Page 4 Advertisements Column 3

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 188, 6 September 1909, Page 4

as h.ird as the rest of them airn.i.u' ■ :•:■■ ■ ::• r<iji<"h"ient on whet I i,.-.-.. ;i taught (O believe the br.iv. arks *(:•• Constitution. t*>m 1 have •i < noiigh of Russian li.'s' to feel ;■.,!( most fcnglishmen feel when •ivy find themselves passive onlooker at corruption and oppression. My thought* must have communicated themselves to my face, and the countess added, with a sigh or regret: "Yes : I know il is useless to argue with you Knglish. Your peasantry arc loyal to you, and you can love your neighbours with a full heart. In Russia things are different. I remember well, shortly before my marriage, my last visit to your country. We spent a day in your own county, and I saw you with your father's peasantry flocking round you. treating you as one of themselves, as you played with the children like n great happy boy."•'And why not ? " 1 asked.

When I am at home nil th" children of Ihe countryside run after me. Ido love to play with tJi-in and talk to the old men. There is a freshness ami a breezy, natural honesty about the kids thai contrasts so d-lightfully with the humbug of the diplomatic service, ami it never seems to men mailer for snr-pil.-te tr even that nn Knglish gentleman .should lie at home among his neighbours, rich or poor. The countess smiled sadly. "As I said before, il is useless our arguing. If I lived in Kngland I might l»e of your o'pinion. I should love it." she added, . impetuously ; and th-n sinking back to her terrified whisper again, she went on : "llul t«« talk of these things is hope-i.-ss. f must tell you my story while vv are yet safe. The meeting 1., which you were condemned to death the other night was a gathering of the Organization of (Vmbal. ;!.-• most powerful, the most farreaching. !?;•• most r-l-ntl.-s< : .»ei<iy of revolution the world has ever kr.own. Its agvnts are in every

.•mintry. its member'-, are bound to •ach oth.-r by th-s v.lrMi th • folic have failed to sever. Cut off in one

,sy. th' lin" "{ communication is carried ro-snd ftr»isi point to point until every official effort i'! outmanoeuvred. Its v.-i.g.-r-'ice is swift and i.'» silently wr aketl on i:s own •aemi-s and on tho-- of it.s m-mIH-rs who refuse to ol ey its mandate. It tpares neither ng- r.or ««••». It is the one agent of revolt the Itowager and the Ministers of strong will in Ilus*Ja ilrend. There is only one Iry in tlu» world where it will not -h-*! I.looil." "And that country ? "

"1« yours. Knglnnd is tolerant, Knglantl is flee. To Kngland both husit'd and hunter fl;. for .-afet.'". It is the sanctuary for us all—for u'J all." -he repeated slowly. "If they oitirioiietl crimes Hire, your country would be no !<-r,y. r an i-.j-ylum (■:• the'i. Pari. i.-. 11. ir favoured ploStutg groin;!. 11 is within easy rea»h of your h>> .pitabhr shor< and it is also con\e|iii-iii|y ni>ar the sea. I'hey can reach America." "llul ran they land there? "•

"They rati land a:i> where. Do \ not Mr. th.»t '*« c ; nmnlM's ■•! ih> l)rgai:i/jii »>ii of Com- ' "iat come into a country as pauper '■ aliens. They are lauding in your : •ity of and in the Western : •ity of Xew York with all the mag-; rtilicenre of courts an-l millionaires. | N'o ati n law can k«>.-p them out. At j presn'iil their attention is directed i toward-. Si. I*eterslmrg. In orders io j;ji!ii lirsi-hnml direet information! about their movements, I volume red j to observe them from within. As ( Cainille It n'uli-t. supposed to !•.■ a' I'ari-inn j: it. I joit-.ed the «>rgani..alion ar;d became " "A M'.v ' "

Tie* word clipped out involuntarily - , and I nu.ived away instinctively f;-«un the wr-tch-d woman. A iit«>iv r;t aflerwardn I f-M ashamed of my s if. If I had struck her in the face with my th'nehed fkt | could not have injured her half m much. Her h«.-. .1 d.'oo|».-.1. te,nr« started to h.-r eyes, ami a vivid blush of sha;<ie spr-a.l oyer her bcauiifiil f,ic■•. I had im(Hirted so much diseii-.( into that little word that «.|ie dar.- »-.o; loi,'* me in the eyes, it \\n~. a cowardly act. I know it was ; but. Coil h lp ia\ il was finite without thinking.

With her h"a«l turn-fl jr.tui me. and her Voice so husky that I had to strain my ears to h-ar it, she ofl her story.

"In the secret service of my country we do not look nt these thisißs in the same light as you do. 1 became a memlier of the organization as I have told you. and I was careful only to attcr.d their meeting* in l'aris. Occasionally when I left St. Petersburg to In- wjth them. I was supposed to li« either sick or in private attendance on the liowager in lur retirement. When the organization missed me from their meetings, 1 w-as nw-j».v earning my living. My occupation was supposed to lie t'.at of n teaiher. and I had to visit foreign countries in ja:e til I of my profession. Oti«j man in the orgaaiTation I feared more than the others, liecause f knew his eyes w< re everywhere, ond I dreaded the hour when by any chance he might discover I was not what I professed to be." "He do«>s not know now,"- I hastened to say. reassuringly. "Your name wafi not definitely mentioned yesterday, ami he only told nv* of n story he might have read in the pajx>rs.'-' ••Kxactly. Tie told It you bcr.-.tiso he • wanted to sec whether you were familiar with it. Our meeting the other night aroused his suspicions, and while olhers of the group watched me, his business was to follow you. It was no rhanco meeting when ho found you in the train, and ho laid himself out skilfully as you now know, to discover your real object in Kuro|»e. your knowledge o( Oovermnent circles, nnd his recital of my life story to you convinces me that he heard you whisper my title the other night.' Very little research will tell him the whole story of the Countess Blavcskl, for he has all that Is interesting iq (ho Court life of every country carefully preserved and indexed. He drew a bow at a venture, and he now knows that J nm nor. Camllle Ucaudct, but Countess ninveski." It gradually dawned upon me, as 'he countess in h<-r terrified whisper, told her story, that I had unconsri„u«iy be'rayed her to her enemies, Like nt! oih-r Itrifoiv:. I had linen brought ■!;> (~ ■ K:i y,i ,t -.-;,-.- as the personification of bnv-«•!■>*•. n. tr'-arh-

J. H, McMahon 8 Co.