Allan Arnold

“ What will be the result if I cannot communicate with the American Minister? I am evidently taken for a Nihilist, and goodness only knows what the end of it all will be. Am I destined to die in this horrible place, without having a chance to communicate with my friends? The thought is dreadful! It must not, shall not be; but–stay. What has been the fate of other good men who have fallen into the hands of this despotic government? That fate may be mine, and I sent to Siberia without even a trial. ”

“ I have had no trial, and expect none. I am as dead to the world as it is to me. I am simply Number Nineteen, and when this prison gets too full of the victims of tyranny, I shall be hustled off to Siberia, to make room for new victims."
"It is dreadful. But in my case I did nothing against the law. I simply brought a letter from America to Prince Mastowix, and he at once threw me into this place."
"Ah! he is the same who threw me into this dungeon, because I resented being run over."
"And for that you think you will be sent to Siberia?" asked Barnwell. ”

“ He had resolved that the young American should be sent to Siberia, even knowing that he was guilty of no wrong; and even Tobasco, with all the proofs of the prince's perfidy in his possession, paid no attention to Barnwell, although he knew him to be simply a victim. Liberty or life was nothing to him so long as he could make a point with the prefect of police and secure unsuspected game. Such is the Russian sense of right and justice.
Day after day dragged its slow length along, and all the while Prince Mastowix was in a dreadful state of uncertainty. ”

“ Is it any wonder that they revolt, or that they resort to secret intrigue, to dynamite, and all other means, however bloody the unthinking world may regard them, to give back some of the terror which they have dealt out for centuries? No, it is no wonder at all.
Two weeks William Barnwell languished in the filthy cell of that Bastile, when he was finally marched out into the courtyard one day, in company with some fifty other wretches who had been sentenced to exile. ”

“ I will join you presently," said Barnwell, walking away with the stranger, a little way forward of the main hatch, out of the crowd.
"You are William Barnwell, I believe?" said the stranger.
"Yes, that is my name," said Will.
"I was sure of it. You are going abroad for pleasure, I understand?"
"Yes."
"You are an American?"
"I am proud to acknowledge it," said Will, drawing himself up to his full height.
"And let me tell you, young man, I know you thoroughly–know you for a thorough-bred American gentleman."
"Thank you."
"You would do almost anything in the cause of human liberty?" ”

“ So you are in the trap, eh?" asked the mysterious prisoner.
"What trap?" asked Barnwell.
"The rat-trap of the great Russian Empire."
"I don't know. Who are you?"
"Nobody; for the moment a person gets into the great political rat-trap he loses his identity, and is simply known by a number. I am Number Nineteen; you are Number Twenty."
"How do you know?"
"I can see the number of your cell, as you can, of course, see mine." ”

“ After a while I half suspected him, and so secreted my gold in a place known only to myself."
"A million of rubles!" mused Barnwell.
"Yes, my son, gold rubles. Well, Mastowix, when he thought the time ripe for his villainy, betrayed us all, with the understanding that he was to have one-half of all the government could find belonging to us, together with an office in which he could rise to ennoblement. Nicholas accepted his proposition, and we were banished to Siberia. All of my companions are dead, and all these years Mastowix has reveled in their money and the smiles of the autocrats. ”

“ At that instant a servant entered the cell and announced that the surgeon wanted "No. 1000," which was Barnwell; and remembering how long he had been absent, he hastily thrust the parchment under his shirt.
"I come," said he in Russian, and the slave went away. "I will see you again at the first opportunity. Drink the remainder of the brandy," and he almost pressed it to his thin lips.
"Be on your guard, my son; for from this hour your watchfulness must begin. Farewell."
"Farewell; and I shall hope to find you better when I come again," said Barnwell. ”

“ The grinning rascal raised his knout to strike her, when young Barnwell, mad with indignation, leaped into the arena.
With one powerful blow he felled the burly rascal like a log, and seizing his knout, placed his foot upon him and raised it as if to strike.
The movement was so sudden and so bold that the officers were for a moment paralyzed and stood looking at him.
"Wretches, to strike a woman! Flog me if you must vent your brutality, but if you claim to be men, don't harm that girl!" ”

“ I owe no allegiance to the Czar," replied Barnwell, quickly.
"But you owe respect to me, sir."
"As the kid owes respect to the wolf in whose power it is."
"Be cautious, I advise you. If what you say of yourself is true, why did you not appeal to the American Minister at St. Petersburg?"
"I was not permitted to do so, sir, but was thrown into a dungeon."
"Did you know Zobriskie was a Nihilist?"
"I did not. He accosted me when on the eve of sailing, and asked me as a favor to hand the letter to Prince Mastowix. I did so without suspecting that I was in any danger." ”

“ A week from that time, and after William Barnwell had made himself thoroughly familiar with the secrets and the workings of this great and mysterious order, the order that has shaken thrones and hurled tyrants to their final account, he started for Germany.
The reader knows something of the cruel sufferings of our hero. Being a free-born American, a natural hater of tyranny in all its forms, and enduring it as he did, it is no wonder that he sought revenge, and that his heart should naturally go out in behalf of oppressed humanity, when he had tasted of that barbarian oppression himself. ”

“ But if she lives she shall yet be free. Oh, sir, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kindness to her and to me, and if we are never able to repay you, Heaven surely will do so," said Vola, greatly moved.
"I am amply repaid by being able to do someone a kindness. But my mission has not yet begun. I have a trust to keep of which I have not yet spoken. You, of course, know of Batavsky?" ”

“ The innocent and the guilty are treated alike in Russia. There is no liberty–no justice in the land. But the time will come when the Nihilists will shake the tyranny out of the empire with dynamite!" said he, fiercely.
"Silence, slaves!" cried a rough voice near by, and the next instant the burly form of a keeper stood between them. "Nineteen, you have already made trouble enough. You must have the knout," and unlocking the door of his cell, he seized him by the hair of the head and dragged him out and down through the corridor. ”

“ There is neither justice nor pity among the Russian nobles, and no remorse in the hearts of the peasant soldiery who have been brutalized for a thousand years. So this guard shot their late commander as they would have fired upon a dog; indeed, if there was any feeling in their breasts, it was one of revenge for the many brutal wrongs they had suffered at his hands.
It was a severe blow to the Nihilists of Russia, this discovery and death of Mastowix, but as no cause was assigned for it, they were left to conjecture, although they feared the worst. ”

“ One day when he went to the cell occupied by old Batavsky, he found him unexpectedly low and evidently very ill; in fact, he was nearly unconscious.
Barnwell at once sprang to his side.
"Are you ill, sir? Speak to me."
The old man opened his eyes slowly when he caught him by the hand, but he did not speak, and Barnwell went at once and reported the case to the chief surgeon, and asked for some brandy for him.
"No; let him die! he cannot live much longer anyway," was the brutal reply. ”

“ And a rush was made to the scene of the wreck, where lay mangled horses and human beings, and out of that chaos of desolation they dragged the mangled body of the Czar of all the Russias!
Panic and consternation seized St. Petersburg, seized all Russia–the whole world, in fact.
Instant search was made for those who perpetrated the terrible deed.
One or two suspected individuals were put to the sword without judge or jury, yet they were innocent of the deed.
Detectives and secret service officers took possession of the spot and examined everything–every shovelful of snow even. ”

“ The serfs have been nominally freed; but slavery of the most horrible and degrading kinds is rampant in Russia to-day. The press is gagged and suppressed, and no man is free to speak his opinion regarding the tyrants and their doings.
Is it any wonder the people meet in secret conclave and resort to dynamite?
After a long and dreary passage, William Barnwell was landed, with his companions in misery, not one of whom could speak English, in Siberia, more dead than alive. ”

“ Petersburg to Prince Mastowix."
"The wretch! I know him well," said she bitterly.
"But he was somehow caught in his own trap and afterwards executed, though not until he had sent me here, fearing, probably, that I knew the contents of the fatal letter."
"Good!"
"And what brings you here?" he asked.
"I am a Nihilist, and was betrayed with others by that same Mastowix, who claimed to be one of us, and here I am for life," she added.
"What a shame. The conduct of Russian tyrants produces the very enemies they try to exterminate." ”

“ But I will forward the particulars of your case to the authorities, and then, if they see fit to act favorably towards you, I will send you back again with pleasure," replied the governor, who was not altogether bad at heart.
"How long will it take?"
"That I cannot say."
"And what of the money that was taken from me, and my passport, and not returned?"
"Well, sir, if you succeed in establishing your innocence, they will be restored to you. Was your passport franked by the American Minister?"
"Yes; and that should enable him to establish both my identity and my innocence." ”

“ Finally the president spoke:
"Prince Mastowix that was, Peter Mastowix that is, this document and the evidence has been placed before our imperial master, the Czar, and by his orders you have been brought here for trial and condemnation. The tribunal adjudges you guilty of treason to the State, and sentences you to death. Remove the prisoner!"
Bowed and completely broken, the guilty wretch, the petty tyrant who had heaped wrong, misery and death upon so many others, was taken from the inquisition, crushed and broken. ”

“ THE DEAD EXILE.
On reaching the chief surgeon's quarters he found that irritable petty tyrant possessed of much temper on account of his long absence.
"If you don't pay more attention to your duties, I will have you sent into the mines."
"Pardon me, sir, but I found the old man very low, and, tried to comfort him," said Barnwell, respectfully.
"Curse him, let him die. He only lingers from pure obstinacy to make trouble here. The wolves are waiting for his carcass. Go and bring my dinner!" ”

“ Friends on the dock give cheers to those on board, and they, in return, wave their handkerchiefs, kiss their hands–aye, from the cabin to the steerage-passengers, and the forecastle (those not employed) , all waft their good-by greetings to those who are left behind, not knowing whether they may be the more fortunate or not.
William Barnwell stood on the after-deck waving his hat to the friends he had just parted with, and in spite of the dangers of the deep, of which he never thought, wondering how long it would be before they would meet again. ”

“ Tobasco followed closely after them. What he had seen and heard confirmed his suspicions that the prince was a traitor, and that he had ordered Barnwell's arrest through fear.
As for Barnwell, he, of course, saw that it was an outrage of the deepest dye, and he had no idea of submitting to it.
His American blood was up, and, knowing his own great strength, he watched his opportunity as the guards led him from the prince's quarters towards the Bastile. He suddenly wrenched himself away, and knocked one of them sprawling upon the courtyard flags. ”

“ The sound told that; and old Batavsky's truth, proved up to the point, was a further guarantee for it.
Taking out another one, he started with one in each hand for his wagon, by which Ulrich was waiting, like the patient, honest soul he was.
Nothing that Barnwell did surprised him. He honestly believed him to be more than an ordinary man, and capable of doing anything short of raising the dead; and when he him approaching with those unique bags in his hand, his curiosity was not aroused sufficiently to make him ask any questions. ”

“ But the more he thought the matter over, the more reasonable did it seem to him that, even if that were the location of Batavsky's buried treasure, it was only natural that wolves should rendezvous there. But how superstition should locate money there was more than he could understand.
Then the thought came to his mind–what if that gold had been discovered by someone and removed? In what other way could the legend of bloody gold have come into existence? ”

“ Yes. He accosted me on the steamer as I was about to sail and asked me to deliver the letter, which I did, and fearing probably that because I was not a Nihilist that I might betray him, he had me arrested and sent to Siberia, where I suffered the tortures of the damned for more than a year, until chance took me here again, as the valet of a surgeon on leave of absence, when I managed to escape long enough to reach the American minister, who quickly secured my liberation, together with an official apology and indemnity. ”