salon, flooded with a soft, rose | colored light from electric bulbs In geniously disposed about the celling. "I was very sorry," Ijt replied, "to disuppoint myself last evi aing. and also to put you to auy posslblo annoyance in waiting for me. Rut, the fact Is—" "Hut," she exclaimed, In her own tongue, "you are positively speaking Russian! And so perfectly, too! I can hardly beliuve my ears. It Is In credible' Hut don't let's remain standing here like two posts Sit down, over here, and we will have a nice cozy talk. 1 can give you two full hours." She crossed the room tc a low divan and seated herself comfortably j on one end of It, among a mass of lux ; urious pillows. I lardy took his place b< side her and i I said, eusily; "Th hope of conversing with you | some (luie In your own tongue, prlu- • cess, has been a great Incentive to ( | nut In my *mdli*s of Russian Willi I out that iu< native, I should at arcely nuve uiatle such progress aa you are kind enough fo credit me with " 110 was at hiiutu now, more at home 1 than lu (he sturc at titryetenok, or lu ih« who), ale bouses ol the Moscow m«r< hauls, and them* wmj, u f tp.jj. eato Mattery i'*w« naturally in itiu iiyj tie pf(lc >s flatbed uc uuli'k, searching look at him. The man was a gentleman, in the conventional sense, as well as a hero, and no more afraid of a princess than of a Chinese brigand. "So you learned Russian that you might talk with me?" she laughed with a slight tinge of coquetry. "How perfectly charming! But," she pouted, "I fear that your desperate struggle with the terrible Russian tongue is but a poor compliment to my French. Did you then find that so unintelligible?" "Not at all," he replied, "except as far as ray own poor mastery of it ren dered it so. Hut my desire to con verse with you in Russian was quite natural. I used often to wish that I could understand you when you were talking on the Amur steamer. Be sides, Russian, as spoken by you, seemed a very beautiful language, and one well worth acquiring." She did not see at to pursue this topic further. "You shall always speak Russian with me, then. By the way, have you heard anything further from your he roic friend, Smulders? I hope you have not lost all trace of him. I should so like to know how his love affair with the fair but tantalizing 'Chulia' came out." "Of that I am able to inform you, aa I have recently heard from Smulders. He and 'Chulia' are married and liv ing in Amsterdam. Smulders is in the seventh heaven of happiness." The princess clapped her litiU hands with joy. "Isn't it delightful," she exclaimed, "to hear of a love affair that ends happily? And I have no doubt that 'Chulia' will settle down into a sen sible, affectionate wife, and repay him for all his Bufferings Was that not a terrible happening last night, the killing and wounding of thote poor officers? The nihilists are becoming bolder and bolder every day. Only the severest measures will stamp out this evil of nihilism There Is no oth er way to deal with th< e misguided luutt, who. If they could only be uiada to see It. are their own worst enemies. Could they kuow how it grioves the Little Father to be severe with any of his children, they *ould not resort to violence. |am sorry for the families of thi- killed an<l winded officers! I have started u su'i ription for th> in, which has already been generously re- Mpoudt'd to." "May I putin; name down for a mall amount?" a k< d llardy Hardy nulled that the list was head' d "Kll/abetha Itomanovna, 1,049 rouble and tli.it scwral others bad contributed <<iual sums The Utst nam tin. 112 obtained, and neat to which Hard) in.it sign, was that of Hurl > Iluuianuff, wlm was dowu tut '-'.Viu roubles. iTo UK « • jntinr The Cliterinj Crowd*. '! |.t • m »l.«ii limn ii .* must pa ia« Willi. H m.th t « I I < itii'n Ml it applause f-Hia'i alw«t)« i<it teiaib i
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers