2 THE TIMES NEW BL00MF1EL1), VA ., JULY 20, 1681.
A Startling Adventure.
K "nOBlNSON, the bos wants you I"
JLY " The dickens he does !" thought
I, for Mr. Dickson, Odessa agent of
Bailey & Co., corn merchants, was a bit
of a Tartar, as I had learned to my cost.
" What's the row Dow ?" I demanded of
my fellow clerk ; "lias he got scent of
our NicolaiefT escapade, or what Is It ?"
"No Idea," said Gregory; "the old
boy seems iu a good enough humor;
some business matter, probably. Hut
don't keep blni waiting." Bo, summing
up an air of injured Innocence, to bo
teady for all contingencies, I marched
into the lion's den.
Mr. Llckson was standing before the
fire In a liritou's time-honored attitude
and motioned me Into a chair in front
of him. "Mr. Robinson," he said, "I
have great confidence in your discretion
and common sense. The follies of youth
will break out, but I think that you
have a sterling foundation to your char
udfcr underlying any superficial levity.
I bowed.
"I believe," he continued, "that you
can speak Russian pretty fluently."
I bowed again.
"I have, then," he proceeded, "a
mission which I wish you to undertake,
aud on the success of which your promo
tlon may depend. I would not trust it
to a subordinate, were it not that duty
ties me to my post at present."
"You may depend upon my doing
my best, sir," I replied.
' "Right, sir, quite right 1 What I
wish you to do is briefly this: The line
of railway bus just been opened to
Solteir, some hundred miles up the
country. Now I wish to get the start of
the other Odessa Arms in securing the
produce of that district, which I have
reason to believe may be hud at very
low prices. You will proceed by rail to
BolteiF and iuterview a Mr. Dlmldofl-,
who is the largest lauded proprietor iu
thetowu. Make as favorable terms as
you can with him. Roth Mr. Dimidott'
uud I wish the whole thing to be done
as quieiiy as possible; in fact, that
nothing tihould be known about the
matte until the grain appears in Odessa.
I desire it for the interests of the firm,
and Mr. DimldofF on account of the
prejudices his peasantry entertain
against exportation. You will find
yourself expected at the end of your
journey, aud will start to-night. Money
sliallbe ready for your expenses. Good
morning, Mr. Robinson ; I hope you
won't fail to realize the good opinion I
have of your abilities."
, I was so charmed at being, as it were,
behind the scenes, that I crept about
the office all day in a sort of cloak-and-bloody-dagger
style with responsibility
and brooding care marked upon every
feature, and when at night I stepped
out auM stole down to the station the
unprejudiced observer would certainly
have guessed, from my general behavior,
that I had emptied the contents of the
strong box before startiug, into that
little valise of Gregory's. It was im
prudent of him, by the way, , to leave
English labels pasted all over it. How
ever, I could only hope that the " Lon
dons"and the " Birminghams" would
attract no attention, or, at least, that no
rival corn merchant might deduce from
them who I was aud what my errand
might be.
Having paid the necessary roubles aud
got my ticket I ensconced myself in
the corner of the snug Russian car aud
pondered over my extraordinary good
fortune. Dickson was growing old now
aud if I could make my mark in this
matter it might be a great thing for me.
Dreams arose of a partnership iu the
firm. The noisy wheels seemed to
clank out " Railey, Robinson & Co." iu
a monotonous refrain, which gradually
sank into a hum, ami finally ceased as I
dropped into a deep sleep. Had I known
the experience which awaited me at the
end of my journey it would hardly have
been so peaceable.
I awoke with an uneasy feeling that
some one was watching me closely, nor
was I mistaken. A tall dark man had
taken up a position on the seat opposite,
and his black sinister eyes seemed to
look through me, and beyond me, as if
lie wished to read my very soul. Then
I saw him glauce down at my little
trunk.
" Good heavens'" thought I, "here's
Simpklus' agent, I suppose. It was
careless of Gregory to leave those con
founded lubels ou the vAlise."
' I closed my eyes for a time, but on
reopeuing them I again caught the
Stranger's earnest gaze.
" From Eugland, I see," he said iu
Russian, showing a row of white teeth
in, what was meant to . be au amiable
emile.
, .V Yes," I replied, trying to look uu
concerned, but painfully aware of rny
failure.
"Traveling for pieasure) perhaps?"
said he.
,.MYes," I answered, eagerly. "Cer
tainly, for pleasure ; nothing else."
' Of course not." said he, with a shade
. of irony in his voice. "Englishmen
always travel for pleasure, don't they ?
O, no, nothing else."
His conduct was mysterious, to say
the least of It. It wag only explainable
upon two hypotheses he was either a
madman or he was the agent of some
firm bound upon the same errand as
myself and determined to show me that
he guessed my little game.
I was to be expected at the eud of my
Journey, so Mr- Dickson had Informed
me. I looked about among the motley
crowd, but saw not Mr. Dlmldofl". Bud
denly a sloveuly, unshaved man passed
me rapidly, and glanced first at me and
then at my trunk that wretched trunk,
the cause of all my woes. He disap
peared in the crowd ; but In a little time
came Btrolllng past me again and con
trived to whisper as lie did so, " Follow
me but at some distance," immediately
setting of! out of the station and down
the street ut a rapid pace. Here was
mystery with a vengeance. I trotted
along iu his rear with my valise and on
turning the corner found a rough
droschky waiting for me. My unshaven
friend opened the door and I stepped iu.
"Is Mr. Dim" I was beginning.
" Hush 1" he cried. "No names, no
names ; the very walls have ears. You
will hear all to-night;" and with that
assurance he closed the door and seizing
the reins we drove ofl" at n rapid pace;
so rapid that I saw my black-eyed
acquaintance of the railway carriage
gazing after us until we were out of
sight.
I thought over the whole matter as
we Jogged along in that abominable
sprlngless conveyance.
We were there to nil appearance; for
the droschky stopped, and my driver's
shaggy head appeared through the aper
ture. " It Is here, moat honored muster," he
said as lie helped me to alight.
" Is Mr. Diinrl " I commenced, but
he interrupted me again.
"Anything but names," he whisper
ed; "anything but that. You are too
used to a land that is free. Caution, O
Biicred one 1" and he ushered me down a
stone Hugged passage and up a stair at
the end of it. " Bit for a few minutes
iu this room," he said, opening a door,
"and a repast will be served for you,"
and with that he left me to my own
reflections.
"Well," thought I, "whatever Mr.
Dlmldoir's house may be like, his ser
vauts are undoubtedly well trained.
1 0 sacred one !' and 'reverend muster I'
I wonder what he'd call old Dickson
himself, if he Is so polite to the clerk.
I suppose It wouldn't be the thing to
smoke In this little crib, but I could do
a pipe nicely. By the way, how con
foundedly like a cell it looks."
I had hardly concluded my survey
when I heard Bteps approaching down
the corridor, and the door was opened
by my old friend of the droschky. Ho
announced that my dinner was ready,
and, with many bows and apologies for
leaving me in what he called the "dis
missal room," he led me down the
passage and into a large and beautifully
furnished apartment. A table was
spread for two In the centre of it, and
by the Are was standing a man very
little older than myself. He turned as
I came in aud stepped forward to meet
me with every symptom of profound
respect.
" Mr. Diuiidofl", I presume?" said I.
"No, sir," said he, turning his keen
gray eyes upon me. " My name is
Petrokiue; you mistake me, perhaps,
for one of the others. But now, not a
word of business until the council meets.
Try your chef's soup ; you will find it
excellent, I think."
Who Mr. Petrokine or the others
might be I could not conceive. Laud
stewards of Dlmldoff's perhaps, though
the name did not seem familiar to my
companion. However, as he appeared
to shun any business questious at pres
ent, I gave iu to his humor, and we
conversed on social life in England a
subject in which he dlspluyed considera
ble knowledge and acuteuess.
" By the way," he remarked, as we
smoked a cigar over our wine, "we
should never have .known you but for
the English lubels on your luggage; it
was the luckiest thing iu the world that
Alexander noticed them. We had had
no personal description of you; indeed,
we were prepared to meet a somewhat
older man. You are youug, indeed, sir,
to be entrusted with such a mission."
" My employer trusts me," I replied,
"and we have learned iu our tradja that
youth aud shrewdness ure not incom
patible." " Your remark is true, sir," returned
my uewly-made friend ; "but I am sur
prised to hear you call our glorious
association a trade. Hucli a term is
gross indeed to apply to a body of men
banded together to supply the world
with that which it is yearning for, but
which, without our exertions, it can
never hope to attain. A spiritual broth
erhood will be a more fitting term."
" By Jove 1" thought I, "how pleased
the boss would be to hear him. He
must have been Iu the ijusluess himself,
whoever he Is."
" Now, sir," said Mr. Petrokine, "the
clock points to eight, and the council
must be already sitting. Let us go up
together, aud I will Introduce you. I
need hardly say that the greatest secrecy
is observed, and that your appearance Is
anxiously awaited."
I turned over In my mind as I follow
ed him how I might best fulfill my
mission mul secure the most advantage
ous terms. They seemed as anxious as
I was In the matter, and there appeared
to be no opposition, so perhaps the best
thing would be to wait and see what
they would propose.
t had hardly come to this conclusion
when my guide swung open a large door
at the end of a passage, and I found
myself in a room larger and even more
gorgeously fitted up than the one In
which I had diued. A long table, cover
ed with green baize and strewn with
papers, ran down the middle, and round
It were Bitting fourteen or fifteen men
conversing earnestly. The whole scene
reminded me forcibly of a gambling hell
I had visited some time before.
Upon our entrance the company rose
and bowed. I could not but remark
that my companion attracted no atten
tion, while every eye was turned upon
me with a strange mixture of surprise
and almost servile respect. A man at
the head of the table, who was remark
able for the extreme pallor of his face
as contrasted with his blue-black hair
aud moustache, waved his hand to a
seat beside him, aud I sat down.
" I need hardly say," said Mr. l'etro
kiue, "that Oustave Berger, the English
agent, Is now hotioring us with his
presence. He is young, indeed, Alexis,"
lie continued to my pale-faced neighbor,
"and yet he is of European reputa
tion." "Come, draw It mild," thought I,
adding aloud, " If you refer to me sir
though I am, Indeed, acting as an Eng
lish agent, my name is not Berger, but
Robinson Mr. Tom Robinson, at your
service."
A laugh ran round the table.
" Bo be It, so be it," said the man they
called Alexis. " I commend your dis
cretion, most honored sir. One cannot
be too careful. Preserve your English
sobriquet by all means. I regret that
any duty should be performed upon this
auspicious evening ; but the rules of our
association must be preserved at any
cost to our feelings, and a dismissal is
inevitable to-night."
" What the dinice is the fellow driving
at?" thought I. "What is it to me if
lie does give his servant the sack ? This
Dlmldofl', wherever he is, seems to keep
a private lunatic asylum."
"Take out the gag!" The words
fairly shot through me and I started In
my chair. It was Petrokine who spoke.
For the first time I noticed that a burly
stout man, bitting at the other end of
the table, had his arms tied behind his
chair and a handkerchief round his
mouth. A horrid suspicion began to
creep into my heart. Where was I ?
Was I iu Mr. DimidofT's ? Who were
these men with their strange words ?
" Take out the gag I" repeated Petro
kine; and the handkerchief was re
moved. "Now, Paul Ivanovitch," said he,
"what have you to say before you
go ?"
"Not a dismissal, sirs," he pleaded,
"not a dismissal ; unything but that. I
will go into some distant land, aud my
mouth shall be closed forever. I will
do anything that society asks, but pray,
pray do not dismiss me."
"You know our laws, and you know
your crime," said Alexis, iu a cold,
harsh voice. " Who drove us from
Odessa by his false tongue and his
double face ? Who wrote the anonym
ous letter to the Governor ? Who cut
the wire that would have destroyed the
arch-tyrant ? You did, Paul Ivanovitch,
aud you must die."
I leaned back in my chuir and fairly
gasped.
"Remove him !" said Petrokine, and
the man of the droschky with two
others forced him out.
I heard the footsteps pass down the
passage, and then a door open and shut.
Then came a sound as of a struggle,
ended by a heavy cruuchlng blow and a
dull thud.
" Bo perish all who are false to their
oath," said Alexis, solemnly, and a
hoarse amen went up from his com
panious. " Death alone can dismiss us from our
order," said another man further down ;
"but Mr. Berg Mr. Roblnsou is pale.
The scene has been too much for him
after his long Journey from Eugland."
" O, Tom, Tom," thought I, "if ever
you get out of this scrape you'll turn
over a new leaf. You're not fit to die,
aud that's a fact." It was only too
evident to me now that by some strange
misconception I had got in among a
gang of cold-blooded Nihilists, who
mistook me for one of their order. I
felt, after what I had witnessed, that
my only chance of life was to try to
play the role thus forced upon me uutll
an opportunity for escape should present
Itself; so I tried hard to regain my air
of self-possession, which had been so
rudely shaken.
"I am, Indeed, fatigued," I replied,
"but I feel stronger now. Excuse my
momentary weakness."
"It was but natural," said a man
with a thick beard at my right hand.
"And now, most honored sir, how goes
the cause In England?"
" Remarkably well," I answered.
" Has the great Commissioner conde
scended to send a missive to the Solteff
branch ?" asked Petrokine.
" Nothing In writing," I replied.
" But he has spoken or it?"
" Yes, he said he had watched it with
feelings of the liveliest satisfaction," I
returned.
" 'Tls well, 'tis well!" ran round the
table.
I felt giddy and sick from the critical
nature of my position. Any moment a
question might be asked which would
show me in my true colors. I rose and
helped myself from a decanter of brandy
which stood on a side table. The potent
liquor flew to iny excited brain, and as
I sat down I felt reckless enough to be
half amused at my position, and inclin
ed to play with my tormentors I still,
however, had all my wits about me.
"You have been to Birmingham ?"
asked the man with the beard. t
" Many times," said.
" Then you have, of course, seeu the
private workshop and arsenal ?"
" I have been over them both more
than once."
" It Is still, I suppose, entirely unsus
pected by the police?" continued my
Interrogator.
" Entirely," I replied.
" Can you tell us how it is that so
large a concern Is kept so completely
secret?"
Here was a poser, but my native im
pudence and the brandy seemed to come
to my aid.
"That is information," I replied,
"which I do not feel justified in divulg
ing even here. In withholding it I am
acting under the direction of the chief
commissioner."
" You are right perfectly right," said
ray original friend Petrokine. " You
will, no doubt, make your report to the
central office at Moscow before entering
into such details."
" Exactly bo," I replied, only too
happy to get a lift out of my difficulty.
"Aud now, most honored sir," Bald
Alexis, "tell us what was the reply of
Bauer, the German Bocialist, to Ravin
sky's proclamation ?"
Here was a deadlock with a ven
geance. -Whether my cunning would
have extricated me from it or not was
never decided, for Providence hurried
me from one dilemma into another and
a worse one.
A door slammed down stairs, and
rapid footsteps were heard approaching.
Then came a loud tap outside, followed
by two smaller ones.
" The sign of the society 1" said Petro
kine; "aud yet we are all present; whe
can it be?"
The door was thrown open and a man
entered, dusty and travel-stained, but
with an air of authority and power
stamped on every feature of his harsh
but expressive face. He glanced round
the table, scanning each countenance
carefully. There was a start of surprise
in the room. He was evidently a
stranger to them all.
"What means this intrusion, sir?"
asked my friend with the beard.
"Intrusion I" said the stranger. "I
was given to understand that I was
expected, aud had looked forward to a
warmer welcome from my fellow-asso-dates.
I am personally unknown to
you gentlemen, but I am proud to think
my name should command some respect
among you. I am Gustave Berger, the
agent from England, bearing letters
from the chief commissioner to his well
beloved brothers of Bolteff."
One of their own bombs could hardly
have created greater surprise had it been
fired in the midst of them. Every eye
was fixed alternately ou me and upon
the newly-arrived agent.
"If you are Indeed Gustave Berger,"
said Petrokine, "who is this ?"
" That I am Gustave Berger, these
credentials will show," said the strang
er, as he threw a packet upon the table.
" Who that man may ho I know not,
but if he has intruded himself upon the
lodge under false preteuses It ia clear
that he must never carry out of the
room what he has learned. Speak, sir,"
he added, addressing me; "who and
what are you ?"
" Gentlemen," I said, "the role I have
played to night has been a purely invol
untary one on my part. I am no police
spy, as you seem to suspect, nor, on the
other hand, have I the honor to be a
member of your association. I am aa
iuotiensive corn dealer, who, by au
extraordinary mistake, has been forced
into this unpleasant and awkward posi
tion." I paused for a moment. Was it my
fancy that there was a peculiar noise iu
the streets, a noise as of many feet
treading softly ? No, it had died away ;
it was but the throbbing of my own
heart.
"I need hardly my," I continued,
"that anything I may have heard to
night will be safe In my keeping. I
pledge my solemn honor as a gentleman
that not one word of it shall transpire
through me."
The senses of men in great physical
danger become strangely acute, or their
imagination plays them curious tricks.
My back was towards the door as I sat,
but I could have sworn thet I heard
heavy breathing behind It. Was It the
three minions whom I had seen before
In the performance of their hateful
functions, and who like vultures, had
sniffed another victim ?
I looked round the table. Still the
same hard cruel faces. Not one glance
of sympathy. I cocked the revolver In
my pocket.
There was a painful silence, which
was broken by the harsh grating voice
of Petrokine.
" Promises are easily made and easily
broken," he said. "There is but one
way of securing eternal silence. It Is
our lives or yours. Let the highest
among us speak."
" You are right, sir," said the English
agent; "there Is but one course open.
He must be dismissed."
I knew what that meant in their
confounded jargon and sprang to my
feet.
" By Heaven," I shouted, putting my
back against the door, "you shan't
butcher a free Englishman like a sheep.
The first among you who stirs, drops."
A man sprang at me. I saw along
the sights of my derringer the gleam of
a knife and the demoniacal face of
Gustave Berger. Then I pulled the
trigger, and, with his hoarse scream
sounding In my ears, I was felled to the
ground by a crashing blow from behind.
Half unconscious aud pressed down by
some heavy weight, I heard the noise of
shouts and blows above me, and then
fainted away.
When I came to myself I was lying
among the debris of the door, which
had been beaten In on the top of me.
Opposite were a dozen of the men who
had lately sat In judgment upon me,
tied two anil two, and guarded by a
Bcore of Russian soldiers. Beside me
was the corpse of the Ill-fated English
agent, the whole luce blown in by the
force of the explosion. Alexis and
Petrokine were both lying on the floor
like myself, bleeding profusely.
" Well, youug fellow, you've had a
narrow escape," said a hearty voice in
my ear.
I looked up and recognized my black
eyed acquaintance of the railway car
riage. "Btand up," he continued, "you're
only a bit stunned ; no bones broken.
It's no wonder I mistook you for the
Nihilist agent, when the very lodge
itself was taken in. Well, you're the
only stranger who ever came cut of
this den alive. Come down stairs with
me.
He explained as we walked back to
the hotel that the police of SotefT, of
which he was the chief, had had warn
ing aud been on the lookout during
some time for this Nihilistic emissary.
My arrival in so unfrequented a place,
coupled with my air of secrecy and the
English labels on that confounded port
manteau of Gregory's had completed
the business.
I have little more to tell. My Social
istic acquaintances were all either trans
ported to Siberia or executed. My
mission was performed to the satisfac
tion of my employers. My conduct
during the whole business has won me
promotion, and my prospects for life
have been improved since that horrible
night, the remembrance of which still
makes me shiver.
No Time for Doubts.
When Dr. Marshman was a young
man, and at home, he was frequently
the subject of doubts and fears. On his
return from India, after nearly thirty
years residence and labor there, Wil
liam Jay said to him" Well, Doctor,
how about doubts and fears ?" "Haven't
had time for them," was the answer.
tEJ" The raven Is like the . slanderer,
seeking carrion to feed upon, and de
lighted when a feast Is found.
5aT It is as easy to draw back a stone
thrown with force from the band as to
recall a word once spoken.
Gratitude is the music of the heart
when Its chords are swept by kindness.
Get out Doors.
The close confinement of all factory
work, gives the operatives pallid faces,
poor appetite, languid, miserable feelings,
poor blood, inactive liver, kidneys aud
urinary troubles, aud ail the physicians
and medicine in the world cannot help
them unless they get out of doors or use
Hop Bitters, the purest and best remedy,
especially for sucti cases, having abund
auce of health.suushine and rosy cheeks
in them. They cost but a trifle, bee
another column. Christian Jiecord.,