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Mv Honeymoon Amonjitfe E> Shah of Pepsia£
The Exciting
Experience of a
Bride Who Fell Into
the Hands of the
Royal Buccaneer
and the Odd
Orientally Refined
Tortures the
Wicked Deposed
Ruler Used to
Make Her Give Up
Her Bridegroom
Par!*, Juno 1.
M JULES UARDINOT end 111* brtdo of a few
months have Just leturned hero from their
* honeymoon alter a hairbreadth escape
from pirates In the Caspian Sea. Mine. Uardln<*t was
formerly Louise Wychoff, an American girl, of Minna
spells. Minn., but she had resided bore since her girl
hood
She was married to M. Hardlnot, of this city, last
February, und they decided to spend tbeir honeymoon
In the Caucasus. aB M. Hardlnot had business Inter
ests in Astrakhan, Russia, which required his presence.
While Hailing lor that port, the bridal couple and
their fellow travellers were captured by the pirates,
led by no Icbb a personage than Mohammed All Mlrza,
the deposed Shah of Eersla The ex Shah became enum
c.red of young Mina. Hardlnot and subjected her und
her companions to the most subtle tortures because
tde spurned him.
With the aid of a disgruntled member of the pirate
crew, the young eouple were to lunate enough to os
cape. Mme. Hardtnot’a own story of her remarkable
honeymoon trip, which reads like fiction, follows:
By fvimt*. Louise* llartiinnt
WHILE Paris was getting itself all worked up
over its taxicab bandits, two French citizens,
my husband and myself were prisoners on a
pirate ship lii the Caspian Sea: What a strange con
trast' Up-to-date crime, represented by the taxicab
bandits, being put down tu ”ariK while piracy, the crime
ot centuries gone by, was rampant on Russia's inland
tea
IS e had spent several weeks most happily in the
mountains when my husband decided tnat It was time
he made for Astrakhan to attend lo his business nlfulr»
Un-re We embarked on a sinnl! IVr.u.ui vessel that
loticln d a Itnku ,nid which was hound It: Aumkhan
It was only a small trading vessel, the crow eon
tlitlio id even men besides the captain There were
two other pui- rnxorx. rich Persian merchant;. 1 was
the only woman on board, and received every possible
attention, the two Persian merchants bi-lug particularly
kind to me. We got very chummy.
The day we left port, the captain Informed us that
we might run Into pirates.
We thought he was Jolting and appealed to our
lellow passengers, but they declared that what the
captain Mild was true,
Mohammed All Mir/.a. who succeeded his father
Mur.affardln as Shah ot Persia In 1907 and was deposed
In 1909, had turned pirate With the aid ot ißniatl lley,
a meat notorious character, steeped In crime of every
nature he had gotten together a fleet of boats and
whs riding the Caspian Sea as a freebooter
So much was he feared by the sailors and fishermen
at the Caspian us well as by tho Inhabitants of the
shore settlements and tow ns that tho Persian Govern
ment had offered S2OO,UUU head money for him, dead
or alive.
1 slept somewhat uneasily that night, although my
husband endeavt ed lo reassure mo and cursed the
captain loundly for having put such notions Into my
bead. The next day passed peaceably enough, no
pirates were led, and by nightfall 1 had almost for
gotten tho klnrm 1 had fell the day before.
That yer.v night 1 w as aw akened about twelve o'clock
by a loud tapping on the cabin door. II roused my hus
band, too, and hopping out of his bunk, be demanded
who It was
"It's 1, the Captain." replied a rolee, In excellent
French; "wo have been captured by the pirates Mo
hammed save us! Ycu are to dress light away and come
on deck M.idame, too!"
The thing seemed so ludicrous at first that I looked
at my husband and tic looked at me and wo Just
laughed.
"Pirates! We are captured by pirates!" he said. What
do you think 1 ought to put on, Louise, fur Hie func
tion? 1 have never been captured by pirates before,
you know, and 1 dont know what is just de rlgueur."
"It's after dusk, my dear," 1 answered, "and as for
Hie. 1 shall pul on evening dress. If we had been cap
tured lu the uiorniuk, why, it would have been differ
ent."
Donning our evening clothes, we packed up a few
Of our belongingb and made our way on dock There
we saw our Persian fellow travellers shackled hand
and toot, surrounded by a hand ot assorted cutthroat*
ol ail nationalities, allhough they wer-i evidently mainly
Peraiana.
In the distance we saw riding at anchor what was
undoubtedly the pirate s vessel, a small boat bouncing
up and down on the waves beside our ship Indicating
how tho pirates had made their way on board. We
were at anchor In the open sea far out of sight of land.
As we emerged from the oompantouway a big.
bloodthlrslvlooklng fellow, who was evidently lu
charge of ihe boarding party, beckoned to tis and told
us In broken French that we were prisoners of his
Excellency Mohammed All Mlrza, who was anxious to
receive us on board his vessel.
"It Is best for us to go.' said my husband to me,
“they daren't harm us once they realise who we aro "
When we got on board we found tho vessel to be
beautifully appointed. Seated on a sort or divan, be
neath the bridge, was the ex Shah ot Persia. Mo
hs mined All Mins, sleek, fat and slcepv-eyed. He was
surrounded by a regular court. One of his Cabinet we
afterward found cut was the notorious Zaubek Boroff.
formerly a Russian police spy, who had turned highway
robber and then to escape tho Russian authorities had
Joined Mohammed's court He was seated on the pirate
chief s right hand, droned In a Persian uuliorm. cov
ered with medals and other decorations which tho Shah
had bestowed on him.
“1 protest against this treatment a* a French cut
ten!" declared my husband stoutly, "and 1 warn you
* V * ]
rVuyi iht
f I
Ha —JL
that unless .»« .w.< ai. once released my government
will make you pay dearly for this outrage. Wo are"
Hofore he could llnish Mohammed nodded his head,
and two burly attendants seized him and carried him
off I ran toward him, but 1 was held back by others,
and my husband called out, as ho was led below,
"Don't be frightened, boulse: they dare npt harm you!"
"Just a minute, Madame,” said Mohammed In
French, bowing to me, '1 expected you to pay me a
longer visit than that. Dray be seated,” and he indi
cated the chan neside him which BorotT had just va
cated.
"1 heard of you at Baku. I thought 1 would like to
meet you. What I like 1 usually get, and here we are.
Why cannot we be friends?”
I lowered my head so as not to see the Insulting
rase 1 knew he was directing at me, and did not answer.
"Speak, madanie,” he went on: "1 said I usually get
what I like. I like you. Shall we ho friends?"
I felt faint and It was only by the greatest effort
that 1 retained my consciousness. The whole Beene
was so unlike anything I had ever before witnessed,
much less participated In, Hero I was at two o’clock
in the morning, on a strange .ship, Insulted by an ex-
Shah in the presenco of a court consisting of mur
derers and thieves, my husband a prisoner below, and
with apparently no sign of a rescue. My only hope
seemed to lie In American tact versus Oriental cun
ning. 1 decided that I must apparently yield to the
Shah's suggestion. To offend him at this juncture
could only have made things worse.
“1 am sure I am delighted to he honored by your
xcellency,” I said, somewhat sadly, I must ndmlt.
"Well, you don't look very delighted, but perhaps
you are tired They will show you to your saloon.”
I was conducted below and was soon joined by my
husband.
That night we slept but little. The still night was
rent from time to time hv the most hideous yells, like
nothing we had ever heard before. Our door was un
locked and my husband got up to Investigate. Out
side the door, however, he found a sentry, who directed
him to return to his cabin
In the morning we were allowed to go on deck. My
hushnnd Impilrod for our Persian friends One of the
brigands declared that they had "died suddenly In the
night.” Wo realized then what the hideous noises we
heard meant.
Shortly afterward we were' summoned before Mo
hammed In his own cabin. It was luxuriously furnished.
Ho was seated on a divan, and he beekonod us to seat
ourselves on cushions which surrounded him.
”1 want you to release Madame." he said, quite coolly,
to my husband; "1 will make her my wife. 1 have
only “
My husband started to his feet, but I clutched his
sleeve and held him hack.
"Will you consent?"
"You ("famous scoundrel" my husband began,
hut a brigand, who had been summoned by the ex-Shah,
entered, und, dragging my husband to his feet, shoved
him roughly out of the cabin.
1 was left alone with Mohammed!
"And now, Madame." he said softly, “how would It
suit you to be my wife?"
"It is Impossible; I am already married. European
women can have but one husband at a time, you
know."
"At a time, yes Hut If your husband were to die
you could marry me then, couldn't you?"
There was a horrible leer on his face, and on the Im
pulse of the moment 1 struck him with all nty might!
"So. Madame!" he said bitterly. "You will not be
my wife, eh? You will not smile at me, eh? We will
see.”
He summoned an attendant and I was taken on deck,
tied into a steamer chair and my shoes and stockings
removed. By and by my husband was brought on deck,
100, and he was tied to a nearby mast Then Mo
hammed appeared and seated himself on a cushion at
my feet.
1 was terribly scared. 1 could not imagine what he
w *» going to do. A moment later, however, a member
of the crew appeared with a large peacock feather,
which ho handed to Mohammed And then followed
the worst hour of torture 1 have ever endured With
the end of the feather the ex-Shah tickled the soles of
my feet until I went almost crazy w ith the subtle pain
It Inflicted. And the worst of It was that my husband
had to witness my agony without being able to offer me
any assistance. He st-uggled to releaso himself, but
every time he moved he was lashed by a big Persian
and told to keep still 1 struggled, too. but it was of
no avail, and all the time the horrid Shah sat In front
of me with that awful leer on his face and kept re
pealing: t
"Smile, Madame, why don't you smile?”
1 was completely exhausted when 1 was released and
allowed to go to my cabin. My husband was kept away
from me. After dinner I was taken on deck and
again subjected to the same torture, my husband being
made to witness the ordeal again. m
That night 1 slept alone. My husband was no longer
allowed to communicate with me. I tried my cabin
door and found It unlocked, but outside was a sentry
Imagine my agony when I heard my husband's voice
crying out In pain and realized that he was being tor
tureil —perhaps murdered! 1 rushed out of my cabin,
but was forced back by the sentry and the door locked.
1 beat upon the door, but my efforts wore In vain.
The following day was a repetition of the preceding
one, except that I saw nothing of my husband. I was at
mv wits' end. for I feared that he had been murdered,
and It was really a relief to me to hear at night bis
agonized shrieks, for I realized that at least he waa still
alive.
That night, when everything was quiet, my cabin door
was suddenly opened 1 was half asleep, but my nerves
were at such a tension that the slightest noise sounded
as loud as a cannon shot. It was dark and I could not
see who the Intruder was, although I saw by his size
tbs' It was not my husband. 1 was about to shriek
when the intruder exclaimed in a whisper:
"Shssh! Make no noise. 1 have arranged with your
husband to free you. Get ready and follow me!”
He loft the room, and hardly believing my ears 1
hastened Into my clothes. In a few minutes I was
ready and, cautiously opening the door, stepped into the
corridor. The sentry was gone, but I saw the big Per
slan who had summoned me waiting for me. 1 followed
him and he led me to tho rail and t»ld me to descend a
rope ladder which dangled over an open boat.
Down I went, and there I found my husband bleedine
from a hundred cuts, which ho afterward explained
me he had sustained u LO
during the last two
days.
The Tcrslan who had
conducted me followed
us into the boat, and wa
rowed off.
As we separated from
the pirate ship which
lay at anchor I noticed
that the water was dis
colored. and soon I
discerned the floating
bodies of two corpses.
J glanced, horror-strick
en, Inquiringly at my
husband.
The bodies of the
sentries.” he answered
briefly. He was in ter
rible pain, I could see.
and I did not then both
er him with ques
tions.
After a row of some
twelve hours we sighted
land, and, some hours
later, we landed a;
Cape Bulak.
Our escape, 1 after
ward learned, was made
possible because Ta
briz Khan, the Persian
w*ho had rescued us,
was dissatisfied with
the pirate's life he had
been leading ana was
anxious to settle some
old scores with the bri
gand on watch that
night.
All of the souvenirs
of our wedding trip
were, of course, lost, as
well as many of mv
most valued wedding
gifts, but my husband
was saved, and that
after all, is the best
wedding gift a woman
can have.
V- .«■* : 1
The Ea*Shah of Persia, Who Has
Turned Pirate.
_ - .- fSTVi
“With the end of the feather the ex-Shah tickled the
soles of my feet until / went almost crazy with the agony
of it. And all the time the horrid Shah sat in front of me
with that awful leer on his face, and kept repeating,
“Smile, Madame! Why
plll||pa don’t you smile?**
/ ' 7 \;.
j Ms
mzmmt .
. ■ .jlgi
v'~ ' fzm 'ill
' ;■» :
its!
BJB- «E* -'JBik&i
Mmc Louise Hardinot, Who Had ,n Exciting: Honeymoon Exp.ri.nc. with th«
——’ — t**-shah and His Pirates*
ffyattj*