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Show r -a- :vzr rrrr ' zzzz "' . H I DY GEQHG3 EQIITON . ... mmmsm wmmmm mmammm .' .... MMMMiMMMJjLJw---i Copyrighted 19C3, ty Tk Bobto&arrQ Cassixy CIIAPTEB XTTTV. ' "In tlie Name of the Czar." The nihilists were throws - Into paale by this sudden move on the part of Hardy. Har-dy. , For the moment he was In control of the situation, though he was' well aware that he could not remain so for long. His arm would tire, or a quick move on the part of one of the members would obscure the ball from his sight. He must decide oo the next atep Instantly. In-stantly. v In the meantime every face In that room was turned toward him. pale, eager, agapa. On many fear had set its stamp unmistakably, and Hardy fancied that the hair en several heads had actually arisen in fright. On man sprang to th window, against the frame of which he set his palms, and was looking back at the American over his shoulder. Th others were cowering In their seat. All doubt as to the genuineness of th "pill" was dissipated by a glance at th countenance of that great inventor. Monsieur Mon-sieur Hulln, dark In its normal state, how a yellowish green. Hla teeth were chattering and he was licking his thin Hp In a fever of fear. It was evident that these people had no relish for. their own medicine. I "Do not shoot," faltered Bletlnskl; "perhaps "per-haps some other arrangement can be made In your case! Perhapa something els can be thought ofl I have no doubt ftnmothfnv olaa i-on VvA. thnnrht of!" fortress and hts nam was a word of terror.- Th nihilist flew past th American Amer-ican on tiptoe. Into th hall, several of them Jostling and almost knocking him over In tbetr eagerness to escape. "Come with me!" whispered Baruch. who had regained hla feet. "You must not be found hr!" and seising Hardy by th arm. be also Jumped for the open door. Hardy made no resistance, and was soon running down th long hall with th others, led by tha Jew. . They came to a narrow flight of - statra. leading to th cellar, and down this they crowded, scrambling and fighting, soma of them losing their footing and rolling to th bottom. A loud crash arrested Hardy'a attention. He was standing In th darkness, dark-ness, but .at th farther end of th hall was a hanging lamp, turned low, and by the light of this he could ee the door fly in- splinter and th officer of th law pour in. "Throw your bomb, brother, throw your bomb!" said Blellnakl; and Hulln, leap, j tng Ilk a cat Into th middle of th pass- 1 age, hurled th sphere down the hall with an oath. There was a muffled report, not loud, and much Jingling of glass. The light went out, but, by the momentary flash of the explosive. Hardy could see several policemen pitch forward on their faces. "Com, come away!" said Mordecat, and Hardy scurried down the dark eel-lar eel-lar steps with the Jew. (To Be Continued.) "If a single member moves," said Hardy In a clear, ringing voice, "I shall certainly certain-ly shoot. And now, hear my terms. I must be allowed to go. .1 shall back out of this door behind me. If any one open It while I am crossing the adjoining room. I shall shoot to kill, and th noise will Frobably bring the police down on you. promise you that I shall not notify the police of your plot nor point out your place of meeting till twelve hours after my escape. Now repeat after me: We call th Father, th Son. th Holy Ghost, th Virgin Mary and aU th saints to wit. nesa Repeat. I say, every man of you. In concert I glv you till I count three to begin!" H extended his arm. the elbow of which had been resting against hi side, and sighted along the pistol. "One, two "A murmur arose, as of a congregation, congrega-tion, repeating a response: "W call th Father, the Son. the Holy Ghost, the Virgin and all the saints to witness " "Very good! But speak louder, that we will permit the American to pass freely free-ly from this house." that we will permit th American to pass freely from this hous " cam th rl.ponse, louder this time. ' v.and we call down on our heads, the 1 Kttance of God and all the saints, if VVis interfered with and bis departure prevented!" ' - This also was repeated In chorus by the nihilists. "If we break this oath, may we all come to violent ends and our souls burn In hell for ever! Amen!" said the nihilists. The American backed to the door, still aiming at the ball, passed through It after some little nervous fumbling for the knob, closed It behind him and started to run rapidly across the empty room in which he now found himself, not without, however, how-ever, making an effort to lock the door, which waa impossible, a there wa no key on the outside, and no bolt. A savage uproar broke loose In the roora which he had Just quitted the sound of men struggling, curses, shouts and ere he had traversed half the distance of the hall, the door behind him flew open, and half a dozen nihilists were vomited forth. Several of them were armed, and, pointing point-ing pist,U at Hardy, they shrieked: "l.rop that revolver, or we shoot!. You can not escape I" "But your oath!" he cried, facing them. "Oath, hell! Do you think an oath binds us? Can any one live In Russia and believe In Gcd?" .... At this moment the hall door wa thrown open and a man rushed to Hardy side. It wa Mordecal. the Jew. with hla red eyes, hi bushy red whiskers, his big hMrn0Haray!" he' cried, "my dear pupil!" pu-pil!" and he sprang between the American Ameri-can and the pistols that were pointed at the. letter s body. ''Stop. Brothers, stop! he shrieked.. "What madness is thisj What is this man accused of? I know him. He Is a friend. I will vouch for him on. my life. I will defend him.; If you kill him you must kill me, too." "He 1 a friend of aristocrats." ex-, ex-, plained Blellnskl. stepping forward he 1 .!., here bv mistake, he says, but It Is possible that he Is a spy. At any rate, he knows our secret; he has overheard our plans and he will betray is. He must I "'"And I say thst he shall not die." .cried Mordecal.. 'It was he who braved the Russian mob at Stryetensk and saved my life- He is no spy nor aristocrat, he Is a simple merchant, an American. Though he does not belong to the order. kV ta In spirit a brother, and he Is a ) -h of the downtrodden and -the op-i op-i 4 for whom he is willing to risk '''fVie6' ai,o wlirinR to risk hts life for H.frwiats " hl!-ci one of the nihilists, "it was hi who saved the Princess Ro-manovna Ro-manovna on the Amur." ! admit It. replied the Jew, and I would thnt he had not done it curse her and all her foil kin! But in saving her "ife lie was fighting also for his own. W-.'h'II a n die If he can live? But I t HI- you lie risked his own life to sav mine and I am a despised and persecuted Jew My mother wes murdered through the connivance of the Russian authorities authori-ties Who doubts my fidelity to th cause. Who has more reason than I to hue -the Government all Governments?' "Karucl: is A Jew," cried one of the nihilists ni-hilists "he would betray ut for thirty nieces' of sl!rerlet us kill them both!f' And at tins that old murmur arose, that burden' of hat which In Russia Is stronger than hate of the Government or of the aristocrats or of oppression, that shibboleth that make all Russians broth-Mr. broth-Mr. htai) and low. "Moschke! Moschke! Th Jew! Th JMv brave friend." said Hardy turn-, turn-, ing to Mordecal. "they are going to ahoot now Save yourself!-' and grabbing th heroic Jew by the shoulder, he Jerked him suddenly from his feet and sent him orawllng to tha floor. The tame was played out. The mad fanatics before Hardy, wild-eyed, some with pistols In their hands, some with knives others with their fingers bent like the taons Of birds of prey, were intent nn his death. Had his own weapon been loaded he might still hav checked them long enough to escape through the door bv a shot or two. But they had forgotten forgot-ten his weapon In their passion and there was no way to remind them of Its ixlstence now. Nothing save the ringing report of a shot would penetrate that delirium de-lirium of malic. The hatred bred of aces of wrong waa overflowing from thoa eriiblltered hearts, and, like the angry waters bursting from a broken dam, ft would not atop to choose Its victim. Hardy closed hts eyes and commended tits eoul to God. And at this moment a loud hammering wss heard on the outer or street door. "Silence!" gasped Blellnskl In a whisper n whisper, nevertheless, that could be heard more distinctly In the nudden alienee al-ienee than a shout. "What Is that?" As if in answer to his question, the door opening Into the hall flew wide, ana the old woman looked in? disheveled a- ' iale, moaning aa ahe crossed herself rf-re: police! The poltc!" Ijygatn that thundering on the door 1 eortnded through the house, and a surn voice could be heard, commanding: ' "Open, In the name of the Czar!" 1 Hardy wss forgotten. The Czar.' their ' arch enemy, was at th gates of their '' ' ' ' i . " ; . |