Black Wednesday

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 166, 12 July 1912, Page 10

Black Wednesday

By S2&T3XTB. W. BtaiEC*a2IOWT.

Author- of -"By Right of 3icord,' "When I was. Czar," Eta. CHAPTER XXVL THE WORST. liortofTs agitation "was intense. Tbe nun '.v-ho came in was -behind mc, and I ii- ill : lie revolver so that he should not see ii. and took a coirpie of paces nearer ii. ; .rt-iIV. lie could not force himself to speak : ii" vurds which lie felt would bring <lv.it ii to him. " Wait a while." he said Ikkh-si-It: utkl after a rrlanw of surprise . 'id perplexity, the matt went out. liirt/otT fell back on his chair ogam. and I breathed, a sigh of relief. J ■bought av-e had "won: but -after another loni! silence he rose, Iris face ashen, his lips trembling, and his voice all tm- [ have hern trying to persuade my- -. ■',; ;-r 'lw falsi' to my oath, but I can,ii. "ion must kill mc. if roil will:" . r I Ii ■• ivnie toward mc. \; his Alma took alarm, and threw 1. ■-.-!' j;: font of him, facing rap. •■"l'uii shall not. l'.itil. Yon shall not -lain your bands with his blood, even • i -.!>■• ni".'" ■si:-.ud away. Anna." I saiid sternly. ••';":.i- : - bet-ween him and mc. This ni'-uns my life and liberty. "Yon forget, i ~ii"..iif. iii.it only aou can recognize, mc. 1 shall -.iv we quarrelled, and. that I ..'.,■ on in .self-defence. If. alter m mi, flu- has done to protect you, you rai.-i- an alarm, I'll shoot yon, on my 0:1 lii." Aim.i. wa- deceived by my words, and. clasping hex hands to her face, went back to her sat with, a low, shuddering cry of horror. for the third time there was silence, while iris fright-tied wits sought ,to find a way out of the tangle. "I -won't Jn-eak ray oath," he said at. last. •"'["mm the rest sihaJl hear we are quarrelling." and 1 raised my voice and iegan to abuse him, pausing now aud again, as if for him. to reply. In one of the pauses we heard the same knock at tie house door which had -AUtrned us of the arrival of the police p-hen -we "were av%th Kilcov. "The police are coming," -cried. Gorton*. ■Thai is our signs---."" -"Let 'them come. They 7 -eairVte- less merciless than you.** , Sounds of movement and confusion .-were beard in the house below. Them someone dashed up tire stairs and knocked. Finding the. door fast, he railed loutHy to Gorton? by name that the police were coming. "We ore settling a private quarrel. Tj-ave te? to settle it-as we wall," 1 jeried. He made a vigorous effort to force the door, and, iaifing, clattered away doHotsznits. I waited a few seconds, -snd' "went out cm the landing. Thexho-n.se "was-al-ready deserted. "You can. go, Gortoff,''' I called to Mot. I fe came -hurrying out ; -and, as Alma joined mc on the landing we heard him th- down and out of the house -with all ■lie speed of panic. "What shall we-do, Paul?" she-asked "breathlessly. "Wo. can't fly—with them. After-what has passed here he. would denoiHree-us to the rest, and our plight would be worse iiien ever in the bands of ■the police."' "•But if they take, y-ou * and she ilircw -up her hands in distress. "Well -go down and see if we can. get urav. But if they take us they may » it recognize its in this disguise; and i ye had enough of the Terrorists." We went down to a room on the ground floor which looked out on the street, and we saw there a repetition of the scene we had witnessed before in ~ur flight from Kikov's. The people ■were flying panic-stricken from the l-ini-i-. -ir i- useless to fly." t said. "We ..,;'.. 1 only gel away by -onto such secret ri' 'i- [is Kikov showed us before; and it' '.',,- I'o'ind i: we =houid be in the hands i m/i.'ti rather wait," she said deliber- .■:.;-, ; . 'id we sat down together to a wait, a ■ rust. Her courage was amdannted; and even win ii a loud knock sounded on the door, announcing the arrival of the search i.siriv. -lie was absolutely unmoved. "Vi ' h.i'l better admit tiicra at once.'' I Li I. very calmly. ! I-.,-'- with a heavy heart, nnd went ♦ ,-i tl.c front door to a Imit the police, and then lii-1 the pleasantest surprise of my life. "Thank heaven you are safe. sir. And the incijenioiscllc? t'orae with mc at ou V " It- wa- Eikov: and. bearing his voice, A!ma came out of the little mora. In ;■,,-, rti-h of relief 1 could not epei'l.. "What does it mean. Kikov?'' asked Alma. "Conic with mc at once, or it may be too kite." I

■"Where, are you taking us?" Tasked, as 1 found that he was heading straight for tiie end of the street. "The police will be there." "There are, no police, sir; and if the trick I have played is discovered it will cost mc. my life. 1 saw what had happened when Gortoff discovered you both. I managed to follow you, guessing where yon would be brought; and, after waiting nirtii it was safe, I raised a false alarm. 1 would have done it at once, only the outposts would have seen; but there was trouble, and they went off to take a hand in it. 1 knew they would bolt; but 1 hope to heaven they will never know what I did." "And to think that I ever doubted this man."' whispered Alma to mc. as we were hurrying along at top speed. He had proved himself a friend indeed, bin, there wore limits even to the help ho could render us. '"Can you find us a shelter for the night somewhere?" I asked him when wp had put a safe distance between the house and ourselves. "I have been trying to think of some place; but in the last hour or two the whole situation has changed. Tlie strikers liave done nothing, as they were waiting for the arms which were to' have been served out to-night. But some roughs made a feeble attempt on one of the banks, and in a moment the troops, which had been secretly posted iv reserve, were poured into every part of the city, and the police have started raiding in all directions. Someone also betrayed the sea-ret of the storage of arms, and every place is in the hands of the military. Tlie whole movement has been killed at a stroke, and none of the eld haunts will be safe." Baron Yodolski had certainly laid his plans with consummate shrewdness, and Ills spies among the Terrorists had served him well. Then it flashed upon mc that, as 1 had also been told of the whereabouts of these secret stores of arms, their discovery would be Tegarded as further treachery on my part. I decided to get away to the outskirts of the city, and to make for a place wTiere we had passed the previous nighit. But this ■ was as full of hazard as of difficulty. We soon had evidem-e of the activity of both, police and soldiery. Thousands of troops ■were out, 'hunting down the populace, who were flying like flocks of sheep before ■wolves. We had no option Tout to turn and fly witih theim, hiding where and how we could; and in one of these rushes we -were parted from Eikov. A dozen times in half an hour we escaped tup- ' Mire or injury only by a ihanrsbreadth, for .the troops 'were using their bayonets freely as 'wtelll as* their heavily■knotted. cruel whips. We crouched in doorways, fled into cellars, or danted up the alleys into back sheds, just as opportunity offered, sobbing women, crying children, and panic-stricken men our companions. We should 'have been hunted out of these and caught the firs* time had it not been that there v.ere so .many left in the open streets that our pursuers had no time to follow iimlividui.'s. ■Thee .mist have been thousands of 'prisoners token, for the strategy of those directing tie movements of the police and troops was entirely su-ccess-fwl. In the main thoroughfares the stinkers were camght in bulk; tens and even hundreds being driven. off as -prisoners bet-ween strong bodies of the troops. The bye-streets were no safer. Small bodies of police were on the watch incessantly, and everyone found abroad "was seized ■indliscriminaitely and hurried off to temporary 'look-ups. We had to abandon all hope of reaching it-he outskirts of the city ; and at last found shelter in an unfinished building. For two or three hours we remained there, haunted by the constant dread of discovery and dismayed .by the 'harrying fear that when daylight dawned 'the risk would be a hundred times greater. As night wore on. however, there came a lull in the turmoil, the shouts of the soldiery were fewer, the harrowing cries of the injured less .frequent, and 'tthe sounds of the unequal conflict begun to die down. "I think we must venture to go.*' I said 'to Alma. "1 urn afraid of w%i.t ■the -light may have for us ii we remain here." "I am ready. If we stay we are sure to be vatrght. and there is jus," a chance 'we may get through (now." she replied as plucki-ly as ever. We stole out and, finding our street empty, started, choosing the by-ways trod back, streets, n.nd keeping close n-nder the shadow of •the -houses. We went in simile trie. I was in front, keeping a sharp look-out. and Alma elosuo b*-hin'l mc. Most of the st'iiu work had evidently been occomplisbed, for the lir.-t dozen streets 'through wjiich we shin-: in this st-ilthv manner were entirely deserted. The first people we met were a parly of three men and a couple of women, fugitives like ourselvis. I stopped one ( if the men and asked «"rim if there wore many police ah"!id of ns. "They are every where." he cried excited!;.-.' "f'nu v •" -ret rhroo™"i?" "God know.--;" he cried, a- he shook off my grasp and hurried after the . ther3.

We had another difficulty now to contend with. I did not know where we were. 1 had a general idea of the direction in mhroh we ought to go, but our many zig-z.a.g llighis had brought ■us into v" neightoO'Ujihood which was entirely strange to mc. There was nottong lor it but to push on and trust to' Ju.;-k irnitlil 1 reached some part that 1 knew. When 1 eimuto si crass street 1 peered round the comer of a house cautiously to mute t-iire that it was clear, and presently I saw some half-dozen men coming towards ii?. We hid directly, squeezing ourselves flat against the wall under cover of a doorway. 'Kiev stood a moment or two looking along "our street, but did not see us. and resumed 'their way. 1 waited until their footsteps had died away, and then we made a dart across the road. As iffl-fortime would Have it,- one of: the men chanced to turn round just as we crossed. A shout told us t.!.at -we were feen, and wp set oil running iike hares, turning every corner we <a««i to: in the effort t-o s-hake off the pursuit. We were o-e-iinc away all right w-hen to our dismay we hoard the noise of lighting aoroe little distance ahead. Then a-notlicr small body of police saw usj running and came dashing after us. We had no choice except to rush on. and as we ran out into a wider thoroughfare we dashed right into the midst of a crowd of strikers wji-o were flying hel-ter-sd:e!tcr before a -body of troops ami police. ■ We turned and fled with them. It was the only chance left to us, and a desperate one enough.

We "tried to extricate ourselves from the throng and get away .by a side turning; but i; -..a;, iuipracticah-le; the pressure of the .'.;;a-l. was too great. Suddenly the •mad. flight came to an abrupt halt. A hoanye shout -Ciiuie from the crowd, and 1 sflav that we had lw?en joined by another mob of strikers, and: the united force mere reforming «to I'make a fight of it. 1 succeeded in drawing Alma 'to o-ne side into the f*artki:l cover of a doorway; and ■from th*t point wp witnessed the conflict. It »wis veiw short. The ! mob were nniy arrffed with clubs a.nd iron bars, hut the,y outnumbered their opponents by ten to one. and they were fighting for their !£•.«;-. •Men fell all around us. shot and bayoneted and sltiTttdr down by clubbed woa-poiLs, -but others 'were really to -take tjheir places; and for once that ni^ht force otf n-Uimibers. preraHed over arms and djdcijffiine. (It 'was ilikie hell lenj loore \vhi!e the 'lasted, and. Alma turned sfck and ifainit with the horror of it. AVlhen the (mob triumphed . and their foes were put to -flight the pressure of the crowd about us lessened and we ■ endeavoured to re?iiitic our flight. But [then a new danger threatened us. ! "You were not ifigiiting, friend,'' said ! one of a group of men who was -wiping ! the blood and sweat from his bands and 1 face. "I had, no arms,"' I replied. -■Wiha.t are those?" he demanded I fiercely, po-iraßing Ito some clubs and b.iTS which had dropped from the hands lof the wounded and dead and lay in the roadway. "You are spies."

He roared out .the words, and a number of others, hearing i:., came crowd v.g, round and began to hoot and hiss at us. ''We are no spies. We are lh i»t£ for our lives.'' "Why didn't you fight for them, then?*' '"What's all this about spies? Where arc they?" asked a newcomer, pushing his way through the tlxrong; tor the news had spread like a dry gunpowder train. With a sickening fei-!inj or dismay 1 recognised "Saharkotf. I held nay tongue in tbp hope that be would net kit w mc in my disguise. He did not. He appeared to be in sonic soft of auth.nr';-. for the rest cleared a Utile space between him and us. He peered into my face amd tlicn plucked Che cap from my head. Then he stared at Alma, while the man who had first stopped us told Mm that I stood o*-oof from the fighting. "Wihat's your name?' he demanded with an oath. Instead of answering him, I tore my cap out of his hand ami made as if to strike 'him. 'He drew back a pace, and thosie about us roared at the top of their voices: ".Spies! Spies! They are both spies! Down with them!" Ad-ma shrank back and T stood m front of her, fearing an instant attack. But, it. did not come for the moment; the shouts dfied down into confused murmuring, and then came the sound of firing down the street. "Say who you are or I'll brain you!'' cried ScharkofT with a.n oath, tfcreaten[ing mc with a heavy crtfwibar -he was carrying.

I The firing "was repeated, ne.irer this j time. "The soldiers are i iniing back!'' veiled a \ ovre in the i r .-.vii. j 1 saw a de-per:ite c ii-iuie. "(live r.ie I a weapon, and I'll show yon r.het'ier ] I'M fight with yon or not,'' 1 shouted. I»ut a; the sound of 'iiy voire Siiiar- ! l;oir recognised n;e. 1 -=r>.w iiis rye.-; 1 gleam with malice ar.'l hate, A deey j oath roiled from his tongue, "l.'s you. ; is it?" he growled. Then be turned to the re-?t. ,- I know this mm. He is" His voire was- ilrov, r.ed in Che roil of •firearms, followed by ? ; : answering yell <>' fury from hundreds of voices as th:so.'dwrs were seen now close a! hand. ""lhe soldiers! The soldiers! Give it to tihem again!'' J kept -my ey-es on Scimrkoff. He glanced round once at the oncoming troops and the fighting which had again broken out, "There's time to finish you. you traitor! " be growled with an oath, and, swinging -his crowbar, rushed to dash out my bra ins. My life and Alma's too were at stake, and I whipped cut the revolver I had taken from Gorton* and shot him in the arm. His weapon dropped harmlessly with a I'lang on the stones at my feet. He made a grn.p at it with bis left band, but I kicked it a-way. Infuriated by this ■failure, he i L ried next to seize mc ami to yeM out my name at teh top of his raucous, powerful voice. But that would have spelt death as surely ns his blow; for although the rr:ob was now in flight, there ■were many of them -who -would have given their lives to have taken mine.

1 1 .biFhed my fist in his face and stopj ped hira ivf'ore he had got out his rim syllable. But 'he had no lack of pluck, 'fie turned to Another maji near , Him an.l v.-.is about :.) repeat it when 1 fired again r.nd he fell. Those won s.i iv it were road with rage, but I held them in check a moment witih my revolver and next they were swept away by the crowd now in !':-li (light. We erou.hed in the doorway while 'the nub swept past us, hotly purstieil by the troops and police who hatl vome up in overwhelming force. T!:e defeat of the mob w.i* now certain, but the worst of our plight was that the victory of the troops was just as full of hazard as their defeat would have been.