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Show - - " . .. " " DY GEORGE HORTON " ? Copyrlihted, 1904, by Tki Bobbt-MsrrCl Company, there, as -"good fortune would have It. was the General's lotka. and the General hlraeelf ' strolling- leisurely, on the sand. The American shouted so loudly and flung; his arms about so wildly that the orderly, the two rnuahiks and even the Governor himself were soon scrambling up the steep bank toward him. - The Horn Ho-rn en oma had revived by the time they all reached her. and sat In the tall trass nut Una -up ier abundant hair, woman fashion, and looking about with awaken-In awaken-In eyes. She was as pale as a (host and held out her hands appealfngly. Hardy and the; General helped her to her feet, and it was the American who supported sup-ported her until her trembling 11m be re-rained re-rained their strength. The General surveyed sur-veyed the dead Chinese, and then, stand-ins; stand-ins; squarely in front of Hardy, removed his cap and made a low bow. At the next station they found a small Government boat, the Pushkin, awaiting them. that drew only one foot of water. It had been sent down by the authorities to pick up the General, and Court land Hardy, ex-coUlllon leader, was taken on board and one of the four cabins was given to htm. although one of the greatest great-est heiresses in all Russia was thereby compelled to occupy a room with her maid. I (To Be Continued.) CIIAPTEB'XVL 1 .-" : - ' ; To the Eescue. " rtut'what would the General do." the illtary Governor of Irkutsk? For, as erybody knew, he. must be at his post fi a -certain date, and the Whiter ctar ould not be apt to take the will of God -to account. Within two days the Gen . tral's intentions were - made manifest, Jf r his orderly arrived with several long c! -pouts, each having a mast ax the prow. A rope, fastened at the stern, was .passed through a pulley at the top of the mast snd .the other end attached to a shaggy horse. The General's baggage was piled into one of these dtlgOuts and he seated I Mmself comfortably In the midst. A mui-I mui-I l.m with a paddle occupied the stern, another mounted the horse and they .' rode off, . the animal ecramMina over the stones by the shore or splashing through the shallow water, while the man with, the paddle kept the boat dene of the bank. This is the ancient mode of ascending as-cending Russian rivers. - the . method of "loshat and lotka," and two military stations, or about thirty miles, -can thus be made In a day. under favorable circumstances, cir-cumstances, by getting;, under way at , i o'clock in the morning. ' To Hardy's consternation the Princess snd her maid followed In a second dugout. But there were two more waiting on the bank, their owners hoping; that other of the passengers would wlsa to avail themselves them-selves of their use. "Come on." cried Hardy to 8muiders. "Let's follow them. It will be a lark." ' "A lark? What s that?" s VA lark? Why, fun. sport." But Smulder sighed and shook his head, thinking of the fair Viennese. "Ah. no," .he said. "I do not care If it be an eagle. I can not leave Cbulla. I loaf her too heavy." Hardy lost no time: By signs he conveyed con-veyed to one of the sailors that he wished his luggage csrried ashore and piled into A dugout. Soon he. too. was seated in the. bottom, reclining gracefully against his Impedimenta, his horse scrambling along In the wake of the Princess' lotka. It was an exhilarating method of travel, combining novelty with an element of danger productive Of excitement. No one tipped over. It is true, but the American considered it a marvel that these narrow nar-row pig troughs and their towering plies of baggage should remain upright for a moment. The voluble wrangle that went ! on, moreover, between the two muihlks at the extreme ends of the tow-line, and the gurgling of the current rushing past at the rate of six miles an hour, contributed contrib-uted liveliness and even an impression t- w nd Sometimes, when the water was 'uw, the horses waded a quarter of ( ,5lle from the shore, with a wide expanse ex-panse of yellow river on either hand; and If they came to a deep place, the little animals plunged boldly In. swimming silently, si-lently, with nothing but their head and half of the postilions' bodies above water. . They made but one military station the first day a large square building, where a samovar is kept always ready for travelers travel-ers and the sledges that earn the mails over the ice In winter. To Hardy's delight de-light the qld General and the Princess were extremely courteous to him and .made him understand by signs that he was welcome. The General's orderly . foraged and produced some black bread. ' some milk and a quantity of delicious fresh caviar of the kind the Russians do ' not export. The Princess presided charmingly at the samovar, after which she disappeared 1 for the night. Hardy spread his blankets on the floor and waa soon fast asleep. But. he-seemed -no-sooner-to have closed V bis eye than he was awakened again by the voice of the General shouting at him In Russian. It was only 3 o'clock, but the place was i-all abustle with preparations for departure. depar-ture. Ere the mists hsd arisen from the river they were under way, dim as ghosts. Hardy reclined against his luggage and slept dellciously until the sun arose, when he was awakened by the stinging sting-ing of a cloud of gnats. Sitting upright, up-right, he noticed ihSt the lotka of . the Princess was deserted by its fslr passenger. Casting his eyes about he observed ob-served maid and mistress strolling along the Government road that follows the course of the Shilka and that serves ss a channel for the stream of Cossacks that pours into Manchuria. The bank was F.lgh at this point and the women were above him. plainly visible in the bright sun. The Romanovna. twirling her Japanese Japa-nese parasol on her shoulder, wslked rapidly and with a Joyous freedom of motion that testified to her love of the open air. "I wonder if she plays golf." mused Hardy, and at that very moment he perceived per-ceived that he. too, was cramped, sitting there in the boat. He got out. accordingly, and struck vigorously across a wide stretch of sand deposited during high water. He was some fifteen minutee climbing the steep bank, and when he at last reached the road, the Princess was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, the road at ' tf point turned sharply away from the ' if er and disappeared around the foot of I" thiU. Hardy knew, however, that it -v,! wind back to the river, and he ' therefore followed the wide dusty trail confidently, although It seemed to plunge into the heart of the wilderness. Once" or twice he asked himself why he wss walking so rapidly, and each time made answer: "Why to keep up with my lotka. of course." He was too thorough a gentleman gen-tleman to admit to himself that he was pursuing the Princess, he would not ha-e done such a thing on Beacon street; why should he do It on a Government road in Siberia? At any rite, It would be an Indiscreet thing to do. as she would be sure to crush him for his presumption. But he certainly had just ss good a right ' to get out and walk as she. As he was "soliloquising thus and had about come to the conclusion that he was in a fair wsy at last of making an ass of himself, he thought .he heard a shrill scream in the distance. Listening, with his heart In his mouth, he was sure, for the first cry was ' '. followed by others, wild, despairing shrieks, as of a woman In the most excruciating ex-cruciating fear. "Coming! coming:' shouted Hardy, and, feeling in his pockets for the General's American pistol, which, thank God! was there, he ran as he never ran before. Rounding a little turn in the road and a . clump of trees, he came suddenly on a sight that thrilled him. with rage and sickened him with fear, not for himself. '" but for the Princess. There she waa, struggling In the arms of a big Chinese, one of that half-savage tribe that inhabits in-habits the wild region of Manchuria. The beast had lifted her in his arms and was running toward the woods with her. while another carried the maid. Two other Mongolians, with long war bows . jn their hands, completed the strange picture. pic-ture. Hardy shouted again, and ths four Chinese wheeled about and regarded him .with startled malignancy that turned on the Instant to amusement. . Those 'our great brutes beheld one rather small, dark man. of dapper ap- ,' pearance,- despite his week's river-travel, --a slender, dark man In a blue serge ' suit "and negligee shirt, who mechanically adjusted his gold plnce-nes as he advanced now at a slower gait. The two Chinese with war bows fitted long arrows to the 'strings and. with a sudden rift of the left foot and a widening of the arms. , they let drive. One arrow whixxed by Hardy's head and the other pierced his clothing, making a nasty scratch on his left side. " Then -the pistol cracked twice: an the two Chinese fell sprawling, with billets through their bodies. The other ' V A promptly dropped the fainting wo-iT, wo-iT, - Vand started to run. Hardy aimed deli irately at the one who had seised the Princess and fired. It was a long shot, but .the bullet took effect, as a scream of pain testified. Neither the Princess nor the maid evinced any signs of reviving;, but lay Middled on the ground as though dead. Hardy ran to the edge of the bluff , and . . ' . . -. ' . ' . ; . . ' ' . |