Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, January 1885Various
General
Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, January 1885
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals
The bold “Amazon” and the young poet met, and their fate was decided. I
will not tell of the delirium and transports through which they passed.
Their love was like some delicate and sensitive plant, which must not
be rudely touched. It was a spontaneous and irresistible feeling. They
did not perceive it until they were madly enamoured of each other.
They became husband and wife. It was said of them that when they were
together inexorable Fate had no heart to touch them, and that its cruel
hand became a paternal one, which warded off the blows that threatened
them. And, indeed, all their misfortunes happened to them when they
were apart.
This was the incident which did much to give rise to the saying.
In November 1879, Olga fell into the hands of the police. It should be
explained that when these succeed in arresting a Nihilist they always
leave in the apartments of the captured person a few men to take into
custody any one who may come to see that person. In our language, this
is called a trap. Owing to the Russian habit of arranging everything
at home and not in the cafés, as in Europe, the Nihilists are often
compelled to go to each other houses, and thus these traps become
fatal. In order to diminish the risk, safety signals are generally
placed in the windows, and are taken away at the first sound of the
police. But, owing to the negligence of the Nihilists themselves,
accustomed as they are to danger, and so occupied that they sometimes
have not time to eat a mouthful all day long, the absence of these
signals is often disregarded, or attributed to some combination
of circumstances—the difficulty, or perhaps the topographical
impossibility, of placing signals in many apartments in such a manner
that they can be seen from a distance. This measure of public security
frequently, therefore, does not answer its purpose, and a good half of
all the Nihilists who have fallen into the hands of the Government have
been caught in these very traps.
A precisely similar misfortune happened to Olga, and the worst of
it was that it was in the house of Alexander Kviatkovsky, one of
the Terrorist leaders, where the police found a perfect magazine of
dynamite, bombs, and similar things, together with a plan of the
Winter Palace, which, after the explosion there, led to his capital
conviction. As may readily be believed, the police would regard with
anything but favorable eyes every one who came to the house of such a
man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account