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Show ; I J BY GEORGE HORTON 1 1 '' l' ssisassssMssessssssajsBlssssMsMssaBsss i Copyrlgbted. 1906, hj Th Bobbe-Merrill Oomnany. CHAPTER XLV1. j 1;. ; - I Gray Ghoeti. That part of Siberia which lie east I of the RTat inland sea. Lake Baikal, 1 and west of the mighty Amur, which I heTe tnrng abruptly and bends north-1 north-1 ward, is known as trans-Baikalia. The ! Stanovoi range of monntaine, continu-1 continu-1 injr to the south, divides it nearly in halves, forming a watershed that feeds the lake on -one aide and the Amur and its tributaries on the other. The trans-Siberian railway, the great i artery through which the blood of Bui-sia Bui-sia flowed uninterruptedly from Alexander Alex-ander to Vladivostok and Port Arthur, pierces these mountains at an advan- fageous point," and, passing through ' Btrvetensk, breaks into Manchuria. (The time had come when this road would be tested to the utmost, and put i to that use which all warlike nations have in view in the building of gTeat ' roads of any sort the transportation "Mhe frontiers of troops and munitions -rr. The battleships of Japan were Ending away at Port Arthur bv sea and her armies were investing it -by (land. ' - j If this stronghold fell, a dream of empire em-pire would fall with her, for Bussia had at last so intrenched herself at the threshold of the East and the skirts of the Pacific that she was face to face with the people who dwelt in the islands. - The trans-Siberian railway cuts off . a large tract of northern Manchuria. nearly the whole of it, in fact, and I those who followed Russian policy for I a hundred years back, and read between the lines of her diplomacy believed that she meant simply to absorb and gain the bitter cold oaThe great Siberian plains. 1 On a river in trans-Baikalia that runs for many miles parallel with this mighty ant-trail, a sledge was flying eastward, drawn by three horses, all abreast. The river was frozen to the rery heart, and the snows, drifting over it, had swept and polished its surface sur-face till it waa smooth as glass. Wrapped in furs and his head shrouded in a. thick cap, the driver sat on the forward seat, partly protected by the high-curving dash, and managed the lines. On a low seat behind him were a mansand a woman, also wrapped deep in robes of fur, while a third woman sat silent in the bottom of the sledge. Somewhere behind them the rails had spread and the road had given ont and the trains were halted while repairs were made. There Frederick Courtland Hardy, on his way to Stryetensk, had overtaken the Princess hurrying to the front, undergoing un-dergoing all hardships, entirely forgetful forget-ful of self, that she might employ ner strength, her fortune and her high courage and example in the relief of her wonnded and suffering countrymen. She greeted Hardy with frank friendliness, friend-liness, explained her mission and told him that he had arrived just in time to help her carry out a plan of hers. "We can take the sledge down the river," she said, "to Petovska-Zarod, where I have no doubt we shall be able to catch an outgoing train. I should have started before, but was deterred by the fact that that in fact, I was afraid. Now, with my gallant defender of the Amur. I shall nave no hesitation in going. Will you come with us with my maid and met" (To Be Continued.) possession of this vast and rich terrl-I terrl-I tory. Then little, sleepy, filthy Korea would become simply a bit of Russian sea beach, and the very existence of j Japan would be imperiled. No one understood this better than the Japanese themselves, whose states-' states-' men are as far-seeing as anv that the world has ever .known. The whole Japanese people, too; comprehended the situation, and the nation realized that the time had come when it must fight. They knew, moreover, that they must . strike hard in the very beginning of the struggle, and disable their unwieldy but : brave and powerful foe while he waa still imperfectly prepared. Tbe blows that they had ' already struck had staggered the world with their suddenness, and crushing effect, find so, along the entire length of tbe Siberian railway for thousands of miles, trains were thundering, laden with frost-bitten and suffering, but patient, Hubiects of the Czar, coming to the Pa-c"a Pa-c"a to shoot down the soldiers of the Mikado, or, if the Virgin so willed, to be shot down by them. On a vast, a colossal, scale, it was an endless train of ants threading its way across a continent to do battle with another an-other swarm. Without the trans-Siberian road, built and conceived in the ir -inning for just such a purpose as ' is, it would have been impossible for e blood of Bussia to flow into Man-Li Man-Li and be spilled there, and the n of empire would have been still , many years from fulfillment. i now there were delays, due to the bleness of tbe roadbed and the se- i re strain to which it was put, as well to the dearth of rolling stock and :i. Kails must be laid across " aikal on the ice, and frequent rs most be made, while the long t, -:i was interrupted and the poor, T a'lts, sent so many miles to .rcl and died of exposure and |