A MISSION OF REVENGE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2579, 3 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

A MISSION OF REVENGE.

‘Remember, I trust you with a sacred duty/ said the general, as he handed his courier a letter. ‘ You are to stop for nothing-. If you fail you will bo shot; but if you succeed, the Order of St. George will adorn your breast. Now go, and God be with you in all your perils/ The young courier knelt and swore to protect the life of the Czar with his own, and then he pushed tho curtains aside, leaving the general alone. The evening was fair, cool and beautiful. As the general leaned from the balcony of the palace he thought what a farce this ball was, when his heart was full of terror for tho Czar and all Russia. I

In an adjoining room, near the marble pillar, stood a young girl covered with magnificent satin and jewels. Looking at her with flashing eyes was a man of about 40, with coal black hair and cruel, expression. I ‘ Nodine, this must be your work/ I She shivered as he spoke; but Otaroff, the traitoi’, had no mercy. • ‘And to it at once!’ he said. ‘What is my task?’ she asked him, and again she shivered. *An easy one, my beautiful queen. Merely to throw yourself in his way, and this courier will forget the Czar and all Russia/ * I doubt it/ she answered. ‘ You must not doubt it/ he cried, fiercely, and held her wrists so tightly that the pain made her face white to the very lips.' ‘Our scheme must go through this time, and the courier will arrive too late. You hear; my beautiful daughter ?* ‘ I hear you/ she answered, and wrenched her wrist from his grasp. ‘ But, father/ she said, pleadingly, ‘you have never used me.,as a decoy before. Oh ! I beg of you not to do it now. I cannot do it; I cannot/ ‘ Fool!’ he hissed at her ; ‘ you little know your power. With your beauty you can do anything/ ‘And would you sell it?’ she asked. 1 He hesitated, then said—‘Yes, for the cause/ ‘You aro a strange father/ she added, slowly, looking at him with no spark of love in her eyes; ‘but, I may prove a traitor, too. • What then* father ?* He bent his head and whispered in her ear—- ‘ I will shoot you, my beautiful queen; so take care. For the first time to-night I doubt you, but 'tis an insane idea. Go into the ballroom and dance an hour, then return to your house and prepare for your journey/ She went from him down the marble steps to the room beyond, and never once looked back. Her heart was sad and heavy. Many noticed tho beautiful woman, but wondoied why her face was so tragic. It was about 8 the next night/ after the ball, whoa the courier of the Czar arrived at the first posthouse and asked for change of horses.' ‘ Stop a little ?* asked the worthy postmaster.

‘ No,’ answered the courier, in a tone which silenced all other questions. ‘ I want horses, and nothing else.’ Tho Russian looked with much admiration on this tall courier, and speedily wsnt for them. With a clap of the whip the tarantass was off, and the little Russian was alone, but not; for long. Down the road he saw another tarantass coming at breakneck speed. ‘ Ah ! perhaps they will stop !’ ho said to himself. The little man had to flee for his life, for the horses dashed on, and he only caught sight of a very beautiful face in a red hood. A dreadful storm broke upon the night, and in the darkness a flying .tarantass dashed by the one occupied by the, courier. ‘ Someone else in tho dreadful storm,’ thought he. ‘ God help them !’ When the first dawn of day came, the rain had ceased and they were almost past the dangers. In tho middle of the road lay the figure of a woman, and the horses! almost ran over her. - - ‘She is dead!’ cried the courier, as he laid his hand upon her heart. ‘No, she lives! I cannot seo a mortal die liko this!’ So, with tho help of the driver,-ho carried her to the tarantass and laid her gently down. Thoro he sat. looking at the girl’s pale face, and wondering what he should do with her. Suddenly she opened her large, dark eyes and gazed into his face. Her wondrous beauty captivated him, and he forgot to ask her if she was hurt. He only gazed and said nothing. ‘You are a courier?’ she asked at length. ‘ No; lam a captain of the Fourteenth Guards. And you ?’ . ‘lam going to meet my father at Isham,’ she answered. : Her voice was wonderfully low and sweet, and he behoved all she told him. They journeyed on together, and the time sped rapidly away. At last they reached Isham, and I he girl looked for her father, but of course ho was not there. She burst into tears and would not be consoled. An .officer had taken the last horses an hour before, and the courier had to wait for his own to rest! V 1; In the meantime No'dine/for it was she, wove a subtle charm around the courier. He was not proof against the glances of her splendid, half-veiled eyes. Her red lips seemed to say, ‘Come and kiss mo.’ Her,voice, her smile, seemed to make the air lie breathed delightful; and ffiiis iherves’ thrilled with joy. !How could he help loving her ? Seeing her in all the glory of her youth and beauty, he forgot tho Czar and all Russia. They wore standing beside a high rook;and, with an impulse prompted by his grpat, passion he . knelt. at her feet; .kissing, her. hands madly, and begging "her’to tell him hpr name. Her poor heart heat wildly. For the first time she loved, and at the cost of her life she resolved to be true, not to hor oath, hut to the man who, knelt before her; ‘ Go. Flee for your life,’ she cried. ‘My name is Nihilist.’ Ho started to his feet and turned to, leave her in a dazed, manner. A sharp report of a pistol sounded on the air, and the courier of the Czar fell' wounded. With lightning quickness Nodine knelt beside her lover, and jyhile smoothing back his hair with one hand, with* the other she stole the Imperial letter and slipped it into hor breast. Then she left him, for Sho had made up her mind that she, would carry the important message to the Czar herself. After travelling day and night.without food or sleep she reached the palace of the Czar. ‘What can I do for you ?’ asked the Czar of all Russia. ‘What do you do for Nihilists?’ sho asked him. ‘ Wo shoot them,’ he answered, angrily. ‘ Then I shall be shot.’ She said it so calmly and deliberately that the Czar Ipoked at her in surprise. ! , ‘ Nihilist or no Nihilist, my child, you have saved my life, and therefore I spare yours. You may return to your home in safety.’ With a cry like a hunted animal she fell at his feet. ‘ Don’t send me back. The bullet that struck the courier was meant for me. I heard the word of “Traitress" hissed by my own father, and if I go back he will not miss his aim again. He has sworn to kill me if I prove false to the cause, and he will keep his oath. I pray you,.don’t send me back.’ £ ~ ■!>

He sgw her agony was genuine, ’‘and, placing" his hand on her head, said," ‘ Rise) child; you stay here.’ ; At that moment Ivan Liveresfcy, tho courier of the Czar, dashed into the room. His clothes were covwedi“witftr mud ,at}4 his body weak from loss of- blood."--*" - - ’ ‘ Thank God!’ he cried when he saw the Czar. ‘ Otaroff, the traitor, is, captured, has confessed all, and you are’safe.* • ’

'He was my father,’ said Nodino, softly. The courier caught tho back of a chair for support, and tho Czar turned to her ;n anger. " . ‘Yes, do with mo what #ou will. 1 am 1 Nodine Otaroff, who despises her name, her father, and most of all herself.’ " ' ‘ Wait a moment,’ said the courierto tho. Czar;: ..'there' is some mistake,-' Otaroff; gave nib somepapers, and confessed having stolen a child out of revenge from fhe rich Corkisky. Her name was Nodine.-’ -• • i - ' And Liveresky handed the documents to. the Czar, who in turn, after glancing over them, gave them to the young girl, s - ‘I will send a messenger to Moscow, and One who will travel night and day, without, sleep or food, to deliver; this letter to the noblest of Eussians.’ So said tho Czar, and left the room. ; ' -.■■‘Ton Tiave saved my life/- the courier 1 ' cried. ‘And you mine,’ answered Nodine. ‘ Yes, my loved one, it is worthless,without yours.’ " ' ‘Then/ she said, with glad tears in her eyes, ‘I give mine for thine.- I love thee, Ivan Liveresky.’; • He took her in his arms and kissed her many times. When Corinsfcy' : arrived he found he had gained a child, only to lose her again, for Nodine gave her heart and hand to a young soldier decorated with the Order of St. George, given to him by the Czar of all Eussia. —Yankee Blade.