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Show -HISTORIC I QMS I jump Hj THE DAMSEL AND THE DUNQEON. H In tlio year 17G4 tho Empress Catli- H nrlno II was seated upon tho throno B' of Ilussla, but not bo firmly that sho H ronlly enjoyed herself. In thoso days Hj It was ImpoBBlblo to throw a brick H In Russia without hitting two or thrco conspirators. lntrlguo was a profes- B bIoii rather than a pastlmo, and tho H leading patriots had a dlsngrccablo W, habit of strangling and othorwlso rrnir- H 'deling their rulers. H So Catliorlno, as sho sat on her H .throne, reigning according to tho rules H 'laid down by tho National leaguo, kept B cIoho tab on all that was going on, H mot only In Ilussla but whorovor it was H posslblo to havo her spies. Sho was fl . .dotermlncd that oho wouldn't bo taken M unawares. Ono day sho received a H' messaga from Florenco, to tho effect B that Prlnco Charles Tladzlwlll was m paying court to Helen Tarakanoff. and it was tho general bollof In Italy that H- tho two would soon bo married. H Catliorlno bocamo so agitated that B sho almost upsot hur throno when B oho sprang to lior foot and shrieked an H .ordor for Prlnco Gregory Orloff to B , wait upon her. m Helen Tarakanoff had been tho H' 'bello of Florenco and Leghorn for sov- ft eral seasons. Hor beauty was cole- sailed away, to anchor, In duo season, In Leghorn bay. Ho had como to tho Mediterranean merely for & frolic, he said. Ho wanted to get acquainted with tho folks, and ho soon got acquainted. ac-quainted. Tho society girls from Pisa, L(Wliorn, Floronco and other points weiVat tho scashoro, Intent upon having hav-ing a good time, and they looked upon Orloff as a great acquisition, for ho spent his money Uko an intoxicated marlnor and was tho lifo and spul of ovcry social Jamborco. Tho Princess Holon, twenty yenrs old, -ami 'lovoly as n soraph, war thoro with tho rest of tho girls, and it soon wnB ovldont to everybody that Orloff was dosperatoly in lovo with hor. Ho followed hor ovorywhero, and mado her magnlflcont presents. And It soon was equally evident that Holon was forgetting tho absont Cbarllo Itadzl-will, Itadzl-will, and was losing hor heart to tho majcstlo Russian. Chnrllo was away somowhoro, fixing Ills political fences, nnd In this caso ubsenco failed to mako tho heart grow fonder. Aftor a sorlcs of brilliant shoro on-tortalnmcnts, on-tortalnmcnts, Orloff invited tho wholo push to a big foto on board his war 'ship. It waB an ovonlng to bo rdmom-bored. rdmom-bored. Tho almost barbarian magnificence magnifi-cence of Orloff and his ship mado a great Impression. As tho guests wcro departing, Orloff begged tho princess to romaln until tho others wcro gono, as ho had a mossago for hor. Sho thought sho know what tho mossago was. It would bn ono of lovo; and sho seated herself tranquilly to wait Tho last guost was gone, nnd Orloff approached her. Dut thero was no smllo of lovo on his faco or in his oyes. Tho bruto in his naturo was uppormost. Without a word, ho solzod hor wrist nnd dragged hor roughly to a foul nolo In tho bottom of tho ship, and locked a door upon hor. And tho ship set out to sea. Throughout tho voyago tho onco pamporcd and beautiful princess was everybody's serf. Sho waB obliged to do all tho dirty work for tho cook; to pool tho vegetables and wash dishes and scrub tho floor; and tho cook, who was as great a bruto as Orloff, treated, hor llko a dog. If sho begged for morcy, ho -struck her across tho mouth; and onco ho dragged hor about tho vessol by tho hair, and Orloff looked on nnd grinned. ' In tlmo tho ship reached Cronstadt, and anchored; and tho night after Us arrival a boat camo alongside and tho prlncoss was thrown Into It. Tho boat Br ' No Sound of a Human Voice Ever Reached Her. B" ' , fb'ratctf, ove In a country wbero beau- Hl I'tlful ftvomon wcro tho rulo. And tho B 'was additionally attractlvo bocauso of H her pleasant disposition. . Sho was B .fjtju'l and sonorous, beloved by people H, . BJlBJl classes. Sho was surrounded by pr---- jXyVtory. Thoro could bo no question- B; - Iriher patrician descent, but hor his- Hf9 J toryr'.wa's entirely unknown. Only a ifow ppoplo in tho world know that sho was tlio daughtor of tho Empross Ellz- , nbothipf Russia. Cathorlno, of course B l . was ono of tho fow who know tho B .truth, and tho continued oxlstenco of H i tho Princess Helen .was a source of HJ ameqfllResolo her. ' That uneaslnoss B j jrfov? bocamo aTnrm when sho learned E'rr" ? "Of tho projected marriage, for sho H know thai Prlnco Charles was danger- H ' . Radzlwlll, prlnco palatlno of WJlnn, H .hated RusBla nnd tho Russians worso H ithan poison, yot had dreams of bd- H .coming omporor of that country, Ho t- liad sot himself up as a candidate for B tho throne of Poland, considering that B !but a stopping stono to tho placo ho HTil- really coveted. It may easily bo seen D Show a marrlago with tho Princess H Helen vould have been dcslrablo in Kr tho furthering of his schemos. IIo f was a bold and enterprising man, and B CathorDio was afraid of him. BB1 Prlnco Gregory Orloff responded .to K 'hor summons at onco. Ho was a man H3 of majestic appearance viewing him Hr from tho front. Ho had all kinds of Bk rlcUbrowTr-wUisUcrs. and a haughty Biv .. -"''pfacc Ho had a commanding flguro BP'" J and Immonso shoulders. Dut tho back RT , 7 of hiB bead gavo him away. It was a HBb y straight lino up and down. Prlnco k s Gregory was ono of tho strongest men K (tho world 'over saw. 116 could" twist m- Uron pokoro into corkscrews, and roll 1 heavy metal plates into balls. Ho VB; , could throw a small horBO ovor his :.?5?Sifcr Jiond. Men of avorago strength woro r-as cblldron In his hands. Tho Orloffs woro all mighty mon. H was Aloxls Brloff who absent-mindedly placed his HI.' lingers around tbo nock of' Peter III, BHT find whon bo removed thoso flnfors Hf Peter was dead, and has boon dead to IBr tills day. H Cathorino invited him to read tho Bv mossago from Florence, and thou Hp said: "Go and bring that woman to H Jtussia." KJ Gregory bowed and Btraightway t tKitrdd Ru88'.a'B best warship, and m proceeded up tho Nova to tho fortress, and thoro tho wretched prlncoss was conducted along dark and nolsomo corridors, cor-ridors, dripping und oozing water, and was shown Into n black dungeon, wot and foul. At tho door sho fell upon her knees and bogged that sho might at loast know why sho was persecuted, but thoro waB no answer. Tho Jailors pushed her Into the dungeon, and closed tho great door upon hor. This dungeon, with tho others on tho samo lovel, was below tho surface of tho Nova, and It was deathly cold, and water was always trickling down tho walls. Thero was a silt In tho outer wall, near tho roof, and tho cold wind whistled drearily through this slit through tho long wlntor days and nights; and in tho summer sho could hoar tho river otornally lap-lapping against tho wall of hor prison. Ne Bound of human volco ovor reached hor; food was thrown to hor, as to a caged hyona, through a wlckot In tho door, too high for hor to sco through. For twolvo years this martyred maiden lived thoro in tho black dark' noss, cold and filth. For twolvo years sho crawled over tho slimy stones llko a reptile and prayed for death. Ilut whon death camo sho resented It, and longed for moro life, mlscrablo as It was. Ono day tho Nova was in flood. Tho wators roso higher than over boforo, and presently thoy began to How through tho silt in tho wall. Tho princess saw that sho was doomed unless sho could escapo from tho dungeon. dun-geon. Sho'toro up hugo rocks that formed tho floor of tho cell rocks sho could not havo stirred at ordinary times and throw them against thq door. A warder camo and asked her angrily what sho meant, and sho pointed to tho water flowing In through tho slit. "Lot nit out, or I porlsh!" sho cried. "Nobody leaves a cell without an olllclal ordor," said tho wardor, nnd tho door clanged shut. Vhon tho flood wont down tho omii' I elated, almost naked, body of tho poor princess was taken from tho dungeon whero she had drowned and was 1 burled by two soldiers. j And hundreds of such storlos would ouso tho Indignation of mankind. if tho walls of Russian prisons could speak. x. |