The Argosy — page 116: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

308 THE ARGOSY. ‘“He may not; but in that case no other ever will,’’ returned Olga ear- nestly. ‘‘ Did you say that on purpose to get another assurance from me?’”’ ‘“No, indeed. I only spoke out of the temlty of my doubts ; ? and then we went on threshing the thing out, ‘There is but one possible chance,’’ said I, after [had told her all. ‘‘It’s a remote one, perhaps, but such as it is, we must use it. You must go.’ _ ‘‘T won’t leave Moscow unless you do,’’ she broke in. ‘‘ I wouldn’t have done it before when you wanted, but now’’—she paused and blushed and her eyes brightened—‘‘ wild horses shan’t tear me away.’’ ‘There are stronger things than wild horses, child ; and I shall appeal to one in your case. You must go in order to try to get me out of the muddle here.’’ ‘“Yes, Pll go for that, if it’s necessary, moment before she had declined. “It is necessary. Shortly, my ideais this. We can’t get away together at the same time. We are shut in here in the very center of Russia, and if we left together we could not hope to reach the frontier for many hours after we had been missed from here; while, if we were missed only ten minutes before we got to the barrier, it would be long enough for us to be stopped. Besides, there are ten thousand things that come in the way. But that doesn’t apply to your traveling alone; and if I can get a passport or a permit for you, I believe you will be able to get across the frontier before any one has an idea that you haveeven left the city. In my case that would be impossible. There are three separate sets of lynx eyeson me. ‘The prince’s police, the most vigilant of all; the Nihilists’, the most dangerous, and Paula Tueski’s, the most vengeful. I shall have the most difficult task to evade them, and I believe it will be only possible, if at all, by a sort of double cun- ning. But there is one way you can help.”’ ‘“ What is that?’’ asked Olga, whose interest was breathless. ‘‘T have a friend, Balestier ; you’ve heard of him—the Hon. Rupert Bal- estier. He saw your brother in Paris and believes that some devilment is on foot. Ifyou can find him and tell him all that has happened, and the mess that things are in, I believe—in fact, I know—that he would exhaust every possible means of helping me. It is possible that our foreign office might be moved by the influence he could bring to bear, and I know that in sucha task he’d stir up every friend and relative he has in the world. My plan is simply this. You must go with all possible speed to Paris; find him, tell him all, and get him to do what he thinks best and use what efforts he can. ) she declared, as readily as a In the mean time, if I can’t escape I shall either have to feign consent with this wretched duel and marriage business, and wait on events; or, if I geta chance of leaving, slip off in an altogether different direction.’’ ‘‘Ttis aterrible trouble I have brought you to, Alexis,’’ said the girl sadly. “*T would pay a far bigger price for this trouble,’’ I answered, taking her hand and kissing it. ‘‘ And when we are once out of this too hospitable land of yours, we shall laugh at it all together.’’ ~*“Ves when!’’ she said, and her tone suggested a hopelessness which responded only too well to that which I felt secretly. . \ ry) ay