Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1904 — The Secret Dispatch [ARTICLE]

The Secret Dispatch

By JAMES GRANT

CHAPTER XXII. —(Continued. l “Heaven be blessed for this new onion •f success!” exclaimed Balgonie in French. "And you were not drowned t “No; I swam down the Nova, under water, escaping many a b.nilet got ashore and reached the old place in the wood where Olga, the gypsy, stained my tore. trimmed and dyed any beard, as jou see. She is quite nn artist, .that git’ll Even Mariolizsa would not know me few." Balgonie sighed as the p »or fellow •poke. He evidently knew nothing of ; the barbarities to which she hadgbeen subjected. so Balgonie resolved, merciSully, to keep him hr ignorance; and they proceeded at an easy pace together; he keeping his horse close by the shaft of toe wagon, on which the pretended peasant rode; and. as they spoke in French. <language ..unknown to their ignorant and half savage escort, Usakoff. in referring to the late event and its failure, •mired out all the bitterness, the hate and fury of his soul against the government, the councilors and the rule of ttie empress: ami. of coursd. entered with fervor into tjie scheme of an escape with Natalie. But still their ultimate plans vi-re undecided when they saw the red Mash of the evening gun. as it pealed from Schlusselburg, amid the murky haze •f a wet and stormy sunset; and ere long they saw the lights that glittered at times from amid the massive towers and Hack outline of that old castle streaming and wavering on the turbulent waters of the lake ami the wet slimes of fee sluices and ditches. .When, all dripping and jaded, the escort halted- and dismounted under the castle arch. Balgonie found that some changes were taking place in the executive of the fortress. CHAPTER XXIII. Bernikoff, whose wounds had been inlamed to gangrene, was at that moment actually ou his deathbed, with Father ChrysOstom kneeling by his side. The old sinner was in all the agonies and terrors of reviewing his past life on one hand and anticipating the coming change on the other. Bernikoff was dying in the habit of a friar, with, cowl, cord, beads and sandals, hoping even on his deathbed, as Ivan the Terrible hoped, when similarly arrayed and disguised, to cheat the devil if that dread personage came for lijs sinful soul. Leaving this scene. Balgonie presented the order of Gen. Weymarn and that ♦f the treasurer to Captain Vlasfief, who was now in "command, and to whom he stated that “the prisoner, referred to was Mademoiselle Natalie Mlerowna.” “Carl Ivanovitch.” said the captain, “you cannot think of leaving to-night in •uch a storm of wind and rainT’ “I’ve seen Worse in Silesia,” said Bal- ». gouie, looking to the locks of his pistols. "What Qf that - .'” "But the verbal order of was most peremptory.” “Ah’ and you have brought a wagon tor the money?” “A wagon for the prisoner also —so be quick, captain.” " “ ’Tis a large sum in roubles,” mused toe other. “1 am in haste to be gone! the prisoner —you hear me, sir?” said Balgonie, impatiently. "You seem more anxious about the prisoner than the treasure!” responded Vlastief, sulkily, but still delayed to move. “You have my orders—l come an the name of the empress—let there be no delay. Captain Vlasfief,” was the curt reply. “Bring in two Cossacks of the escort; toe. money is here in seventy bags, each eontaining a thousand roubles." “Excuse me. but the order of the imperial treasurer says expressly eighty” wealed bags of a thousand each,” said Balgonie, trembling with anxiety, yet compelled to appear to take an interest when he really felt none. “Ten thousand are missing.” said Vlasfief, leisurely. "Suppose.” ho added, in a whisper, "suppose we divide the lost sum and offer a thousand to the treasurer y “Imposible. sir!” said Balgonie, with a fiery and impatient milliner. “Well, well —there are the other ten wealed bags,” added Captain Vlasfief, I with a dark and stealthy frown of greed •nd hate, ns the Cossacks tossed the whole among the straw of the wagon. “It matters little; but I hope you may aot find the road beset, and so lose the whole.” “To be forewarned, sir. is to be forearmed.” said Balgonie. touching his pistols, for he quite understood the treachery implied, pad only trembled lest it •tight mar his dearest plans. “And now. air, for my prisoner.” “It she be not drowned, for the lower zaults are apt to be flooded on such a sight as this,” said Vlasfief, spitefully. Writhing under the keen glances of this lowborn Muscovite, Balgonie felt that all now depended upon his outward ■mi assumed bearing of coolness and carelessness. Night favored him in this, aud his face was almost concealed. Could anyone then have is’Tid his heart, ns he, Usakoff, two Cossacks and two soldiers •f the inaitf guard made their way down, town through dark nnd slimy passages ■nd stairs, till they were foot deep and tor-n knee deep in the water that flooded •he low and humid corridors, off which were the arched doors of numerous cells —corridots where spiders spun their weba, rats were swimming nnd terrified tots flew" wildly to nnd fro! ■fire long they reached the door, through tlie crannies of which despairfag eries and painful gasping* had been Beard, and aftpr unlocking forced it •pen by main strength. A great flood of water poured from the aperture amid the darkness, and with it oaaac the body of poor Natalie, who was wcß-nigh drowned. - the red light seen by Natalie was ■a fancy, but that of the lamp which was home by one of those who came just ■s time to save her from the same terriMe death by which the Princess Orloff

Lest all nfight be perilled by a recognTtiim, Balgonie was compelled to retire and leave her in the chaplain’s hands till she was restored to consciousness, to warmth, and till she was habited anew; and lie three dreadful hours of doubl and anxiety, while pacing to and fro in the cold and gloomy arehwtijs of the fortress, and having to conceal his face when she was brought forth and supported into the - wagon. Usakoff sprang on the shaft and flourished his whip; then the Cossacks and Balgonie put spurs on their chargers, and clattered over the wet drawbridge just ns the passing bell for the departuie of Bernikoff’s tortured spirit rang ominously and solemnly on the stormy gusts of that black and gloomy night. Balgonie, instead of proceeding by the way he had come, avoided the town of Schlusselburg and wheeled off to the right, eoinmitiing liunseff qiarilyUto the guidance of Usakoff. ami quite in ignorance that, about an hour before, Vlasfief, who could by no means let so many roubles escape without paying toll, had beset two of the roads by chosen followers of his own—num whom he hoped might pass for some of the adherents of the late Prince Ivan, rescuing the daughter of the exiled Mierowitz. A strange incident occurred before the interment of old Bernikoff, who had a pompous military funeral. The bottom of his grave was found to be on fire. A Scottish doctor attempted to explain this phenomenon, aS resulting from a species of iron-stone, which was saturated with the phosphorus supplied by the bones of old interments, and which had been ignited by the friction of the sexton’s shovel; but the superstitious Russians took a very different and much more diabolical view of the matter, and laughed to scorn the learned opinion of the Scottish pundit. CHAPTER XXIV. Their horses were tolerably refreshed by the halt at Schlusselburg, and so the whole party pushed on at a brisk pace by the road toward the frontiers ot-Tdiriamd=-=riheAk>ssncksof "tire-escort, whatever they thought, making neither remark nor inquiry, as they trusted obediently and implicitly to the officer who led them; but the darkness of the October morning, the deep and muddy, stony and rough, nature of the roads, and the evidence of the storm, ere long began to have a severe effect upon their cattle, and, to the great satisfaction of Balgonie, two of the troopers gradually dropped to the rear and were seen no more. Now the corporal of the Cossacks ventured to hint that “perhaps they were not pursuing the way they had come, as the lights in St. Isaac’s Cathedral must have been visible long ago”; but Balgonie replied, haughtily and briefly, that lie “had special orders.” Then the corporal urged a short halt, as the horses were sinking; but again Balgonie replied, that he “had peculiar orders, and must push on.” After passing a little village with a windmill, several miles from the shore of the Lake of Ladoga, the road dipped down into a dark hollow, between impending crags of granite, the gray faces of which were beginning to brighten in the first light of the lagging October sun. The rain and wind were over; the hollow way was fnll of rolling and perplexing mist; but Usakoff affirmed with confidence that he knew the country well. Out of the gray vapor, from both sides of the path, there flashed, redly and luridly, five or six muskets! One bullet struck white splinters from the wagon, eliciting a shriek from its occupant; another whistled through the mane of Charlie’s horse; and a third killed one of the Cossacks, who died without a groan. The way wtfs beset by armed men, whose numbers asd disposition, the dim light, or rather, the darkness anl the mist, alike served to conceal. “Make way, in the name of the Empress!” cried Balgonie, dashing forward with his saber drawn; “nay, I command you. on your peril and allegiance!” he added, as the threatening words of Vlasfief occurred to him; and, to his astonishment and dismay, he saw that personage actually appear, mounted and armed. His party, who seemed all <?n foot, were clad like peasants, but were armed with muskets, which they were rapidly casting about and reloading. “Halt! In the name of the Empress —halt, I command you! for this is not the way to St. Petersburg, whither the prisoner and treasure were to be conveyed. Treason! treason!” shouted the Staff Captain Vlasfief. Balgonie fired a pistol at his bead; but the Captain's horse reared, or was compelled to do so by bit nnd spur, for the bullet pierced its throat; and with nn’< bath, Vlasfief fell on the pathway, entangled in the stirrups ns the animal sank under him. The three remaining Cossacks, who were somewhat bewildered by the attack, by the appearance of Vlasfief. whom they knew, nnd whose confident bearing confirmed certain gathering susthat something was wrong ns to their route, now drew their snbers, aimed several blows nt Usnkoff’s head, and endeavored to cut the reins of his hoise, or stab it between the shafts, ns he lashed tjie nnimal almost to racing speed, nnd the light wagon jolted, rolled and bounded along the rough road behind it. By another pistol shot Balgonie rid himself of the Cobsack corporal, whose bridle arm he broke, while fncing about nnd galloping in the rear of the wagon, nnd now, with wild halloes, the entire party of nrnied men followed it on foot, with all speed, up a steep elope, over which the path wound. Usakoff ground his teeth, for he was without weapons, and passive in the flying coinbat; but, being fertile In expedients, he tore open a bag of roubles, and scattered them on the upland road with a ready and reckless band. The bright coins proved too exciting for the cupidity of the pursuers, who loitered to pick them up, tumbling,

scrambling," rising a fid falling Over ’ eack other, with shouts, curses and maledictions; their firearms sometimes exploding the while; and so the whole were speedily left behind, as the wagon, guarded now by Balgonie alone, was driven along a lonely and unfrequented road that led to the little town of Pomphela. “Thanks, dear Usakoff —thanks for your presence of mind,” said Balgonie; “I had forgotten all about those roubles. To lighten the wagon let us throw out those remaining bags—this perilous lumber, the intended recapture of which has nearly cost us our lives —honor —all, at the hands of Vlasfief.” “Nay, nay, never! Lumber, say you ? The' roubles are Natalie's —hers and mine—hers and yours, when you*.wed her; they have saved us once, and may do so again,” replied Usakoff. cheerfully. as the sun burst forth in hts clear October splendor, and they saw the dome shaped cupola of the Church of I’otitphela rising with a golden gleam from amid the white morning haze. There Balgonie's uniform and display of gold roubles operated powerfully on the postmaster, who. without asking for passports or other papers, at once, and in the name of the Empress, supplied them with fresh horses for the frontier, toward- which, after procuring some proper nourishment and restoratives for Natalie, they pushed on without a moment of unnecessary delay. ■ “Ah,” thought Balgonie, with a shudder and a prayer; "had Jagouski's name not'l,eon omitted in that order of Weymarn, where would she have been now? ’ Pale with sorrow and long suffering, her face was still beautiful, though sorely wasted; the deep, thoughtful eyes had yet a wealth —a world of tenderness in their liquid depths; and the long, dark hair was thick, soft and wavy as ever, as it fell in masses behind the small, compact and finely formed head. All was changed now, ami, as she laid her head on Charlie's breast, she felt content—almost hippy; and the horrors that hung over her family alone prevented her, as yet, from being completely so. o “ No trace of pursuers was behind them now, though their flight must by this time have been known both in the capital and at Schlusselburg. But in those days there were neither railroads nor electric telegraphs; so, riding on more leisurely, Balgonie changed horses again near Viborg, and ere long the great Lake of Saima appeared before them, with distant hills of Swedish Finland beyond its friendly waters. A boat was procured there; the wagon was abandoned; and with a shout of joy, Usakoff assisted the Finnish boatman to hoist the great lugsail to catch the breeze of a balmy and bemit-iful even — ing. as they hade a long farewell to Russia and all its terrors. In a quaint old church of Finland, by the eastern shore of the Lake of Salma, and in view of its little archipelago of granite isles —a lonely little sane, buried amid g'rdVes of plum and cherry frees, built of wood and painted red, with a little bell jangling in its humble belfry —Charlie Balgonie and his future bride were united by the old curate; and there a thousand roubles spent among the poor spread”ln the primitive district a happiness the tradition of which is still remembered with many a grateful exaggeration. After this, poor Usakoff. finding himself perhaps, as a third person, rather in the way, left them to beconib a soldier of fortune; and he is supposed to have perished in one of the Polish struggles for freedom; at least they heard of him no more after their final journey to Scotland. Two years before these events Charlie's uncle. Gamaliel Balgonie. merchant, magistrate and elder, had departed in peace to sin no more, leaving the lands and possessions of Balgonie unimpaired; and n long tombstone records at length all the virtues which his contemporaries believed him to possess. So Carl Ivanovitch became once more Balgonie of that ilk; and the roubles of Natalie added many turret and many an acre to his patrimonial dwelling in beautiful Strathearn. (The end.)