University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD well and that complete rest and privacy for a whole month was absolutely neces- sary. All royal audiences were denied. % -k- Twenty-five days from the time that Beverly left New York, all was in read- iness at Port Arthur for the arrival of a special train. Russians in the guise of coolies were stationed all along the track at short intervals, with instructions to be on the watch for a new supply train that should have on each car a broad red cross. This train would carry the royal person, and each of the train crew would be a trusted member of the Rus- sian police force. Ah! but then money, bright yellow money may cause even the most trusty to — The special train crossed the frontier and sped onwards across the great Plain of China. At the town of Daiken, one hundred miles from Port Arthur, something went wrong with the front engine, so the engineer said at any rate, and the entire party were forced to dis- mount. Then a peculiar thing hap- pened. The station house, old and wooden, started to blaze as if a match had been touched to a haystack. While the attention of the royal party was then called to the spot, the engineer suddenly opened wide the throttle, a gang of coolies swung on board the now fast moving train and to the consterna- tion of the small party of officials left standing near the station, the train swept out of sight in a whirl of dust. -¥■ t t T Beverly changed his clothes leisurely on the fast moving train and when Port Arthur was reached, it was a polished New Yorker that stepped coolly from the train. Kuropatkin and a small cluster of officers were gathered anx- iously at the station. Beverly stepped up and proffered a card to the Russian Commander. A matter of grave importance, Gen- eral, he said in excellent Russian. May I speak with you in private? The interview was brief. Beverly was always good at cards and this time he had an excellent hand. Did his Ex- cellency desire a mob of coolies to kill the Tsar? Did he wish these same coolies to telegraph to the journals the true state of affairs ? No ? well then, will his Excellency be so condescending as to put his autograph on the back of this card and allow me to return at once with the train to Daiken ? Because if he did not come back at once and safely, the coolies had orders to dispatch the Royal Head and surety that would be a pity. Yes, it would and the American with his coolies was allowed to return taking with them one engineer. Twenty miles from Daiken the engineer slowed up and Beverly with his Americans jumped off. The train pulled on and three hours later the disguised Russians, including the Tsar, started on a return trip to St. Petersburg, this first adven- ture having frightened them. 5jC |C 2fS 3jS The steam yacht bobbed up and down at her anchor, off the deserted coast of the Ljao Tang Peninsula. Beverly and his witnesses, bearing the autograph of

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THE REDWOOD VICI Beverly squinted through the smoke of his cigar at the card he had just turned up. For some moments he sat there silently, while the others glanced first at their cards and then at one another expectantly. Finally he tossed the card carelessly on the center of the table so that all could see it was the ace of diamonds. The luck ' s my way, boys! he re- marked coolly, and — and I ' m deucedly glad of it. By Jove! yes I am. The dealer, a redfaced, portly old gentleman reached over, with a laugh for the dis- carded pasteboard and handed Beverly in exchange a copper slug, about the size of a chocolate bar, such as is used in the penny-in-the-slot machine. This Beverly took and placed in a little con- trivance at the fourth end of the mag- nificently furnished club room, while the crowd of blase New York clubmen, wandered over to witness the result. It came in a little missive that fel! to the floor when Beverly pressed a button on the side of the machine. The hum of conversation subsided a little as Beverly read the paper note, in a low steady tone. Enter the besieged town of Port Arthur, openly and in full view of its occupants. Your mission must be ac- complished in one month from to-day. If successful your reward is $50,000. Start to-morrow morning at 10 o ' clock and our agents in San Francisco will furnish you with full information and the necessary funds. That was all. Beverly laughed gaily, shook hands all around, then pulled himself together and went out into the night. 5JC K Ten days later a fast steam yacht, os- tensibly chartered by a party of New York tourists and bound for San Diego left San Francisco harbor; she was not seen again either at San Diego or at any other place along the coast. The Rus- sian warship Ivancovich sighted a yacht answering to that description off the Liao Tang Peninsula and travelling in a north easterly direction. jc %. H= ■¥■ Port Arthur had been relieved by General Kuropatkin and all Russia was now hopeful. Nicholas, however, had set his heart on carrying out the ances- tral tradition of going to the front. But to do this was to leave St. Petersburg open to the influence of the Nihilists. Count Cassini was equal to the emer- gency. The Tsar would travel incog- nito through Siberia to the Russian Rail- road thence on by the L,iao Tang Penin- sula to Port Arthur. The Tsar ' s brother would meanwhile impersonate His Majesty on the Royal throne and only the inner circle at Port Arthur would be aware of the new-comer ' s identity. It was announced that Nicholas was not

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THE REDWOOD Kuropatkin, started on their return trip to San Francisco. How they were chased and almost caught by the Cruiser Petronoplatz is another story, as is also the many wonderful adventures that befell the members of this strange Amer- ican club, when tbey too, led by the ace of diamonds, were sent on wild and helpless quests. Beverly, however, came back safely and, I believe, gave the $50,000 to a lunatic asylum. Foresight — wasn ' t it? Gerald P. Beaumont, ' 05 Spc ' l. LIFE ' S WORtl JJOT till the ardent heat of life, The race For place, And passions gathered in the strife Are past, ' Does each his life ' s true work begin At last. In manhood then we clad our soul To fight For right, And backward turn us toward the goal Forgot To know what is our life ' s true work; What not. J. Earl Seaton, ' 08.