OCR Text |
Show iiicLJ . BY GEORGD IIORTON . , ' ' .. ' - ', .." J " '. .1 HP1 - Oopjrihtej, 1805,' by 1 EotbsHsrrU Comranjr, Y7anj( u ft XTUneaa, ' ( This tracld ocrurrena oceasloaed tremendous tre-mendous excitement on the train luxus, which' w stopped at. the nxt station ' and surrouhded by a band of Cosaacks. Here it was kept for three days until ft . squad of police and detectives could be hurried jt the ecene from Moscow. Nu- ' merous arrests Were made and many of the pasaencere ' Were questioned s'epa v, rately. . . ( , , AVan was one of those questioned. He was taken Into a small, bare room on the . Second floor of the station, where sat ft ahrewd old man at a pine table, lie was flanked by two young officers, .while a stenographer, stylog-raphlo pen In hand, bent over a writing pad. "Your name U Wan-T" said the offl- eer. . " "It la." ' ecnemei den't lmpoee on her toe much. She haS ft Very eofi heart" . VVans disappeared within the palace. .: atATTXa xxrv; The Princess Romanevna , received Wang lit ft small library on the second floor, Bhe was walking to and fro. with her hands clasped behind her back, and her lovely brows knit In thought, the While She dictated letters to her secretary The boy's keen glance deteeted that she Was pale. Ae he entered and stood by the door, silently welting, She turned to him earvrl? and salds . . : . "Weill What is this communication that you have to make to met Do you bring 1 me a letterT' . . ' I "X must see you atone." replied Wang. There was something In his manner end expression that eould not be denied. The Princess turned toward her seoretary saying; .... 1 ''You may leave the room Until I ring for you. Olga." "But surely," protested Olga, "your Highness does not wish to be left alone with this stranger? Let me stay, I beg of you, to protect you 1 "Wang whatr "Just Wang." ' ' 1 ' pWhat is your nationality?" ' "I am a Korean' 1 . "You are In the employ of the alleged American. Frederick Courtland HardyT' "I am in the employ of the American. Frederick Courtland Hardy.' "Be careful, sir, do not be insolent. Do sot attempt to amend the expressions of , the court. Make a note ther 'witness 'wit-ness very Intelligent and Inclined to be Insolea' Got it down? Very well. How do you know that he is an American?" "Because he says- he Is." "Ob, ah I very well. Tefl us what you . know of the duel which was fought on . January 8 between this alleged Aroerloan, . Hardy, and his Highneee, the Prince Ro-. Ro-. man off. Speak the truth, or it will be the 'worse for you I" "I know nothing of the duel which your Honor alluded to as having taken place," replied Wang. The boy showed not the slightest algn of fear. His yellow faoe was flushed, he beld his nead high and looked the Judge defiantly In the eyes. "You know nothing of ltr roared the latter. - "Do not attempt to deceive the court. ' We know more than you think. ' Did not this Hardy tell you that he had f- -ht a duel wita his Highness?" i told me alm that he was an Amer-." Amer-." replied Wang, "and since your : ar intimates that his word la unre-L unre-L e-V . . "Make another note 'Witness insolent did he- or did he not tell you that such a duel had been fought?" "He did." "Ah I he dldl That he was seriously wounded in that duel as a reeult of his Highness superior coolness and marks-? marks-? manahip, we know. We are also "acquainted "ac-quainted With the causes of said duel; that his Highness waa obliged to chastise this Hardy - for presumption and lnso- lence; and that it was in accordance with . the request of the Princess, his cousin. that bis Highnese shot him. All this we know. You must tell us what threats of vengeance the wounded man breathed out against the Prince." , "None at all. your Honor absolutely none at an." replied Wang, turning pale, .1 as he saw the drift of the questions. ' "None at all! . But this is incredible. We shall find means of making you speak 1 the truth. Repeat now those threats to I us. and be careful that you conceal noth- f 'tag." .He not only uttered no such threats, said Wang, "but he even spared the worthless life' of the Prince, when he might have shot him dead. This he did out of regard for the Princess, as be is a 1 very kniKhtly and perfect gentleman. He (shot off Romanoff's cuff button, which he cent to her as proof of his wonderful skill, and. of how he .employed it on that oc-i oc-i caslon." I "A pretty story, this!" laughed the i Judge. "Do you . not think so, gentle- men?" . Both gentlemen thought exactly as did their chief. I'l, myself," insisted Wang, "went to the place of meeting, at Mr. Hardy's r-Cj'.iest. r-Cj'.iest. and picked up the cuff button, which I gave into the hand of the Prln-1 Prln-1 cers. who will. I have no doubt, corroborate cor-roborate my etatement." The Judge looked sharply at Wang for several moments, and the boy returned . the stare defiantly. "Lock the witness up again," he commanded, com-manded, and the order was obeyed. Wang waa kept In close confinement for four days, at the end of which time he was released and Informed that nothing noth-ing further was required of him by the I I'ooiire, who doubtless regarded him as an 1 ' "irlsfactory witness. He found himself It .iJlng alone on the platform of a small TiJway station, facing the desolate. '10 w -covered plains. In the distance was a miserable peasant village, with thatched roofs. The train luxus, the police.- all the passengers, the mortal remains re-mains of the murdered Prince, were gone. The boy acked a stolid-face station-master what had become of his employer, 1 and the latter only shrugged his shoul-( shoul-( dere and turned away, I , Wang entered the etatlon, sat down on a bench and thought for a leg time. , Then he came out on the platform and J walked up and down for an hour for two hours, after which he entered the ' station and passed another hour on the i bench. Though he had not eaten since noon, he did not feel hungry. Toward midnight a man entered the ticket office, opened the window and lighted a lamp. W ang stepped up to- the window, "Do you expect a train?" he asked, "Yes. in half an hour." "Going which way?" "To Moscow , "How much le the fare?" The agent told him, and the boy found v that he had enough money with him to . pay for a third-class ticket and leave few roublee over, sufficient to buy food. He procured a ticket, and when the train thundered up to the station he boarded It and soon was speeding back to the Muscovite capital. Arriving there after two days and three nights of agonising ' sue pence, during which the ponderous train seemed to him to crawl like a giant caterpillar over the vast stretches of virgin vir-gin white, ho found himself again In the great station and hastened immediately to the Slaviansky Basar. The clerk recognised him, and front the clerk Wang learned that bis employer had been, taken to St, Petersburg and there lodged in prison, charged with tie mur. dr of Boris Romanoff. "The proof against his is dear," vouchsafed vouch-safed the self-important . and voluble clerk, ''and I am sorry for him, though he deserves all he will get, You will never see him or hear from hlra again. He is, no doubt, at this moment rotting away in a foul, damp dungeon beneath the river Neva, feeding on moldy bread nd stinking water, and little of that. Prisoners that run foul of the nobility lh Jtusria have a way of disappearing, and God knows what they suffer! But I feel sorry for him, I say, for be waa a courteous cour-teous gentleman, and liberal with his tir" 1 j , was now about 10 o'clock la the r- -'ng. and Wang went straight to the of the Princess Romanovna. The .-,111 butler informed him that It ..d be Impossible to see her Highness, 1 vouchsafed to take a note to the l rinceF.s, which Wang wrote in French, murh to the butler's disgust. The door nm rhut In Wang's face, but. be waa not 1 ft standing in the cold for more than twenty minutes. At the end of that time the butler threw wide the door and an- t, hAr itghnesa consents to see -i. pit U. Romember your manners, Romanovna smtiea. . . . "I fear you would be of little protection in case of danger. Besides." glancing at the boy's slight form,- "this young man does not look like a dangerous person. Go, I Insist'" The girl gathered up her papers and left the room at once. , "Do you know where my master Ur demanded Wang tn perfect Russian. "Tour master r "Yes, my employer, if you will, though X love to call hun my master. I mean the American, Frederick Courtland Hardy." "Oh I 60 you are the Korean boy of whom I have heard his secretary? No, my poor boy, I do not know where he is, further than that he Is in prison In St. Petersburg charged wlta a terrible crime, on presumptive evidence so strong that his conviouon is almost certain. Was he a kind, master to your' asked the Princess. "Do you love him very much? Why. what is the matter?" Wang turned an ashen oolor, reeled as If wounded and caught at the knob of a door. "No nothing." he gasped, "Just a little falntnesa the beat of toe room, perhaps. per-haps. I am all right now. Mr. Hardy is the kindest man that I have ever known and the bravest and truest gentleman that walks the earth." "I am glad to hear him so well spoken of." said the Princess. Her hands were still clasped behind her back aa she stood gazing fixedly at Wang. "My acquaintance acquaint-ance with him would lead me to have the same opinion, were It for this terrible accusation, so strongly substantiated by evidence." . , She was talking with this wonderful boy as though he were an equal. . f'And do you believe this accusation you, who love him? Shame upon you I Does not your heart tell you that he is Innocent? It waa now Romanovna'a turn to grow pale and stagger, as though she bad been struck a physical blow. "How dare you?" she cried: "you Insolent In-solent boy! Did he tell you that I loved ! him? But no! He is a genAman. He could not do such a thing. But something, some-thing, though It can not be my heart, tells me that he Is Innocent." "Then something tells you right said Wang quietly, "for he did not kill your worthless cousin. I killed him I" - "You you killed him!" Her expression, aa she said these words, denoted perplexity, perplex-ity, quickly followed by pity. "You poor boy!" she cried, "your' sufferings have affected your mind. Those little hands have never committed murder and such a terrible murder!" "Listen," said Wang, "and you will understand un-derstand and believe. The Prince Romanoff Ro-manoff hated my master from the beginning begin-ning of his acquaintance with him, because be-cause he could not make him bis tool. In Japan, where the Prince came as a spy,' he attempted to throw suspicion on Mr. Hardy, but did not, succeed In getting him into any serious trouble. His hatred waa Increased on the Amur because it was my master who saved your life, and not he. The affair of the duel, in which the American figured as the real ,bero by sparing his life at your revest, changed his animosity into resentm'.t which Mr. Hardy's death alone could have satis-fled." satis-fled." "But how do you kno wall these things?" "I know the main facts, and I am not stupid. The cuff button which I brought you. for it was I who brought the button and the note" "I remember you now," said the Princess Prin-cess cordially, "though I scarcely glanced at you at that tlme.'r ' "That cuff button you returned to the Prince with an explanation, for you-are too genuine a woman and your regard for Mr, Hardy Is too great to allow the Prince to wound him and gloat over bis supposed triumph," The Princess was staring at the boy as though fascinated. " "Yes, I gave the Prince the euft button!" but-ton!" she murmured, - "I overheard the Prince talking in the station at Moscow with two of his associates. asso-ciates. He mentioned the name of Hardy with murderous hate, and I shadowed them for two days. I learned that the Prince was planning to kill my master, They Were going to have the coach in which he waa traveling blown up with dynamite and the rumor spread that a mistake had been made, aa has happened before, and that the explosion bad been intended for the car containing Romanoff and some of the nobles, I overheard the words, This Jew must die)' and I knew that if a noble like Romanoff had determined deter-mined on trfe death of a man without powerful friends he would accomplish his end. I could not expose them, for bow could the word of a boy like me, a deeplsed Korean, stand against that of tha Prince Romanoff? So, to save the life of my master, I killed Romanoff. I crept Into his compartment at night when he was sleeping in a drunken stupor stu-por and thrust a stiletto into his heart. He sighed a long sigh shuddered, and kept on sleeping," "Horrible I Horrible!" whispered the Princess. "But why do you tell me this, you dreadful boy? What use do you wish -me to make of this terrible secret of yours? Do you not know that I must give you up to the police?'' "I thought perhaps you could save Mr. Hardy' life in some way without betraying betray-ing me. Romanoff was your cousin, and you ar distantly related to the Cxar. I had a wild hop that perhaps you could tell his Majesty that you knew t he-name of the assassin, which you could not honorably divulge, and that the crime was committed under great provocation! I imagined that maybe you would do that for the on who saved the man who saved you! I do not value my own life highly, but I think that I would like to go back to my own country, to see the smoke ria from the acred mountain once, mora before I die. and to hear again the song of the cicadas and the nightingales. But If this is not possible, I am quite willing; to give myself up. No, b must not die I cried Wang, "nor languish lan-guish another day in prison! I loved him when b first kissed my lips there by the sea at Hakodate, by the light of the Japanese moon. I- longed for him night and day with a longing that grew as tha day went by. And when I was sent to Manchuria to' Influence the chiefs against Russia, and tell them of the great war that was coming, I waa so near that I said, T will see him once more So I came to Stryetensk, and when I had seen hlra I could not leave hlra again. When I aw that he did not recogniz rrt Z said, ft will stay with hlra Ob, what joy It baa been to work for blot, to hear bis voiced Do you doubt that I am ready to die for him, if it need be?'.' ' - |