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254 he resolved to investigate in a more private manner. The side windows of the residence were curtained, but the curtains were only partly down. Going to one of the windows he peered inside.

In a neatly furnished sitting room sat a young lady and a Russian soldier. They were arguing about something—money matters as far as Ben could make out. The young lady did not wish to give the soldier the money and he insisted upon having it. While Ben gazed at the scene, the Russian soldier leaped up, grasped the young lady by the shoulders and shook her roughly.

"Don't!" screamed the young lady, in English. "Let me go!"

"I want the money!" answered the soldier, in his native tongue. He was a Cossack and of brutal features.

The young lady was pretty and she was helpless, and this combination was more than the young captain could resist. Regardless of consequences, he shoved up the window and leaped inside the apartment.

"Keep your hands off of that young lady!" he cried, and catching the Cossack by the shoulder he threw him backward. "Don't you know how to treat a lady when you meet her, you big brute?"

The Cossack was startled, first because he had not