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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com. + + + + + +The Lock and Key Library + +The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations + +Edited by Julian Hawthorne + + +North Europe--Russian--Swedish--Danish--Hungarian + + + +Table of Contents + + +ALEXANDER SERGEIEVITCH PUSHKIN + +The Queen of Spades + + +VERA JELIHOVSKY + +The General's Will + + +FEODOR MIKHAILOVITCH DOSTOYEVSKY + +Crime and Punishment + + +ANTON CHEKHOFF + +The Safety Match + + +VSEVOLOD VLADIMIROVITCH KRESTOVSKI + +Knights of Industry + + +JORGEN WILHELM BERGSOE + +The Amputated Arms + + +OTTO LARSSEN + +The Manuscript + + +BERNHARD SEVERIN INGEMANN + +The Sealed Room + + +STEEN STEENSEN BLICHER + +The Rector of Veilbye + + +HUNGARIAN MYSTERY STORIES + + +FERENCZ MOLNAR + +The Living Death + + +MAURUS JOKAI + +Thirteen at Table + + +ETIENNE BARSONY + +The Dancing Bear + + +ARTHUR ELCK + +The Tower Room + + + + +Russian Mystery Stories + + + +Alexander Sergeievitch Pushkin + +The Queen of Spades + + +I + + +There was a card party at the rooms of Naroumoff, of the Horse +Guards. The long winter night passed away imperceptibly, and it +was five o'clock in the morning before the company sat down to +supper. Those who had won ate with a good appetite; the others sat +staring absently at their empty plates. When the champagne +appeared, however, the conversation became more animated, and all +took a part in it. + +"And how did you fare, Souirin?" asked the host. + +"Oh, I lost, as usual. I must confess that I am unlucky. I play +mirandole, I always keep cool, I never allow anything to put me +out, and yet I always lose!" + +"And you did not once allow yourself to be tempted to back the red? +Your firmness astonishes me." + +"But what do you think of Hermann?" said one of the guests, +pointing to a young engineer. "He has never had a card in his hand +in his life, he has never in his life laid a wager; and yet he sits +here till five o'clock in the morning watching our play." + +"Play interests me very much," said Hermann, "but I am not in the +position to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the +superfluous." + +"Hermann is a German; he is economical--that is all!" observed +Tomsky. "But if there is one person that I cannot understand, it +is my grandmother, the Countess Anna Fedorovna!" + +"How so?" inquired the guests. + +"I cannot understand," continued Tomsky, "how it is that my +grandmother does not punt." + +"Then you do not know the reason why?" + +"No, really; I haven't the faintest idea. But let me tell you the +story. You must know that about sixty years ago my grandmother +went to Paris, where she created quite a sensation. People used to +run after her to catch a glimpse of the 'Muscovite Venus.' +Richelieu made love to her, and my grandmother maintains that he +almost blew out his brains in consequence of her cruelty. At that +time ladies used to play at faro. On one occasion at the Court, +she lost a very considerable sum to the Duke of Orleans. On +returning home, my grandmother removed the patches from her face, +took off her hoops, informed my grandfather of her loss at the +gaming-table, and ordered him to pay the money. My deceased +grandfather, as far as I remember, was a sort of house-steward to +my grandmother. He dreaded her like fire; but, on hearing of such +a heavy loss, he almost went out of his mind. He calculated the +various sums she had lost, and pointed out to her that in six +months she had spent half a million of francs; that neither their +Moscow nor Saratoff estates were in Paris; and, finally, refused +point-blank to pay the debt. My grandmother gave him a box on the +ear and slept by herself as a sign of her displeasure. The next +day she sent for her husband, hoping that this domestic punishment +had produced an effect upon him, but she found him inflexible. For +the first time in her life she entered into reasonings and +explanations with him, thinking to be able to convince him by +pointing out to him that there are debts and debts, and that there +is a great difference between a prince and a coachmaker. + +"But it was all in vain, my grandfather still remained obdurate. +But the matter did not rest there. My grandmother did not know +what to do. She had shortly before become acquainted with a very +remarkable man. You have heard of Count St. Germain, about whom so +many marvelous stories are told. You know that he represented +himself as the Wandering Jew, as the discoverer of the elixir of +life, of the philosopher's stone, and so forth. Some laughed at +him as a charlatan; but Casnova, in his memoirs, says that he was a +spy. But be that as it may, St. Germain, in spite of the mystery +surrounding him, was a very fascinating person, and was much sought +after in the best circles of society. Even to this day my +grandmother retains an affectionate recollection of him, and +becomes quite angry if anyone speaks disrespectfully of him. My +grandmother knew that St. Germain had large sums of money at his +disposal. She resolved to have recourse to him, and she wrote a +letter to him asking him to come to her without delay. The queer +old man immediately waited upon her, and found her overwhelmed with +grief. She described to him in the blackest colors the barbarity +of her husband, and ended by declaring that her whole hope depended +upon his friendship and amiability. + +"St. Germain reflected. + +"'I could advance you the sum you want,' said he, 'but I know that +you would not rest easy until you had paid me back, and I should +not like to bring fresh troubles upon you. But there is another +way of getting out of your difficuity: you can win back your +money.' + +"'But, my dear Count,' replied my grandmother, 'I tell you that I +haven't any money left!' + +"'Money is not necessary,' replied St. Germain, 'be pleased to +listen to me.' + +"Then he revealed to her a secret, for which each of us would give +a good deal." + +The young officers listened with increased attention. Tomsky lit +his pipe, puffed away for a moment, and then continued: + +"That same evening my grandmother went to Versailles to the jeu de +la reine. The Duke of Orleans kept the bank; my grandmother +excused herself in an offhanded manner for not having yet paid her +debt by inventing some little story, and then began to play against +him. She chose three cards and played them one after the other; +all three won sonika,* and my grandmother recovered every farthing +that she lost." + + +* Said of a card when it wins or loses in the quickest possible +time. + + +"Mere chance!" said one of the guests. + +"A tale!" observed Hermann. + +"Perhaps they were marked cards!" said a third. + +"I do not think so," replied Tomsky, gravely. + +"What!" said Naroumoff, "you have a grandmother who knows how to +hit upon three lucky cards in succession, and you have never yet +succeeded in getting the secret of it out of her?" + +"That's the deuce of it!" replied Tomsky, "she had four sons, one +of whom was my father; all four were determined gamblers, and yet +not to one of them did she ever reveal her secret, although it +would not have been a bad thing either for them or for me. But +this is what I heard from my uncle, Count Ivan Ilitch, and he +assured me, on his honor, that it was true. The late Chaplitsky-- +the same who died in poverty after having squandered millions--once +lost, in his youth, about three hundred thousand roubles--to +Zoritch, if I remember rightly. He was in despair. My +grandmother, who was always very severe upon the extravagance of +young men, took pity, however, upon Chaplitsky. She gave him three +cards telling him to play them one after the other, at the same +time exacting from him a solemn promise that he would never play at +cards again as long as he lived. Chaplitsky then went to his +victorious opponent, and they began a fresh game. On the first +card he staked fifty thousand roubles, and won sonika; he doubled +the stake, and won again; till at last, by pursuing the same +tactics, he won back more than he had lost." + +"But it is time to go to bed, it is a quarter to six already." +And, indeed, it was already beginning to dawn; the young men +emptied their glasses and then took leave of each other. + + +II + + +The old Countess A---- was seated in her dressing-room in front of +her looking-glass. Three waiting maids stood around her. One held +a small pot of rouge, another a box of hairpins, and the third a +tall cap with bright red ribbons. The Countess had no longer the +slightest pretensions to beauty, but she still preserved the habits +of her youth, dressed in strict accordance with the fashion of +seventy years before, and made as long and as careful a toilette as +she would have done sixty years previously. Near the window, at an +embroidery frame, sat a young lady, her ward. + +"Good-morning, grandmamma," said a young officer, entering the +room. "Bonjour, Mademoiselle Lise. Grandmamma, I want to ask you +something." + +"What is it, Paul?" + +"I want you to let me introduce one of my friends to you, and to +allow me to bring him to the ball on Friday." + +"Bring him direct to the ball and introduce him to me there. Were +you at B----'s yesterday?" + +"Yes; everything went off very pleasantly, and dancing was kept up +until five o'clock. How charming Eletskaia was!" + +"But, my dear, what is there charming about her? Isn't she like +her grandmother, the Princess Daria Petrovna? By the way, she must +be very old, the Princess Daria Petrovna?" + +"How do you mean, old?" cried Tomsky, thoughtlessly, "she died +seven years ago." + +The young lady raised her head, and made a sign to the young +officer. He then remembered that the old Countess was never to be +informed of the death of her contemporaries, and he bit his lips. +But the old Countess heard the news with the greatest indifference. + +"Dead!" said she, "and I did not know it. We were appointed maids +of honor at the same time, and when we were presented to the +Empress--" + +And the Countess for the hundredth time related to her grandson one +of her anecdotes. + +"Come, Paul," said she, when she had finished her story, "help me +to get up. Lizanka,* where is my snuffbox?" + + +* Diminutive of Lizaveta (Elizabeth). + + +And the Countess with her three maids went behind a screen to +finish her toilette. Tomsky was left alone with the young lady. + +"Who is the gentleman you wish to introduce to the Countess?" asked +Lizaveta Ivanovna in a whisper. + +"Naroumoff. Do you know him?" + +"No. Is he a soldier or a civilian?" + +"A soldier." + +"Is he in the Engineers?" + +"No, in the Cavalry. What made you think that he was in the +Engineers?" + +The young lady smiled, but made no reply. + +"Paul," cried the Countess from behind the screen, "send me some +new novel, only pray don't let it be one of the present day style." + +"What do you mean, grandmother?" + +"That is, a novel, in which the hero strangles neither his father +nor his mother, and in which there are no drowned bodies. I have a +great horror of drowned persons." + +"There are no such novels nowadays. Would you like a Russian one?" + +"Are there any Russian novels? Send me one, my dear, pray send me +one!" + +"Good-by, grandmother. I am in a hurry. . . . Goodby, Lizavetta +Ivanovna. What made you think that Naroumoff was in the +Engineers?" + +And Tomsky left the boudoir. + +Lizaveta Ivanovna was left alone. She laid aside her work, and +began to look out of the window. A few moments afterwards, at a +corner house on the other side of the street, a young officer +appeared. A deep flush covered her cheeks; she took up her work +again, and bent her head down over the frame. At the same moment +the Countess returned, completely dressed. + +"Order the carriage, Lizaveta," said she, "we will go out for a +drive." + +Lizaveta rose from the frame, and began to arrange her work. + +"What is the matter with you, my child, are you deaf?" cried the +Countess. "Order the carriage to be got ready at once." + +"I will do so this moment," replied the young lady, hastening into +the anteroom. + +A servant entered and gave the Countess some books from Prince Paul +Alexandrovitch. + +"Tell him that I am much obliged to him," said the Countess. +"Lizaveta! Lizaveta! where are you running to?" + +"I am going to dress." + +"There is plenty of time, my dear. Sit down here. Open the first +volume and read to me aloud." + +Her companion took the book and read a few lines. + +"Louder," said the Countess. "What is the matter with you, my +child? Have you lost your voice? Wait--Give me that footstool-- +a little nearer--that will do!" + +Lizaveta read two more pages. The Countess yawned. + +"Put the book down," said she, "what a lot of nonsense! Send it +back to Prince Paul with my thanks. . . . But where is the +carriage?" + +"The carriage is ready," said Lizaveta, looking out into the +street. + +"How is it that you are not dressed?" said the Countess. "I must +always wait for you. It is intolerable, my dear!" + +Liza hastened to her room. She had not been there two minutes +before the Countess began to ring with all her might. The three +waiting-maids came running in at one door, and the valet at +another. + +"How is it that you cannot hear me when I ring for you?" said the +Countess. "Tell Lizaveta Ivanovna that I am waiting for her." + +Lizaveta returned with her hat and cloak on. + +"At last you are here!" said the Countess. "But why such an +elaborate toilette? Whom do you intend to captivate? What sort of +weather is it? It seems rather windy." + +"No, your Ladyship, it is very calm," replied the valet. + +"You never think of what you are talking about. Open the window. +So it is; windy and bitterly cold. Unharness the horses, Lizaveta, +we won't go out--there was no need to deck yourself like that." + +"What a life is mine!" thought Lizaveta Ivanovna. + +And, in truth, Lizaveta Ivanovna was a very unfortunate creature. +"The bread of the stranger is bitter," says Dante, "and his +staircase hard to climb." But who can know what the bitterness of +dependence is so well as the poor companion of an old lady of +quality? The Countess A---- had by no means a bad heart, but she +was capricious, like a woman who had been spoiled by the world, as +well as being avaricious and egotistical, like all old people, who +have seen their best days, and whose thoughts are with the past, +and not the present. She participated in all the vanities of the +great world, went to balls, where she sat in a corner, painted and +dressed in old-fashioned style, like a deformed but indispensable +ornament of the ballroom; all the guests on entering approached her +and made a profound bow, as if in accordance with a set ceremony, +but after that nobody took any further notice of her. She received +the whole town at her house, and observed the strictest etiquette, +although she could no longer recognize the faces of people. Her +numerous domestics, growing fat and old in her antechamber and +servants' hall, did just as they liked, and vied with each other in +robbing the aged Countess in the most bare-faced manner. Lizaveta +Ivanovna was the martyr of the household. She made tea, and was +reproached with using too much sugar; she read novels aloud to the +Countess, and the faults of the author were visited upon her head; +she accompanied the Countess in her walks, and was held answerable +for the weather or the state of the pavement. A salary was +attached to the post, but she very rarely received it, although she +was expected to dress like everybody else, that is to say, like +very few indeed. In society she played the most pitiable role. +Everybody knew her, and nobody paid her any attention. At balls +she danced only when a partner was wanted, and ladies would only +take hold of her arm when it was necessary to lead her out of the +room to attend to their dresses. She was very self-conscious, and +felt her position keenly, and she looked about her with impatience +for a deliverer to come to her rescue; but the young men, +calculating in their giddiness, honored her with but very little +attention, although Lizaveta Ivanovna was a hundred times prettier +than the bare-faced, cold-hearted marriageable girls around whom +they hovered. Many a time did she quietly slink away from the +glittering, but wearisome, drawing-room, to go and cry in her own +poor little room, in which stood a screen, a chest of drawers, a +looking-glass, and a painted bedstead, and where a tallow candle +burnt feebly in a copper candle-stick. + +One morning--this was about two days after the evening party +described at the beginning of this story, and a week previous to +the scene at which we have just assisted--Lizaveta Ivanovna was +seated near the window at her embroidery frame, when, happening to +look out into the street, she caught sight of a young Engineer +officer, standing motionless with his eyes fixed upon her window. +She lowered her head, and went on again with her work. About five +minutes afterwards she looked out again--the young officer was +still standing in the same place. Not being in the habit of +coquetting with passing officers, she did not continue to gaze out +into the street, but went on sewing for a couple of hours, without +raising her head. Dinner was announced. She rose up and began to +put her embroidery away, but glancing casually out of the window, +she perceived the officer again. This seemed to her very strange. +After dinner she went to the window with a certain feeling of +uneasiness, but the officer was no longer there--and she thought no +more about him. + +A couple of days afterwards, just as she was stepping into the +carriage with the Countess, she saw him again. He was standing +close behind the door, with his face half-concealed by his fur +collar, but his dark eyes sparkled beneath his cap. Lizaveta felt +alarmed, though she knew not why, and she trembled as she seated +herself in the carriage. + +On returning home, she hastened to the window--the officer was +standing in his accustomed place, with his eyes fixed upon her. +She drew back, a prey to curiosity, and agitated by a feeling which +was quite new to her. + +From that time forward not a day passed without the young officer +making his appearance under the window at the customary hour, and +between him and her there was established a sort of mute +acquaintance. Sitting in her place at work, she used to feel his +approach, and, raising her head, she would look at him longer and +longer each day. The young man seemed to be very grateful to her; +she saw with the sharp eye of youth, how a sudden flush covered his +pale cheeks each time that their glances met. After about a week +she commenced to smile at him. . . . + +When Tomsky asked permission of his grandmother, the Countess, to +present one of his friends to her, the young girl's heart beat +violently. But hearing that Naroumoff was not an Engineer, she +regretted that by her thoughtless question, she had betrayed her +secret to the volatile Tomsky. + +Hermann was the son of a German who had become a naturalized +Russian, and from whom he had inherited a small capital. Being +firmly convinced of the necessity of preserving his independence, +Hermann did not touch his private income, but lived on his pay, +without allowing himself the slightest luxury. Moreover, he was +reserved and ambitious, and his companions rarely had an +opportunity of making merry at the expense of his extreme +parsimony. He had strong passions and an ardent imagination, but +his firmness of disposition preserved him from the ordinary errors +of young men. Thus, though a gamester at heart, he never touched a +card, for he considered his position did not allow him--as he said-- +"to risk the necessary in the hope of winning the superfluous," +yet he would sit for nights together at the card table and follow +with feverish anxiety the different turns of the game. + +The story of the three cards had produced a powerful impression +upon his imagination, and all night long he could think of nothing +else. "If," he thought to himself the following evening, as he +walked along the streets of St. Petersburg, "if the old Countess +would not reveal her secret to me! If she would only tell me the +names of the three winning cards. Why should I not try my fortune? +I must get introduced to her and win her favor--become her +lover. . . . But all that will take time, and she is eighty-seven +years old. She might be dead in a week, in a couple of days even. +But the story itself? Can it really be true? No! Economy, +temperance, and industry; those are my three winning cards; by +means of them I shall be able to double my capital--increase it +sevenfold, and procure for myself ease and independence." + +Musing in this manner, he walked on until he found himself in one +of the principal streets of St. Petersburg, in front of a house of +antiquated architecture. The street was blocked with equipages; +carriages one after the other drew up in front of the brilliantly +illuminated doorway. At one moment there stepped out onto the +pavement the well-shaped little foot of some young beauty, at +another the heavy boot of a cavalry officer, and then the silk +stockings and shoes of a member of the diplomatic world. Fur and +cloaks passed in rapid succession before the gigantic porter at the +entrance. Hermann stopped. "Whose house is this?" he asked of the +watchman at the corner. + +"The Countess A----'s," replied the watchman. + +Hermann started. The strange story of the three cards again +presented itself to his imagination. He began walking up and down +before the house, thinking of its owner and her strange secret. +Returning late to his modest lodging, he could not go to sleep for +a long time, and when at last he did doze off, he could dream of +nothing but cards, green tables, piles of banknotes, and heaps of +ducats. He played one card after the other, winning +uninterruptedly, and then he gathered up the gold and filled his +pockets with the notes. When he woke up late the next morning, he +sighed over the loss of his imaginary wealth, and then sallying out +into the town, he found himself once more in front of the +Countess's residence. Some unknown power seemed to have attracted +him thither. He stopped and looked up at the windows. At one of +these he saw a head with luxuriant black hair, which was bent down, +probably over some book or an embroidery frame. The head was +raised. Hermann saw a fresh complexion, and a pair of dark eyes. +That moment decided his fate. + + +III + + +Lizaveta Ivanovna had scarcely taken off her hat and cloak, when +the Countess sent for her, and again ordered her to get the +carriage ready. The vehicle drew up before the door, and they +prepared to take their seats. Just at the moment when two footmen +were assisting the old lady to enter the carriage, Lizaveta saw her +Engineer standing close beside the wheel; he grasped her hand; +alarm caused her to lose her presence of mind, and the young man +disappeared--but not before he had left a letter between her +fingers. She concealed it in her glove, and during the whole of +the drive she neither saw nor heard anything. It was the custom of +the Countess, when out for an airing in her carriage, to be +constantly asking such questions as "Who was that person that met +us just now? What is the name of this bridge? What is written on +that sign-board?" On this occasion, however, Lizaveta returned +such vague and absurd answers, that the Countess became angry with +her. + +"What is the matter with you, my dear?" she exclaimed. "Have you +taken leave of your senses, or what is it? Do you not hear me or +understand what I say? Heaven be thanked, I am still in my right +mind and speak plainly enough!" + +Lizaveta Ivanovna did not hear her. On returning home she ran to +her room, and drew the letter out of her glove: it was not sealed. +Lizaveta read it. The letter contained a declaration of love; it +was tender, respectful, and copied word for word from a German +novel. But Lizaveta did not know anything of the German language, +and she was quite delighted. + +For all that, the letter caused her to feel exceedingly uneasy. +For the first time in her life she was entering into secret and +confidential relations with a young man. His boldness alarmed her. +She reproached herself for her imprudent behavior, and knew not +what to do. Should she cease to sit at the window, and, by +assuming an appearance of indifference towards him, put a check +upon the young officer's desire for further acquaintance with her? +Should she send his letter back to him, or should she answer him in +a cold and decided manner? There was nobody to whom she could turn +in her perplexity, for she had neither female friend nor adviser. +At length she resolved to reply to him. + +She sat down at her little writing table, took pen and paper, and +began to think. Several times she began her letter and then tore +it up; the way she had expressed herself seemed to her either too +inviting or too cold and decisive. At last she succeeded in +writing a few lines with which she felt satisfied. + +"I am convinced," she wrote, "that your intentions are honorable, +and that you do not wish to offend me by any imprudent behavior, +but our acquaintance must not begin in such a manner. I return you +your letter, and I hope that I shall never have any cause to +complain of this undeserved slight." + +The next day, as soon as Hermann made his appearance, Lizaveta rose +from her embroidery, went into the drawing-room, opened the +ventilator, and threw the letter into the street, trusting that the +young officer would have the perception to pick it up. + +Hermann hastened forward, picked it up, and then repaired to a +confectioner's shop. Breaking the seal of the envelope, he found +inside it his own letter and Lizaveta's reply. He had expected +this, and he returned home, his mind deeply occupied with his +intrigue. + +Three days afterwards a bright-eyed young girl from a milliner's +establishment brought Lizaveta a letter. Lizaveta opened it with +great uneasiness, fearing that it was a demand for money, when, +suddenly, she recognized Hermann's handwriting. + +"You have made a mistake, my dear," said she. "This letter is not +for me." + +"Oh, yes, it is for you," replied the girl, smiling very knowingly. +"Have the goodness to read it." + +Lizaveta glanced at the letter. Hermann requested an interview. + +"It cannot be," she cried, alarmed at the audacious request and the +manner in which it was made. "This letter is certainly not for +me," and she tore it into fragments. + +"If the letter was not for you, why have you torn it up?" said the +girl. "I should have given it back to the person who sent it." + +"Be good enough, my dear," said Lizaveta, disconcerted by this +remark, "not to bring me any more letters for the future, and tell +the person who sent you that he ought to be ashamed." + +But Hermann was not the man to be thus put off. Every day Lizaveta +received from him a letter, sent now in this way, now in that. +They were no longer translated from the German. Hermann wrote them +under the inspiration of passion, and spoke in his own language, +and they bore full testimony to the inflexibility of his desire, +and the disordered condition of his uncontrollable imagination. +Lizaveta no longer thought of sending them back to him; she became +intoxicated with them, and began to reply to them, and little by +little her answers became longer and more affectionate. At last +she threw out of the window to him the following letter: + +"This evening there is going to be a ball at the Embassy. The +Countess will be there. We shall remain until two o'clock. You +have now an opportunity of seeing me alone. As soon as the +Countess is gone, the servants will very probably go out, and there +will be nobody left but the Swiss, but he usually goes to sleep in +his lodge. Come about half-past eleven. Walk straight upstairs. +If you meet anybody in the anteroom, ask if the Countess is at +home. You will be told 'No,' in which case there will be nothing +left for you to do but to go away again. But it is most probable +that you will meet nobody. The maidservants will all be together +in one room. On leaving the anteroom, turn to the left, and walk +straight on until you reach the Countess's bedroom. In the +bedroom, behind a screen, you will find two doors: the one on the +right leads to a cabinet, which the Countess never enters; the one +on the left leads to a corridor, at the end of which is a little +winding staircase; this leads to my room." + +Hermann trembled like a tiger as he waited for the appointed time +to arrive. At ten o'clock in the evening he was already in front +of the Countess's house. The weather was terrible; the wind blew +with great violence, the sleety snow fell in large flakes, the +lamps emitted a feeble light, the streets were deserted; from time +to time a sledge drawn by a sorry-looking hack, passed by on the +lookout for a belated passenger. Hermann was enveloped in a thick +overcoat, and felt neither wind nor snow. + +At last the Countess's carriage drew up. Hermann saw two footmen +carry out in their arms the bent form of the old lady, wrapped in +sable fur, and immediately behind her, clad in a warm mantle, and +with her head ornamented with a wreath of fresh flowers, followed +Lizaveta. The door was closed. The carriage rolled heavily away +through the yielding snow. The porter shut the street door, the +windows became dark. + +Hermann began walking up and down near the deserted house; at +length he stopped under a lamp, and glanced at his watch: it was +twenty minutes past eleven. He remained standing under the lamp, +his eyes fixed upon the watch impatiently waiting for the remaining +minutes to pass. At half-past eleven precisely Hermann ascended +the steps of the house and made his way into the brightly- +illuminated vestibule. The porter was not there. Hermann hastily +ascended the staircase, opened the door of the anteroom, and saw a +footman sitting asleep in an antique chair by the side of a lamp. +With a light, firm step Hermann passed by him. The drawing-room +and dining-room were in darkness, but a feeble reflection +penetrated thither from the lamp in the anteroom. + +Hermann reached the Countess's bedroom. Before a shrine, which was +full of old images, a golden lamp was burning. Faded stuffed +chairs and divans with soft cushions stood in melancholy symmetry +around the room, the walls of which were hung with china silk. On +one side of the room hung two portraits painted in Paris by Madame +Lebrun. One of these represented a stout, red-faced man of about +forty years of age, in a bright green uniform, and with a star upon +his breast; the other--a beautiful young woman, with an aquiline +nose, forehead curls, and a rose in her powdered hair. In the +corner stood porcelain shepherds and shepherdesses, dining-room +clocks from the workshop of the celebrated Lefroy, bandboxes, +roulettes, fans, and the various playthings for the amusement of +ladies that were in vogue at the end of the last century, when +Montgolfier's balloons and Niesber's magnetism were the rage. +Hermann stepped behind the screen. At the back of it stood a +little iron bedstead; on the right was the door which led to the +cabinet; on the left, the other which led to the corridor. He +opened the latter, and saw the little winding staircase which led +to the room of the poor companion. But he retraced his steps and +entered the dark cabinet. + +The time passed slowly. All was still. The clock in the drawing- +room struck twelve, the strokes echoed through the room one after +the other, and everything was quiet again. Hermann stood leaning +against the cold stove. He was calm, his heart beat regularly, +like that of a man resolved upon a dangerous but inevitable +undertaking. One o'clock in the morning struck; then two, and he +heard the distant noise of carriage-wheels. An involuntary +agitation took possession of him. The carriage drew near and +stopped. He heard the sound of the carriage steps being let down. +All was bustle within the house. The servants were running hither +and thither, there was a confusion of voices, and the rooms were +lit up. Three antiquated chambermaids entered the bedroom, and +they were shortly afterwards followed by the Countess, who, more +dead than alive, sank into a Voltaire armchair. Hermann peeped +through a chink. Lizaveta Ivanovna passed close by him, and he +heard her hurried steps as she hastened up the little spiral +staircase. For a moment his heart was assailed by something like a +pricking of conscience, but the emotion was only transitory, and +his heart became petrified as before. + +The Countess began to undress before her looking-glass. Her rose- +bedecked cap was taken off, and then her powdered wig was removed +from off her white and closely cut hair. Hairpins fell in showers +around her. Her yellow satin dress, brocaded with silver, fell +down at her swollen feet. + +Hermann was a witness of the repugnant mysteries of her toilette; +at last the Countess was in her night-cap and dressing-gown, and in +this costume, more suitable to her age, she appeared less hideous +and deformed. + +Like all old people, in general, the Countess suffered from +sleeplessness. Having undressed, she seated herself at the window +in a Voltaire armchair, and dismissed her maids. The candles were +taken away, and once more the room was left with only one lamp +burning in it. The Countess sat there looking quite yellow, +mumbling with her flaccid lips and swaying to and fro. Her dull +eyes expressed complete vacancy of mind, and, looking at her, one +would have thought that the rocking of her body was not a voluntary +action of her own, but was produced by the action of some concealed +galvanic mechanism. + +Suddenly the death-like face assumed an inexplicable expression. +The lips ceased to tremble, the eyes became animated: before the +Countess stood an unknown man. + +"Do not be alarmed, for Heaven's sake, do not be alarmed!" said he +in a low but distinct voice. "I have no intention of doing you any +harm; I have only come to ask a favor of you." + +The old woman looked at him in silence, as if she had not heard +what he had said. Hermann thought that she was deaf, and, bending +down towards her ear, he repeated what he had said. The aged +Countess remained silent as before. + +"You can insure the happiness of my life," continued Hermann, "and +it will cost you nothing. I know that you can name three cards in +order--" + +Hermann stopped. The Countess appeared now to understand what he +wanted; she seemed as if seeking for words to reply. + +"It was a joke," she replied at last. "I assure you it was only a +joke." + +"There is no joking about the matter," replied Hermann, angrily. +"Remember Chaplitsky, whom you helped to win." + +The Countess became visibly uneasy. Her features expressed strong +emotion, but they quickly resumed their former immobility. + +"Can you not name me these three winning cards?" continued Hermann. + +The Countess remained silent; Hermann continued: + +"For whom are you preserving your secret? For your grandsons? +They are rich enough without it, they do not know the worth of +money. Your cards would be of no use to a spendthrift. He who +cannot preserve his paternal inheritance will die in want, even +though he had a demon at his service. I am not a man of that sort. +I know the value of money. Your three cards will not be thrown +away upon me. Come!" + +He paused and tremblingly awaited her reply. The Countess remained +silent. Hermann fell upon his knees. + +"If your heart has ever known the feeling of love," said be, "if +you remember its rapture, if you have ever smiled at the cry of +your new-born child, if any human feeling has ever entered into +your breast, I entreat you by the feelings of a wife, a lover, a +mother, by all that is most sacred in life, not to reject my +prayer. Reveal to me your secret. Of what use is it to you? May +be it is connected with some terrible sin, with the loss of eternal +salvation, with some bargain with the devil. Reflect, you are old, +you have not long to live--I am ready to take your sins upon my +soul. Only reveal to me your secret. Remember that the happiness +of a man is in your hands, that not only I, but my children and my +grandchildren, will bless your memory and reverence you as a +saint." + +The old Countess answered not a word. + +Hermann rose to his feet. + +"You old hag!" he exclaimed, grinding his teeth, "then I will make +you answer!" With these words he drew a pistol from his pocket. +At the sight of the pistol, the Countess for the second time +exhibited strong emotions. She shook her head, and raised her +hands as if to protect herself from the shot. Then she fell +backwards, and remained motionless. + +"Come, an end to this childish nonsense!" said Hermann, taking hold +of her hand. "I ask you for the last time: will you tell me the +names of your three cards, or will you not?" + +The Countess made no reply. Hermann perceived that she was dead! + + +IV + + +Lizaveta Ivanovna was sitting in her room, still in her ball dress, +lost in deep thought. On returning home, she had hastily dismissed +the chambermaid, who very reluctantly came forward to assist her, +saying that she would undress herself, and with a trembling heart +had gone up to her own room, expecting to find Hermann there, but +yet hoping not to find him. At the first glance he was not there, +and she thanked her fate for having prevented him keeping the +appointment. She sat down without undressing, and began to call to +mind all the circumstances which in a short time had carried her so +far. It was not three weeks since the time when she had first seen +the young officer from the window--and yet she was already in +correspondence with him, and he had succeeded in inducing her to +grant him a nocturnal interview. She knew his name only through +his having written it at the bottom of some of his letters; she had +never spoken to him, had never heard his voice, and had never heard +him spoken of until that evening. But, strange to say, that very +evening at the ball, Tomsky, being piqued with the young Princess +Pauline N----, who, contrary to her usual custom, did not flirt +with him, wished to revenge himself by assuming an air of +indifference: he therefore engaged Lizaveta Ivanovna, and danced an +endless mazurka with her. During the whole of the time he kept +teasing her about her partiality for Engineer officers, he assured +her that he knew far more than she imagined, and some of his jests +were so happily aimed, that Lizaveta thought several times that her +secret was known to him. + +"From whom have you learned all this?" she asked, smiling. + +"From a friend of a person very well known to you," replied Tomsky, +"from a very distinguished man." + +"And whom is this distinguished man?" + +"His name is Hermann." Lizaveta made no reply, but her hands and +feet lost all sense of feeling. + +"This Hermann," continued Tomsky, "is a man of romantic +personality. He has the profile of a Napoleon, and the soul of a +Mephistopheles. I believe that he has at least three crimes upon +his conscience. How pale you have become!" + +"I have a headache. But what did this Hermann, or whatever his +name is, tell you?" + +"Hermann is very dissatisfied with his friend. He says that in his +place he would act very differently. I even think that Hermann +himself has designs upon you; at least, he listens very attentively +to all that his friend has to say about you." + +"And where has he seen me?" + +"In church, perhaps; or on the parade. God alone knows where. It +may have been in your room, while you were asleep, for there is +nothing that he--" + +Three ladies approaching him with the question: "oubli ou regret?" +interrupted the conversation, which had become so tantalizingly +interesting to Lizaveta. + +The lady chosen by Tomsky was the Princess Pauline herself. She +succeeded in effecting a reconciliation with him during the +numerous turns of the dance, after which he conducted her to her +chair. On returning to his place, Tomsky thought no more either of +Hermann or Lizaveta. She longed to renew the interrupted +conversation, but the mazurka came to an end, and shortly +afterwards the old Countess took her departure. + +Tomsky's words were nothing more than the customary small talk of +the dance, but they sank deep into the soul of the young dreamer. +The portrait, sketched by Tomsky, coincided with the picture she +had formed within her own mind, and, thanks to the latest romances, +the ordinary countenance of her admirer became invested with +attributes capable of alarming her and fascinating her imagination +at the same time. She was now sitting with her bare arms crossed, +and with her head, still adorned with flowers, sunk upon her +uncovered bosom. Suddenly the door opened and Hermann entered. +She shuddered. + +"Where were you?" she asked in a terrified whisper. + +"In the old Countess's bedroom," replied Hermann. "I have just +left her. The Countess is dead." + +"My God! What do you say?" + +"And I am afraid," added Hermann, "that I am the cause of her +death." + +Lizaveta looked at him, and Tomsky's words found an echo in her +soul: "This man has at least three crimes upon his conscience!" +Hermann sat down by the window near her, and related all that had +happened. + +Lizaveta listened to him in terror. So all those passionate +letters, those ardent desires, this bold, obstinate pursuit--all +this was not love! Money--that was what his soul yearned for! She +could not satisfy his desire and make him happy. The poor girl had +been nothing but the blind tool of a robber, of the murderer of her +aged benefactress! She wept bitter tears of agonized repentance. +Hermann gazed at her in silence; his heart, too, was a prey to +violent emotion, but neither the tears of the poor girl, nor the +wonderful charm of her beauty, enhanced by her grief, could produce +any impression upon his hardened soul. He felt no pricking of +conscience at the thought of the dead old woman. One thing only +grieved him: the irreparable loss of the secret from which he had +expected to obtain great wealth. + +"You are a monster!" said Lizaveta at last. + +"I did not wish for her death," replied Hermann, "my pistol was not +loaded." Both remained silent. The day began to dawn. Lizaveta +extinguished her candle, a pale light illumined her room. She +wiped her tear-stained eyes, and raised them towards Hermann. He +was sitting near the window, with his arms crossed, and with a +fierce frown upon his forehead. In this attitude he bore a +striking resemblance to the portrait of Napoleon. This resemblance +struck Lizaveta even. + +"How shall I get you out of the house?" said she at last. "I +thought of conducting you down the secret staircase." + +"I will go alone," he answered. + +Lizaveta arose, took from her drawer a key, handed it to Hermann, +and gave him the necessary instructions. Hermann pressed her cold, +inert hand, kissed her bowed head, and left the room. + +He descended the winding staircase, and once more entered the +Countess's bedroom. The dead old lady sat as if petrified, her +face expressed profound tranquillity. Hermann stopped before her, +and gazed long and earnestly at her, as if he wished to convince +himself of the terrible reality. At last he entered the cabinet, +felt behind the tapestry for the door, and then began to descend +the dark staircase, filled with strange emotions. "Down this very +staircase," thought he, "perhaps coming from the very same room, +and at this very same hour sixty years ago, there may have glided, +in an embroidered coat, with his hair dressed a l'oiseau royal, and +pressing to his heart his three-cornered hat, some young gallant +who has long been mouldering in the grave, but the heart of his +aged mistress has only today ceased to beat." + +At the bottom of the staircase Hermann found a door, which he +opened with a key, and then traversed a corridor which conducted +him into the street. + + +V + + +Three days after the fatal night, at nine o'clock in the morning, +Hermann repaired to the Convent of -----, where the last honors +were to be paid to the mortal remains of the old Countess. +Although feeling no remorse, he could not altogether stifle the +voice of conscience, which said to him: "You are the murderer of +the old woman!" In spite of his entertaining very little religious +belief, he was exceedingly superstitions; and believing that the +dead Countess might exercise an evil influence on his life, he +resolved to be present at her obsequies in order to implore her +pardon. + +The church was full. It was with difficulty that Hermann made his +way through the crowd of people. The coffin was placed upon a rich +catafalque beneath a velvet baldachin. The deceased Countess lay +within it, with her hands crossed upon her breast, with a lace cap +upon her head, and dressed in a white satin robe. Around the +catafalque stood the members of her household; the servants in +black caftans, with armorial ribbons upon their shoulders and +candles in their hands; the relatives--children, grandchildren, and +great-grandchildren--in deep mourning. + +Nobody wept, tears would have been an affectation. The Countess +was so old that her death could have surprised nobody, and her +relatives had long looked upon her as being out of the world. A +famous preacher delivered the funeral sermon. In simple and +touching words he described the peaceful passing away of the +righteous, who had passed long years in calm preparation for a +Christian end. "The angel of death found her," said the orator, +"engaged in pious meditation and waiting for the midnight +bridegroom." + +The service concluded amidst profound silence. The relatives went +forward first to take a farewell of the corpse. Then followed the +numerous guests, who had come to render the last homage to her who +for so many years had been a participator in their frivolous +amusements. After these followed the members of the Countess's +household. The last of these an old woman of the same age as the +deceased. Two young women led her forward by the hand. She had +not strength enough to bow down to the ground--she merely shed a +few tears, and kissed the cold hand of the mistress. + +Herman now resolved to approach the coffin. He knelt down upon the +cold stones, and remained in that position for some minutes; at +last he arose as pale as the deceased Countess herself; he ascended +the steps of the catafalque and bent over the corpse. . . . At +that moment it seemed to him that the dead woman darted a mocking +look at him and winked with one eye. Hermann started back, took a +false step, and fell to the ground. Several persons hurried +forward and raised him up. At the same moment Lizaveta Ivanovna +was borne fainting into the porch of the church. This episode +disturbed for some minutes the solemnity of the gloomy ceremony. +Among the congregation arose a deep murmur, and a tall, thin +chamberlain, a near relative of the deceased, whispered in the ear +of an Englishman, who was standing near him, that the young officer +was a natural son of the Countess, to which the Englishman coldly +replied "Oh!" + +During the whole of that day Hermann was strangely excited. +Repairing to an out of the way restaurant to dine, be drank a great +deal of wine, contrary to his usual custom, in the hope of +deadening his inward agitation. But the wine only served to excite +his imagination still more. On returning home he threw himself +upon his bed without undressing, and fell into a deep sleep. + +When he woke up it was already night, and the moon was shining into +the room. He looked at his watch: it was a quarter to three. +Sleep had left him; he sat down upon his bed, and thought of the +funeral of the old Countess. + +At that moment somebody in the street looked in at his window and +immediately passed on again. Hermann paid no attention to this +incident. A few moments afterwards he heard the door of his +anteroom open. Hermann thought that it was his orderly, drunk as +usual, returning from some nocturnal expedition, but presently he +heard footsteps that were unknown to him: somebody was walking +softly over the floor in slippers. The door opened, and a woman +dressed in white entered the room. Hermann mistook her for his old +nurse, and wondered what could bring her there at that hour of the +night. But the white woman glided rapidly across the room and +stood before him--and Hermann thought he recognized the Countess. + +"I have come to you against my wish," she said in a firm voice, +"but I have been ordered to grant your request. Three, seven, ace, +will win for you if played in succession, but only on these +conditions: that you do not play more than one card in twenty-four- +hours, and that you never play again during the rest of your life. +I forgive you my death, on condition that you marry my companion, +Lizaveta Ivanovna." + +With these words she turned round very quietly, walked with a +shuffling gait towards the door, and disappeared. Hermann heard +the street door open and shut, and again he saw someone look in at +him through the window. + +For a long time Hermann could not recover himself. He then rose up +and entered the next room. His orderly was lying asleep upon the +floor, and he had much difficulty in waking him. The orderly was +drunk as usual, and no information could be obtained from him. The +street door was locked. Hermann returned to his room, lit his +candle, and wrote down all the details of his vision. + + +VI + + +Two fixed ideas can no more exist together in the moral world than +two bodies can occupy one and the same physical world. "Three, +seven, ace" soon drove out of Hermann's mind the thought of the +dead Countess. "Three, seven, ace" were perpetually running +through his head, and continually being repeated by his lips. If +he saw a young girl, he would say: "How slender she is; quite like +the three of hearts." If anybody asked "What is the time?" he +would reply: "Five minutes to seven." Every stout man that he saw +reminded him of the ace. "Three, seven, ace" haunted him in his +sleep, and assumed all possible shapes. The threes bloomed before +him in the forms of magnificent flowers, the sevens were +represented by Gothic portals, and the aces became transformed into +gigantic spiders. One thought alone occupied his whole mind--to +make a profitable use of the secret which he had purchased so +dearly. He thought of applying for a furlough so as to travel +abroad. He wanted to go to Paris and tempt fortune in some +gambling houses that abounded there. Chance spared him all this +trouble. + +There was in Moscow a society of rich gamesters, presided over by +the celebrated Chekalinsky, who had passed all his life at the card +table, and had amassed millions, accepting bills of exchange for +his winnings, and paying his losses in ready money. His long +experience secured for him the confidence of his companions, and +his open house, his famous cook, and his agreeable and fascinating +manners, gained for him the respect of the public. He came to St. +Petersburg. The young men of the capital flocked to his rooms, +forgetting balls for cards, and preferring the emotions of faro to +the seductions of flirting. Naroumoff conducted Hermann to +Chekalinsky's residence. + +They passed through a suite of rooms, filled with attentive +domestics. The place was crowded. Generals and Privy Counsellors +were playing at whist, young men were lolling carelessly upon the +velvet-covered sofas, eating ices and smoking pipes. In the +drawing-room, at the head of a long table, around which were +assembled about a score of players, sat the master of the house +keeping the bank. He was a man of about sixty years of age, of a +very dignified appearance; his head was covered with silvery white +hair; his full, florid countenance expressed good-nature, and his +eyes twinkled with a perpetual smile. Naroumoff introduced Hermann +to him. Chekalinsky shook him by the hand in a friendly manner, +requested him not to stand on ceremony, and then went on dealing. + +The game occupied some time. On the table lay more than thirty +cards. Chekalinsky paused after each throw, in order to give the +players time to arrange their cards and note down their losses, +listened politely to their requests, and more politely still, +straightened the corners of cards that some player's hand had +chanced to bend. At last the game was finished. Chekalinsky +shuffled the cards, and prepared to deal again. + +"Will you allow me to take a card?" said Hermann, stretching out +his hand from behind a stout gentleman who was punting. + +Chekalinsky smiled and bowed silently, as a sign of acquiescence. +Naroumoff laughingly congratulated Hermann on his abjuration of +that abstention from cards which he had practised for so long a +period, and wished him a lucky beginning. + +"Stake!" said Hermann, writing some figures with chalk on the back +of his card. + +"How much?" asked the banker, contracting the muscles of his eyes, +"excuse me, I cannot see quite clearly." + +"Forty-seven thousand roubles," replied Hermann. At these words +every head in the room turned suddenly round, and all eyes were +fixed upon Hermann. + +"He has taken leave of his senses!" thought Naroumoff. + +"Allow me to inform you," said Chekalinsky, with his eternal smile, +"that you are playing very high; nobody here has ever staked more +than two hundred and seventy-five roubles at once." + +"Very well," replied Hermann, "but do you accept my card or not?" + +Chekalinsky bowed in token of consent. + +"I only wish to observe," said he, "that although I have the +greatest confidence in my friends, I can only play against ready +money. For my own part I am quite convinced that your word is +sufficient, but for the sake of the order of the game, and to +facilitate the reckoning up, I must ask you to put the money on +your card." + +Hermann drew from his pocket a bank-note, and handed it to +Chekalinsky, who, after examining it in a cursory manner, placed it +on Hermann's card. + +He began to deal. On the right a nine turned up, and on the left a +three. + +"I have won!" said Hermann, showing his card. + +A murmur of astonishment arose among the players. Chekalinsky +frowned, but the smile quickly returned to his face. "Do you wish +me to settle with you?" he said to Hermann. + +"If you please," replied the latter. + +Chekalinsky drew from his pocket a number of banknotes and paid at +once. Hermann took up his money and left the table. Naroumoff +could not recover from his astonishment. Hermann drank a glass of +lemonade and returned home. + +The next evening he again repaired to Chekalinsky's. The host was +dealing. Hermann walked up to the table; the punters immediately +made room for him. Chekalinsky greeted him with a gracious bow. + +Hermann waited for the next deal, took a card and placed upon it +his forty-seven thousand roubles, together with his winnings of the +previous evening. + +Chekalinsky began to deal. A knave turned up on the right, a seven +on the left. + +Hermann showed his seven. + +There was a general exclamation. Chekalinsky was evidently ill at +ease, but he counted out the ninety-four thousand roubles and +handed them over to Hermann, who pocketed them in the coolest +manner possible, and immediately left the house. + +The next evening Hermann appeared again at the table. Everyone was +expecting him. The generals and privy counsellors left their whist +in order to watch such extraordinary play. The young officers +quitted their sofas, and even the servants crowded into the room. +All pressed round Hermann. The other players left off punting, +impatient to see how it would end. Hermann stood at the table, and +prepared to play alone against the pale, but still smiling +Chekalinsky. Each opened a pack of cards. Chekalinsky shuffled. +Hermann took a card and covered it with a pile of bank-notes. It +was like a duel. Deep silence reigned around. + +Chekalinsky began to deal, his hands trembled. On the right a +queen turned up, and on the left an ace. + +"Ace has won!" cried Hermann, showing his card. + +"Your queen has lost," said Chekalinsky, politely. + +Hermann started; instead of an ace, there lay before him the queen +of spades! He could not believe his eyes, nor could he understand +how he had made such a mistake. + +At that moment it seemed to him that the queen of spades smiled +ironically, and winked her eye at him. He was struck by her +remarkable resemblance. . . . + +"The old Countess!" he exclaimed, seized with terror. Chekalinsky +gathered up his winnings. For some time Hermann remained perfectly +motionless. When at last he left the table, there was a general +commotion in the room. + +"Splendidly punted!" said the players. Chekalinsky shuffled the +cards afresh, and the game went on as usual. + + . . . . . + +Hermann went out of his mind, and is now confined in room number +seventeen of the Oboukhoff Hospital. He never answers any +questions, but he constantly mutters with unusual rapidity: "Three, +seven, ace! Three, seven, queen!" + +Lizaveta Ivanovna has married a very amiable young man, a son of +the former steward of the old Countess. He is in the service of +the State somewhere, and is in receipt of a good income. Lizaveta +is also supporting a poor relative. + +Tomsky has been promoted to the rank of captain, and has become the +husband of the Princess Pauline. + + + +Vera Jelihovsky + +The General's Will + + +It happened in winter, just before the holidays. Ivan Feodorovitch +Lobnitchenko, the lawyer, whose office is in one of the main +streets of St. Petersburg, was called hurriedly to witness the last +will and testament of one at the point of death. The sick man was +not strictly a client of Ivan Feodorovitch; under other +circumstances, he might have refused to make this late call, after +a day's heavy toil . . . but the dying man was an aristocrat and a +millionaire, and such as he meet no refusals, whether in life, or, +much more, at the moment of death. + +Lobnitchenko, taking a secretary and everything necessary, with a +sigh scratched himself behind the ear, and thrusting aside the +thought of the delightful evening at cards that awaited him, set +out to go to the sick man. + +General Iuri Pavlovitch Nasimoff was far gone. Even the most +compassionate doctors did not give him many days to live, when he +finally decided to destroy the will which he had made long ago, not +in St. Petersburg, but in the provincial city where he had played +the Tsar for so many years. The general had come to the capital +for a time, and had lain down--to rise no more. + +This was the opinion of the physicians, and of most of those about +him; the sick man himself was unwilling to admit it. He was a +stalwart-hearted and until recently a stalwart-bodied old man, +tall, striking, with an energetic face, and a piercing, masterful +glance, hard to forget, even if you saw him only once. + +He was lying on the sofa, in a richly furnished hotel suite, +consisting of three of the best rooms. He received the lawyer +gayly enough. He himself explained the circumstances to him, +though every now and then compelled to stop by a paroxysm of pain, +with difficulty repressing the groans which almost escaped him, in +spite of all his efforts. During these heavy moments, Ivan +Feodorovitch raised his eyes buried in fat to the sick man's face, +and his plump little features were convulsed in sympathy with the +sufferer's pain. As soon as the courageous old man, fighting hard +with the paroxysms of pain, had got the better of them, taking his +hands from his contorted face, and drawing a painful breath, he +began anew to explain his will. Lobnitchenko dropped his eyes +again and became all attention. + +The general explained in detail to the lawyer. He had been married +twice, and had three children, a son and a daughter from his first +marriage, who had long ago reached adultship, and a nine-year-old +daughter from his second marriage. His second wife and daughter he +expected every day; they were abroad, but would soon return. His +elder daughter would also probably come. + +The lawyer was not acquainted with Nazimoff's family; indeed he had +never before seen the general, though, like all Russia, he knew of +him by repute. But judging from the tone of contempt or of pity +with which he spoke of his second wife or her daughter, the lawyer +guessed at once that the general's home life was not happy. The +further explanations of the sick man convinced him of this. A new +will was to be drawn up, directly contrary to the will signed six +years before, which bequeathed to his second wife, Olga +Vseslavovna, unlimited authority over their little daughter, and +her husband's entire property. In the first will he had left +nearly everything, with the exception of the family estate, which +he did not feel justified in taking from his son, to his second +wife and her daughter. Now he wished to restore to his elder +children the rights which he had deprived them of, and especially +to his eldest daughter, Anna Iurievna Borissova, who was not even +mentioned in the first will. In the new will, with the exception +of the seventh part, the widow's share, he divided the whole of his +land and capital between his children equally; and he further +appointed a strict guardianship over the property of his little +daughter, Olga Iurievna. + +The will was duly arranged, drawn up and witnessed, and after the +three witnesses had signed it, it was left, by the general's wish, +in his own keeping. + +"I will send it to you to take care of," he said to the lawyer. +"It will be safer in your hands than here, in my temporary +quarters. But first I wish to read it to my wife, and . . . to my +eldest daughter . . . if she arrives in time." + +The lawyer and the priest, who was one of the witnesses, were +already preparing to take leave of the general, when voices and +steps were heard in the corridor; a footman's head appeared through +the door, calling the doctor hurriedly forth. It appeared that the +general's lady had arrived suddenly, without letting anyone know by +telegram that she was coming. + +The doctor hastily slipped out of the room; he feared the result of +emotion on the sick man, and wished to warn the general's wife of +his grave danger, but the sick man noticed the move, and it was +impossible to guard him against disturbance. + +"What is going on there?" he asked. "What are you mumbling about, +Edouard Vicentevitch? Tell me what is the matter? Is it my +daughter?" + +"Your excellency, I beg of you to take care of yourself!" the +doctor was beginning, evidently quite familiar with the general's +family affairs, and therefore dreading the meeting of husband and +wife. "It is not Anna Iurievna. . . ." + +"Aha!" the sick man interrupted him; "she has come? Very well. +Let her come in. Only the little one . . . I don't wish her to +come . . . to-day." + +Suffering was visible in his eyes, this time not bodily suffering. + +The door opened, with the rustling of a silk dress. A tall, well- +developed, and decidedly handsome woman appeared on the threshhold. +She glanced at the pain-stricken face, which smiled contemptuously +toward her. In a moment she was beside the general, kneeling +beside him on the carpet, bending close to him, and pressing his +hand, as she repeated in a despairing whisper: + +"Oh, Georges! Georges! Is it really you, my poor friend?" + +It would be hard to define the expression of rapidly changing +emotions which passed over the sick man's face, which made his +breast heave, and his great heart quiver and tremble painfully. +Displeasure and pity, sympathy and contempt, anger and grief, all +were expressed in the short, sharp, bitter laugh, and the few words +which escaped his lips when he saw his little daughter timidly +following her mother into his room. + +"Do not teach her to lie!" and he nodded toward the child, and +turned toward the wall, with an expression of pain and pity on his +face. The lawyer and the priest hastened to take their leave and +disappear. + +"Ah! Sinners! sinners!" muttered the latter, as he descended the +stairs. + +"Things are not in good shape between them?" asked Lobnitchenko. +"They don't get on well together?" + +"How should they be in good shape, when he came here to get a +divorce?" whispered the priest, shaping his fur cap. "But God +decided otherwise. Even without a divorce, he will be separated +forever from his wife!" + +"I don't believe he is so very far gone. He is a stalwart old man. +Perhaps he will pull through," went on the man of law. + +"God's hand is over all," answered the priest, shrugging his +shoulders. And so they went their different ways. + + +II + + +"OLGA!" cried the sick man, without turning round, and feeling near +him the swift movement of his wife, he pushed her away with an +impatient movement of his hand, and added, "Not you! my daughter +Olga!" + +"Olga! Go, my child, papa is calling you," cried the general's +wife in a soft voice, in French, to the little girl, who was +standing undecidedly in the center of the room. + +"Can you not drop your foreign phrases?" angrily interrupted the +general. "This is not a drawing-room! You might drop it, from a +sense of decency." + +His voice became shrill, and made the child shudder and begin to +cry. She went to him timidly. + +The general looked at her with an expression of pain. He drew her +toward him with his left hand, raising the right to bless her. + +"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!" he +whispered, making the sign of the cross over her. "God guard you +from evil, from every bad influence. . . . Be kind . . . honest . . . +most of all, be honest! Never tell lies. God guard you from +falsehood, from lying, even more than from sorrow!" + +Tears filled the dying man's eyes. Little Olga shuddered from head +to foot; she feared her father, and at the same time was so sorry +for him. But pity got the upper hand. She clung to him, wetting +him with her tears. Her father raised his hand, wishing to make +the sign of the cross once more over the little head which lay on +his breast, but could not complete the gesture. His hand fell +heavily, his face was once more contorted, with pain; he turned to +those who stood near him, evidently avoiding meeting his wife's +eyes, and whispered: + +"Take her away. It is enough. Christ be with her!" And for a +moment he collected strength to place his hand on the child's head. + +The doctor took the little girl by the hand, but her mother moved +quickly toward her. + +"Kiss him! Kiss papa's hand!" she whispered, "bid him good-by!" + +The general's wife sobbed, and covered her face with her +handkerchief, with the grand gesture of a stage queen. The sick +man did not see this. At the sound of her voice he frowned and +closed his eyes tight, evidently trying not to listen. The doctor +led the little girl away to another room and gave her to her +governess. + +When he came back to the sick man, the general, lying on the sofa, +still in the same position, and without looking at his wife who +stood beside his pillow, said to her: + +"I expect my poor daughter Anna, who has suffered so much injustice +through you. . . . I have asked her to forgive me. I shall pray +her to be a mother to her little sister . . . . I have appointed +her the child's guardian. She is good and honest . . . she will +teach the child no evil. And this will be best for you also. You +are provided for. You will find out from the new will. You could +not have had any profit from being her guardian. If Anna does not +consent to take little Olga to live with her, and to educate her +with her own children, as I have asked her, Olga will be sent to a +school. You will prefer liberty to your daughter; it will be +pleasanter for you. Is it not so?" + +Contempt and bitter irony were perceptible in his voice. His wife +did not utter a syllable. She remained so quiet that it might have +been thought she did not even hear him, but for the convulsive +movement of her lips, and of the fingers of her tightly clasped +hands. + +The doctor once more made a movement to withdraw discreetly, but +the general's voice stopped him. + +"Edouard Vicentevitch? Is he here?" + +"I am here, your excellency," answered the doctor, bending over the +sick man. "Would not your excellency prefer to be carried to the +bed? It will be more comfortable lying down." + +"More comfortable to die?" sharply interrupted the general. "Why +do you drivel? You know I detest beds and blankets. Drop it! +Here, take this," and he gave him a sheet of crested paper folded +in four, which was lying beside him. "Read it, please. Aloud! so +that she may know." + +He turned his eyes toward his wife. The doctor unwillingly began +his unpleasant task. He was a man of fine feeling, and although he +had no very high opinion of the general's wife, still she was a +woman. And a beautiful woman. He would have preferred that she +should learn from someone else how many of the pleasures of life +were slipping away from her, in virtue of the new will. But there +was nothing for it but to do as he was ordered. It was always hard +to oppose Iuri Pavlovitch; now it was quite impossible. + +Olga Vseslavovna listened to the reading of the will with complete +composure. She sat motionless, leaning back in an armchair, with +downcast eyes, and only showing her emotion when her husband was no +longer able to stifle a groan. Then she turned toward him her +pale, beautiful face, with evident signs of heartfelt sympathy, and +was even rising to come to his assistance. The sick man +impatiently refused her services, significantly turning his eyes +toward the doctor, who was reading his last will and testament, as +though he would say: "Listen! Listen! It concerns you." + +It did concern her, without a doubt. General Nazimoff's wife +learned that, instead of an income of a hundred thousand a year, +which she had had a right to expect, she could count only on a sum +sufficient to keep her from poverty; what in her opinion was a mere +pittance. + +The doctor finished reading, coughing to hide his confusion, and +slowly folded the document. + +"You have heard?" asked the general, in a faint, convulsive voice. + +"I have heard, my friend," quietly answered his wife. + +"You have nothing to say?" + +"What can I say? You have a right to dispose of what belongs to +you. . . . But . . . still I . . ." + +"Still you what?" sharply asked her husband. + +"Still, I hope, my friend, that this is not your last will. . . ." + +General Nazimoff turned, and even made an effort to raise himself +on his elbow. + +"God willing, you will recover. Perhaps you will decide more than +once to make other dispositions of your property," calmly continued +his wife. + +The sick man fell back on the pillows. + +"You are mistaken. Even if I do not die, you will not be able to +deceive me again. This is my last will!" he replied convulsively. + +And with trembling hand he gave the doctor a bunch of keys. + +"There is the dispatch box. Please open it, and put the will in." + +The doctor obeyed his wish, without looking at Olga Vseslavovna. +She, on her part, did not look at him. Shrugging her shoulders at +her husband's last words, she remained motionless, noticing nothing +except his sufferings. His sufferings, it seemed, tortured her. + +Meanwhile the dying man followed the doctor with anxious eyes, and +as soon as the latter closed the large traveling dispatch box he +stretched out his hand to him for the keys. + +"So long as I am alive, I will keep them!" he murmured, putting the +bunch of keys away in his pocket. "And when I am dead, I intrust +them to you, Edouard Vicentevitch. Take care of them, as a last +service to me!" And he turned his face once more to the wall. + +"And now, leave me alone! The pain is less. Perhaps I shall go to +sleep. Leave me!" + +"My friend! Permit me to remain near you," the general's wife +began, bending tenderly over her husband. + +"Go!" he cried sharply. "Leave me in peace, I tell you!" + +She rose, trembling. The doctor hastily offered her his arm. She +left the room, leaning heavily on him, and once more covering her +face with her handkerchief, in tragic style. + +"Be calm, your excellency!" whispered the doctor sympathetically, +only half conscious of what he was saying. "These rooms have been +prepared for you. You also need to rest, after such a long +journey." + +"Oh, I am not thinking about myself. I am so sorry for him. Poor, +poor, senseless creature. How much I have suffered at his hands. +He was always so suspicious, so hard to get on with. And whims and +fantasies without end. You know, doctor, I have sometimes even +thought he was not in full possession of his faculties." + +"Hm!" murmured the doctor, coughing in confusion. + +"Take this strange change of his will, for instance," the general's +wife continued, not waiting for a clearer expression of sympathy. +"Take his manner toward me. And for what reason?" + +"Yes, it is very sad," murmured the doctor. + +"Tell me, doctor, does he expect his son and daughter?" + +"Only his daughter, Anna Iurievna. She promised to come, with her +oldest children. A telegram came yesterday. We have been +expecting her all day." + +"What is the cause of this sudden tenderness? They have not seen +each other for ten years. Does he expect her husband, too? His +son-in-law, the pedagogue?" contemptuously asked the general's +wife. + +"No! How could he come? He could not leave his service. And his +son, too, Peter Iurevitch, he cannot come at once. He is on duty, +in Transcaspia. It is a long way." + +"Yes, it is a long way!" assented the general's wife, evidently +busy with other thoughts. "But tell me, Edouard Vicentevitch, this +new will, has it been written long?" + +"It was drawn up only to-day. The draft was prepared last week, +but the general kept putting it off. But when his pains began this +morning. . . ." + +"Is it the end? Is it dangerous?" interrupted Olga Vseslavovna. + +"Very--a very bad sign. When they began, Iuri Paylovitch sent at +once for the lawyer. He was still here when you arrived." + +"Yes. And the old will, which he made before, has been destroyed?" + +"I do not know for certain. But I think not. Oh, no, I forgot. +The general was going to send a telegram." + +"Yes? to send a telegram?" + +The general's wife shrugged her shoulders, sadly shook her head, +and added: + +"He is so changeable! so changeable! But I think it is all the +same. According to law, only the last will is valid?" + +"Yes, without doubt; the last." + +The general's wife bowed her head. + +"What hurts me most," she whispered, with a bitter smile, bending +close to the young doctor, and leaning heavily on his arm, "what +hurts me most, is not the money. I am not avaricious. But why +should he take my child away from me? Why should he pass over her +own mother, and intrust her to her half-sister? A woman whom I do +not know, who has not distinguished herself by any services or good +actions, so far as I know. I shall not submit. I shall contest +the will. The law must support the right of the mother. What do +you think, doctor?" + +The doctor hastily assented, though, to tell the truth, he was not +thinking of anything at the moment, except the strange manner in +which the general's wife, while talking, pressed close to her +companion. + +At that moment a bell rang, and the general's loud voice was heard: + +"Doctor! Edouard Vicentevitch!" + +"Coming!" answered the doctor. + +And leaving Olga Vseslavovna at the threshold of her room, he ran +quickly to the sick man. + +"A vigorous voice--for a dying man! He shouts as he used to at the +manoeuvers!" thought the general's wife. + +And her handsome face at once grew dark with the hate which stole +over it. This was only a passing expression, however; it rapidly +gave place to sorrow, when she saw the manservant coming from the +sick man. + +"What is the matter with your master, Yakov? Is he worse?" + +"No, madam. God has been gracious. He told me to push the box +nearer him, and ordered Edouard Vicentevitch to open it. He wants +to send some telegram or other." + +"Thank God, he is not worse. Yakov, I am going to send a telegram +to the station myself, in a few minutes, by my coachman. You can +give him the general's telegram, too." + +"Very well, madam." + +"And another thing. I shall not go to bed. If there is any change +in your master's condition, Yakov, come and knock at my door at +once. I beg of you, tell me the very moment anything happens. +Here is something for you, Yakov;--you have grown thin, waiting +upon your master!" + +"I thank you most humbly, your excellency. We must not grudge our +exertions," the man answered, putting a note of considerable value +in his pocket. + + +III + + +Contrary to expectation, the night passed quietly enough. Emotion +and weariness claimed their own; Olga Vseslavovna, in spite of all +her efforts, fell into a sleep toward morning; and when she awoke, +she started in dismay, noticing that the sun had already climbed +high in the sky, and was pouring into her room. + +Her maid, a deft Viennese, who had remained with this accommodating +mistress for five years, quieted her by telling her that the master +was better, that he was still asleep, not having slept for the +greater part of the night. + +"The doctor and Yakov were busy with him most of the night," she +explained. "They were sorting all sorts of papers; some of them +they tied up, writing something on them; others they tore up, or +threw into the fire. The grate is full of ashes. Yakov told me." + +"And there were no more telegrams?" + +"No, madam, there were no more. Yakov and our Friedrich would have +let me know at once; I was there in the anteroom; they both kept +coming through on errands. But there were no more telegrams, +except the two that were sent last night." + +Olga Vseslavovna dressed, breakfasted, and went to her husband. +But at the threshold of his room she was stopped by the direction +of the sick man to admit no one without special permission except +the doctor, or his eldest daughter, if she should come. + +"Tell Edouard Vicentevitch to come out to me," ordered the +general's wife. The doctor was called, and in great confusion +confirmed the general's orders. + +"But perhaps he did not think that such an order could apply to +me?" she said, astonished. + +The doctor apologized, but had to admit that it was she who was +intended, and that his excellency had sent word to her excellency +that she should not give herself the trouble of visiting him. + +"He is out of his mind," declared the general's wife quietly, but +with conviction, shrugging her shoulders. "Why should he hate me +so--for all my love to him, an old man, who might have been my +father?" + +And Olga Vseslavovna once more took refuge in her pocket +handkerchief, this time, instead of tears, giving vent to sobs of +vexation. + +The doctor, always shy in the presence of women, stood with hanging +head and downcast eyes, as though he were to blame. + +"What is it they are saying about you burning papers all night?" +Olga Vseslavovna asked, in a weak voice. + +"Oh, not nearly all night. Iuri Pavlovitch remembered that he +ought to destroy some old letters and papers. There were some to +be put in order. There, in the box, there is a packet addressed to +your excellency. I was told to write the address." + +"Indeed! Could I not see it?" + +"Oh no, on no account. They are all locked up in the box along +with the last will. And the general has the keys." + +A bitter smile of humiliation played about the young woman's lips. + +"So the new will has not been burned yet?" she asked. And to the +startled negative of the doctor, who repeated that "it was lying on +the top of the papers in the box," she added: + +"Well, it will be burned yet. Do not fear. Especially if God in +His mercy prolongs my husband's life. You see, he has always had a +mysterious passion for writing new documents, powers of attorney, +deeds of gift, wills, whatever comes into his mind. He writes new +ones, and burns the old ones. But what can you do? We must submit +to each new fancy. We cannot contradict a sick man." + +Olga Vseslavovna went back to her room. She only left her bedroom +for a few minutes that day, to hear the final word of the lights of +the medical profession, who had come together for a general +consultation in the afternoon; all the rest of the day she shut +herself up. The conclusions of the physicians, though they +differed completely in detail, were similar in the main, and far +from comforting; the life and continued suffering of the sick man +could not last more than a few days. + +In the evening a telegram came from Anna Iurievna; she informed her +father that she would be with him on the following day, at five in +the afternoon. + +"Shall I be able to hold out? Shall I last so long?" sighed the +sick man, all day long. And the more he was disturbed in mind, the +more threatening were his attacks of pain. He passed a bad night. +Toward morning a violent attack, much worse than any that had gone +before, almost carried him away. He could hardly breathe, owing to +the sharp suffering. Hot baths for his hands and steam inhalations +no longer had any beneficial effect, though they had alleviated his +pain hitherto. + +The doctor, the Sister of Mercy, and the servant wore themselves +out. But still, as before, his wife alone was not admitted to him. +She raged with anger, trying, and not without success, to convince +everyone that she was going mad with despair. Little Olga had been +taken away on the previous day by a friend of the general's, to +stay there "during this terrible time." That night Madame Nazimoff +did not go to bed at all; and, as befitted a devoted wife, did not +quit her husband's door. When the violent attack just before dawn +quieted down, she made an attempt to go in to him; but no sooner +did the sick man see her at the head of his couch, on which he had +at last been persuaded to lie, than strong displeasure was +expressed in his face, and, no longer able to speak, he made an +angry motion of his hand toward her, and groaned heavily. The +Sister of Mercy with great firmness asked the general's wife not to +trouble the sick man with her presence. + +"And I am to put up with this. I am to submit to all this?" +thought Olga Vseslavovna, writhing with wrath. "To endure all this +from him, and after his death to suffer beggary? No, a thousand +times no! Better death than penury and such insults." And she +fell into gloomy thought. + +That gesture of displeasure at the sight of his wife was the last +conscious act of Iuri Pavlovitch Nazimoff. At eight in the morning +he lost consciousness, in the midst of violent suffering, which +lasted until the end. By the early afternoon he was no more. + +During the last hour of his agony his wife knelt beside his couch +without let or hindrance, and wept inconsolably. The formidable +aristocrat and millionaire was dead. + +Everything went on along the usual lines. The customary stir and +unceremonious bustle, instead of cautious whispering, rose around +the dead body, in preparation for a fashionable funeral. No near +relatives were present except his wife, and she was confined to her +room, half-fainting, half-hysterical. All responsibility fell on +the humble doctor, and he busied himself indefatigably, +conscientiously, in the sweat of his brow, making every effort to +omit nothing. But, as always happens, he omitted the most +important thing of all. The early twilight was already descending +on St. Petersburg, shrouded in chilly mist, when Edouard +Vicentevitch Polesski struck his brow in despair; he had suddenly +remembered the keys and the box, committed to his care by the dying +man. At that moment, the body, dressed in full uniform, with all +his regalia, was lying in the great, darkened room on a table, +covered with brocade, awaiting the coffin and the customary +wreaths. The doctor rushed into the empty bedroom. Everything in +it was already in order; the bed stood there, without mattress or +pillows. There was nothing on the dressing table, either. + +Where were the keys? Where was the box? The box was standing as +before, untouched, locked. His heart at once felt lighter. But +the keys? No doubt the police would come in a few minutes. It was +astonishing that they had not come already. They would seal +everything. Everything must be in order. Where was Yakov? +Probably he had taken them. Or . . . the general's wife? + +Polesski rushed to look for the manservant, but could not find him. +There was so much to do; he had gone to buy something, to order +something. "Oh Lord! And the announcement?" he suddenly +remembered. It must be written at once, and sent to the +newspapers. He must ask the general's wife, however, what words he +should use. However much he might wish to avoid her, still she was +now the most important person. And he could ask at the same time +whether she had seen the keys. + +The doctor went to the rooms of the general's wife. She was lying +down, suffering severely, but she came out to him. "What words was +he to use? It was all the same to her. 'With deep regret,' 'with +heartfelt sorrow,' what did she care? The keys? What keys? No! +she had not seen any keys, and did not know where they were. But +why should he be disturbed about them? The servants were +trustworthy; nothing would go astray." + +"Yes, but we must have them ready for the police. They will come +in a few minutes, to seal up the dead man's papers!" + +"To seal up the papers? Why?" + +"That is the law. So that everything should be intact, until after +the last will and testament of the deceased has been read, +according to his wishes." + +General Nazimoff's wife paled perceptibly. She knew nothing of +such an obstacle, and had not expected it. The doctor was too busy +to notice her pallor. + +"Very well; I shall write the announcement at once, and send it to +the newspapers. I suppose 'Novoe Vremya' and 'Novosti' will be +enough?" + +"Do as you think best. Write it here, in my room. Here is +everything you require; pens, paper. Write, and then read it to +me. I shall be back in a moment. I want to put a bandage round my +head. It aches so. Wait for me here." And the general's wife +went from the sitting-room to her bedroom. + +"Rita!" she whispered to her faithful maid, who was hurriedly +sewing a mourning gown of crape for her. "Do not let the doctor go +till I return. Do you understand? Do what you please, but do not +let him go." The general's wife slipped from the bedroom into the +passage through a small side door, and disappeared. + +The two rooms between hers and the chamber where the dead man lay +were quite empty and nearly dark; there were no candles in them. +From the chamber came the feeble glimmer of the tiny lamps burning +before the icons.* The tapers were not lit yet, as the deacon had +not yet arrived. He was to come at the same time as the priest and +the coffin. For the moment there was no one near the dead man; in +the anteroom sat the Sister of Mercy. + + +* Sacred images. + + +"You wish to pray?" she asked the general's wife. + +"Yes, I shall pray there, in his room." + +She slipped past the dead body without looking at it, to the room +that had been the general's bedroom, and closed the door behind +her. She was afraid to lock it, and after all, was it necessary? +It would only take a moment. There it is, the box! She knows it +of old! And she knows its key of old, too; it is not so long since +her husband had no secrets from her. + +The key was quickly slipped into the lock, and the lid rose +quickly. The paper? That new, detestable paper, which might +deprive her of everything. Ah! there it is! + +To close the lid quickly, and turn the key in the lock; to hide the +keys somewhere; here, between the seat and the back of the sofa, on +which he lay. That's it! + +A sigh of relief from fear escaped the beautiful lips of the +handsome woman, lips which were pale through those terrible days. +She could feel secure at last! + +She must look at the document, the proof of his cruelty, his +injustice, his stupidity! She must make sure that there was no +mistake! Olga Vseslavovna went up to the window, and taking +advantage of the last ray of the gray day, unfolded the will. + +"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!" she +read. Yes, that is it, the will. + +"How he pronounced those same words, when he was blessing little +Olga," she remembered. "Blessing her! And his hand did not +tremble, when he signed this. To deprive her, to deprive them +both, of everything, all on account of those hated people? But +now--it should never be! On no account! Your down-at-the-heel +pedagogue shall not strut about in peacock's feathers! Olga +and I . . . require the money more!" + +And the general's wife was tempted to snap her fingers in triumph +in the direction of the dead man. + +Suddenly, quite close to the door, the sound of steps was heard. +Good heavens! And she held the big sheet of crested paper in her +hand! Where could she put it? She had no time to think of folding +it up. There! they are coming in already! Who can it be? + +And the will lay on the floor, the general's wife kneeling on it, +as on a prayer carpet, in an attitude of prayer, her clasped hands +on the window sill, her wet eyes fixed on a faintly twinkling star, +as though calling heaven to witness her inconsolable grief and +bereavement. + +It was only the Sister of Mercy. + +"Madam, the people have come, bringing the coffin; and I think the +police have also come." + +"Yes, in a moment. Tell them I am coming immediately." + +The Sister of Mercy went out. + +"See how she loved her husband. And why was he so unjust to her at +the last?" she involuntarily reproached the dead general. + +Meanwhile the general's wife had risen hastily, folded the will as +best she could, in four, in eight folds, and crushing it together +in her hand, went quietly from the room, which now filled her with +dread. + +She was so confused that she did not even think of looking for her +pocket; she simply held her packet tight, and let her hand hang +down, hiding it in the folds of her wide dressing-gown. There +seemed to be so many people in the room which a moment before was +empty, that she felt cowed. Her heart beat pitilessly, and the +blood throbbed so violently in her temples that she could not +understand what was said to her. They were asking her if they +might place the body in the coffin, which had already been placed +beside it. Her silence was taken as consent. The skilful +undertakers easily lifted the already rigid body. + +Olga Vseslavovna stood at the head of the dead general. Among the +crowd of undertakers and servants, she suddenly saw coming toward +her, with outstretched hand, and with tears of compassion in her +eyes, the Princess Ryadski, the same aristocratic kinswoman who had +already taken little Olga to stay with her. + +"I must shake hands with her! And that horrible packet is in my +hand! Where shall I put it? How can I hide it?" Before her eyes +gleamed the brilliantly lighted, ashen forehead of the dead man, +helplessly bent backward and sideways, as the whole body was +suspended in the hands of the undertakers, over its last abode. + +A saving thought! + +The general's wife bent gently over the dead body. She gently +supported the head of the corpse, gently laid it on the satin +cushion, straightened the frills which surrounded the hard pillow, +and, unperceived, left under it the twisted roll of paper. + +"It will be safer there!" The thought flashed through her mind. +"He wanted to keep his will himself; well, keep it to eternity, +now! What more can you ask?" + +And it even seemed ludicrous to her. She could hardly restrain a +smile of triumph, changing it into a sad smile of grief, in reply +to her kinswoman's condolences. The coffin was already lying in +state on the bier; it was covered with brocade and flowers. The +princess, as kinswoman of the late general, bent low, and first +laid on the dead body the wreath she had brought with her. + +"The poor sufferer has entered into rest," she whispered, shaking +her head. "Will the funeral service be soon? Where will it be? +Where is Olga Vseslavovna?" + +"She will be here in a moment," the Sister of Mercy whispered, +deeply affected; "she has gone to fix herself. They will begin the +funeral service in a few minutes, and she is all in disorder. She +is in great grief. Will you not take a seat?" + +"What? Sit down? Thank you," loftily replied the princess. And +she went toward a dignified personage who was entering, adorned +with many orders and an aristocratic beard. + +The general's wife soon came to herself. "Rita! I must wash and +dress as quickly as possible. Ah! pray forgive me, doctor! They +called me away to my husband. They were placing him in the +coffin." She sighed deeply. "What is this? Oh, yes, the +announcement of his death. Very good. Send it, please. But I +must dress at once. The funeral service will begin immediately." + +"Doctor! Is the doctor here?" an anxious voice sounded in the +corridor. + +"I am coming! What is it?" + +"Please come quick, Edouard Vicentevitch!" Yakov called him. "The +lady is very ill downstairs; Anna Iurievna, the general's daughter! +I was out to order the flowers; I come back, and see the lady lying +in a faint in the entrance. She had just arrived, and asked; and +they answered her that he was dead, without the slightest +preparation! And she could not bear it, and fainted." + +Yakov said all this as they went. + +"Actress!" angrily thought Olga Vseslavovna. And immediately she +added mentally, "Well, she may stand on her head now, it is all the +same to me!" + + +IV + + +Whether it was all the same to her or not, the deep despair of the +daughter, who had not been in time to bid her father farewell, had +not been in time to receive his blessing, after many years of +anger, which had borne heavily on the head of the blameless young +woman, was so evidently sincere, and produced such a deep +impression on everyone, that her stepmother also was moved. + +Anna Iurievna resembled her father, as much as a young, graceful, +pretty woman can resemble an elderly man with strongly-marked +features and athletic frame, such as was General Nazimoff. But in +spite of the delicacy of her form, and the gentleness of her eyes, +her glance sometimes flashed fire in a manner very like the +flashing eyes of her father, and in her strong will, firm +character, and inflexible adherence to what she believed to be +necessary and right, Anna was exactly like her father. + +For nearly ten years his daughter had obediently borne his anger; +from the day of her marriage to the man she loved, whom evil-minded +people had succeeded in calumniating in the general's mind. Though +writing incessantly to him, begging him to pardon her, to +understand that he had made a mistake, that her husband was a man +of honor, and that she would be fully and perfectly happy, but for +the burden of her father's wrath, and of the separation from him, +she had never until the last few weeks received a reply from him. +But quite recently something mysterious had happened. Not only had +her father written to her that he wished to see her and her +children in St. Petersburg, whither he was just setting out, but a +few days later he had written again, a long, tender letter, in +which he had asked her forgiveness. Without giving any +explanations, he said that he had received indubitable proofs of +the innocence and chivalrous honor of her husband; that he felt +himself deeply guilty toward him, and was miserable on account of +the injustice he had committed. In the following letters, praying +his daughter to hasten her coming, because he was dangerously ill, +and the doctors thought could not last long, he filled her with +astonishment by expressing his intention to make a new will, and +his determination to separate his youngest daughter "from such a +mother," and by his prayers to her and her husband not to refuse to +take upon themselves little Olga's education. + +"What had happened? How could that light-minded woman have so +deeply wounded my father?" Anna asked in bewilderment. + +"If she was merely light-minded!" her husband answered, shrugging +his shoulders. "But she is so malicious, so crafty, and so daring +that anything may be expected from her." + +"But in that case there would be an open scandal. We would know +something for certain. Nowadays they even relate such stories in +the newspapers, and my father is so well known, so noteworthy!" + +"That is just why they don't write about him!" answered Borisoff, +her husband, smiling. He himself flatly refused to go to St. +Petersburg. With horror he remembered the first year of his +marriage, before he had succeeded in obtaining a transfer to +another city, and was compelled to meet the woman he detested; +compelled also to meet his father-in-law, a wise and honorable old +man, who had fallen so completely into the toils of this crafty +woman. Anna Iurievna knew that her husband despised her +stepmother; that he detested her as the cause of all the grief +which they had had to endure through her, and most of all, on +account of the injustice she was guilty of toward her brother, the +general's son. + +For six years Borisoff had lived with young Peter Nazimoff, as his +tutor and teacher, and loved him sincerely. The boy had already +reached the highest class at school, when his sister, two years +older than he, finished her schooling, and returned to her father's +house, about the time of the general's second marriage. What the +young tutor tried not to notice and to endure, for love of his +pupil, in the first year of the general's second marriage, became +intolerable when the general's daughter returned home, and to all +the burden of his difficult position was added the knowledge of +their mutual love. He proceeded frankly, and the whole matter was +soon settled. But the young man had never uttered a syllable as to +the cause of Madame Nazimoff's hatred for him. For the sake of his +father-in-law's peace of mind, he sincerely hoped that he would +never know. Anna was convinced that the whole cause of her +stepmother's hostility was her prejudice against what was in her +opinion a mesalliance. In part she was right, but the chief reason +of this hostility remained forever a secret to her. Unfortunately, +it was not equally a secret to her father. + +Of late years he had gradually been losing faith in his second +wife's character. It went so far that the general felt much more +at ease when she was away. Before the last illness of Iuri +Pavlovitch, which, to tell the truth, was almost his first, Olga +Vseslavovna had gone abroad with her daughter, intending to travel +for a year; but she had hardly been gone two months when the +general unexpectedly determined to go to St. Petersburg to seek a +divorce, to see his elder daughter, and change his will. Perhaps +he would never have determined on such decisive measures had not +something wholly unexpected taken place. + +Borisoff was quite mistaken in thinking that he had so carefully +destroyed all the letters which the general's young wife had +written to him, before his marriage to Anna, that no material +evidence of Olga Vseslavovna's early design of treachery remained. +Even before she married the general, she had had a confidential +servant, who carried out many commissions for the beautiful young +woman, whose fame had gone abroad through the three districts along +the Volga, the arena of her early triumphs. Later, the young lady +found a new favorite in foreign lands--the same Rita who was still +with her. Martha, the Russian confidential servant, heartily +detested the German girl, and such strife arose between them that +not only the general's wife, but even the general himself, was +deprived of peace and tranquillity. Martha was no fool; Olga +Vseslavovna had to be careful with her; she did take care, but she +herself did not know to what an extent she was in the woman's +power. Foreseeing a black day of ingratitude, Martha, with +wonderful forethought, had put on one side one or two letters from +each series of her mistress' secret correspondence, which always +passed through her hands. Perhaps she would not have made such a +bad use of them but for her mistress' last, intolerable insult. +Prizing in her servants, next to swift obedience, a knowledge of +languages, her mistress did not make use of her when traveling +abroad; but hitherto she had taken both servants with her. But on +her last journey she was so heartily tired of Martha, and her +perpetual tears and quarrels, that she determined to get on without +her, the more so that her daughter's governess was also traveling +with her. Her company was growing too numerous. + +There was no limit to Martha's wrath when she learned that she was +going to be left behind. Her effrontery was so great that she +advised her mistress "for her own sake" not to put such an affront +upon her, since she would not submit to it without seeking revenge. +But her mistress never dreamed of what Martha was planning, and +what a risk she ran. + +Hardly had the general's wife departed when Martha asked the +general to let her leave, saying she would find work elsewhere. +The general saw no way of keeping her; and he did not even wish to +do so, thinking her only a quarrelsome, ill-tempered woman. The +confidential servant left the house, and even the city. And +immediately her revenge and torture of the general began, cutting +straight at the root of his happiness, his health, even his life. +He began to receive, almost daily, letters from different parts of +Russia, for Martha had plenty of friends and chums. With +measureless cruelty Martha began by sending the less important +documents, still signed with her mistress' maiden name; then two or +three letters from the series of the most recent times, and finally +there came a whole packet of those sent by the general's wife to +the tutor, in the first year of her marriage with the general, +before Borisoff had met Anna. + +The crafty Martha, knowing perfectly the whole state of affairs to +which these letters referred, often copied out their contents, and +kept the letters themselves concealed, saying to herself, "God +knows what may turn up, some day! + +"If they are no use, I can burn them. But they may be useful. It +is always a good thing to keep our masters in our power," argued +the sagacious woman, and she was not mistaken in her calculations, +although these letters served not for her profit, but only for a +sanguinary revenge. + +These notes and letters, which finally opened his eyes to the true +character of his wife, and his own crying injustice to his elder +children, were now lying in the general's dispatch box, in a neatly +tied packet, directed in the doctor's handwriting to "Her +Excellency Olga Vseslavovna Nazimoff." + +As soon as she received her father's first letter Anna began to get +ready to go to St. Petersburg, but unfortunately she was kept back +by the sickness, first of one child, then of another. But for his +last telegrams, she would not have started even now, because she +did not realize the dangerous character of his illness. But now, +finding that she had come too late, the unhappy woman could not +forgive herself. + +Everyone was grieved to see her bitter sorrow, after the funeral +service for her father. Princess Ryadski burst into tears, as she +looked at her; and all the acquaintances and relations of the +general were far more disturbed by her despair than by the +general's death. Olga Vseslavovna was secretly scandalized at such +lack of self-control, but outwardly she seemed greatly touched and +troubled by the situation of her poor stepdaughter. But she did +not venture to express her sympathy too openly in the presence of +others, remembering the words of "the crazy creature" when she had +come to herself after her fainting fit, and her stepmother had +hurried up to embrace her. + +"Leave me!" Anna had cried, when she saw her. "I cannot bear to +see you! You killed my father!" + +It was well that there were only servants in the anteroom. But the +general's wife did not wish to risk another such scene, now that so +many people were present. And besides she was extremely disturbed; +the friends who had come to the funeral service had brought +flowers; and the half-crazy princess, with the aid of two other +ladies, had taken a fancy to decorate the coffin, and especially +the head, with them. It is impossible to describe what Olga +Vseslavovna suffered, as she watched all those hands moving about +among the folds of the muslin, the frills, the covering, almost +under the satin cushion even; a little more and she would have +fainted in earnest. + +She had always boasted that she had strong nerves, and this was +quite true; nevertheless, during these days, their strength was +evidently giving way, as she could not get to sleep for a long time +that night, and heaven only knows what fancies passed through her +mind. It was almost morning before Olga Vseslavovna got to sleep, +and even then it was not for long. + +She dreamed that she was descending endless stairs and dark +corridors, with a heavy, shapeless burden on her shoulders. A +bright, constantly-changing flame flickered before her; now red, +now yellow, now green, it flitted before her from side to side. +She knew that if she could reach it, the burden would fall from +her. But the light seemed to be taunting her, now appearing, now +disappearing, and suddenly going out altogether. And she found +herself in the darkness, in a damp cellar, seemingly empty, but +filled with something's invisible presence. What was it? She did +not know. But this pervading something frightened her terribly, +smothered her, pressing on her from all sides, depriving her of +air. She was choking! Terror seized her at the thought that +it . . . was Death! Must she die? Was it possible? But that +brightly shining light had just promised her life, gayety, +brilliance! She must hurry to overtake it. And she tried to +run. But her feet would not obey her; she could not move. + +"Heaven! Heaven!" she cried, "but what is it? Whence has such a +disaster come? What is holding me? Let me go, or I shall be +smothered in this stench, under this intolerable burden!" + +Suddenly Iuri Pavlovitch walked past her. She immediately +recognized him, and joyfully caught at his cloak. "Iuri! Forgive +me! Help me!" she cried. + +Her husband stopped, looked sadly at her, and answered: "I would +gladly help you, but you yourself hinder me. Let me go; I must +fulfill your directions." + +At that moment she awoke. She was bathed in a cold perspiration, +and clutched wildly at the coverlet with both hands. There was no +one near her, but she clearly felt someone's presence, and was +convinced that she had really seen her husband a moment before. In +her ears resounded his words: "I must fulfill your directions!" +Directions? What directions? + +She sprang up, and began to feel about over the carpet with her +bare feet, looking for her slippers. A terrible thought had come +into her mind. She felt that she must settle it at once. She must +take the will, take it away from there! burn it! destroy it! She +feverishly drew on her dressing gown, and threw a shawl over her +shoulders. + +"Rita! Get up quick! Quick! Come!" + +The frightened maid rose, still half asleep, and rubbed her eyes, +understanding nothing. Her mistress' ice-cold hands clutched her, +and dragged her somewhere. + +"Ach lieber Gott . . . Gott in Himmel!" she muttered. "What has +happened? What do you want?" + +"Hush! Come quick!" And Olga Vseslavovna, with a candle in her +trembling hand, went forward, dragging the trembling Rita with her. +She opened the door of her bedroom, and went out. All the doors +were open en suite, and straight in front of her, in the center of +the fourth, shone the coffin of her husband, covered with cloth of +gold and lit up by the tall tapers standing round the bier. + +"What does it mean?" whispered the general's wife. "Why have they +opened all the doors?" + +"I do not know . . . they were all closed last night," murmured the +maid in reply, her teeth chattering with fear. She longed to ask +her mistress whither they were going, and what for? She wanted to +stop, and not enter the funeral chamber; but she was afraid to +speak. + +They passed quickly through the rooms; at the door of the last the +general's wife set her candle down on a chair, and halted for a +moment. The loud snoring of the reader startled them both. + +"It is the deacon!" whispered the general's wife reassuringly. +Rita had hardly strength to nod assent. All the same, the healthy +snoring of a living man comforted her. Without moving from where +she stood, the maid tremblingly drew her woolen shawl closer about +her, trying to see the sofa on which the deacon lay. + +Knitting her brows, and biting her lips till they were sore, Olga +Vseslavovna went forward determinedly to the bier. She thrust both +hands under the flowers on the pillow. The frill was untouched. +The satin of the cushion was there, but where was . . . ? Her +heart, that had been beating like a hammer, suddenly stopped and +stood still. There was not a trace of the will! + +"Perhaps I have forgotten. Perhaps it was on the other side," +thought Olga Vseslavovna, and went round to the left side of the +coffin. + +No! It was not there, either! Where was it? Who could have taken +it? Suddenly her heart failed her utterly, and she clutched at the +edge of the coffin to keep herself from falling. It seemed to her +that under the stiff, pallid, rigidly clasped hands of the dead +general something gleamed white through the transparent muslin of +the covering, something like a piece of paper. + +"Nonsense! Self-suggestion! It is impossible! Hallucination!" +The thought flashed through her tortured brain. She forced herself +to be calm, and to look again. + +Yes! She had not been mistaken. The white corner of a folded +paper appeared clearly against the general's dark uniform. At the +same moment a cold draught coming from somewhere set the tapers +flickering. Shadows danced around the room, over the bier, across +the dead man's face; and in the quick change of light and shadow it +seemed to her that the rigid features became more living, that a +mournful smile formed itself on the closed lips, that the tightly- +shut eyelids quivered. A wild cry rang through the whole room. +With a desperate shriek: "His eyes! He is looking at me!" the +general's wife staggered forward and fell fainting to the floor, +beside her husband's bier. + + +V + + +The deacon sprang from his sofa with a cry, and an answering cry +came from the lips of the shivering Rita, as she fled from the +room. Servants rushed in, rubbing their eyes, still half-asleep, +questioning each other, running this way and that. The deacon, +spurred by a feeling of guilt, was determined to conceal the fact +that he was sleeping. "It was the lady!" he said. "She came in to +pray; she told me to stop reading while she prayed. She knelt +down. Then she prayed for a long time, and suddenly . . . suddenly +she cried out, and fainted. Grief, brothers! It is terrible! To +lose such a husband!" and he set them to work with restoratives, +himself rubbing the fallen woman's chilly hands. + +The general's wife opened her eyes after a few minutes. Looking +wildly round in bewilderment, she seemed to be wondering where she +was and how she had come there. Suddenly she remembered. + +"The will! In his hands! Take it!" she cried, and fainted again. +By this time the whole household was awake. Anna Iurievna had come +in, full of astonishment at the sudden disturbance, but with the +same feeling of deep quiet and peace still filling her heart and +giving her features an expression of joy and calm. She heard the +cry of the general's wife, and the words were recorded in her mind, +though she did not at first give them any meaning. + +She set herself, with all the tenderness of a good woman, to +minister to the other's need, sending her own maid for sal +volatile, chafing the fainting woman's hands, and giving orders +that a bed should be prepared for her in another room, further away +from the bier. As she spoke, quietly, gravely, with authority, the +turmoil gradually subsided. The frightened servants recovered +themselves, and moved about with the orderly obedience they +ordinarily showed; and the deacon, above all anxious to cover his +negligence, began intoning the liturgy, lending an atmosphere of +solemnity to the whole room. + +The servants, returning to announce that the bedroom was ready, +were ordered by Anna Iurievna to lift the fainting woman with all +care and gentleness, and she herself went with them to see the +general's wife safely bestowed in her room, and waited while the +doctor did all in his power to make her more comfortable. Olga +Vseslavovna did not at once recover consciousness. She seemed to +pass from a faint into an uneasy slumber, which, however, gradually +became more quiet. + +Only then, as she was leaving the room, did Anna Iurievna bethink +her of the strange words that had fallen on her ears: "The will! +In his hands! Take it!" And repeating them questioningly to +herself, she walked slowly back toward the room in which lay her +father's body. + +But she was even more occupied with her own thoughts. She no +longer felt in her heart the bitter resentment toward Olga +Vseslavovna that had filled it yesterday. She was conscious of a +feeling of sorrow for the helpless woman, of compassion for her +empty, shallow life, the fruit of an empty, shallow heart. And she +was wondering why such empty, joyless lives should exist in a world +where there was such deep happiness and joy. + +She came over to her father's coffin, close to which the deacon was +still droning out his liturgy, and stood beside the dead body, +looking down at the strong, quiet face, and vividly recalling her +dream of the night before. Her eyes rested on the many stars and +medals on his breast, and on his hands, quietly clasped in death. +Then suddenly, and quite mechanically, Olga Vseslavovna's cry, as +she returned to consciousness, came back into her mind: + +"The will! In his hands! Take it!" And bending down, she noted +for the first time something white beneath the muslin canopy. As +she scrutinized it wonderingly, she was conscious of an humble, +apologetic voice murmuring something at her elbow: + +"Forgive me, Anna Iurievna. I humbly beg you, forgive me! It was +I . . . in the night . . . the flowers fell . . . I was putting +them back . . . fixing the head of your sainted papa. . . . It +was under his head, the paper . . . I thought he wanted to keep +it. . . . I put it in his hands, to be safe! . . . Forgive me, +Anna Iurievna, if I have done any harm." + +It was the deacon, still oppressed by a feeling of guilt. Anna +Iurievna turned to him, and then turned back again, to her father's +body, to the white object shining under the muslin canopy. And +once more Olga Vseslavovna's words came into her mind: + +"The will! In his hands! Take it!" + +Gently raising the canopy, she softly drew the paper from beneath +the general's clasped hands, and unfolded it. She read no more +than the opening words, but she had read enough to realize that it +was, indeed, her father's will. + + + +Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoyevsky + +Crime and Punishment* + + +* (At the risk of shocking the reader, it has been decided that the +real permanent detective stories of the world were ill represented +without Dostoyevsky's terrible tale of what might be called "self- +detection." If to sensitive readers the story seems so real as to +be hideous, it is well to recall that Dostoyevsky in 1849 underwent +the agony of sentence to death as a revolutionist. Although the +sentence was commuted to hard labor in Siberia, and although six +years later he was freed and again took up his writing, his mind +never rose from beneath the weight of horror and hopelessness that +hangs over offenders against the Great White Czar. Dostoyevsky, +sentenced as a criminal, herded with criminals, really BECAME a +criminal in literary imagination. Add to this a minute +observation, a marvelous memory, ardent political convictions--and +we can understand why the story here, with others of his, is taken +as a scientific text by criminologists.--EDITOR.) + + +One sultry evening early in July a young man emerged from the small +furnished lodging he occupied in a large five-storied house in the +Pereoulok S----, and turned slowly, with an air of indecision, +toward the K---- bridge. He was fortunate enough not to meet his +landlady on the stairs. She occupied the floor beneath him, and +her kitchen, with its usually open door, was entered from the +staircase. Thus, whenever the young man went out, he found himself +obliged to pass under the enemy's fire, which always produced a +morbid terror, humiliating him and making him knit his brows. He +owed her some money and felt afraid of encountering her. + +It was not that he had been terrified or crushed by misfortune, but +that for some time past he had fallen into a state of nervous +depression akin to hypochondria. He had withdrawn from society and +shut himself up, till he was ready to shun, not merely his +landlady, but every human face. Poverty had once weighed him down, +though, of late, he had lost his sensitiveness on that score. He +had given up all his daily occupations. In his heart of hearts he +laughed scornfully at his landlady and the extremities to which she +might proceed. Still, to be waylaid on the stairs, to have to +listen to all her jargon, hear her demands, threats, and +complaints, and have to make excuses and subterfuges in return--no, +he preferred to steal down without attracting notice. On this +occasion, however, when he had gained the street, he felt surprised +himself at this dread of meeting the woman to whom he was in debt. + +"Why should I be alarmed by these trifles when I am contemplating +such a desperate deed?" thought he, and he gave a strange smile. +"Ah, well, man holds the remedy in his own hands, and lets +everything go its own way, simply through cowardice--that is an +axiom. I should like to know what people fear most:--whatever is +contrary to their usual habits, I imagine. But I am talking too +much. I talk and so I do nothing, though I might just as well say, +I do nothing and so I talk. I have acquired this habit of +chattering during the last month, while I have been lying for days +together in a corner, feeding my mind on trifles. Come, why am I +taking this walk now? Am I capable of THAT? Can THAT really be +serious? Not in the least. These are mere chimeras, idle fancies +that flit across my brain! + +The heat in the streets was stifling. The crowd, the sight of +lime, bricks, scaffolding, and the peculiar odor so familiar to the +nostrils of the inhabitant of St. Petersburg who has no means of +escaping to the country for the summer, all contributed to irritate +the young man's already excited nerves. The reeking fumes of the +dram shops, so numerous in this part of the city, and the tipsy men +to be seen at every point, although it was no holiday, completed +the repulsive character of the scene. Our hero's refined features +betrayed, for a moment, an expression of bitter disgust. We may +observe casually that he was not destitute of personal attractions; +he was above middle height, with a slender and well-proportioned +figure, and he had dark auburn hair and fine dark eyes. In a +little while he sank into a deep reverie, or rather into a sort of +mental torpor. He walked on without noticing, or trying to notice, +his surroundings. Occasionally he muttered a few words to himself; +as if, as he himself had just perceived, this had become his habit. +At this moment it dawned upon him that his ideas were becoming +confused and that he was very feeble; he had eaten nothing worth +mentioning for the last two days. + +His dress was so miserable that anyone else might have scrupled to +go out in such rags during the daytime. This quarter of the city, +indeed, was not particular as to dress. In the neighborhood of the +Cyennaza or Haymarket, in those streets in the heart of St. +Petersburg, occupied by the artisan classes, no vagaries in costume +call forth the least surprise. Besides the young man's fierce +disdain had reached such a pitch, that, notwithstanding his extreme +sensitiveness, he felt no shame at exhibiting his tattered garments +in the street. He would have felt differently had he come across +anyone he knew, any of the old friends whom he usually avoided. +Yet he stopped short on hearing the attention of passers-by +directed to him by the thick voice of a tipsy man shouting: "Eh, +look at the German hatter!" The exclamation came from an +individual who, for some unknown reason, was being jolted away in a +great wagon. The young man snatched off his hat and began to +examine it. It was a high-crowned hat that had been originally +bought at Zimmermann's, but had become worn and rusty, was covered +with dents and stains, slit and short of a brim, a frightful object +in short. Yet its owner, far from feeling his vanity wounded, was +suffering rather from anxiety than humiliation. + +"I suspected this," muttered he, uneasily, "I foresaw it. That's +the worst of it! Some wretched trifle like this might spoil it +all. Yes, this hat is certainly too remarkable; it looks so +ridiculous. I must get a cap to suit my rags; any old thing would +be better than this horror. Hats like these are not worn; this one +would be noticeable a verst* off; it would be remembered; people +would think of it again some time after, and it might furnish a +clew. I must attract as little attention as possible just now. +Trifles become important, everything hinges on them." + + +* 1,000 yards. + + +He had not far to go; he knew the exact distance between his +lodging and present destination--just seven hundred and thirty +paces. He had counted them when his plan only floated through his +brain like a vague dream. At that time, he himself would not have +believed it capable of realization; he merely dallied in fancy with +a chimera which was both terrible and seductive. But a month had +elapsed, and he had already begun to view it in a different light. +Although he reproached himself throughout his soliloquies with +irresolution and a want of energy, he had accustomed himself, +little by little, and, indeed, in spite of himself, to consider the +realization of his dream a possibility, though he doubted his own +resolution. He was but just now rehearsing his enterprise, and his +agitation was increasing at every step. + +His heart sank, and his limbs trembled nervously, as he came to an +immense pile of building facing the canal on one side and the +street on the other. This block was divided into a host of small +tenements, tenanted by all sorts of trades. People were swarming +in and out through the two doors. There were three or four +dvorniks* belonging to the house, but the young man, to his great +satisfaction, came across none of them, and, escaping notice as he +entered, mounted at once the stairs on the right hand. He had +already made acquaintance with this dark and narrow staircase, and +its obscurity was grateful to him; it was gloomy enough to hide him +from prying eyes. "If I feel so timid now, what will it be when I +come to put my plan into execution?" thought he, as he reached the +fourth floor. Here he found the passage blocked; some military +porters were removing the furniture from a tenement recently +occupied, as the young man knew, by a German official and his +family. "Thanks to the departure of this German, for some time to +come there will be no one on this landing but the old woman. It is +as well to know this, at any rate," thought he to himself, as he +rang the old woman's bell. It gave a faint sound, as if it were +made of tin instead of copper. In houses of this sort, the smaller +lodgings generally have such bells. + + +* Janitors. + + +He had forgotten this; the peculiar tinkling sound seemed to recall +something to his memory, for he gave a shiver--his nerves were very +weak. In another moment the door was opened part way, and the +occupant of the rooms stood examining her visitor through the +opening with evident suspicion, her small eyes glimmering through +the darkness like luminous points. But when she saw the people on +the landing, she seemed reassured, and flung the door open. The +young man entered a gloomy antechamber, divided by a partition, +behind which was a small kitchen. The old woman stood silently in +front of him, eyeing him keenly. She was a thin little creature of +sixty, with a small sharp nose, and eyes sparkling with malice. +Her head was uncovered, and her grizzled locks shone with grease. +A strip of flannel was wound round her long thin neck, and, in +spite of the heat, she wore a shabby yellow fur tippet on her +shoulders. She coughed incessantly. The young man was probably +eyeing her strangely, for the look of mistrust suddenly reappeared +on her face. + +"The Student Raskolnikoff. I called on you a month ago," said the +visitor, hurriedly, with a slight bow. He had suddenly remembered +that he must make himself more agreeable. + +"I remember, batuchka, I remember it well," returned the old woman, +still fixing her eyes on him suspiciously. + +"Well, then, look here. I have come again on a similar errand," +continued Raskolnikoff, somewhat surprised and uneasy at being +received with so much distrust. "After all, this may be her usual +manner, though I did not notice it before," thought he, +unpleasantly impressed. + +The old woman remained silent a while, and seemed to reflect. +Then, pointing to the door of the inner room, she drew back for her +visitor to pass, and said, "Come in, batuchka."* + + +* "Little father." + + +The small room into which the young man was ushered was papered +with yellow; there were geraniums and muslin curtains in the +windows, and the setting sun shed a flood of light on the interior. +"The sun will shine on it just the same THEN!" said Raskolnikoff +all at once to himself, as he glanced rapidly round to take in the +various objects and engrave them on his memory. The room, however, +contained nothing remarkable. The yellow wood furniture was all +very old. A couch with a shelving back, opposite which stood an +oval table, a toilet-table with a pier glass attached, chairs +lining the walls, and two or three poor prints representing German +girls with birds in their hands, completed the inventory. A lamp +was burning in one corner in front of a small image. The floor and +furniture were clean and well polished. "Elizabeth attends to +that," thought the young man. It would have been difficult to find +a speck of dust on anything. "It is only in the houses of these +dreadful old widows that such order is to be seen," continued +Raskolnikoff to himself, looking with curiosity at the chintz +curtain overhanging the door which led into a second small room, in +which he had never set foot; it contained the old woman's bed and +chest of drawers. The apartment consisted of these two rooms. + +"What is it you want?" asked the mistress of the house dryly; she +had followed her visitor in, and planted herself in front of him to +examine him more closely. + +"I have come to pawn something, that is all!" With this he drew +from his pocket a flat old silver watch. A globe was engraved +inside the lid, and the chain was of steel. + +"But you have not repaid the sum I lent you before. It was due two +days ago." + +"I will pay you the interest for another month; have a little +patience." + +"I may have patience or I may sell your pledge at once, batuchka, +just whichever I like." + +"What will you give me on this watch, Alena Ivanovna?" + +"That is a wretched thing, batuchka, worth a mere nothing. Last +time I lent you two small notes on your ring, when I could have +bought a new one at the jeweler's for a ruble and a half." + +"Give me four rubles, and I will redeem it; it belonged to my +father. I expect some money soon." + +"A ruble and a half! and I shall take the interest in advance." + +"A ruble and a half!" protested the young man. + +"Please yourself whether you take it or not." So saying, the old +woman tendered back the watch. Her visitor took it and was about +to depart in vexation, when he reflected that this money lender was +his last resource--and, besides, he had another object in coming. + +"Come, fork out!" said he in a rough tone. + +The old woman fumbled in her pockets for her keys, and passed on +into the adjoining room. The young man, left standing there alone, +pricked up his ears and began to make various inductions. He heard +this female usurer open her drawer. "It must be the top one," was +his conclusion. "I know now that she carries her keys in her right +pocket--they are all hung on a steel ring--one of them is three +times as large as the rest, and has the wards toothed; that cannot +be the key of her drawer--then she must have some strong box or +safe. It is curious that the keys of strong boxes should be +generally like that--but, after all, how ignoble!" + +The old woman reappeared. "See here, batuchka: if I take a ten- +kopeck piece a month on each ruble, I ought to receive fifteen +kopecks on a ruble and a half, the interest being payable in +advance. Then, as you ask me to wait another month for the +repayment of the two rubles I have already lent you, you owe me +twenty kopecks more, which makes a total of five and thirty. What, +therefore, I have to advance upon your watch is one ruble fifteen +kopecks. Here it is." + +"What! Is one ruble fifteen kopecks all you mean to give me now?" + +"That is all that is due to you." + +The young man took the money without further discussion. He looked +at the old woman and was in no haste to depart. He seemed anxious +to say or do something more, but without knowing exactly what. +"Perhaps I may be bringing you some other article soon, Alena +Ivanovna, a very pretty cigar case--a silver one--when I get it +back from the friend to whom I have lent it." These words were +uttered with much embarrassment. + +"Well, we can talk about it then, batuchka." + +"Good-by. You are always alone--is your sister never with you?" +asked he with as indifferent an air as he could assume, as he +entered the anteroom. + +"What have you to do with my sister, batuchka?" + +"Nothing. I had no reason for asking. You will--well, good-by, +Alena Ivanovna." + +Raskolnikoff made his exit in a perturbed state of mind. As he +went downstairs, he stopped from time to time, as if overcome by +violent emotion. When he had at length emerged upon the street, he +exclaimed to himself: "How loathsome it all is! Can I, can I +ever?--no, it is absurd, preposterous!" added he mentally. "How +could such a horrible idea ever enter my head? Could I ever be +capable of such infamy? It is odious, ignoble, repulsive! And yet +for a whole month--" + +Words and exclamations, however, could not give full vent to his +agitation. The loathing sense of disgust which had begun to +oppress him on his way to the old woman's house had now become so +intense that he longed to find some way of escape from the torture. +He reeled along the pavement like a tipsy man, taking no notice of +those who passed, but bumping against them. On looking round he +saw a dram shop near at hand; steps led down from the footpath to +the basement, and Raskolnikoff saw two drunkards coming out at that +moment, leaning heavily on each other and exchanging abusive +language. The young man barely paused before he descended the +steps. He had never before entered such a place, but he felt dizzy +and was also suffering from intense thirst. He had a craving for +some beer, partly because he attributed his weakness to an empty +stomach. Seating himself in a dark and dirty corner, in front of a +filthy little table, he called for some beer, and eagerly drank off +a glass. + +He felt instantly relieved, and his brain began to clear: "How +absurd I have been!" said he to himself, "there was really nothing +to make me uneasy! It was simply physical! A glass of beer and a +mouthful of biscuit were all that was necessary to restore my +strength of mind and make my thoughts clear and resolution fixed. +How paltry all this is!" + +The next morning Raskolnikoff awoke late, after disturbed and +unrefreshing slumbers. He felt very cross and glanced angrily +round his room. It was a tiny place, not more than six feet in +length, and its dirty buff paper hung in shreds, giving it a most +miserable aspect; besides which, the ceiling was so low that a tall +man would have felt in danger of bumping his head. The furniture +was quite in harmony with the room, consisting of three old rickety +chairs, a painted table in one corner, on which lay books and +papers thick with dust (showing how long it was since they had been +touched), and, finally, a large and very ugly sofa with ragged +covers. This sofa, which filled nearly half the room, served +Raskolnikoff as a bed. He often lay down on it in his clothes, +without any sheets, covering himself with his old student's coat, +and using instead of a pillow a little cushion, which he raised by +keeping under it all his clean or dirty linen. Before the sofa +stood a small table. + +Raskolnikoff's misanthropy did not take offense at the dirty state +of his den. Human faces had grown so distasteful to him, that the +very sight of the servant whose business it was to clean the rooms +produced a feeling of exasperation. To such a condition may +monomaniacs come by continually brooding over one idea. For the +last fortnight, the landlady had ceased to supply her lodger with +provisions, and he had not yet thought of demanding an explanation. +Nastasia, who had to cook and clean for the whole house, was not +sorry to see the lodger in this state of mind, as it diminished her +labors: she had quite given up tidying and dusting his room; the +utmost she did was to come and sweep it once a week. She it was +who was arousing him at this moment. + +"Come, get up, why are you sleeping so late?" she exclaimed. "It +is nine o'clock. I have brought up some tea, will you take a cup? +How pale you look!" + +Raskolnikoff opened his eyes, shook himself, and recognized +Nastasia. "Has the landlady sent me this tea?" asked he, making a +painful effort to sit up. + +"Not much chance of that!" And the servant placed before him her +own teapot, in which there was still some tea left, and laid two +small lumps of brownish sugar on the table. + +"Here, Nastasia, take this, please," said Raskolnikoff, fumbling in +his pocket and drawing out a handful of small change (for he had +again lain down in his clothes), "and fetch me a white roll. Go to +the pork shop as well, and buy me a bit of cheap sausage." + +"I will bring you the roll in a minute, but had you not better take +some shtchi* instead of the sausage? We make it here, and it is +capital. I kept some for you last night, but it was so late before +you came in! You will find it very good." She went to fetch the +shtchi, and, when Raskolnikoff had begun to eat, she seated herself +on the sofa beside him and commenced to chatter, like a true +country girl as she was. "Prascovia Paulovna means to report you +to the police," said she. + + +* Cabbage soup. + + +The young man's brow clouded. "To the police? Why?" + +"Because you don't pay and won't go. That's why." + +"The deuce!" growled be between his teeth, "that is the finishing +stroke; it comes at a most unfortunate juncture. She is a fool," +added he aloud. "I shall go and talk to her to-morrow." + +"She is, of course, just as much of a fool as I am; but why do you, +who are so intelligent, lie here doing nothing? How is it you +never seem to have money for anything now? You used to give +lessons, I hear; how is it you do nothing now?" + +"I am engaged on something," returned Raskolnikoff dryly and half +reluctantly. + +"On what?" + +"Some work--" + +"What sort of work?" + +"Thinking," replied he gravely, after a short silence. + +Nastasia was convulsed. She was of a merry disposition, but her +laughter was always noiseless, an internal convulsion which made +her actually writhe with pain. "And does your thinking bring you +any money?" asked she, as soon as she could manage to speak. + +"Well! I can't give lessons when I have no boots to go out in? +Besides, I despise them." + +"Take care lest you suffer for it." + +"There is so little to be made by giving lessons! What can one do +with a few kopecks?" said he in an irritable tone, rather to +himself than the servant. + +"So you wish to make your fortune at one stroke?" + +He looked at her rather strangely, and was silent for a moment. +"Yes, my fortune," rejoined he impressively. + +"Hush! you frighten me, you look terrible. Shall I go and fetch +you a roll?" + +"Just as you like." + +Later in the day, Raskolnikoff went out and wandered about the +streets. At last he sat down under a tree to rest, and fell into a +reverie. His limbs felt disjointed, and his mind was in darkness +and confusion. He placed his elbows on his knees and held his head +with his hands. + +"God! Am I to stand beating in her skull with a hatchet or +something, wade in warm blood, break open the lock and rob and +tremble, blood flowing all around, and hide myself, with the +hatchet? O God! is this indeed possible, and must it be?" He +trembled like a leaf as he said this. + +"What am I thinking of?" he cried in some astonishment. "I know +well I could not endure that with which I have been torturing +myself. I saw that clearly yesterday when I tried to rehearse it. +Perfectly plain. Then what am I questioning? Did I not say +yesterday as I went up the stairs how disgusting and mean and low +it all was, and did not I run away in terror?" + +He stood up and looked all round, wondering how he got there, and +moved off toward the T---- bridge. He was pale and his eyes were +hot, and feebleness was in all his members, but he seemed to +breathe easier. He felt that he had thrown off the old time which +had been so oppressive; and in its place had come peace and light. +"Lord!" he prayed, "show me my way, that I may renounce these +horrid thoughts of mine!" + +Going across the bridge, he quietly gazed on the Neva, and the +clear red sunset. He did not feel himself tired now, +notwithstanding his weakness, and the load which had lain upon his +heart seemed to be gone. Liberty! Liberty! he was free from those +enchantments and all their vile instigations. In later times when +he recalled this period of his existence, and all that happened to +him in those days, minute by minute and point by point, he +recollected how each circumstance, although in the main not very +unusual, constantly appeared to his mind as an evidence of the +predetermination of his fate, so superstitious was he. Especially +he could never understand why he, weary and harassed as he was, +could not have returned home by the shortest route, instead of +across the Haymarket, which was quite out of the way. Certainly, a +dozen times before, he had reached his lodgings by most circuitous +routes, and never known through which streets he had come. But why +(he always asked) should such a really fateful meeting have taken +place in the market (through which there was no need to go), and +happen, too, at exactly such a time and at a moment of his life +when his mind was in the state it was, and the event, in these +circumstances, could only produce the most definite and decided +effect upon his fate? Surely he was the instrument of some +purpose! + +It was about nine o'clock as he stood in the Haymarket. All the +dealers had closed their establishments or cleared away their goods +and gone home. About this place, with its tattered population, its +dirty and nauseous courtyards and numerous alleys, Raskolnikoff +dearly loved to roam in his aimless wanderings. He attracted no +notice there. At the corner of K---- Lane were a dealer and his +wife, who were engaged in packing up their wares, consisting of +tapes, handkerchiefs, cotton, &c., preparatory to going home. They +were lingering over their work, and conversing with an +acquaintance. This was Elizabeth Ivanovna, or simple Elizabeth, as +all called her, the younger sister of the old woman, Alena +Ivanovna, to whose rooms Raskolnikoff went the day before for the +purpose of pawning his watch to make his REHEARSAL. He knew all +about this Elizabeth, as she knew also a little about him. She was +a tall, awkward woman, about thirty-five years of age, timid and +quiet, indeed almost an idiot, and was a regular slave to her +sister, working for her day and night, trembling before her and +enduring even blows. She was evidently hesitating about something, +as she stood there with a bundle under her arm, and her friends +were pressing some subject rather warmly. When Raskolnikoff +recognized her he seemed struck with the greatest astonishment, +although there was nothing strange about such a meeting. + +"You ought to decide yourself, Elizabeth Ivanovna," said the man. +"Come to-morrow at seven o'clock." + +"To-morrow?" said Elizabeth slowly, as if undecided. + +"She is frightened of Alena Ivanovna," cried the wife, a brisk +little woman. "You are like a little child, Elizabeth Ivanovna, +and she's not your own sister, but a stepsister. She has too much +her own way." + +"You say nothing to Alena Ivanovna," interrupted the man, "and come +without asking, that's the way to do it, and your sister can manage +herself." + +"When shall I come?" + +"At seven o'clock, to-morrow." + +"Very well, I will come," said Elizabeth, slowly and reluctantly. +She then quitted them. + +Raskolnikoff also went away, and stayed to hear no more. His +original amazement had changed gradually into a feeling of actual +terror; a chill ran down his back. He had learned unexpectedly and +positively, that, at seven o'clock the next evening, Elizabeth, the +old woman's sister, the only person living with her, would not be +at home, and that, therefore, the old woman, at seven o'clock +tomorrow, WOULD BE THERE ALONE. It needed but a few steps to reach +his room. He went along like one sentenced to death, with his +reason clogged and numbed. He felt that now all liberty of action +and free will were gone, and everything was irrevocably decided. A +more convenient occasion than was thus unexpectedly offered to him +now would never arise, and he might never learn again, beforehand, +that, at a certain time on a certain day, she, on whom he was to +make the attempt, would be entirely alone. + +Raskolnikoff learned subsequently what induced the man and his wife +to invite Elizabeth to call on them. It was a very simple matter. +A foreign family, finding themselves in straitened circumstances, +were desirous of parting with various things, consisting for the +most part in articles of female attire. They were anxious, +therefore, to meet with a dealer in cast-off clothes, and this was +one of Elizabeth's callings. She had a large connection, because +she was very honest and always stuck to her price: there was no +higgling to be done with her. She was a woman of few words and +very shy and reserved. But Raskolnikoff was very superstitious, +and traces of this remained in him long after. In all the events +of this period of his life he was ever ready to detect something +mysterious, and attribute every circumstance to the presence of +some particular influence upon his destiny. + +The previous winter, a fellow student, Pokoreff by name, on leaving +for Charkoff, had happened to communicate to him in conversation +the address of Alena Ivanovna, in case he should ever require to +pawn anything. For a long time he did not use it, as he was giving +lessons, and managed somehow to get along, but six weeks before +this time he had recollected the address. He had two things fit to +pawn--an old silver watch, formerly his father's; and a small gold +ring with three red stones, a souvenir from his sister on leaving +home. He decided on getting rid of the latter, and went to the old +woman's. At the first glance, and knowing nothing whatever of her +personally, she inspired him with an unaccountable loathing. He +took her two notes, and on leaving went into a poor traktir, or +restaurant, and ordered some tea. He sat down musing, and strange +thoughts flitted across his mind and became hatched in his brain. +Close by, at another table, were seated a student, whom he did not +know, and a young officer. They had been playing billiards, and +were now drinking tea. Suddenly Raskolnikoff heard the student +give the officer the address of Alena Ivanovna, the widow of a +professor, as one who lent money on pledges. This alone struck +Raskolnikoff as very peculiar. They were talking of the same +person he had just been to see. No doubt it was pure chance, but, +at the moment he was struggling against an impression he could not +overcome, this stranger's words came and gave extra force to it. +The student went on talking, and began to give his companion some +account of Alena Ivanovna. + +"She is well known," he said, "and always good for money. She is +as rich as a Jew, and can advance five thousand rubles at a +moment's notice; yet she will take in pledge objects worth as +little as a ruble. She is quite a providence to many of our +fellows--but such an old hag! I tell you what I would do. I would +kill that damnable old hag, and take all she is possessed of, +without any qualm of conscience," exclaimed the student excitedly. +The officer laughed, but Raskolnikoff shuddered. The words just +uttered so strongly echoed his own thoughts. "Let me put a serious +question to you," resumed the student, more and more excited. "I +have hitherto been joking, but now listen to this. On the one side +here is a silly, flint-hearted, evil-minded, sulky old woman, +necessary to no one--on the contrary, pernicious to all--and who +does not know herself why she lives." + +"Well?" said the officer. + +"Hear me further. On the other hand, young fresh strength droops +and is lost for want of sustenance; this is the case with thousands +everywhere! A hundred, a thousand good deeds and enterprises could +be carried out and upheld with the money this old woman has +bequeathed to a monastery. A dozen families might be saved from +hunger, want, ruin, crime, and misery, and all with her money! +Kill her, I say, take it from her, and dedicate it to the service +of humanity and the general good! What is your opinion? Shall not +one little crime be effaced and atoned for by a thousand good +deeds? For one useless life a thousand lives saved from decay and +death. One death, and a hundred beings restored to existence! +There's a calculation for you. What in proportion is the life of +this miserable old woman? No more than the life of a flea, a +beetle, nay, not even that, for she is pernicious. She preys on +other lives. She lately bit Elizabeth's finger, in a fit of +passion, and nearly bit it off!" + +"Certainly she does not deserve to live," observed the officer, +"but nature--" + +"Ah, my friend, nature has to be governed and guided, or we should +be drowned in prejudices. Without it there would never be one +great man. They say 'duty is conscience.' Now I have nothing to +say against duty and conscience, but let us see, how do we +understand them? Let me put another question to you. Listen." + +"Stop a minute, I will give you one." + +"Well?" + +"After all you have said and declaimed, tell me--are you going to +kill the old woman YOURSELF, or not?" + +"Of course not. I only pointed out the inequality of things. As +for the deed--" + +"Well, if you won't, it's my opinion that it would not be just to +do so! Come, let's have another game!" + +Raskolnikoff was in the greatest agitation. Still, there was +nothing extraordinary in this conversation; it was not the first +time he had heard, only in other forms and on other topics, such +ideas from the lips of the young and hotheaded. But why should he, +of all men, happen to overhear such a conversation and such ideas, +when the very same thoughts were being engendered in himself?--and +why precisely THEN, immediately on his becoming possessed of them +and on leaving the old woman? Strange, indeed, did this +coincidence appear to him. This idle conversation was destined to +have a fearful influence on his destiny, extending to the most +trifling incident and causing him to feel sure he was the +instrument of a fixed purpose. + + +On his return from the market, he flung himself upon his couch and +sat motionless for a whole hour. It became dark, he had no light, +but sat on. He could never afterwards recollect his thoughts at +the time. At last he felt cold, and a shiver ran through him. He +recognized with delight that he was sitting on his couch and could +lie down, and soon he fell into a deep, heavy sleep. He slept much +longer than usual, and his slumbers were undisturbed by dreams. +Nastasia, who came to his room the next morning at ten o'clock, had +great difficulty in awakening him. The servant brought him some +bread and, the same as the day before, what was left of her tea. + +"Not up yet!" exclaimed she indignantly. "How can you sleep so +long?" + +Raskolnikoff raised himself with an effort; his head ached; he got +upon his feet, took a few steps, and then dropped down again upon +the couch. + +"What, again!" cried Nastasia, "but you must be ill then?" He did +not answer. "Would you like some tea?" + +"By and by," he muttered painfully, after which he closed his eyes +and turned his face to the wall. Nastasia, standing over him, +remained watching him for a while. + +"After all, he's perhaps ill," said she, before withdrawing. At +two o'clock she returned with some soup. Raskolnikoff was still +lying on the couch. He had not touched the tea. The servant +became angry and shook the lodger violently. "Whatever makes you +sleep thus?" scolded she, eyeing him contemptuously. + +He sat up, but answered not a word, and remained with his eyes +fixed on the floor. + +"Are you ill, or are you not?" asked Nastasia. This second +question met with no more answer than the first. "You should go +out," continued she, after a pause, "the fresh air would do you +good. You'll eat something, will you not?" + +"By and by," answered he feebly. "Go away!" and he motioned her +off. She remained a moment longer, watching him with an air of +pity, and then left the room. + +After a few minutes he raised his eyes, gave a long look at the tea +and soup, and then began to eat. He swallowed three or four +spoonfuls without the least appetite--almost mechanically. His +head felt better. When he had finished his light repast, he again +lay down on the couch, but he could not sleep and remained +motionless, flat on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow. +His reverie kept conjuring up strange scenes. At one time he was +in Africa, in Egypt, on some oasis, where palms were dotted about. +The caravans were at rest, the camels lay quietly, and the +travelers were eating their evening meal. They drank water direct +from the stream which ran murmuring close by. How refreshing was +the marvelously blue water, and how beautifully clear it looked as +it ran over many-colored stones and mingled with the golden +spangles of the sandy bottom! All at once he clearly heard the +hour chiming. He shuddered, raised his head, looked at the window +to calculate the time. He came to himself immediately and jumped +up, and, going on tiptoe, silently opened the door and stood +listening on the landing. His heart beat violently. But not a +sound came from the staircase. It seemed as though the house was +wrapped in sleep. He could not understand how he had been able to +sleep away the time as he had done, while nothing was prepared for +the enterprise. And yet it was, perhaps, six o'clock that had just +struck. + +Then, he became excited as he felt what there was to be done, and +he endeavored with all his might to keep his thoughts from +wandering and concentrate his mind on his task. All the time his +heart thumped and beat until he could hardly draw breath. In the +first place it was necessary to make a loop and fasten to his coat. +He went to his pillow and took from among the linen he kept there +an old and dirty shirt and tore part of it into strips. He then +fastened a couple of these together, and, taking off his coat--a +stout cotton summer one--began to sew the loop inside, under the +left arm. His hands shook violently, but he accomplished his task +satisfactorily, and when he again put on his coat nothing was +visible. Needle and thread had been procured long ago, and lay on +the table in a piece of paper. The loop was provided for a +hatchet. It would never have done to have appeared in the streets +carrying a hatchet, and if he placed it under the coat, it would +have been necessary to hold it with his hands; but with the loop +all he had to do was to put the iron in it and it would hang of +itself under the coat, and with his hands in his pockets he could +keep it from shaking, and no one could suspect that he was carrying +anything. He had thought over all this about a fortnight before. + +Having finished his task, Raskolnikoff inserted his finger in a +small crevice in the floor under his couch, and brought out the +PLEDGE with which he had been careful to provide himself. This +pledge was, however, only a sham--a thin smooth piece of wood about +the size and thickness of a silver cigarette case, which he had +found in a yard adjoining a carpenter's shop, and a thin piece of +iron of about the same size, which he had picked up in the street. +He fastened the two together firmly with thread, then proceeded to +wrap them up neatly in a piece of clean white paper, and tie the +parcel in such a manner that it would he difficult to undo it +again. This was all done in order to occupy the attention of the +old woman and to seize a favorable opportunity when she would be +busy with the knot. The piece of iron was simply added for weight, +in order that she might not immediately detect the fraud. He had +just finished, and had put the packet in his pocket, when in the +court below resounded the cry: + +"Six o'clock struck long ago!" + +"Long ago! Good heavens!" + +He ran to the door, listened, seized his hat, and went down the +stairs cautiously and stealthily as a cat. He still had the most +important thing to do--to steal the hatchet out of the kitchen. +That a hatchet was the best instrument, he had long since decided. +He had an old garden knife, but on a knife--especially on his own +strength--he could not rely; he finally fixed on the hatchet. A +peculiarity was to be noticed in all these resolutions of his; the +more definitely they were settled, the more absurd and horrible +they immediately appeared to his eyes, and never, for a moment, did +he feel sure of the execution of his project. But even if every +question had been settled, every doubt cleared away, every +difficulty overcome, he would probably have renounced his design on +the instant, as something absurd, monstrous, and impossible. But +there were still a host of matters to arrange, of problems to +solve. As to procuring the hatchet, this trifle did not trouble +Raskolnikoff in the least, for nothing was easier. As a matter of +fact Nastasia was scarcely ever at home, especially of an evening. +She was constantly out gossiping with friends or tradespeople, and +that was the reason of her mistress's constant complaints. When +the time came, all he would have to do would be to quietly enter +the kitchen and take the hatchet, and then to replace it an hour +afterwards when all was over. But perhaps this would not be as +easy as he fancied. "Suppose," said the young man to himself, +"that when, in an hour's time, I come to replace the hatchet, +Nastasia should have come in. Now, in that case, I could naturally +not enter the kitchen until she had gone out again. But supposing +during this time she notices the absence of the hatchet, she will +grumble, perhaps kick up a shindy, and that will serve to denounce +me, or at least might do so!" + +Before he had got to the bottom of the staircase, a trifling +circumstance came and upset all his plans. On reaching his +landlady's landing, he found the kitchen door wide open, as usual, +and he peeped in, in order to make sure that, in the absence of +Nastasia, her mistress was not there, and that the doors of the +other rooms were closed. But great was his annoyance to find +Nastasia there herself, engaged in hanging clothes on a line. +Perceiving the young man, she stopped and turned to him +inquiringly. He averted his eyes and went away without remark. +But the affair was done for. There was no hatchet, he was +frustrated entirely. He felt crushed, nay, humiliated, but a +feeling of brutal vindictiveness at his disappointment soon ensued, +and he continued down the stairs, smiling maliciously to himself. +He stood hesitating at the gate. To walk about the streets or to +go back were equally repugnant. "To think that I have missed such +a splendid opportunity!" he murmured as he stood aimlessly at the +entrance, leaning near the open door of the porter's lodge. +Suddenly he started--something in the dark room attracted his eye. +He looked quietly around. No one was near. He descended the two +steps on tiptoe, and called for the porter. There was no reply, +and he rushed headlong to the hatchet (it was a hatchet), secured +it where it lay among some wood, and hurriedly fastened it to the +loop as he made his way out into the street. No one saw him! +"There's more of the devil in this than my design," he said smiling +to himself. The occurrence gave him fresh courage. + +He went away quietly in order not to excite any suspicion, and +walked along the street with his eyes studiously fixed on the +ground, avoiding the faces of the passers-by. Suddenly he +recollected his hat. "Good heavens! the day before yesterday I had +money, and not to have thought of that! I could so easily have +bought a cap!" and he began cursing himself. Glancing casually in +a shop, he saw it was ten minutes past seven. He had yet a long +way to go, as he was making a circuit, not wishing to walk direct +to the house. He kept off, as much as he was able, all thought of +his mission, and on the way reflected upon possible improvements of +the public grounds, upon the desirability of fountains, and why +people lived where there were neither parks nor fountains, but only +mud, lime, and bricks, emitting horrid exhalations and every +conceivable foulness. This reminded him of his own walks about the +Cyennaza, and he came to himself. + +"How true it is that persons being led to execution interest +themselves in anything that strikes them on the way!" was the +thought that came into his head; but it passed away like lightning +to be succeeded by some other. "Here we are--there is the gate." +It struck half-past seven as he stood near the house. + +To his delight, he passed in without observation. As if on +purpose, at the very same moment a load of hay was going in, and it +completely screened him. On the other side of the load, a dispute +or brawl was evidently taking place, and he gained the old woman's +staircase in a second. Recovering his breath and pressing his hand +to his beating heart, he commenced the ascent, though first feeling +for the hatchet and arranging it. Every minute he stopped to +listen. The stairs were quite deserted, and every door was closed. +No one met him. On the second floor, indeed, the door of an empty +lodging was wide open; some painters were working there, but they +did not look up. He stopped a moment to think, and then continued +the ascent: "No doubt it would be better if they were not there, +but fortunately there are two more floors above them." At last he +reached the fourth floor, and Alena Ivanovna's door; the lodging +facing it was unoccupied. The lodging on the third floor, just +beneath the old woman's, was also apparently empty. The card that +used to be on the door had gone; the lodgers had, no doubt, moved. +Raskolnikoff was stifling. He stood hesitating a moment: "Had I +not better go away?" But without answering the question, he waited +and listened. Not a sound issued from the old woman's apartments. +The staircase was filled with the same silence. After listening +for a long time, the young man cast a last glance around, and again +felt his hatchet. "Do I not look too pale?" thought he. "Do I not +appear too agitated? She is mistrustful. I should do well to wait +a little, to give my emotion time to calm down." + +But instead of becoming quieter, his heart throbbed more violently. +He could stand it no longer, and, raising his hand toward the bell +rope, he pulled it toward him. After waiting half a minute, he +rang again--this time a little louder. No answer. To ring like a +deaf man would have been useless, stupid even. The old woman was +certainly at home; but, suspicious by nature, she was likely to be +so all the more then, as she happened to be alone. Raskolnikoff +knew something of Alena Ivanovna's habits. He therefore placed his +ear to the door. Had the circumstances amid which he was placed +strangely developed his power of hearing, which, in general, is +difficult to admit, or was the sound really easily perceptible? +Anyhow, he suddenly became aware that a hand was being cautiously +placed on the lock, and that a dress rustled against the door. +Some one inside was going through exactly the same movements as he +on the landing. Some one, standing up against the lock, was +listening while trying to hide her presence, and had probably her +ear also against the door. + +In order to avoid all idea of mystery, the young man purposely +moved about rather noisily, and muttered something half aloud; then +he rang a third time, but gently and coolly, without allowing the +bell to betray the least sign of impatience. Raskolnikoff never +forgot this moment of his life. When, in after days, he thought +over it, he could never understand how he had been able to display +such cunning, especially at a time when emotion was now and again +depriving him of the free use of his intellectual and physical +faculties. After a short while he heard the bolt withdrawn. + +The door, as before, was opened a little, and again the two eyes, +with mistrustful glance, peeped out of the dark. Then Raskolnikoff +lost his presence of mind and made a serious mistake. Fearing that +the old woman would take alarm at finding they were alone, and +knowing that his appearance would not reassure her, he took hold of +the door and pulled it toward him in order to prevent her shutting +it again if she should be thus minded. Seeing this, she held on to +the lock, so that he almost drew her together with the door on to +the staircase. She recovered herself, and stood to prevent his +entrance, speechless with fright. + +"Good evening, Alena Ivanovna," he commenced, trying to speak with +unconcern, but his voice did not obey him, and he faltered and +trembled, "Good evening, I have brought you something, but we had +better go into the light." He pushed past her and entered the room +uninvited. The old woman followed and found her tongue. + +"What is it you want? Who are you?" she commenced. + +"Pardon me, Alena Ivanovna, your old acquaintance Raskolnikoff. I +have brought a pledge, as I promised the other day," and he held +out the packet to her. + +The old woman was about to examine it, when she raised her eyes and +looked straight into those of the visitor who had entered so +unceremoniously. She examined him attentively, distrustfully, for +a minute. Raskolnikoff fancied there was a gleam of mockery in her +look as if she guessed all. He felt he was changing color, and +that if she kept her glance upon him much longer without saying a +word he would be obliged to run away. + +"Why are you looking at me thus?" he said at last in anger. "Will +you take it or not? or shall I take it elsewhere? I have no time +to waste." He did not intend to say this, but the words came out. +The tone seemed to quiet her suspicions. + +"Why were you so impatient, batuchka? What is it?" she asked, +glancing at the pledge. + +"The silver cigarette case of which I spoke the other day." + +She held out her hand. "But why are you so pale, why do your hands +shake? What is the matter with you, batuchka?" + +"Fever," replied he abruptly. "You would be pale too if you had +nothing to eat." He could hardly speak the words and felt his +strength failing. But there was some plausibility in his reply; +and the old woman took the pledge. + +"What is it?" she asked once more, weighing it in her hand and +looking straight at her visitor. + +"Cigarette case, silver, look at it." + +"It doesn't feel as though it were silver. Oh! what a dreadful +knot!" + +She began to untie the packet and turned to the light (all the +windows were closed in spite of the heat). Her back was turned +toward Raskolnikoff, and for a few seconds she paid no further +attention to him. He opened his coat, freed the hatchet from the +loop, but did not yet take it from its hiding place; he held it +with his right hand beneath the garment. His limbs were weak, each +moment they grew more numbed and stiff. He feared his fingers +would relax their hold of the hatchet. Then his head turned giddy. + +"What is this you bring me?" cried Alena Ivanovna, turning to him +in a rage. + +There was not a moment to lose now. He pulled out the hatchet, +raised it with both hands, and let it descend without force, almost +mechanically, on the old woman's head. But directly he had struck +the blow his strength returned. According to her usual habit, +Alena Ivanovna was bareheaded. Her scanty gray locks, greasy with +oil, were gathered in one thin plait, which was fixed to the back +of her neck by means of a piece of horn comb. The hatchet struck +her just on the sinciput, and this was partly owing to her small +stature. She scarcely uttered a faint cry and collapsed at once +all in a heap on the floor; she was dead. + +The murderer laid his hatchet down and at once began to search the +corpse, taking the greatest precaution not to get stained with the +blood; he remembered seeing Alena Ivanovna, on the occasion of his +last visit, take her keys from the right-hand pocket of her dress. +He was in full possession of his intellect; he felt neither giddy +nor dazed, but his hands continued to shake. Later on, he +recollected that he had been very prudent, very attentive, that he +had taken every care not to soil himself. It did not take him long +to find the keys; the same as the other day, they were all together +on a steel ring. Having secured. them, Raskolnikoff at once +passed into the bedroom. It was a very small apartment; on one +side was a large glass case full of holy images, on the other a +great bed looking very clean with its quilted-silk patchwork +coverlet. The third wall was occupied by a chest of drawers. +Strange to say, the young man had no sooner attempted to open them, +he had no sooner commenced to try the keys, than a kind of shudder +ran through his frame. Again the idea came to him to give up his +task and go away, but this weakness only lasted a second: it was +now too late to draw back. + +He was even smiling at having for a moment entertained such a +thought, when he was suddenly seized with a terrible anxiety: +suppose the old woman were still alive, suppose she recovered +consciousness. Leaving at once the keys and the drawers, he +hastened to the corpse, seized the hatchet, and prepared to strike +another blow at his victim, but he found there was no necessity to +do so. Alena Ivanovna was dead beyond all doubt. Leaning over her +again to examine her closer, Raskolnikoff saw that the skull was +shattered. He was about to touch her with his fingers, but drew +back, as it was quite unnecessary. There was a pool of blood upon +the floor. Suddenly noticing a bit of cord round the old woman's +neck, the young man gave it a tug, but the gory stuff was strong, +and did not break. The murderer then tried to remove it by drawing +it down the body. But this second attempt was no more successful +than the first, the cord encountered some obstacle and became +fixed. Burning with impatience, Raskolnikoff brandished the +hatchet, ready to strike the corpse and sever the confounded string +at the same blow. However, he could not make up his mind to +proceed with such brutality. At last, after trying for two +minutes, and staining his hands with blood, he succeeded in +severing the cord with the blade of the hatchet without further +disfiguring the dead body. As he had imagined, there was a purse +suspended to the old woman's neck. Besides this there was also a +small enameled medal and two crosses, one of cypress wood, the +other of brass. The greasy purse, a little chamois-leather bag, +was as full as it could hold. Raskolnikoff thrust it in his pocket +without examining the contents. He then threw the crosses on his +victim's breast, and hastily returned to the bedroom, taking the +hatchet with him. + +His impatience was now intense, he seized the keys, and again set +to work. But all his attempts to open the drawers were unavailing, +and this was not so much owing to the shaking of his hands as to +his continual misconceptions. He could see, for instance, that a +certain key would not fit the lock, and yet he continued to try and +insert it. All on a sudden he recalled a conjecture he had formed +on the occasion of his preceding visit: the big key with the +toothed wards, which was attached to the ring with the smaller +ones, probably belonged, not to the drawers, but to some box in +which the old woman, no doubt, hoarded up her valuables. Without +further troubling about the drawers, he at once looked under the +bed, aware that old women are in the habit of hiding their +treasures in such places. And there indeed was a trunk with +rounded lid, covered with red morocco and studded with steel nails. +Raskolnikoff was able to insert the key in the lock without the +least difficulty. When he opened the box he perceived a hareskin +cloak trimmed with red lying on a white sheet; beneath the fur was +a silk dress, and then a shawl, the rest of the contents appeared +to be nothing but rags. The young man commenced by wiping his +bloodstained hands on the red trimming. "It will not show so much +on red." Then he suddenly seemed to change his mind: "Heavens! am +I going mad?" thought he with fright. + +But scarcely had he touched these clothes than a gold watch rolled +from under the fur. He then overhauled everything in the box. +Among the rags were various gold trinkets, which had all probably +been pledged with the old woman: bracelets, chains, earrings, scarf +pins, &c. Some were in their cases, while the others were tied up +with tape in pieces of newspaper folded in two. Raskolnikoff did +not hesitate, he laid hands on these jewels, and stowed them away +in the pockets of his coat and trousers, without opening the cases +or untying the packets; but he was soon interrupted in his work-- + +Footsteps resounded in the other room. He stopped short, frozen +with terror. But the noise having ceased, he was already imagining +he had been mistaken, when suddenly he distinctly heard a faint +cry, or rather a kind of feeble interrupted moan. At the end of a +minute or two, everything was again as silent as death. +Raskolnikoff had seated himself on the floor beside the trunk and +was waiting, scarcely daring to breathe; suddenly he bounded up, +caught up the hatchet, and rushed from the bedroom. In the center +of the apartment, Elizabeth, a huge bundle in her hands, stood +gazing in a terror-stricken way at her dead sister; white as a +sheet, she did not seem to have the strength to call out. On the +sudden appearance of the murderer, she began to quake in every +limb, and nervous twitches passed over her face; she tried to raise +her arm, to open her mouth, but she was unable to utter the least +cry, and, slowly retreating, her gaze still riveted on +Raskolnikoff, she sought refuge in a corner. The poor woman drew +back in perfect silence, as though she had no breath left in her +body. The young man rushed upon her, brandishing the hatchet; the +wretched creature's lips assumed the doleful expression peculiar to +quite young children when, beginning to feel frightened of +something, they gaze fixedly at the object which has raised their +alarm, and are on the point of crying out. Terror had so +completely stupefied this unfortunate Elizabeth, that, though +threatened by the hatchet, she did not even think of protecting her +face by holding her hands before her head, with that mechanical +gesture which the instinct of self-preservation prompts on such +occasions. She scarcely raised her left arm, and extended it +slowly in the direction of the murderer, as thought to keep him +off. The hatchet penetrated her skull, laying it open from the +upper part of the forehead to the crown. Elizabeth fell down dead. +No longer aware of what he did, Raskolnikoff took the bundle from +his victim's hand, then dropped it and ran to the anteroom. + +He was more and more terrified, especially after this second +murder, entirely unpremeditated by him. He was in a hurry to be +gone; had he then been in a state to see things more clearly, had +he only been able to form an idea of the difficulties besetting his +position, to see how desperate, how hideous, how absurd it was, to +understand how many obstacles there still remained for him to +surmount, perhaps even crimes to commit, to escape from this house +and return home, he would most likely have withdrawn from the +struggle, and have gone at once and given himself up to justice; it +was not cowardice which would have prompted him to do so, but the +horror of what he had done. This last impression became more and +more powerful every minute. Nothing in the world could now have +made him return to the trunk, nor even reenter the room in which it +lay. Little by little his mind became diverted by other thoughts, +and he lapsed into a kind of reverie; at times the murderer seemed +to forget his position, or rather the most important part of it, +and to concentrate his attention on trifles. After a while, +happening to glance in the kitchen, he observed a pail half full of +water, standing on a bench, and that gave him the idea of washing +his hands and the hatchet. The blood had made his hands sticky. +After plunging the blade of the hatchet in the water, he took a +small piece of soap which lay on the window sill, and commenced his +ablutions. When he had washed his hands, he set to cleaning the +iron part of his weapon; then he devoted three minutes to soaping +the wooden handle, which was also stained with blood. + +After this he wiped it with a cloth which had been hung up to dry +on a line stretched across the kitchen. This done, he drew near +the window and carefully examined the hatchet for some minutes. +The accusing stains had disappeared, but the handle was still damp. +Raskolnikoff carefully hid the weapon under his coat by replacing +it in the loop; after which, he minutely inspected his clothes, +that is to say so far as the dim light of the kitchen allowed him +to do so. He saw nothing suspicious about the coat and trousers, +but there were bloodstains on the boots. He removed them with the +aid of a damp rag. But these precautions only half reassured him, +for he knew that he could not see properly and that certain stains +had very likely escaped him. He stood irresolute in the middle of +the room, a prey to a somber, agonizing thought, the thought that +he was going mad, that at that moment he was not in a fit state to +come to a determination and to watch over his security, that his +way of going to work was probably not the one the circumstances +demanded. "Good heavens! I ought to go, to go away at once!" +murmured he, and he rushed to the anteroom where the greatest +terror he had yet experienced awaited him. + +He stood stock-still, not daring to believe his eyes: the door of +the lodging, the outer door which opened on to the landing, the +same one at which he had rung a little while before and by which he +had entered, was open; up till then it had remained ajar, the old +woman had no doubt omitted to close it by way of precaution; it had +been neither locked nor bolted! But he had seen Elizabeth after +that. How was it that it had not occurred to him that she had come +in by way of the door? She could not have entered the lodging +through the wall. He shut the door and bolted it. "But no, that +is not what I should do? I must go away, go away." He drew back +the bolt and, after opening the door again, stood listening on the +landing. + +He stood thus a long while. Down below, probably at the street +door, two noisy voices were vociferating insults. "Who can those +people be?" He waited patiently. At last the noise ceased, the +brawlers had taken their departure. The young man was about to do +the same, when a door on the floor immediately below was noisily +opened and some one went downstairs, humming a tune. "Whatever are +they all up to?" wondered Raskolnikoff, and closing the door again +he waited a while. At length all became silent as before; but just +as he was preparing to go down, he suddenly became aware of a fresh +sound, footsteps as yet far off, at the bottom of the staircase; +and he no sooner heard them than he guessed the truth:--some one +was coming THERE, to the old woman's on the fourth floor. Whence +came this presentiment? What was there so particularly significant +in the sound of these footsteps? They were heavy, regular, and +rather slow than hurried. HE has now reached the first floor, he +still continues to ascend. The sound is becoming plainer and +plainer. He pants as though with asthma at each step he takes. He +has commenced the third flight. He will soon be on the fourth! +And Raskolnikoff felt suddenly seized as with a general paralysis, +the same as happens when a person has the nightmare and fancies +himself pursued by enemies; they are on the point of catching him, +they will kill him, and yet he remains spellbound, unable to move a +limb. + +The stranger was now ascending the fourth flight. Raskolnikoff, +who until then had been riveted to the landing with fright, was at +length able to shake off his torpor, and hastily reentered the +apartment, closing the door behind him. Then he bolted it, being +careful to make as little noise as possible. Instinct rather than +reason prompted him to do this. When he had finished, he remained +close to the door, listening, scarcely daring to breathe. The +visitor was now on the landing. Only the thickness of the door +separated the two men. The unknown was in the same position toward +Raskolnikoff as the latter had been a little while before toward +the old woman. The visitor stood panting for some little time. +"He must be stout and big," thought the young man as he clasped the +hatchet firmly in his hand. It was all like a dream to him. The +visitor gave a violent pull at the bell. He immediately fancied he +heard something move inside. He listened attentively during a few +seconds, then he gave another ring and again waited; suddenly +losing patience, he began to shake the door handle with all his +might. Raskolnikoff watched with terror the bolt trembling in the +socket, expecting to see it shoot back at any moment, so violent +were the jerks given to the door. It occurred to him to hold the +bolt in its place with his hand, but the MAN might have found it +out. His head was turning quite dizzy again. "I shall betray +myself!" thought he; but he suddenly recovered his presence of mind +as the unknown broke the silence. + +"Are they both asleep, or has some one strangled them? The thrice- +confounded creatures!" growled the visitor in a guttural voice. +"Hi! Alena Ivanovna, you old sorceress! Elizabeth Ivanovna, you +indescribable beauty!--open! Oh! the witches! can they be asleep?" + +In his exasperation he rang ten times running, and as loud as he +possibly could. This man was evidently not a stranger there, and +was in the habit of being obeyed. At the same moment some light +and rapid footsteps resounded on the staircase. It was another +person coming to the fourth floor. Raskolnikoff was not at first +aware of the newcomer's arrival. + +"Is it possible that there's no one at home?" said the latter in a +loud and hearty tone of voice, addressing the first visitor who was +still tugging at the bell pull. "Good day, Koch!" + +"Judging by his voice, he must be quite a young man," immediately +thought Raskolnikoff. + +"The devil only knows! I've almost smashed the lock," replied +Koch. "But how is it you know me?" + +"What a question! The day before yesterday I played you at +billiards, at Gambrinus's, and won three games right off." + +"Ah!" + +"So they're not at home? That's strange. I might almost say it's +ridiculous. Where can the old woman have gone? I want to speak +with her." + +"And I too, batuchka, I want to speak with her." + +"Well, what's to be done? I suppose we must go back to whence we +came. I wanted to borrow some money of her!" exclaimed the young +man. + +"Of course we must go back again; but why then did she make an +appointment? She herself, the old witch, told me to come at this +hour. And it's a long way to where I live. Where the deuce can +she be? I don't understand it. She never stirs from one year's +end to the other, the old witch; she quite rots in the place, her +legs have always got something the matter with them, and now all on +a sudden she goes gallivanting about!" + +"Suppose we question the porter?" + +"What for?" + +"To find out where she's gone and when she will be back." + +"Hum!--the deuce!--question!--but she never goes anywhere." And he +again tugged at the door handle. "The devil take her! there's +nothing to be done but to go." + +"Wait!" suddenly exclaimed the young man, "look!--do you notice how +the door resists when we pull it?" + +"Well, what then?" + +"Why, that shows that it's not locked, but bolted! Hark how it +clinks!" + +"Well?" + +"Don't you understand? That shows that one of them must be at +home. If both were out, they would have locked the door after +them, and not have bolted it inside. Listen, don't you hear the +noise it makes? Well, to bolt one's door, one must be at home, you +understand. Therefore it follows that they are at home, only for +some reason or other they don't open the door!" + +"Why, yes, you're right!" exclaimed the astonished Koch. "So +they're there, are they?" And he again shook the door violently. + +"Stay!" resumed the young man, "don't pull like that. There's +something peculiar about this. You've rung, you've pulled at the +door with all your might, and they haven't answered you; therefore, +they've either both fainted away, or--" + +"What?" + +"This is what we had better do: have the porter up, so that he may +find out what's the matter." + +"That's not a bad idea!" + +They both started downstairs. + +"Stop! you stay here; I'll fetch the porter." + +"Why stay here?" + +"Well, one never knows what might happen--" + +"All right." + +"You see, I might also pass for an examining magistrate! There's +something very peculiar about all this, that's evident, e-vi-dent!" +said the young man excitedly, and he hastily made his way down the +stairs. + +Left alone, Koch rang again, but gently this time; then, with a +thoughtful air, he began to play with the door handle, turning it +first one way, then the other, so as to make sure the door was only +bolted. After this, with a great deal of puffing and blowing, he +stooped down to look through the keyhole, but the key was in the +lock, and turned in such a way that one could not see through. +Standing up on the other side of the door, Raskolnikoff still held +the hatchet in his hands. He was almost in a state of delirium and +was preparing to attack the two men the moment they forced an +entrance. More than once, on hearing them knocking and planning +together, he had felt inclined to put an end to the matter there +and then by calling out to them. At times he experienced a desire +to abuse and defy them, while awaiting their irruption. "The +sooner it's over the better!" he kept thinking. + +"The devil take them!" The time passed; still no one came. Koch +was beginning to lose patience. "The devil take them!" he muttered +again, and, tired of waiting, he relinquished his watch to go and +find the young man. By degrees the sound of his heavy boots +echoing on the stairs ceased to be heard. + +"Heavens! What shall I do?" + +Raskolnikoff drew back the bolt and opened the door a few inches. +Reassured by the silence which reigned in the house, and, moreover, +scarcely in a fit state at the time to reflect on what he did, he +went out on to the landing, shut the door behind him as securely as +he could and turned to go downstairs. He had already descended +several steps when suddenly a great uproar arose from one of the +floors below. Where could he hide? Concealment was impossible, so +he hastened upstairs again. + +"Hi there! hang it! stop!" + +He who uttered these cries had just burst out of one of the +lodgings, and was rushing down the stairs as fast as his legs would +carry him, yelling the while: "Dmitri! Dmitri! Dmitri! May the +devil take the fool!" + +The rest died away in the distance; the man who was uttering these +cries had already left the house far behind. All was once more +silent; but scarcely was this alarm over than a fresh one succeeded +it: several individuals talking together in a loud tone of voice +were noisily coming up the stairs. There were three or four of +them. Raskolnikoff recognized the young man's sonorous accents. +"It is they!" No longer hoping to escape them, he advanced boldly +to meet them: "Let happen what will!" said he to himself: "if they +stop me, all is over; if they let me pass, all is over just the +same: they will remember passing me on the stairs." They were +about to encounter him, only one flight separated them--when +suddenly he felt himself saved! A few steps from him, to the +right, there was an empty lodging with the door wide open, it was +that same one on the second floor where he had seen the painters +working, but, by a happy chance, they had just left it. It was +they, no doubt, who a few minutes before had gone off, uttering +those shouts. The paint on the floors was quite fresh, the workmen +had left their things in the middle of the room: a small tub, some +paint in an earthenware crock, and a big brush. In the twinkling +of an eye, Raskolnikoff glided into the deserted apartment and hid +himself as best he could up against the wall. It was none too +soon: his pursuers were already on the landing; they did not stop +there, however, but went on up to the fourth floor, talking loudly +among themselves. After waiting till they had got some distance +off, he left the room on tiptoe and hurried down as fast as his +legs would carry him. No one on the stairs! No one either at the +street door! He stepped briskly outside, and, once in the street, +turned to the left. + +He knew very well, he knew without a doubt, that they who were +seeking him were at that moment in the old woman's lodging, and +were amazed to find that the door, which a little while before had +been shut so securely, was now open. 'They're examining the +corpses," thought he; "it won't take them a minute to come to the +conclusion that the murderer managed to hide himself from them as +they went up the stairs; perhaps they may even have a suspicion +that he stowed himself away in the empty lodging on the second +floor while they were hurrying to the upper part of the house." +But, in spite of these reflections, he did not dare to increase his +pace, though he still had a hundred steps or so to go before +reaching the first turning. "Suppose I slipped into some doorway, +in some out-of-the-way street, and waited there a few minutes? No, +that would never do! I might throw my hatchet away somewhere? or +take a cab? No good! no good!" At last he reached a narrow lane; +he entered it more dead than alive. There, he was almost in +safety, and he knew it: in such a place, suspicion could hardly be +fixed upon him; while, on the other hand, it was easier for him to +avoid notice by mingling with the crowd. But all these agonizing +events had so enfeebled him that he could scarcely keep on his +legs. Great drops of perspiration streamed down his face; his neck +was quite wet. "I think you've had your fill!" shouted some one +who took him for a drunken man as he reached the canal bank. + +He no longer knew what he was doing; the farther he went, the more +obscure became his ideas. However, when he found himself on the +quay, he became frightened at seeing so few people there, and, +fearing that he might be noticed on so deserted a spot, he returned +to the lane. Though he had hardly the strength to put one leg +before the other, he nevertheless took the longest way to reach his +home. He had scarcely recovered his presence of mind even when he +crossed the threshold; at least the thought of the hatchet never +came to him until he was on the stairs. Yet the question he had to +solve was a most serious one: it consisted in returning the hatchet +to the place he had taken it from, and in doing so without +attracting the least attention. Had he been more capable of +considering his position, he would certainly have understood that, +instead of replacing the hatchet, it would be far safer to get rid +of it by throwing it into the yard of some other house. + +Nevertheless he met with no mishap. The door of the porter's lodge +was closed, though not locked; to all appearance, therefore, the +porter was at home. But Raskolnikoff had so thoroughly lost all +faculty of preparing any kind of plan, that he walked straight to +the door and opened it. If the porter had asked him: "What do you +want?" perhaps he would simply have handed him the hatchet. But, +the same as on the previous occasion, the porter was absent, and +this gave the young man every facility to replace the hatchet under +the bench, exactly where he had found it. Then he went upstairs +and reached his room without meeting a soul; the door of his +landlady's apartments was shut. Once home again, he threw himself +on his couch just as he was. He did not sleep, but lay in a sort +of semiconsciousness. If anybody had then appeared before him, he +would have sprung up and cried out. His head was swimming with a +host of vague thoughts: do what he could, he was unable to follow +the thread of one of them. + + +Raskolnikoff lay on the couch a very long while. At times he +seemed to rouse from this half sleep, and then he noticed that the +night was very far advanced, but still it never entered his head to +rise. Soon it began to brighten into day, and the dawn found him +in a state of stupefaction, lying motionless on his back. A +desperate clamor, and sounds of brawls from the streets below, rose +to his ears. These awakened him thoroughly, although he heard them +every morning early at the same hour. "Ah! two o'clock, drinking +is over," and he started up as though some one had pulled him off +the couch. "What! two o'clock already?" He sat on the edge of the +couch and then recollected everything, in an instant it all came +back! At first he thought he was going out of his mind, a strange +chill pervaded his frame, but the cold arose from the fever which +had seized upon him during his sleep. He shivered until his teeth +chattered, and all his limbs fairly shook. He went to the door, +opened it, and listened; all was silent in the house. With +astonishment he turned and looked round the room. How could he +have come home the night before, not bolted the door, and thrown +himself on the couch just as he was, not only not undressed, but +with his hat on? There it lay in the middle of the floor where it +had rolled. "If anyone came in, what would he think? That I am +drunk, of course." + +He went to the window--it was pretty light--and looked himself all +over from head to foot, to see if there were any stains on his +clothes. But he could not rely upon that sort of inspection; so, +still shivering, he undressed and examined his clothes again, +looking everywhere with the greatest care. To make quite sure, he +went over them three times. He discovered nothing but a few drops +of clotted blood on the ends of his trousers which were very much +frayed. He took a big clasp-knife and cut off the frayed edges. +Suddenly he remembered that the purse and the things he had +abstracted from the old woman's chest, were still in his pockets! +He had never thought of taking them out and hiding them! indeed, it +had never crossed his mind that they were in his pockets while +examining his clothes! Was it possible? In a second he emptied +all out on to the table in a heap. Then, turning his pockets +inside out to make sure there was nothing left in them, he carried +the things to a corner of the room. Just there, the paper was +hanging loose from the wall; he bent down and commenced to stuff +all the things into a hole behind the paper. "There, it's all out +of sight!" thought he gleefully, as he stood gazing stupidly at the +spot where the paper bulged out more than ever. Suddenly he began +to shudder from terror. "Good heavens!" murmured he in despair, +"what is the matter with me? Is that hidden? Is that the way to +hide anything?" + +Indeed, he had not reckoned on such spoil, he had only thought of +taking the old woman's money; so he was not prepared with a hiding +place for the jewels. "I have no cause to rejoice now," thought +he. "Is that the way to hide anything? I must really be losing my +senses!" He sunk on the couch again exhausted; another fit of +intolerable shivering seized him, and he mechanically pulled his +old student's cloak over him for warmth, as he fell into a +delirious sleep. He lost all consciousness of himself. Not more +than five minutes had elapsed before he woke up in intense +excitement, and bent over his clothes in the deepest anguish. "How +could I go to sleep again when nothing is done! For I have done +nothing, the loop is still where I sewed it. I forgot all about +that! What a convincing proof it would have been." He ripped it +off and tore it into shreds which he placed among his underlinen +under the pillow. "These rags cannot awaken any suspicions, I +fancy; at least, so it seems to me," repeated he, standing up in +the middle of the room, and, with an attempt rendered all the more +painful by the effort it cost him, he looked all round, trying to +make sure he had forgotten nothing. He suffered cruelly from this +conviction, that everything, even memory, even the most elementary +prudence, was abandoning him. + +"Can this be the punishment already beginning? Indeed! indeed! it +is!" + +And indeed the frayed edges he had cut from the bottom of his +trousers were lying on the floor, in the middle of the room, +exposed to the view of the first comer. "But what can I be +thinking of?" exclaimed he in utter bewilderment. Then a strange +idea came into his head; he thought that perhaps all his clothes +were saturated in blood, and that he could not see this because his +senses were gone and his perception of things lost. Then he +recollected that there would be traces on the purse, and his +pockets would be wet with blood. It was so. "I am bereft of my +reason, I know not what I am doing. Bah! not at all!--it is only +weakness, delirium. I shall soon be better." He tore at the +lining. At this moment the rays of the morning streamed in and +shone on his left boot. There were plain traces, and all the point +was covered. "I must have stepped in that pool. What shall I do +now? Boot, lining, rags, where shall they go?" He rolled them up +and stood thinking in the middle of the room. "Ah, the stove. +Yes, burn them. No, I cannot, I have no match. Better throw them +away. Yes, yes, that is the thing," said he, again sitting on the +couch. "At once, and without delay too, quick." But, instead, his +head fell back upon the pillow, and chilly shiverings again came +over him. He covered himself with his cloak and slept again. It +appeared hours to him, and many a time in his sleep he tried to +rise to hasten to throw away his bundle, but he could not, he +seemed chained to the bed. At last he awoke, as he heard a loud +knock at his door. + +"Eh, open, will you?" cried Nastasia. "Don't lie there like a dog. +It's eleven o'clock." + +"Perhaps he is not in," said a man's voice. + +"The porter's voice. What does he want?" Raskolnikoff rose, and +sat on the couch listening. His heart throbbed violently. + +"Who has bolted the door then?" exclaimed the servant. "Open, will +you?" + +"All must be discovered?" He rose a little and undid the bolt, and +fell back again on his bed. There stood the porter and Nastasia. +The servant looked strangely at Raskolnikoff, while he fixed a +despairing glance upon the porter. + +"Here is a notice for you from the office," said the latter. + +"What office?" + +"The police office." + +"What for?" + +"I don't know. You are summoned there, go." The porter looked +anxiously at the lodger, and turned to leave. Raskolnikoff made no +observation, and held the paper unopened in his hand. + +"There, stay where you are," said Nastasia, seeing him fall back on +the couch. "If you are ill, do not go. What is that in your +hand?" + +He looked down; in his right hand were clutched the pieces of +frayed cloth, his boot, and the lining of his pocket. He had +evidently fallen asleep with them as they were; indeed he +recollected how, thinking deeply about them, he had dozed away. + +"The idea of taking a lot of rags to bed and hugging them to you +like a treasure!" laughed the servant in her sickly manner. + +In a second he hid all under his coat and looked at her +attentively. Although little was capable of passing in his mind, +he felt she would not talk thus to a man under arrest for a crime. +But then, the police? + +"Is there anything you want? You stay here, I will bring it." + +"No, I will go. I am going at once," murmured he, rising to his +feet. + +"Very well." + +She went out after the porter. As soon as she had disappeared, he +rushed to the light to look at his boot. Yes, there were spots, +but not very plain, all covered with mud. But who would +distinguish them? Nastasia could know nothing, thank heavens! +Then with trembling hand he tore open the notice, and began to +read. At last he understood; it was simply the usual notice to +report himself at the office of the district that day at half-past +nine o'clock. + +"But why to-day?" cried he. "Lord, let it be over soon." He was +about to fall down on his knees to pray, when a fit of laughter +seized him. "I must trust to myself, not to prayers." He quickly +dressed himself. "Shall I put the boot on?" he thought, "better +throw it away, and hide all traces of it." Nevertheless he put it +on, only, however, to throw it off again with an expression of +horror. As, however, he recollected he had no other, a smile came +to his face, and he drew it on once more. Again his face changed +into deep despair, his limbs shook more and more. "This is not +from exertion," thought he, "it is fear." His head spun round and +round and his temples throbbed visibly. + +On the stairs he recollected that all the things were in the hole +in the wall, and then where was his certificate of birth? He +stopped to think. But such despair, and, if it may be so called, +cynicism, took hold of him, that he simply shook his head and went +out. The sooner over, the better. Once again in the open air, he +encountered the same insufferable heat, the dust, and the people in +drink rolling about the streets. The sun caught him full in the +eyes and almost blinded him, while his head spun round and round, +as is usual in fever. On reaching the turning into the street he +had taken the day before, he glanced in great agitation in the +direction of the house, but immediately averted his eyes again. +"If they ask me, I should confess, perhaps," said he to himself, as +he turned away and made for the office. This was not far distant, +in a new house, on the fourth floor. As he entered the court, he +saw to the right of him a staircase, ascending which was a man +carrying some books. "It was evidently there." He did not think +of asking. + +"I will go and fall on my knees and confess all," he murmured, and +began to ascend the narrow and very steep stairs. On every floor +the doors of the kitchens of the several apartments stood open to +the staircase, and emitted a suffocating, sickening odor. The +entrance to the office he was in search of was also wide open, and +he walked in. A number of persons were waiting in the anteroom. +The stench was simply intolerable, and was intensified by the smell +of fresh paint. Pausing a little, he decided to advance farther +into the small low room. He became impatient when he found no one +took any notice of him. In an inner room were seated a number of +clerks engaged in writing. He went up to one of these. + +"What do you want?" Raskolnikoff showed him the notice. + +"You are a student?" asked a clerk, glancing at the notice. + +"Yes;--that is, I used to be." + +The clerk glanced at him--without, however, any particular +curiosity. He was a man with unkempt hair and an expressionless +face. + +"There is nothing to be learned from him, evidently," thought +Raskolnikoff. + +"Step in there to the head clerk," said the man, pointing to a +farther room, which was quite full of people, among whom were two +ladies. + +The assistant district officer, a man adorned with red whiskers +standing out on either side of his face, and with extremely small +features, looked up impatiently at Raskolnikoff, whose filthy +attire was by no means prepossessing. The latter returned his +glance calmly and straight in the face, and in such a manner as to +give the officer offense. + +"What do you want here?" he cried, apparently surprised that such a +ragged beggar was not knocked down by his thunder-bearing glance. + +"I am here because I was summoned," stammered Raskolnikoff. + +"It is for the recovery of money lent," said the head clerk. +"Here!" and he threw a paper to Raskolnikoff, "Read!" + +"Money? What money? It cannot be that," thought the young man, +and he trembled with joy. Everything became clear, and the load +fell off his shoulders. + +"At what hour did you receive this, sir?" cried the lieutenant; +"you were told to come at nine o'clock, and now it is nearly +twelve!" + +"I received it a quarter of an hour ago," loudly replied +Raskolnikoff, over his shoulder, suddenly angered, "and it is +sufficient to say that I am ill with a fever." + +"Please not to bawl!" + +"I did not bawl, but spoke plainly; it is you that bawl. I am a +student, and am not going to have you speak to me in that fashion." + +The officer became enraged, and fumed so that only splutters flew +out of his mouth. He jumped up from his place. "Please keep +silence. You are in court. Don't be insolent." + +"And so are you in court; and, besides bawling, you are smoking, so +you are wanting in politeness to the whole company." As he said +this, Raskolnikoff felt an inexpressible delight at his +maliciousness. The clerk looked up with a smile. The choleric +officer was clearly nonplused. + +"That is not your business, sir," he cried at last, unnaturally +loud. "Make the necessary declaration. Show him, Alexander +Gregorivitch. Complaints have been made about you! You don't pay +your debts! You know how to fly the kite evidently!" + +Raskolnikoff did not listen, but greedily seized the paper. He +read it through more than once, and could make nothing of it. +"What is this?" he asked of the clerk. + +"It is a writ for recovery on a note of hand of yours. Please +write," said the clerk. + +"Write what?" asked he rudely. + +"As I dictate." + +The clerk stood near and dictated to him the usual form of +declaration: that he was unable to pay, that he would not quit the +capital, dispose of his goods in any way, etc., etc. + +"You cannot write, your pen is falling from your fingers," said the +clerk, and he looked him in the face. "Are you ill?" + +"Yes, my head swims. Go on." + +"That is all. Now sign it." + +Raskolnikoff let fall the pen, and seemed as if about to rise and +go; but, instead of doing so, he laid both elbows on the table and +supported his head with his hands. A new idea formed in his mind: +to rise immediately, go straight to Nicodemus Thomich the ward +officer and tell him all that had occurred; then to accompany him +to his room, and show him all the things hidden away in the wall +behind the paper. His desire to do all this was of such strength +that he got up from the table to carry his design into execution. +"Reflect, reflect a moment!" ran in his head. "No, better not +think, get it off my shoulders." Suddenly he stood still as if +shot. Nicodemus Thomich was at this moment hotly discussing +something with Elia Petrovitch, the inspector of police, and the +words caught Raskolnikoff's anxious attention. He listened. + +"It cannot be, they will both be released. In the first place, all +is contradictory. Consider. Why did they call the porter if it +were their work? To denounce themselves? Or out of cunning? Not +at all, that would be too much! Besides, did not the porter see +the student Pestriakoff at the very gate just as he came in, and he +stood there some time with three friends who had accompanied him. +And Koch: was he not below in the silversmith's for half an hour +before he went up to the old woman's? Now, consider." + +"But see what contradictions arise! They say they knocked and +found the door closed; yet three minutes after, when they went back +with the porter, it was open." + +"That's true. The murderer was inside, and had bolted the door, +and certainly he would have been captured had not Koch foolishly +run off to the porter. In the interval HE, no doubt, had time to +escape downstairs. Koch explains that, if he had remained, the man +would have leaped out and killed him. He wanted to have a Te Deum +sung. Ha, ha!" + +"Did nobody see the murderer?" + +"How could they? The house is a perfect Noah's ark," put in the +clerk, who had been listening. + +"The thing is clear, very clear," said Nicodemus Thomich +decisively. + +"Not at all! Not at all!" cried Elia Petrovitch, in reply. +Raskolnikoff took up his hat and made for the door, but he never +reached it. When he came to himself he found he was sitting on a +chair, supported on the right by some unknown man, while to his +left stood another, holding some yellow water in a yellow glass. +Nicodemus Thomich, standing before him, was looking at him fixedly. +Raskolnikoff rose. + +"What is it? Are you ill?" asked the officer sharply. + +"He could hardly hold the pen to sign his name," the clerk +explained, at the same time going back to his books. + +"Have you been ill very long?" cried Elia Petrovitch from his +table; he had run to see the swoon and returned to his place. + +"Since yesterday," murmured Raskolnikoff in reply. + +"You went out yesterday?" + +"I did." + +"Ill?" + +"Ill!" + +"At what time?" + +"Eight o'clock in the evening." + +"Where did you go, allow me to ask?" + +"In the streets." + +"Concise and clear." + +Raskolnikoff had replied sharply, in a broken voice, his face as +pale as a handkerchief, and with his black swollen eyes averted +from Elia Petrovitch's scrutinizing glance. + +"He can hardly stand on his legs. Do you want to ask anything +more?" said Nicodemus Thomich. + +"Nothing," replied Elia Petrovitch. + +Nicodemus Thomich evidently wished to say more, but, turning to the +clerk, who in turn glanced expressively at him, the latter became +silent, all suddenly stopped speaking. It was strange. + +Raskolnikoff went out. As he descended the stairs he could hear an +animated discussion had broken out, and above all, the +interrogative voice of Nicodemus Thomich. In the street he came to +himself. + +"Search, search! they are going to search!" he cried. "The +scoundrels, they suspect me!" The old dread seized him again, from +head to foot. + +Here was the room. All was quiet, and no one had, apparently, +disturbed it--not even Nastasia. But, heavens! how could he have +left all those things where they were? He rushed to the corner, +pushed his hands behind the paper, took out the things, and thrust +them in his pockets. There were eight articles in all: two little +boxes with earrings or something of that description, then four +little morocco cases; a chain wrapped up in paper, and something +else done up in a common piece of newspaper--possibly a decoration. +Raskolnikoff distributed these, together with the purse, about his +person, in order to make them less noticeable, and quitted the room +again. All the time he had left the door wide open. He went away +hurriedly, fearing pursuit. Perhaps in a few minutes orders would +be issued to hunt him down, so he must hide all traces of his theft +at once; and he would do so while he had strength and reason left +him. But where should he go? + +This had been long decided. Throw the lot in the canal and the +matter would be at an end! So he had resolved in that night of +delirium, when he cried out, "Quick, quick! throw all away!" But +this was not so easy. He wandered to the quays of the Catherine +Canal, and lingered there for half an hour. Here a washing raft +lay where he had thought of sinking his spoil, or there boats were +moored, and everywhere people swarmed. Then, again, would the +cases sink? Would they not rather float? No, this would not do. +He would go to the Neva; there would be fewer people there and more +room, and it would be more convenient. He recognized that he had +been wandering about for fully half an hour, and in dangerous +places. He must make haste. He made his way to the river, but +soon came to another standstill. Why in the Neva? Why in the +water at all? Better some solitary place in a wood, or under some +bushes. Dig a hole and bury them! He felt he was not in a +condition to deliberate clearly and soundly, but this idea appeared +the best. + +This idea also, however, was not destined to be realized, and +another took its place. As he passed the V---- Prospect, he +suddenly noticed on the left an entrance into a court, which was +surrounded entirely by high walls. On the right, a long way up the +court, rose the side of a huge four-storied building. To the left, +parallel with the walls of the house, and commencing immediately at +the gate, there ran a wooden hoarding of about twenty paces down +the court. Then came a space where a lot of rubbish was deposited; +while farther down, at the bottom of the court, was a shed, +apparently part of some workshop, possibly that of a carpenter or +coach builder. Everything appeared as black as coal dust. Here +was the very place, he thought; and, after looking round, went up +the court. Behind the door he espied a large unworked stone, +weighing about fifty pounds, which lay close up against the +hoarding. No one could see him where he stood; he was entirely +free from observation. He bent down to the stone, managed to turn +it over after considerable effort, and found underneath a small +cavity. He threw in the cases, and then the purse on the top of +all. The stone was not perceptibly higher when he had replaced it, +and little traces of its having been moved could be noticed. So he +pressed some earth against the edges with his foot, and made off. + +He laughed for joy when again in the street. All traces were gone, +and who would think of looking there? And if they were found who +would suspect him? All proofs were gone, and he laughed again. +Yes, he recollected afterwards how he laughed--a long, nervous, +lingering laugh, lasting all the time he was in that street. + +He reached home toward evening, perhaps at about eight o'clock-- +how, and by what particular way he never recollected--but, speedily +undressing, he lay down on the couch, trembling like a beaten +horse, and, drawing his overcoat over him, he fell immediately into +a deep sleep. He awoke in a high fever and delirious. Some days +later he came to himself, rose and went out. It was eight o'clock, +and the sun had disappeared. The heat was as intolerable as +before, but he inhaled the dusty, fetid, infected town air with +greediness. And now his head began to spin round, and a wild +expression of energy crept into his inflamed eyes and pale, meager, +wan face. He did not know, did not even think, what he was going +to do; he only knew that all was to be finished "to-day," at one +blow, immediately, or he would never return home, because he had no +desire to live thus. How to finish? By what means? No matter +how, and he did not want to think. He drove away any thoughts +which disturbed him, and only clung to the necessity of ending all, +"no matter how," said he, with desperate self-confidence and +decision. By force of habit he took his old walk, and set out in +the direction of the Haymarket. Farther on, he came on a young man +who was grinding some very feeling ballads upon a barrel organ. +Near the man, on the footpath, was a young girl of about fifteen +years of age, fashionably dressed, with crinoline, mantle, and +gloves, and a straw hat trimmed with gaudy feathers, but all old +and terribly worn out, who, in a loud and cracked though not +altogether unpleasing voice, was singing before a shop in +expectation of a couple of kopecks. Raskolnikoff stopped and +joined one or two listeners, took out a five-kopeck piece, and gave +it to the girl. The latter at once stopped on a very high note +which she had just reached, and cried to the man, "Come along," and +both immediately moved on to another place. + +"Do you like street music?" said Raskolnikoff to a middle-aged man +standing near him. The latter looked at him in surprise, but +smiled. "I love it," continued Raskolnikoff, "especially when they +sing to the organ on a cold, dark, gray winter's evening, when all +the passers-by seem to have pale, green, sickly-looking faces--when +the snow is falling like a sleet, straight down and with no wind, +you know, and while the lamps shine on it all." + +"I don't know. Excuse me," said the man, frightened at the +question and Raskolnikoff's strange appearance, and hastily +withdrawing to the other side of the street. + +Raskolnikoff went on, and came to the place in the Hay-market where +he had met the trader and his wife and Elizabeth. No one was there +at the moment. He stopped, and turned to a young fellow, in a red +shirt, who was gaping at the entrance to a flour shop. + +"A man trades here at this corner, with his wife, eh?" + +"Everyone trades here," replied the lad, scanning his questioner +from head to foot. + +"What is he called?" + +"What he was christened." + +"But you belong to Zaraisk, don't you? To what Government?" + +The boy stared at Raskolnikoff. "We have no governor, your +highness, but districts. I stay at home, and know nothing about +it, but my brother does; so pardon me, your most mighty highness." + +"Is that an eating house there?" + +"That's a dram shop; they have a billiard table." + +"There are newspapers here?" asked he, as he entered a room--one of +a suite--rather empty. Two or three persons sat with tea before +them, while in a farther room a group of men were seated, drinking +champagne. Raskolnikoff thought he recognized Zametoff among them, +but be could not be sure. "Never mind, if it is!" he muttered. + +"Brandy, sir?" asked the waiter. + +"No, tea; and bring me some newspapers--for about the last five +days. I'll give you a drink." + +The papers and the tea appeared. Raskolnikoff sat and searched, +and, at last, found what he wanted. "Ah, here it is!" he cried, as +he began to read. The words danced before his eyes, but he read +greedily to the end, and turned to others for later intelligence. +His hands trembled with impatience, and the sheets shook again. +Suddenly some one sat down near him. He looked up, and there was +Zametoff--that same Zametoff, with his rings and chain, his oiled +locks and fancy waistcoat and unclean linen. He seemed pleased, +and his tanned face, a little inflamed by the champagne, wore a +smile. + +"Ah! you here?" he commenced, in a tone as if he had known +Raskolnikoff for an age. "Why Razoumikhin told me yesterday that +you were lying unconscious. How strange! Then I was at your +place--" + +Raskolnikoff laid down the paper and turned to Zametoff. On his +lips was a slight provoking smile. "I know you were," he replied, +"I heard so. You searched for my boot. To what agreeable places +you resort. Who gives you champagne to drink?" + +"We were drinking together. What do you mean?" + +"Nothing, dear boy, nothing," said Raskolnikoff, with a smile and +slapping Zametoff on the shoulders. "I am not in earnest, but +simply in fun, as your workman said, when he wrestled with Dmitri, +you know, in that murder case." + +"Do you know about that?" + +"Yes, and perhaps more than you do." + +"You are very peculiar. It is a pity you came out. You are ill." + +"Do I seem strange?" + +"Yes; what are you reading?" + +"The paper." + +"There are a number of fires." + +"I am not reading about them." He looked curiously at Zametoff, +and a malicious smile distorted his lips. "No, fires are not in my +line," he added, winking at Zametoff. "Now, I should like to know, +sweet youth, what it signifies to you what I read?" + +"Nothing at all. I only asked. Perhaps I--" + +"Listen. You are a cultivated man--a literary man, are you not?" + +"I was in the sixth class at college," Zametoff answered, with a +certain amount of dignity. + +"The sixth! Oh, my fine fellow! With rings and a chain--a rich +man! You are a dear boy," and Raskolnikoff gave a short, nervous +laugh, right in the face of Zametoff. The latter was very much +taken aback, and, if not offended, seemed a good deal surprised. + +"How strange you are!" said Zametoff seriously. "You have the +fever still on you; you are raving!" + +"Am I, my fine fellow--am I strange? Yes, but I am very +interesting to you, am I not?" + +"Interesting?" + +"Yes. You ask me what I am reading, what I am looking for; then I +am looking through a number of papers. Suspicious, isn't it? +Well, I will explain to you, or rather confess--no, not that +exactly. I will give testimony, and you shall take it down--that's +it. So then, I swear that I was reading, and came here on +purpose"--Raskolnikoff blinked his eyes and paused--"to read an +account of the murder of the old woman." He finished almost in a +whisper, eagerly watching Zametoff's face. The latter returned his +glances without flinching. And it appeared strange to Zametoff +that a full minute seemed to pass as they kept fixedly staring at +each other in this manner. + +"Oh, so that's what you have been reading?" Zametoff at last cried +impatiently. "What is there in that?" + +"She is the same woman," continued Raskolnikoff, still in a +whisper, and taking no notice of Zametoff's remark, "the very same +woman you were talking about when I swooned in your office. You +recollect--you surely recollect?" + +"Recollect what?" said Zametoff, almost alarmed. + +The serious expression on Raskolnikoff's face altered in an +instant, and he again commenced his nervous laugh, and laughed as +if he were quite unable to contain himself. There had recurred to +his mind, with fearful clearness, the moment when he stood at the +door with the hatchet in his hand. There he was, holding the bolt, +and they were tugging and thumping away at the door. Oh, how he +itched to shriek at them, open the door, thrust out his tongue at +them, and frighten them away, and then laugh, "Ah, ah, ah, ah!" + +"You are insane, or else--" said Zametoff, and then paused as if a +new thought had suddenly struck him. + +"Or what, or what? Now what? Tell me!" + +"Nonsense!" said Zametoff to himself, "it can't be." Both became +silent. After this unexpected and fitful outburst of laughter, +Raskolnikoff had become lost in thought and looked very sad. He +leaned on the table with his elbows, buried his head in his hands, +and seemed to have quite forgotten Zametoff. The silence continued +a long time. "You do not drink your tea; it is getting cold," said +the latter, at last. + +"What? Tea? Yes!" Raskolnikoff snatched at his glass, put a +piece of bread in his mouth, and then, after looking at Zametoff, +seemingly recollected and roused himself. His face at once resumed +its previous smile, and he continued to sip his tea. + +"What a number of rogues there are about," Zametoff said. "I read +not long ago, in the Moscow papers, that they had captured a whole +gang of forgers in that city. Quite a colony." + +"That's old news. I read it a month ago," replied Raskolnikoff in +a careless manner. "And you call such as these rogues?" he added, +smiling. + +"Why not?" + +"Rogues indeed! Why, they are only children and babies. Fifty +banded together for such purposes! Is it possible? Three would be +quite sufficient, and then they should be sure of one another--not +babble over their cups. The babies! Then to hire unreliable +people to change the notes at the money changers', persons whose +hands tremble as they receive the rubles. On such their lives +depend! Far better to strangle yourself! The man goes in, +receives the change, counts some over, the last portion he takes on +faith, stuffs all in his pocket, rushes away and the murder is out. +All is lost by one foolish man. Is it not ridiculous?" + +"That his hands should shake?" replied Zametoff. "No; that is +quite likely. Yours would not, I suppose? I could not endure it, +though. For a paltry reward of a hundred rubles to go on such a +mission! And where? Into a banker's office with forged notes! I +should certainly lose my head. Would not you?" + +Raskolnikoff felt again a strong impulse to make a face at him. A +shiver ran down his back. "You would not catch me acting so +foolishly," he commenced. "This is how I should do. I should +count over the first thousand very carefully, perhaps four times, +right to the end, carefully examine each note, and then only pass +to the second thousand, count these as far as the middle of the +bundle, take out a note, hold it to the light, turn it over, then +hold it to the light again, and say, 'I fear this is a bad note,' +and then begin to relate some story about a lost note. Then there +would be a third thousand to count. Not yet, please, there is a +mistake in the second thousand. No, it is correct. And so I +should proceed until I had received all. At last I should turn to +go, open the door, but, no, pardon me! I should return, ask some +question, receive some explanation, and there it is all done." + +"What funny things you do say!" said Zametoff with a smile. "You +are all very well theoretically, but try it and see. Look, for +example, at the murder of the money lender, a case in point. There +was a desperate villain who in broad daylight stopped at nothing, +and yet his hand shook, did it not?--and he could not finish, and +left all the spoil behind him. The deed evidently robbed him of +his presence of mind." + +This language nettled Raskolnikoff. "You think so? Then lay your +hand upon him," said he, maliciously delighted to tease him. + +"Never fear but we shall!" + +"You? Go to, you know nothing about it. All you think of +inquiring is whether a man is flinging money about; he is--then, +ergo he is guilty." + +"That is exactly what they do," replied Zametoff, "they murder, +risk their lives, and then rush to the public house and are caught. +Their lavishness betrays them. You see they are not all so crafty +as you are. You would not run there, I suppose?" + +Raskolnikoff frowned and looked steadily at Zametoff. "You seem +anxious to know how I should act," he said with some displeasure. + +"I should very much like to know," replied Zametoff in a serious +tone. He seemed, indeed, very anxious. + +"Very much?" + +"Very much." + +"Good. This would be my plan," Raskolnikoff said, as he again bent +near to the face of his listener, and speaking in such a tragic +whisper as almost to make the latter shudder. "I should take the +money and all I could find, and make off, going, however, in no +particular direction, but on and on until I came to some obscure +and inclosed place, where no one was about--a market garden, or any +such-like spot. I should then look about me for a stone, perhaps a +pound and a half in weight, lying, it may be, in a corner against a +partition, say a stone used for building purposes; this I should +lift up and under it there would be a hole. In that hole I should +deposit all the things I had got, roll back the stone, stamp it +down with my feet, and be off. For a year I should let them lie-- +for two years, three years. Now then, search for them! Where are +they?" + +"You are indeed mad," said Zametoff, also in a low tone, but +turning away from Raskolnikoff. The latter's eyes glistened, he +became paler than ever, while his upper lip trembled violently. He +placed his face closer, if possible, to that of Zametoff, his lips +moving as if he wished to speak, but no words escaped them--several +moments elapsed--Raskolnikoff knew what he was doing, but felt +utterly unable to control himself, that strange impulse was upon +him as when he stood at the bolted door, to come forth and let all +be known. + +"What if I killed the old woman and Elizabeth?" he asked suddenly, +and then--came to himself. + +Zametoff turned quite pale; then his face changed to a smile. "Can +it be so?" he muttered to himself. + +Raskolnikoff eyed him savagely. "Speak out. What do you think? +Yes? Is it so?" + +"Of course not. I believe it now less than ever," replied Zametoff +hastily. + +"Caught at last! caught, my fine fellow! What people believe less +than ever, they must have believed once, eh?" + +"Not at all. You frightened me into the supposition," said +Zametoff, visibly confused. + +"So you do not think this? Then why those questions in the office? +Why did the lieutenant question me after my swoon? Waiter," he +cried, seizing his cap, "here, how much?" + +"Thirty kopecks, sir," replied the man. + +"There you are, and twenty for yourself. Look, what a lot of +money!" turning to Zametoff and thrusting forth his shaking hand +filled with the twenty-five rubles, red and blue notes. "Whence +comes all this? Where did I obtain these new clothes from? You +know I had none. You have asked the landlady, I suppose? Well, no +matter!--Enough! Adieu, most affectionately." + +He went out, shaking from some savage hysterical emotion, a mixture +of delight, gloom, and weariness. His face was drawn as if he had +just recovered from a fit; and, as his agitation of mind increased, +so did his weakness. + +Meanwhile, Zametoff remained in the restaurant where Raskolnikoff +had left him, deeply buried in thought, considering the different +points Raskolnikoff had placed before him. + +His heart was empty and depressed, and he strove again to drive off +thought. No feeling of anguish came, neither was there any trace +of that fierce energy which moved him when he left the house to +"put an end to it all." + +"What will be the end of it? The result lies in my own will. What +kind of end? Ah, we are all alike, and accept the bit of ground +for our feet and live. Must this be the end? Shall I say the word +or not? Oh, how weary I feel! Oh, to lie down or sit anywhere! +How foolish it is to strive against my illness! Bah! What +thoughts run through my brain!" Thus he meditated as he went +drowsily along the banks of the canal, until, turning to the right +and then to the left, he reached the office building. He stopped +short, however, and, turning down a lane, went on past two other +streets, with no fixed purpose, simply, no doubt, to give himself a +few moments longer for reflection. He went on, his eyes fixed on +the ground, until all of a sudden he started, as if some one had +whispered in his ear. Raising his eyes he saw that he stood before +THE HOUSE, at its very gates. + +Quick as lightning, an idea rushed into his head, and he marched +through the yard and made his way up the well-known staircase to +the fourth story. It was, as usual, very dark, and as he reached +each landing he peered almost with caution. There was the room +newly painted, where Dmitri and Mikola had worked. He reached the +fourth landing and he paused before the murdered woman's room in +doubt. The door was wide open and he could hear voices within; +this he had not anticipated. However, after wavering a little, he +went straight in. The room was being done up, and in it were some +workmen. This astonished him--indeed, it would seem he had +expected to find everything as he had left it, even to the dead +bodies lying on the floor. But to see the place with bare walls +and bereft of furniture was very strange! He walked up to the +windows and sat on the sill. One of the workmen now saw him and +cried: + +"What do you want here?" + +Instead of replying, Raskolnikoff walked to the outer door and, +standing outside, began to pull at the bell. Yes, that was the +bell, with its harsh sound. He pulled again and again three times, +and remained there listening and thinking. + +"What is it you want?" again cried the workman as he went out to +Raskolnikoff. + +"I wish to hire some rooms. I came to look at these." + +"People don't take lodgings in the night. Why don't you apply to +the porter?" + +"The floor has been washed. Are you going to paint it?" remarked +Raskolnikoff. "Where is the blood?" + +"What blood?" + +"The old woman's and her sister's. There was quite a pool." + +"Who are you?" cried the workman uneasily. + +"I am Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikoff, ex-student. I live at the +house Schilla, in a lane not far from here, No. 14. Ask the porter +there--he knows me," Raskolnikoff replied indifferently, without +turning to his questioner. + +"What were you doing in those rooms?" + +"Looking at them." + +"What for? Come, out you go then, if you won't explain yourself," +suddenly shouted the porter, a huge fellow in a smock frock, with a +large bunch of keys round his waist; and he caught Raskolnikoff by +the shoulder and pitched him into the street. The latter lurched +forward, but recovered himself, and, giving one look at the +spectators, went quietly away. + +"What shall I do now?" thought Raskolnikoff. He was standing on +the bridge, near a crossing, and was looking around him as if +expecting some one to speak. But no one spoke, and all was dark +and dull, and dead--at least to him, and him alone. + +A few days later, Raskolnikoff heard from his friend Razoumikhin +that those who had borrowed money from Alena Ivanovna were going to +the police office to redeem their pledges. He went with +Razoumikhin to the office where they were received by Porphyrius +Petrovitch, the examining magistrate, who seemed to have expected +them. + +"You have been expecting this visit? But how did you know that he +had pledged anything with Alena Ivanovna?" cried Razoumikhin. + +Porphyrius Petrovitch, without any further reply, said to +Raskolnikoff: "Your things, a ring and a watch, were at her place, +wrapped up in a piece of paper, and on this paper your name was +legibly written in pencil, with the date of the day she had +received these things from you." + +"What a memory you must have got!" said Raskolnikoff, with a forced +smile, doing his best to look the magistrate unflinchingly in the +face. However, he could not help adding: "I say so, because, as +the owners of the pledged articles are no doubt very numerous, you +must, I should fancy, have some difficulty in remembering them all; +but I see, on the contrary, that you do nothing of the kind. (Oh! +fool! why add that?)" + +"But they have nearly all of them come here; you alone had not done +so," answered Porphyrius, with an almost imperceptible sneer. + +"I happened to be rather unwell." + +"So I heard. I have been told that you have been in great pain. +Even now you are pale." + +"Not at all. I am not pale. On the contrary, I am very well!" +answered Raskolnikoff in a tone of voice which had all at once +become brutal and violent. He felt rising within him +uncontrollable anger. "Anger will make me say some foolish thing," +he thought. "But why do they exasperate me?" + +"He was rather unwell! A pretty expression, to be sure!" exclaimed +Razoumikhin. "The fact is that up to yesterday he has been almost +unconscious. Would you believe it, Porphyrius? Yesterday, when he +could hardly stand upright, he seized the moment when we had just +left him, to dress, to be off by stealth, and to go loafing about, +Heaven only knows where, till midnight, being, all the time, in a +completely raving condition. Can you imagine such a thing? It is +a most remarkable case!" + +"Indeed! In a completely raving state?" remarked Porphyrius, with +the toss of the head peculiar to Russian rustics. + +"Absurd! Don't you believe a word of it! Besides, I need not urge +you to that effect--of course you are convinced," observed +Raskolnikoff, beside himself with passion. But Porphyrius +Petrovitch did not seem to hear these singular words. + +"How could you have gone out if you had not been delirious?" asked +Razoumikhin, getting angry in his turn. "Why have gone out at all? +What was the object of it? And, above all, to go in that secret +manner? Come, now, make a clean breast of it--you know you were +out of your mind, were you not? Now that danger is gone by, I tell +you so to your face." + +"I had been very much annoyed yesterday," said Raskolnikoff, +addressing the magistrate, with more or less of insolence in his +smile, "and, wishing to get rid of them, I went out to hire +lodgings where I could be sure of privacy, to effect which I had +taken a certain amount of money. Mr. Zametoff saw what I had by +me, and perhaps he can say whether I was in my right senses +yesterday or whether I was delirious? Perhaps he will judge as to +our quarrel." Nothing would have pleased him better than there and +then to have strangled that gentleman, whose taciturnity and +equivocal facial expression irritated him. + +"In my opinion, you were talking very sensibly and even with +considerable shrewdness; only I thought you too irritable," +observed Zametoff off-handedly. + +"Do let us have some tea! We are as dry as fishes!" exclaimed +Razoumikhin. + +"Good idea! But perhaps you would like something more substantial +before tea, would you?" + +"Look alive, then!" + +Porphyrius Petrovitch went out to order tea. All kinds of thoughts +were at work in Raskolnikoff's brain. He was excited. "They don't +even take pains to dissemble; they certainly don't mince matters as +far as I am concerned: that is something, at all events! Since +Porphyrius knew next to nothing about me, why on earth should he +have spoken with Nicodemus Thomich Zametoff at all? They even +scorn to deny that they are on my track, almost like a pack of +hounds! They certainly speak out plainly enough!" he said, +trembling with rage. "Well, do so, as bluntly as you like, but +don't play with me as the cat would with the mouse! That's not +quite civil, Porphyrius Petrovitch; I won't quite allow that yet! +I'll make a stand and tell you some plain truths to your faces, and +then you shall find out my real opinion about you!" He had some +difficulty in breathing. "But supposing that all this is pure +fancy?--a kind of mirage? Suppose I had misunderstood? Let me try +and keep up my nasty part, and not commit myself, like the fool, by +blind anger! Ought I to give them credit for intentions they have +not? Their words are, in themselves, not very extraordinary ones-- +so much must be allowed; but a double meaning may lurk beneath +them. Why did Porphyrius, in speaking of the old woman, simply say +'At her place?' Why did Zametoff observe that I had spoken very +sensibly? Why their peculiar manner?--yes, it is this manner of +theirs. How is it possible that all this cannot have struck +Razoumikhin? The booby never notices anything! But I seem to be +feverish again! Did Porphyrius give me a kind of wink just now, or +was I deceived in some way? The idea is absurd! Why should he +wink at me? Perhaps they intend to upset my nervous organization, +and, by so doing, drive me to extremes! Either the whole thing is +a phantasmagoria, or--they know!" + +These thoughts flashed through his mind with the rapidity of +lightning. Porphyrius Petrovitch came back a moment afterwards. +He seemed in a very good temper. "When I left your place +yesterday, old fellow, I was really not well," he commenced, +addressing Razoumikhin with a cheeriness which was only just +becoming apparent, "but that is all gone now." + +"Did you find the evening a pleasant one? I left you in the thick +of the fun; who came off best?" + +"Nobody, of course. They caviled to their heart's content over +their old arguments." + +"Fancy, Rodia, the discussion last evening turned on the question: +'Does crime exist? Yes, or No.' And the nonsense they talked on +the subject!" + +"What is there extraordinary in the query? It is the social +question without the charm of novelty," answered Raskolnikoff +abruptly. + +"Talking of crime," said Porphyrius Petrovitch, speaking to +Raskolnikoff, "I remember a production of yours which greatly +interested me. I am speaking about your article ON CRIME. I don't +very well remember the title. I was delighted in reading it two +months ago in the Periodical Word." + +"But how do you know the article was mine? I only signed it with +an initial." + +"I discovered it lately, quite by chance. The chief editor is a +friend of mine; it was he who let out the secret of your +authorship. The article has greatly interested me." + +"I was analyzing, if I remember rightly, the psychological +condition of a criminal at the moment of his deed." + +"Yes, and you strove to prove that a criminal, at such a moment, is +always, mentally, more or less unhinged. That point of view is a +very original one, but it was not this part of your article which +most interested me. I was particularly struck by an idea at the +end of the article, and which, unfortunately, you have touched upon +too cursorily. In a word, if you remember, you maintained that +there are men in existence who can, or more accurately, who have an +absolute right to commit all kinds of wicked, and criminal acts-- +men for whom, to a certain extent, laws do not exist." + +"Is it not very likely that some coming Napoleon did for Alena +Ivanovna last week?" suddenly blustered Zametoff from his corner. + +Without saying a word, Raskolnikoff fixed on Porphyrius a firm and +penetrating glance. Raskolnikoff was beginning to look sullen. He +seemed to have been suspecting something for some time past. He +looked round him with an irritable air. For a moment there was an +ominous silence. Raskolnikoff was getting ready to go. + +"What, are you off already?" asked Porphyrius, kindly offering the +young man his hand with extreme affability. "I am delighted to +have made your acquaintance. And as for your application, don't be +uneasy about it. Write in the way I suggested. Or, perhaps, you +had better do this. Come and see me before long--to-morrow, if you +like. I shall be here without fail at eleven o'clock. We can make +everything right--we'll have a chat--and as you were one of the +last that went THERE, you might be able to give some further +particulars?" he added, with his friendly smile. + +"Do you wish to examine me formally?" Raskolnikoff inquired, in an +uncomfortable tone. + +"Why should I? Such a thing is out of the question. You have +misunderstood me. I ought to tell you that I manage to make the +most of every opportunity. I have already had a chat with every +single person that has been in the habit of pledging things with +the old woman--several have given me very useful information--and +as you happen to be the last one-- By the by," he exclaimed with +sudden pleasure, "how lucky I am thinking about it, I was really +going to forget it!" (Saying which he turned to Razoumikhin.) +"You were almost stunning my ears, the other day, talking about +Mikolka. Well, I am certain, quite certain, as to his innocence," +he went on, once more addressing himself to Raskolnikoff. "But +what was to be done? It has been necessary to disturb Dmitri. +Now, what I wanted to ask was: On going upstairs--was it not +between seven and eight you entered the house?" + +"Yes," replied Raskolnikoff and he immediately regretted an answer +he ought to have avoided. + +"Well, in going upstairs, between seven and eight, did you not see +on the second floor, in one of the rooms, when the door was wide +open--you remember, I dare say?--did you not see two painters or, +at all events, one of the two? They were whitewashing the room, I +believe; you must have seen them! The matter is of the utmost +importance to them!" + +"Painters, you say? I saw none," replied Raskolnikoff slowly, +trying to sound his memory: for a moment he violently strained it +to discover, as quickly as he could, the trap concealed by the +magistrate's question. "No, I did not see a single one; I did not +even see any room standing open," he went on, delighted at having +discovered the trap, "but on the fourth floor I remember noticing +that the man lodging on the same landing as Alena Ivanovna was in +the act of moving. I remember that very well, as I met a few +soldiers carrying a sofa, and I was obliged to back against the +wall; but, as for painters, I don't remember seeing a single one--I +don't even remember a room that had its door open. No, I saw +nothing." + +"But what are you talking about?" all at once exclaimed +Razoumikhin, who, till that moment, had attentively listened; "it +was on the very day of the murder that painters were busy in that +room, while he came there two days previously! Why are you asking +that question?" + +"Right! I have confused the dates!" cried Porphyrius, tapping his +forehead. "Deuce take me! That job makes me lose my head!" he +added by way of excuse, and speaking to Raskolnikoff. "It is very +important that we should know if anybody saw them in that room +between seven and eight. I thought I might have got that +information from you without thinking any more about it. I had +positively confused the days!" + +"You ought to be more attentive!" grumbled Razoumikhin. + +These last words were uttered in the anteroom, as Porhyrius very +civilly led his visitors to the door. They were gloomy and morose +on leaving the house, and had gone some distance before speaking. +Raskolnikoff breathed like a man who had just been subjected to a +severe trial. + +When, on the following day, precisely at eleven o'clock, +Raskolnikoff called on the examining magistrate, he was astonished +to have to dance attendance for a considerable time. According to +his idea, he ought to have been admitted immediately; ten minutes, +however, elapsed before he could see Porphyrius Petrovitch. In the +outer room where he had been waiting, people came and went without +heeding him in the least. In the next room, which was a kind of +office, a few clerks were at work, and it was evident that not one +of them had even an idea who Raskolnikoff might be. The young man +cast a mistrustful look about him. "Was there not," thought he, +"some spy, some mysterious myrmidon of the law, ordered to watch +him, and, if necessary, to prevent his escape?" But he noticed +nothing of the kind; the clerks were all hard at work, and the +other people paid him no kind of attention. The visitor began to +become reassured. "If," thought he, "this mysterious personage of +yesterday, this specter which had risen from the bowels of the +earth, knew all, and had seen all, would they, I should like to +know, let me stand about like this? Would they not rather have +arrested me, instead of waiting till I should come of my own +accord? Hence this man has either made no kind of revelation as +yet about me, or, more probably, he knows nothing, and has seen +nothing (besides how could he have seen anything?): consequently I +have misjudged, and all that happened yesterday was nothing but an +illusion of my diseased imagination." This explanation, which had +offered itself the day before to his mind, at the time he felt most +fearful, he considered a more likely one. + +Whilst thinking about all this and getting ready for a new +struggle, Raskolnikoff suddenly perceived that he was trembling; he +became indignant at the very thought that it was fear of an +interview with the hateful Porphyrius Petrovitch which led him to +do so. The most terrible thing to him was to find himself once +again in presence of this man. He hated him beyond all expression, +and what he dreaded was lest he might show this hatred. His +indignation was so great that it suddenly stopped this trembling; +he therefore prepared himself to enter with a calm and self- +possessed air, promised himself to speak as little as possible, to +be very carefully on the watch in order to check, above all things, +his irascible disposition. In the midst of these reflections, he +was introduced to Porphyrius Petrovitch. The latter was alone in +his office, a room of medium dimensions, containing a large table, +facing a sofa covered with shiny leather, a bureau, a cupboard +standing in a corner, and a few chairs: all this furniture, +provided by the State, was of yellow wood. In the wall, or rather +in the wainscoting of the other end, there was a closed door, which +led one to think that there were other rooms behind it. As soon as +Porphyrius Petrovitch had seen Raskolnikoff enter his office, he +went to close the door which had given him admission, and both +stood facing one another. The magistrate received his visitor to +all appearances in a pleasant and affable manner, and it was only +at the expiration of a few moments that the latter observed the +magistrate's somewhat embarrassed manner--he seemed to have been +disturbed in a more or less clandestine occupation. + +"Good! my respectable friend! Here you are then--in our +latitudes!" commenced Porphyrius, holding out both hands. "Pray, +be seated, batuchka! But, perhaps, you don't like being called +respectable? Therefore, batuchka, for short! Pray, don't think me +familiar. Sit down here on the sofa." + +Raskolnikoff did so without taking his eyes off the judge. "These +words 'in our latitudes,' these excuses for his familiarity, this +expression 'for short,' what could be the meaning of all this? He +held out his hands to me without shaking mine, withdrawing them +before I could do so, thought Raskolnikoff mistrustfully. Both +watched each other, but no sooner did their eyes meet than they +both turned them aside with the rapidity of a flash of lightning. + +"I have called with this paper--about the-- If you please. Is it +correct, or must another form be drawn up?" + +"What, what paper? Oh, yes! Do not put yourself out. It is +perfectly correct," answered Porphyrius somewhat hurriedly, before +he had even examined it; then, after having cast a glance on it, he +said, speaking very rapidly: "Quite right, that is all that is +required," and placed the sheet on the table. A moment later he +locked it up in his bureau, chattering about other things. + +"Yesterday," observed Raskolnikoff, "you had, I fancy, a wish to +examine me formally--with reference to my dealings with--the +victim? At least so it seemed to me!" + +"Why did I say, 'So it seemed?'" reflected the young man all of a +sudden. "After all, what can be the harm of it? Why should I +distress myself about that!" he added, mentally, a moment +afterwards. The very fact of his proximity to Porphyrius, with +whom he had scarcely as yet interchanged a word, had immeasurably +increased his mistrust; he marked this in a moment, and concluded +that such a mood was an exceedingly dangerous one, inasmuch as his +agitation, his nervous irritation, would only increase. "That is +bad! very bad! I shall be saying something thoughtless!" + +"Quite right. But do not put yourself out of the way, there is +time, plenty of time," murmured Petrovitch, who, without apparent +design, kept going to and fro, now approaching the window, now his +bureau, to return a moment afterwards to the table. At times he +would avoid Raskolnikoff's suspicious look, at times again he drew +up sharp whilst looking his visitor straight in the face. The +sight of this short chubby man, whose movements recalled those of a +ball rebounding from wall to wall, was an extremely odd one. "No +hurry, no hurry, I assure you! But you smoke, do you not! Have +you any tobacco? Here is a cigarette!" he went on, offering his +visitor a paquitos. "You notice that I am receiving you here, but +my quarters are there behind the wainscoting. The State provides +me with that. I am here as it were on the wing, because certain +alterations are being made in my rooms. Everything is almost +straight now. Do you know that quarters provided by the State are +by no means to be despised?" + +"I believe you," answered Raskolnikoff, looking at him almost +derisively. + +"Not to be despised, by any means," repeated Porphyrius Petrovitch, +whose mind seemed to be preoccupied with something else--"not to be +despised!" he continued in a very loud tone of voice, and drawing +himself up close to Raskolnikoff, whom he stared out of +countenance. The incessant repetition of the statement that +quarters provided by the State were by no means to be despised +contrasted singularly, by its platitude, with the serious, +profound, enigmatical look he now cast on his visitor. + +Raskolnikoff's anger grew in consequence; he could hardly help +returning the magistrate's look with an imprudently scornful +glance. "Is it true?" the latter commenced, with a complacently +insolent air, "is it true that it is a judicial maxim, a maxim +resorted to by all magistrates, to begin an interview about +trifling things, or even, occasionally, about more serious matter, +foreign to the main question however, with a view to embolden, to +distract, or even to lull the suspicion of a person under +examination, and then all of a sudden to crush him with the main +question, just as you strike a man a blow straight between the +eyes?" + +"Such a custom, I believe, is religiously observed in your +profession, is it not? + +"Then you are of opinion that when I spoke to you about quarters +provided by the State, I did so--" Saying which, Porphyrius +Petrovitch blinked, his face assumed for a moment an expression of +roguish gayety, the wrinkles on his brow became smoothed, his small +eyes grew smaller still, his features expanded, and, looking +Raskolnikoff straight in the face, he burst out into a prolonged +fit of nervous laughter, which shook him from head to foot. The +young man, on his part, laughed likewise, with more or less of an +effort, however, at sight of which Porphyrius's hilarity increased +to such an extent that his face grew nearly crimson. At this +Raskolnikoff experienced more or less aversion, which led him to +forget all caution; he ceased laughing, knitting his brows, and, +whilst Porphyrius gave way to his hilarity, which seemed a somewhat +feigned one, he fixed on him a look of hatred. In truth, they were +both off their guard. Porphyrius had, in fact, laughed at his +visitor, who had taken this in bad part; whereas the former seemed +to care but little about Raskolnikoff's displeasure. This +circumstance gave the young man much matter for thought. He +fancied that his visit had in no kind of way discomposed the +magistrate; on the contrary, it was Raskolnikoff who had been +caught in a trap, a snare, an ambush of some kind or other. The +mine was, perhaps, already charged, and might burst at any moment. + +Anxious to get straight to the point, Raskolnikoff rose and took up +his cap. "Porphyrius Petrovitch," he cried, in a resolute tone of +voice, betraying more or less irritation, "yesterday you expressed +the desire to subject me to a judicial examination." (He laid +special stress on this last word.) "I have called at your bidding; +if you have questions to put, do so: if not, allow me to withdraw. +I can't afford to waste my time here, as I have other things to +attend to. In a word, I must go to the funeral of the official who +has been run over, and of whom you have heard speak," he added, +regretting, however, the last part of his sentence. Then, with +increasing anger, he went on: "Let me tell you that all this +worries me! The thing is hanging over much too long. It is that +mainly that has made me ill. In one word,"--he continued, his +voice seeming more and more irritable, for he felt that the remark +about his illness was yet more out of place than the previous one-- +"in one word, either be good enough to cross-examine me, or let me +go this very moment. If you do question me, do so in the usual +formal way; otherwise, I shall object. In the meanwhile, adieu, +since we have nothing more to do with one another." + +"Good gracious! What can you be talking about? Question you about +what?" replied the magistrate, immediately ceasing his laugh. +"Don't, I beg, disturb yourself." He requested Raskolnikoff to sit +down once more, continuing, nevertheless, his tramp about the room. +"There is time, plenty of time. The matter is not of such +importance after all. On the contrary, I am delighted at your +visit--for as such do I take your call. As for my horrid way of +laughing, batuchka, Rodion Romanovitch, I must apologize. I am a +nervous man, and the shrewdness of your observations has tickled +me. There are times when I go up and down like an elastic ball, +and that for half an hour at a time. I am fond of laughter. My +temperament leads me to dread apoplexy. But, pray, do sit down-- +why remain standing? Do, I must request you, batuchka; otherwise I +shall fancy that you are cross." + +His brows still knit, Raskolnikoff held his tongue, listened, and +watched. In the meanwhile he sat down. + +"As far as I am concerned, batuchka, Rodion Romanovitch, I will +tell you something which shall reveal to you my disposition," +answered Porphyrius Petrovitch, continuing to fidget about the +room, and, as before, avoiding his visitor's gaze. "I live alone, +you must know, never go into society, and am, therefore, unknown; +add to which, that I am a man on the shady side of forty, somewhat +played out. You may have noticed, Rodion Romanovitch, that here--I +mean in Russia, of course, and especially in St. Petersburg +circles--that when two intelligent men happen to meet who, as yet, +are not familiar, but who, however, have mutual esteem--as, for +instance, you and I have at this moment--don't know what to talk +about for half an hour at a time. They seem, both of them, as if +petrified. Everyone else has a subject for conversation--ladies, +for instance, people in society, the upper ten--all these sets have +some topic or other. It is the thing, but somehow people of the +middle-class, like you and I, seem constrained and taciturn. How +does that come about, batuchka? Have we no social interests? Or +is it, rather, owing to our being too straightforward to mislead +one another? I don't know. What is your opinion, pray? But do, I +beg, remove your cap; one would really fancy that you wanted to be +off, and that pains me. I, you must know, am so contented." + +Raskolnikoff laid his cap down. He did not, however, become more +loquacious; and, with knit brows, listened to Porphyrius's idle +chatter. "I suppose," thought he, "he only doles out his small +talk to distract my attention." + +"I don't offer you any coffee," went on the inexhaustible +Porphyrius, "because this is not the place for it, but can you not +spend a few minutes with a friend, by way of causing him some +little distraction? You must know that all these professional +obligations--don't be vexed, batuchka, if you see me walking about +like this, I am sure you will excuse me, if I tell you how anxious +I am not to do so, but movement is so indispensable to me! I am +always seated--and, to me, it is quite a luxury to be able to move +about for a minute or two. I purpose, in fact, to go through a +course of calisthenics. The trapeze is said to stand in high favor +amongst State counselors--counselors in office, even amongst privy +counselors. Nowadays, in fact, gymnastics have become a positive +science. As for these duties of our office, these examinations, +all this formality--you yourself, you will remember, touched upon +the topic just now, batuchka--these examinations, and so forth, +sometimes perplex the magistrate much more than the man under +suspicion. You said as much just now with as much sense as +accuracy." (Raskolnikoff had made no statement of the kind.) "One +gets confused, one loses the thread of the investigation. Yet, as +far as our judicial customs go, I agree with you fully. Where, for +instance, is there a man under suspicion of some kind or other, +were it even the most thick-headed moujik, who does not know that +the magistrate will commence by putting all sorts of out-of-the-way +questions to take him off the scent (if I may be allowed to use +your happy simile), and that then he suddenly gives him one between +the eyes? A blow of the ax on his sinciput (if again I may be +permitted to use your ingenious metaphor)? Hah, hah! And do you +mean to say that when I spoke to you about quarters provided by the +State, that--hah, hah! You are very caustic. But I won't revert +to that again. By-and-by!--one remark produces another, one +thought attracts another--but you were talking just now of the +practice or form in vogue with the examining magistrate. But what +is this form? You know as I do that in many cases the form means +nothing at all. Occasionally a simple conversation, a friendly +interview, brings about a more certain result. The practice or +form will never die out--I can vouch for that; but what, after all, +is the form, I ask once more? You can't compel an examining +magistrate to be hampered or bound by it everlastingly. His duty +or method is in its way, one of the liberal professions or +something very much like it." + +Porphyrius Petrovitch stopped a moment to take breath. He kept on +talking, now uttering pure nonsense, now again introducing, in +spite of this trash, an occasional enigmatical remark, after which +he went on with his insipidities. His tramp about the room was +more like a race--he moved his stout legs more and more quickly, +without looking up; his right hand was thrust deep in the pocket of +his coat, whilst with the left he unceasingly gesticulated in a way +unconnected with his observations. Raskolnikoff noticed, or +fancied he noticed, that, whilst running round and round the room, +he had twice stopped near the door, seeming to listen. "Does he +expect something?" he asked himself. + +"You're perfectly right," resumed Porphyrius cheerily, whilst +looking at the young man with a kindliness which immediately awoke +the latter's distrust. "Our judicial customs deserve your satire. +Our proceedings, which are supposed to be inspired by a profound +knowledge of psychology, are very ridiculous ones, and very often +useless. Now, to return to our method or form: Suppose for a +moment that I am deputed to investigate something or other, and +that I know the guilty person to be a certain gentleman. Are you +not yourself reading for the law, Rodion Romanovitch?" + +"I was some time ago." + +"Well, here is a kind of example which may be of use to you later +on. Don't run away with the idea that I am setting up as your +instructor--God forbid that I should presume to teach anything to a +man who treats criminal questions in the public press! Oh, no!-- +all I am doing is to quote to you, by way of example, a trifling +fact. Suppose that I fancy I am convinced of the guilt of a +certain man, why, I ask you, should I frighten him prematurely, +assuming me to have every evidence against him? Of course, in the +case of another man of a different disposition, him I would have +arrested forthwith; but, as to the former, why should I not permit +him to hang about a little longer? I see you do not quite take me. +I will, therefore, endeavor to explain myself more clearly! If, +for instance, I should be too quick in issuing a writ, I provide +him in doing so with a species of moral support or mainstay--I see +you are laughing?" (Raskolnikoff, on the contrary, had no such +desire; his lips were set, and his glaring look was not removed +from Porphyrius's eyes.) "I assure you that in actual practice +such is really the case; men vary much, although, unfortunately, +our methods are the same for all. But you will ask me: Supposing +you are certain of your proofs? Goodness me, batuchka! you know, +perhaps as well as I do, what proofs are--half one's time, proofs +may be taken either way; and I, a magistrate, am, after all, only a +man liable to error. + +"Now, what I want is to give to my investigation the precision of a +mathematical demonstration--I want my conclusions to be as plain, +as indisputable, as that twice two are four. Now, supposing I have +this gentleman arrested prematurely, though I may be positively +certain that he is THE MAN, yet I deprive myself of all future +means of proving his guilt. How is that? Because, so to say, I +give him, to a certain extent, a definite status; for, by putting +him in prison, I pacify him. I give him the chance of +investigating his actual state of mind--he will escape me, for he +will reflect. In a word, he knows that he is a prisoner, and +nothing more. If, on the contrary, I take no kind of notice of the +man I fancy guilty, if I do not have him arrested, if I in no way +set him on his guard--but if the unfortunate creature is hourly, +momentarily, possessed by the suspicion that I know all, that I do +not lose sight of him either by night or by day, that he is the +object of my indefatigable vigilance--what do you ask will take +place under these circumstances? He will lose his self-possession, +he will come of his own accord to me, he will provide me with ample +evidence against himself, and will enable me to give to the +conclusion of my inquiry the accuracy of mathematical proofs, which +is not without its charm. + +"If such a course succeeds with an uncultured moujik, it is equally +efficacious when it concerns an enlightened, intelligent, or even +distinguished man. For the main thing, my dear friend, is to +determine in what sense a man is developed. The man, I mean, is +intelligent, but he has nerves which are OVER-strung. And as for +bile--the bile you are forgetting, that plays no small part with +similar folk! Believe me, here we have a very mine of information! +And what is it to me whether such a man walk about the place in +perfect liberty? Let him be at ease--I know him to be my prey, and +that he won't escape me! Where, I ask you, could he go to? You +may say abroad. A Pole may do so--but my man, never! especially as +I watch him, and have taken steps in consquence. Is he likely to +escape into the very heart of our country? Not he! for there dwell +coarse moujiks, and primitive Russians, without any kind of +civilization. My educated friend would prefer going to prison, +rather than be in the midst of such surroundings. Besides, what I +have been saying up to the present is not the main point--it is the +exterior and accessory aspect of the question. He won't escape-- +not only because he won't know where to go to, but especially, and +above all, because he is mine from the PSYCHOLOGICAL point of view. +What do you think of this explanation? In virtue of a natural law, +he will not escape, even if he could do so! Have you ever seen a +butterfly close to the candle? My man will hover incessantly round +me in the same way as the butterfly gyrates round the candle-light. +Liberty will have no longer charms for him; he will grow more and +more restless, more and more amazed--let me but give him plenty of +time, and he will demean himself in a way to prove his guilt as +plainly as that twice two our four! Yes, he will keep hovering +about me, describing circles, smaller and smaller, till at last-- +bang! He has flown into my clutches, and I have got him. That is +very nice. You don't think so, perhaps?" + +Raskolnikoff kept silent. Pale and immovable, he continued to +watch Porphyrius's face with a labored effort of attention. "The +lesson is a good one!" he reflected. "But it is not, as yesterday, +a case of the cat playing with the mouse. Of course, he does not +talk to me in this way for the mere pleasure of showing me his +hand; he is much too intelligent for that. He must have something +else in view--what can it be? Come, friend, what you do say is +only to frighten me. You have no kind of evidence, and the man of +yesterday does not exist! All you wish is to perplex me--to enrage +me, so as to enable you to make your last move, should you catch me +in such a mood, but you will not; all your pains will be in vain! +But why should he speak in such covert terms? I presume he must be +speculating on the excitability of my nervous system. But, dear +friend, that won't go down, in spite of your machinations. We will +try and find out what you really have been driving at." + +And he prepared to brave boldly the terrible catastrophe he +anticipated. Occasionally the desire came upon him to rush on +Porphyrius, and to strangle him there and then. From the first +moment of having entered the magistrate's office what he had +dreaded most was, lest he might lose his temper. He felt his heart +beating violently, his lips become parched, his spittle congealed. +He resolved, however, to hold his tongue, knowing that, under the +circumstances, such would be the best tactics. By similar means, +he felt sure that he would not only not become compromised, but +that he might succeed in exasperating his enemy, in order to let +him drop some imprudent observation. This, at all events, was +Raskolnikoff's hope. + +"I see you don't believe, you think I am jesting," continued +Porphyrius, more and more at his ease, without ceasing to indulge +in his little laugh, whilst continuing his perambulation about the +room. "You may be right. God has given me a face which only +arouses comical thoughts in others. I'm a buffoon. But excuse an +old man's cackle. You, Rodion Romanovitch, you are in your prime, +and, like all young people, you appreciate, above all things, human +intelligence. Intellectual smartness and abstract rational +deductions entice you. But, to return to the SPECIAL CASE we were +talking about just now. I must tell you that we have to deal with +reality, with nature. This is a very important thing, and how +admirably does she often foil the highest skill! Listen to an old +man; I am speaking quite seriously. Rodion"--(on saying which +Porphyrius Petrovitch, who was hardly thirty-five years of age, +seemed all of a sudden to have aged, a sudden metamorphosis had +taken place in the whole of his person, nay, in his very voice)-- +"to an old man who, however, is not wanting in candor. Am I or am +I not candid? What do you think? It seems to me that a man could +hardly be more so--for do I not reveal confidence, and that without +the prospect of reward? But, to continue, acuteness of mind is, in +my opinion, a very fine thing; it is to all intents and purposes an +ornament of nature, one of the consolations of life by means of +which it would appear a poor magistrate can be easily gulled, who, +after all, is often misled by his own imagination, for he is only +human. But nature comes to the aid of this human magistrate! +There's the rub! And youth, so confident in its own intelligence, +youth which tramples under foot every obstacle, forgets this! + +"Now, in the SPECIAL CASE under consideration, the guilty man, I +will assume, lies hard and fast, but, when he fancies that all that +is left him will be to reap the reward of his mendacity, behold, he +will succumb in the very place where such an accident is likely to +be most closely analyzed. Assuming even that he may be in a +position to account for his syncope by illness or the stifling +atmosphere of the locality, he has none the less given rise to +suspicion! He has lied incomparably, but he has counted without +nature. Here is the pitfall! Again, a man off his guard, from an +unwary disposition, may delight in mystifying another who suspects +him, and may wantonly pretend to be the very criminal wanted by the +authorities; in such a case, he will represent the person in +question a little too closely, he will place his foot a little too +naturally. Here we have another token. For the nonce his +interlocutor may be duped; but, being no fool, he will on the +morrow have seen through the subterfuge. Then will our friend +become compromised more and more! He will come of his own accord +when he is not even called, he will use all kinds of impudent +words, remarks, allegories, the meaning of which will be clear to +everybody; he will even go so far as to come and ask why he has not +been arrested as yet--hah! hah! And such a line of conduct may +occur to a person of keen intellect, yes, even to a man of +psychologic mind! Nature, my friend, is the most transparent of +mirrors. To contemplate her is sufficient. But why do you grow +pale, Rodion Romanovitch? Perhaps you are too hot; shall I open +the window?" + +"By no means, I beg!" cried Raskolnikoff, bursting out laughing. +"Don't heed me, pray!" Porphyrius stopped short, waited a moment, +and burst out laughing himself. Raskolnikoff, whose hilarity had +suddenly died out, rose. "Porphyrius Petrovitch," he shouted in a +clear and loud voice, although he could scarcely stand on his +trembling legs, "I can no longer doubt that you suspect me of +having assassinated this old woman as well as her sister, +Elizabeth. Let me tell you that for some time I have had enough of +this. If you think you have the right to hunt me down, to have me +arrested, hunt me down, have me arrested. But you shall not trifle +with me, you shall not torture me." Suddenly his lips quivered, +his eyes gleamed, and his voice, which up to that moment had been +self-possessed, reached its highest diapason. "I will not permit +it," he yelled hoarsely, whilst striking a violent blow on the +table. "Do you hear me, Porphyrius Petrovitch, I shall not permit +this!" + +"But, goodness gracious! what on earth is wrong with you?" asked +the magistrate, disturbed to all appearances. "Batuchka! Rodion +Romanovitch! My good friend! What on earth is the matter with +you?" + +"I will not permit it!" repeated Raskolnikoff once again. + +"Batuchka! not so loud, I must request! Someone will hear you, +someone may come; and then, what shall we say? Just reflect one +moment!" murmured Porphyrius Petrovitch, whose face had approached +that of his visitor. + +"I will not permit it, I will not permit it!" mechanically pursued +Raskolnikoff, but in a minor key, so as to be heard by Porphyrius +only. + +The latter moved away to open the window. "Let us air the room! +Supposing you were to drink some water, dear friend? You have had +a slight fit!" He was on the point of going to the door to give +his orders to a servant, when he saw a water bottle in a corner. +"Drink, batuchka!" he murmured, whilst approaching the young man +with the bottle, "that may do you some good." + +Porphyrius's fright seemed so natural that Raskolnikoff remained +silent whilst examining him with curiosity. He refused, however, +the proffered water. + +"Rodion Romanovitch! My dear friend! If you go on in this way, +you will go mad, I am positive! Drink, pray, if only a few drops!" +He almost forced the glass of water into his hand. Raskolnikoff +raised it mechanically to his lips, when suddenly he thought better +of it, and replaced it on the table with disgust. "Yes, yes, you +have had a slight fit. One or two more, my friend, and you will +have another attack of your malady," observed the magistrate in the +kindest tone of voice, appearing greatly agitated. "Is it possible +that people can take so little care of themselves? It was the same +with Dmitri Prokofitch, who called here yesterday. I admit mine to +be a caustic temperament, that mine is a horrid disposition, but +that such a meaning could possibly be attributed to harmless +remarks. He called here yesterday, when you had gone, and in the +course of dinner he talked, talked. You had sent him, had you not? +But do sit down, batuchka! do sit down, for heaven's sake!" + +"I did not indeed!--although I knew that he had called, and his +object in doing so!" replied Raskolnikoff dryly. + +"Did you really know why?" + +"I did. And what did you gather from it?" + +"I gathered from it, batuchka! Rodion Romanovitch, the knowledge of +a good many of your doings--in fact, I know all! I know that you +went, towards nightfall, TO HIRE THE LODGINGS. I know that you +pulled the bell, and that a question of yours in connection with +bloodstains, as well as your manner, frightened both journeymen and +dvorniks. I know what was your mood at the time. Excitement of +such a kind will drive you out of your mind, be assured. A +praiseworthy indignation is at work within you, complaining now as +to destiny, now on the subject of police agents. You keep going +here and there to induce people as far as possible to formulate +their accusations. This stupid kind of tittle-tattle is hateful to +you, and you are anxious to put a stop to it as soon as possible. +Am I right? Have I laid finger on the sentiments which actuate +you? But you are not satisfied by turning your own brain, you want +to do, or rather do, the same thing to my good Razoumikhin. +Really, it is a pity to upset so good a fellow! His kindness +exposes him more than anyone else to suffer contagion from your own +malady. But you shall know all as soon as you shall be calmer. +Pray, therefore, once again sit down, batuchka! Try and recover +your spirits--you seem quite unhinged." + +Raskolnikoff rose while looking at him with an air full of +contempt. "Tell me once for all," asked the latter, "tell me one +way or other, whether I am in your opinion an object for suspicion? +Speak up, Porphyrius Petrovitch, and explain yourself without any +more beating about the bush, and that forthwith!" + +"Just one word, Rodion Romanovitch. This affair will end as God +knows best; but still, by way of form, I may have to ask you a few +more questions. Hence we are certain to meet again!" And with a +smile Porphyrius stopped before the young man. "Certain!" he +repeated. One might have fancied that he wished to say something +more. But he did not do so. + +"Forgive my strange manner just now, Porphyrius Petrovitch, I was +hasty," began Raskolnikoff, who had regained all his self- +possession, and who even experienced an irresistible wish to chaff +the magistrate. + +"Don't say any more, it was nothing," replied Porphyrius in almost +joyful tone. "Till we meet again!" + +"Till we meet again!" + +The young man forthwith went home. Having got there, he threw +himself on his couch, and for a quarter of an hour he tried to +arrange his ideas somewhat, inasmuch as they were very confused. + +Within a few days Raskolnikoff convinced himself that Porphyrius +Petrovitch had no real proofs. Deciding to go out, in search of +fresh air, he took up his cap and made for the door, deep in +thought. For the first time he felt in the best of health, really +well. He opened the door, and encountered Porphyrius face to face. +The latter entered. Raskolnikoff staggered for a moment, but +quickly recovered. The visit did not dismay him. "Perhaps this is +the finale, but why does he come upon me like a cat, with muffled +tread? Can he have been listening?" + +"I have been thinking for a long time of calling on you, and, as I +was passing, I thought I might drop in for a few minutes. Where +are you off to? I won't detain you long, only the time to smoke a +cigarette, if you will allow me?" + +"Be seated, Porphyrius Petrovitch, be seated," said Raskolnikoff to +his guest, assuming such an air of friendship that he himself could +have been astonished at his own affability. Thus the victim, in +fear and trembling for his life, at last does not feel the knife at +his throat. He seated himself in front of Porphyrius, and gazed +upon him without flinching. Porphyrius blinked a little, and +commenced rolling his cigarette. + +"Speak! speak!" Raskolnikoff mutely cried in his heart. "What are +you going to say?" + +"Oh, these cigarettes!" Porphyrius Petrovitch commenced at last, +"they'll be the death of me, and yet I can't give them up! I am +always coughing--a tickling in the throat is setting in, and I am +asthmatical. I have been to consult Botkine of late; he examines +every one of his patients at least half an hour at a time. After +having thumped and bumped me about for ever so long, he told me, +amongst other things: 'Tobacco is a bad thing for you--your lungs +are affected.' That's all very well, but how am I to go without my +tobacco? What am I to use as a substitute? Unfortunately, I can't +drink, hah! hah! Everything is relative, I suppose, Rodion +Romanovitch?" + +"There, he is beginning with some more of his silly palaver!" +Raskolnikoff growled to himself. His late interview with the +magistrate suddenly occurred to him, at which anger affected his +mind. + +"Did you know, by-the-by, that I called on you the night before +last?" continued Porphyrius, looking about. "I was in this very +room. I happened to be coming this way, just as I am going to-day, +and the idea struck me to drop in. Your door was open--I entered, +hoping to see you in a few minutes, but went away again without +leaving my name with your servant. Do you never shut your place?" + +Raskolnikoff's face grew gloomier and gloomier. Porphyrius +Petrovitch evidently guessed what the latter was thinking about. + +"You did not expect visitors, Rodion Romanovitch?" said Porphyrius, +smiling graciously. + +"I have called just to clear things up a bit. I owe you an +explanation," he went on, smiling and gently slapping the young man +on the knee; but almost at the self-same moment his face assumed a +serious and even sad expression, to Raskolnikoff's great +astonishment, to whom the magistrate appeared in quite a different +light. "At our last interview, an unusual scene took place between +us, Rodion. I somehow feel that I did not behave very well to you. +You remember, I dare say, how we parted; we were both more or less +excited. I fear we were wanting in the most common courtesy, and +yet we are both of us gentlemen." + +"What can he be driving at now?" Raskolnikoff asked himself, +looking inquiringly at Porphyrius. + +"I have come to the conclusion that it would be much better for us +to be more candid to one another," continued the magistrate, +turning his head gently aside and looking on the ground, as if he +feared to annoy his former victim by his survey. "We must not have +scenes of that kind again. If Mikolka had not turned up on that +occasion, I really do not know how things would have ended. You +are naturally, my dear Rodion, very irritable, and I must own that +I had taken that into consideration, for, when driven in a corner, +many a man lets out his secrets. 'If,' I said to myself, 'I could +only squeeze some kind of evidence out of him, however trivial, +provided it were real, tangible, and palpable, different from all +my psychological inferences!' That was my idea. Sometimes we +succeed by some such proceeding, but unfortunately that does not +happen every day, as I conclusively discovered on the occasion in +question. I had relied too much on your character." + +"But why tell me all this now?" stammered Raskolnikoff, without in +any way understanding the object of his interlocutor's question. +"Does he, perhaps, think me really innocent?" + +"You wish to know why I tell you this? Because I look upon it as a +sacred duty to explain my line of action. Because I subjected you, +as I now fully acknowledge, to cruel torture. I do not wish, my +dear Rodion, that you should take me for an ogre. Hence, by way of +justification, I purpose explaining to you what led up to it. I +think it needless to account for the nature and origin of the +reports which circulated originally, as also why you were connected +with them. There was, however, one circumstance, a purely +fortuitous one, and which need not now be mentioned, which aroused +my suspicions. From these reports and accidental circumstances, +the same conclusion became evolved for me. I make this statement +in all sincerity, for it was I who first implicated you with the +matter. I do not in any way notice, the particulars notified on +the articles found at the old woman's. That, and several others of +a similar nature, are of no kind of importance. At the same time, +I was aware of the incident which had happened at the police +office. What occurred there has been told me with the utmost +accuracy by some one who had been closely connected with it, and +who, most unwittingly, had brought things to a head. Very well, +then, how, under such circumstances, could a man help becoming +biased? 'One swallow does not make a summer,' as the English +proverb says: a hundred suppositions do not constitute one single +proof. Reason speaks in that way, I admit, but let a man try to +subject prejudice to reason. An examining magistrate, after all, +is only a man--hence given to prejudice. + +"I also remembered, on the occasion in question, the article you +had published in some review. That virgin effort of yours, I +assure you, I greatly enjoyed--as an amateur, however, be it +understood. It was redolent of sincere conviction, of genuine +enthusiasm. The article was evidently written some sleepless night +under feverish conditions. That author, I said to myself, while +reading it, will do better things than that. How now, I ask you, +could I avoid connecting that with what followed upon it? Such a +tendency was but a natural one. Am I saying anything I should not? +Am I at this moment committing myself to any definite statement? I +do no more than give utterance to a thought which struck me at the +time. What may I be thinking about now? Nothing--or, at all +events, what is tantamount to it. For the time being, I have to +deal with Mikolka; there are facts which implicate him--what are +facts, after all? If I tell you all this now, as I am doing, I do +so, I assure you, most emphatically, so that your mind and +conscience may absolve me from my behavior on the day of our +interview. 'Why,' you will ask, 'did you not come on that occasion +and have my place searched?' I did so, hah! hah! I went when you +were ill in bed--but, let me tell you, not officially, not in my +magisterial capacity; but go I did. We had your rooms turned +topsy-turvy at our very first suspicions, but umsonst! Then I said +to myself: 'That man will make me a call, he will come of his own +accord, and that before very long! If he is guilty, he will be +bound to come. Other kinds of men would not do so, but this one +will.' + +"And you remember, of course, Mr. Razoumikhin's chattering? We had +purposely informed him of some of our suspicions, hoping that he +might make you uneasy, for we knew perfectly well that Razoumikhin +would not be able to contain his indignation. Zametoff, in +particular, had been struck by your boldness, and it certainly was +a bold thing for a person to exclaim all of a sudden in an open +traktir: 'I am an assassin!' That was really too much of a good +thing. Well, I waited for you with trusting patience, and, lo and +behold, Providence sends you! How my heart did beat when I saw you +coming! Now, I ask you, where was the need of your coming at that +time at all? If you remember, you came in laughing immoderately. +That laughter gave me food for thought, but, had I not been very +prejudiced at the time, I should have taken no notice of it. And +as for Mr. Razoumikhin on that occasion--ah! the stone, the stone, +you will remember, under which the stolen things are hidden? I +fancy I can see it from here; it is somewhere in a kitchen garden-- +it was a kitchen garden you mentioned to Zametoff, was it not? And +then, when your article was broached, we fancied we discovered a +latent thought beneath every word you uttered. That was the way, +Rodion Romanovitch, that my conviction grew little by little. 'And +yet,' said I to myself, 'all that may be explained in quite a +different way, and perhaps more rationally. After all, a real +proof, however slight, would be far more valuable.' But, when I +heard all about the bell-ringing, my doubts vanished; I fancied I +had the indispensable proof, and did not seem to care for further +investigation. + +"We are face to face with a weird and gloomy case--a case of a +contemporary character, if I may say so--a case possessing, in the +fullest sense of the word, the hallmark of time, and circumstances +pointing to a person and life of different surroundings. The real +culprit is a theorist, a bookworm, who, in a tentative kind of way, +has done a more than bold thing; but this boldness of his is of +quite a peculiar and one-sided stamp; it is, after a fashion, like +that of a man who hurls himself from the top of a mountain or +church steeple. The man in question has forgotten to cut off +evidence, and, in order to work out a theory, has killed two +persons. He has committed a murder, and yet has not known how to +take possession of the pelf; what he has taken he has hidden under +a stone. The anguish he experienced while hearing knocking at the +door and the continued ringing of the bell, was not enough for him: +no, yielding to an irresistible desire of experiencing the same +horror, he has positively revisited the empty place and once more +pulled the bell. Let us, if you like, attribute the whole of this +to disease--to a semidelirious condition--by all means; but there +is another point to be considered: he has committed a murder, and +yet continues to look upon himself as a righteous man!" + +Raskolnikoff trembled in every limb. "Then, who--who is it--that +has committed the murder?" he stammered forth, in jerky accents. + +The examining magistrate sank back in his chair as though +astonished at such a question. "Who committed the murder?" he +retorted, as if he could not believe his own ears. "Why, you--you +did, Rodion Romanovitch! You!--" he added, almost in a whisper, +and in a tone of profound conviction. + +Raskolnikoff suddenly rose, waited for a few moments, and sat down +again, without uttering a single word. All the muscles of his face +were slightly convulsed. + +"Why, I see your lips tremble just as they did the other day," +observed Porphyrius Petrovitch, with an air of interest. "You have +not, I think, thoroughly realized the object of my visit, Rodion +Romanovitch," he pursued, after a moment's silence, "hence your +great astonishment. I have called with the express intention of +plain speaking, and to reveal the truth." + +"It was not I who committed the murder," stammered the young man, +defending himself very much like a child caught in the act of doing +wrong. + +"Yes, yes, it was you, Rodion Romanovitch, it was you, and you +alone," replied the magistrate with severity. "Confess or not, as +you think best; for the time being, that is nothing to me. In +either case, my conviction is arrived at." + +"If that is so, why have you called?" asked Raskolnikoff angrily. +"I once more repeat the question I have put you: If you think me +guilty, why not issue a warrant against me?" + +"What a question! But I will answer you categorically. To begin +with, your arrest would not benefit me!" + +"It would not benefit you? How can that be? From the moment of +being convinced, you ought to--" + +"What is the use of my conviction, after all? For the time being, +it is only built on sand. And why should I have you placed AT +REST? Of course, I purpose having you arrested--I have called to +give you a hint to that effect--and yet I do not hesitate to tell +you that I shall gain nothing by it. Considering, therefore, the +interest I feel for you, I earnestly urge you to go and acknowledge +your crime. I called before to give the same advice. It is by far +the wisest thing you can do--for you as well as for myself, who +will then wash my hands of the affair. Now, am I candid enough?" + +Raskolnikoff considered a moment. "Listen to me, Porphyrius +Petrovitch! To use your own statement, you have against me nothing +but psychological sentiments, and yet you aspire to mathematical +evidence. Who has told you that you are absolutely right?" + +"Yes, Rodion Romanovitch, I am absolutely right. I hold a proof! +And this proof I came in possession of the other day: God has sent +it me!" + +"What is it?" + +"I shall not tell you, Rodion Romanovitch. But I have no right to +procrastinate. I am going to have you arrested! Judge, therefore: +whatever you purpose doing is not of much importance to me just +now; all I say and have said has been solely done for your +interest. The best alternative is the one I suggest, you may +depend on it, Rodion Romanovitch! When I shall have had you +arrested--at the expiration of a month or two, or even three, if +you like--you will remember my words, and you will confess. You +will be led to do so insensibly, almost without being conscious of +it. I am even of opinion that, after careful consideration, you +will make up your mind to make atonement. You do not believe me at +this moment, but wait and see. In truth, Rodion Romanovitch, +suffering is a grand thing. In the mouth of a coarse man, who +deprives himself of nothing, such a statement might afford food for +laughter. Never mind, however, but there lies a theory in +suffering. Mikolka is right. You won't escape, Rodion +Romanovitch." + +Raskolnikoff rose and took his cap. Porphyrius Petrovitch did the +same. "Are you going for a walk? The night will be a fine one, as +long as we get no storm. That would be all the better though, as +it would clear the air." + +"Porphyrius Petrovitch," said the young man, in curt and hurried +accents, "do not run away with the idea that I have been making a +confession to-day. You are a strange man, and I have listened to +you from pure curiosity. But remember, I have confessed to +nothing. Pray do not forget that." + +"I shall not forget it, you may depend-- How he is trembling! +Don't be uneasy, my friend--I shall not forget your advice. Take a +little stroll, only do not go beyond certain limits. I must, +however, at all costs," he added with lowered voice, "ask a small +favor of you; it is a delicate one, but has an importance of its +own; assuming, although I would view such a contingency as an +improbable one--assuming, during the next forty-eight hours, the +fancy were to come upon you to put an end to your life (excuse me +my foolish supposition), would you mind leaving behind you +something in the shape of a note--a line or so--pointing to the +spot where the stone is?--that would be very considerate. Well, au +revoir! May God send you good thoughts!" + +Porphyrius withdrew, avoiding Raskolnikoff's eye. The latter +approached the window, and impatiently waited till, according to +his calculation, the magistrate should be some distance from the +house. He then passed out himself in great haste. + +A few days later, the prophecy of Porphyrius Petrovitch was +fulfilled. Driven by the torment of uncertainty and doubt, +Raskolnikoff made up his mind to confess his crime. Hastening +through the streets, and stumbling up the narrow stairway, he +presented himself at the police office. + +With pale lips and fixed gaze, Raskolnikoff slowly advanced toward +Elia Petrovitch. Resting his head upon the table behind which the +lieutenant was seated, he wished to speak, but could only give vent +to a few unintelligible sounds. + +"You are in pain, a chair! Pray sit down! Some water" + +Raskolnikoff allowed himself to sink on the chair that was offered +him, but he could not take his eyes off Elia Petrovitch, whose face +expressed a very unpleasant surprise. For a moment both men looked +at one another in silence. Water was brought! + +"It was I--" commenced Raskolnikoff. + +"Drink." + +With a movement of his hand the young man pushed aside the glass +which was offered him; then, in a low-toned but distinct voice he +made, with several interruptions, the following statement:-- + +"It was I who killed, with a hatchet, the old moneylender and her +sister, Elizabeth, and robbery was my motive." + +Elia Petrovitch called for assistance. People rushed in from +various directions. Raskolnikoff repeated his confession. + + + +Anton Chekhoff + +The Safety Match + + +On the morning of October 6, 1885, in the office of the Inspector +of Police of the second division of S---- District, there appeared +a respectably dressed young man, who announced that his master, +Marcus Ivanovitch Klausoff, a retired officer of the Horse Guards, +separated from his wife, had been murdered. While making this +announcement the young man was white and terribly agitated. His +hands trembled and his eyes were full of terror. + +"Whom have I the honor of addressing?" asked the inspector. + +"Psyekoff, Lieutenant Klausoff's agent; agriculturist and +mechanician!" + +The inspector and his deputy, on visiting the scene of the +occurrence in company with Psyekoff, found the following: Near the +wing in which Klausoff had lived was gathered a dense crowd. The +news of the murder had sped swift as lightning through the +neighborhood, and the peasantry, thanks to the fact that the day +was a holiday, had hurried together from all the neighboring +villages. There was much commotion and talk. Here and there, +pale, tear-stained faces were seen. The door of Klausoff's bedroom +was found locked. The key was inside. + +"It is quite clear that the scoundrels got in by the window!" said +Psyekoff as they examined the door. + +They went to the garden, into which the bedroom window opened. The +window looked dark and ominous. It was covered by a faded green +curtain. One corner of the curtain was slightly turned up, which +made it possible to look into the bedroom. + +"Did any of you look into the window?" asked the inspector. + +"Certainly not, your worship!" answered Ephraim, the gardener, a +little gray-haired old man, who looked like a retired sergeant. +"Who's going to look in, if all their bones are shaking?" + +"Ah, Marcus Ivanovitch, Marcus Ivanovitch!" sighed the inspector, +looking at the window, "I told you you would come to a bad end! I +told the dear man, but he wouldn't listen! Dissipation doesn't +bring any good!" + +"Thanks to Ephraim," said Psyekoff; "but for him, we would never +have guessed. He was the first to guess that something was wrong. +He comes to me this morning, and says: 'Why is the master so long +getting up? He hasn't left his bedroom for a whole week!' The +moment he said that, it was just as if some one had hit me with an +ax. The thought flashed through my mind, 'We haven't had a sight +of him since last Saturday, and to-day is Sunday'! Seven whole +days--not a doubt of it!" + +"Ay, poor fellow!" again sighed the inspector. "He was a clever +fellow, finely educated, and kind-hearted at that! And in society, +nobody could touch him! But he was a waster, God rest his soul! I +was prepared for anything since he refused to live with Olga +Petrovna. Poor thing, a good wife, but a sharp tongue! Stephen!" +the inspector called to one of his deputies, "go over to my house +this minute, and send Andrew to the captain to lodge an information +with him! Tell him that Marcus Ivanovitch has been murdered. And +run over to the orderly; why should he sit there, kicking his +heels? Let him come here! And go as fast as you can to the +examining magistrate, Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch. Tell him to come +over here! Wait; I'll write him a note!" + +The inspector posted sentinels around the wing, wrote a letter to +the examining magistrate, and then went over to the director's for +a glass of tea. Ten minutes later he was sitting on a stool, +carefully nibbling a lump of sugar, and swallowing the scalding +tea. + +"There you are!" he was saying to Psyekoff; "there you are! A +noble by birth! a rich man--a favorite of the gods, you may say, as +Pushkin has it, and what did he come to? He drank and dissipated +and--there you are--he's murdered." + +After a couple of hours the examining magistrate drove up. +Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch Chubikoff--for that was the magistrate's +name--was a tall, fleshy old man of sixty, who had been wrestling +with the duties of his office for a quarter of a century. +Everybody in the district knew him as an honest man, wise, +energetic, and in love with his work. He was accompanied to the +scene of the murder by his inveterate companion, fellow worker, and +secretary, Dukovski, a tall young fellow of twenty-six. + +"Is it possible, gentlemen?" cried Chubikoff, entering Psyekoff's +room, and quickly shaking hands with everyone. Is it possible? +Marcus Ivanovitch? Murdered? No! It is impossible! Im-poss-i- +ble! + +"Go in there!" sighed the inspector. + +"Lord, have mercy on us! Only last Friday I saw him at the fair in +Farabankoff. I had a drink of vodka with him, save the mark!" + +"Go in there!" again sighed the inspector. + +They sighed, uttered exclamations of horror, drank a glass of tea +each, and went to the wing. + +"Get back!" the orderly cried to the peasants. + +Going to the wing, the examining magistrate began his work by +examining the bedroom door. The door proved to be of pine, painted +yellow, and was uninjured. Nothing was found which could serve as +a clew. They had to break in the door. + +"Everyone not here on business is requested to keep away!" said the +magistrate, when, after much hammering and shaking, the door +yielded to ax and chisel. "I request this, in the interest of the +investigation. Orderly, don't let anyone in!" + +Chubikoff, his assistant, and the inspector opened the door, and +hesitatingly, one after the other, entered the room. Their eyes +met the following sight: Beside the single window stood the big +wooden bed with a huge feather mattress. On the crumpled feather +bed lay a tumbled, crumpled quilt. The pillow, in a cotton pillow- +case, also much crumpled, was dragging on the floor. On the table +beside the bed lay a silver watch and a silver twenty-kopeck piece. +Beside them lay some sulphur matches. Beside the bed, the little +table, and the single chair, there was no furniture in the room. +Looking under the bed, the inspector saw a couple of dozen empty +bottles, an old straw hat, and a quart of vodka. Under the table +lay one top boot, covered with dust. Casting a glance around the +room, the magistrate frowned and grew red in the face. + +"Scoundrels!" he muttered, clenching his fists. + +"And where is Marcus Ivanovitch?" asked Dukovski in a low voice. + +"Mind your own business!" Chubikoff answered roughly. "Be good +enough to examine the floor! This is not the first case of the +kind I have had to deal with! Eugraph Kuzmitch," he said, turning +to the inspector, and lowering his voice, "in 1870 I had another +case like this. But you must remember it--the murder of the +merchant Portraitoff. It was just the same there. The scoundrels +murdered him, and dragged the corpse out through the window--" + +Chubikoff went up to the window, pulled the curtain to one side, +and carefully pushed the window. The window opened. + +"It opens, you see! It wasn't fastened. Hm! There are tracks +under the window. Look! There is the track of a knee! Somebody +got in there. We must examine the window thoroughly." + +"There is nothing special to be found on the floor," said Dukovski. +"No stains or scratches. The only thing I found was a struck +safety match. Here it is! So far as I remember, Marcus Ivanovitch +did not smoke. And he always used sulphur matches, never safety +matches. Perhaps this safety match may serve as a clew!" + +"Oh, do shut up!" cried the magistrate deprecatingly. "You go on +about your match! I can't abide these dreamers! Instead of +chasing matches, you had better examine the bed!" + +After a thorough examination of the bed, Dukovski reported: + +"There are no spots, either of blood or of anything else. There +are likewise no new torn places. On the pillow there are signs of +teeth. The quilt is stained with something which looks like beer +and smells like beer. The general aspect of the bed gives grounds +for thinking that a struggle took place on it." + +"I know there was a struggle, without your telling me! You are not +being asked about a struggle. Instead of looking for struggles, +you had better--" + +"Here is one top boot, but there is no sign of the other." + +"Well, and what of that?" + +"It proves that they strangled him, while he was taking his boots +off. He hadn't time to take the second boot off when--" + +"There you go!--and how do you know they strangled him?" + +"There are marks of teeth on the pillow. The pillow itself is +badly crumpled, and thrown a couple of yards from the bed." + +"Listen to his foolishness! Better come into the garden. You +would be better employed examining the garden than digging around +here. I can do that without you!" + +When they reached the garden they began by examining the grass. +The grass under the window was crushed and trampled. A bushy +burdock growing under the window close to the wall was also +trampled. Dukovski succeeded in finding on it some broken twigs +and a piece of cotton wool. On the upper branches were found some +fine hairs of dark blue wool. + +"What color was his last suit?" Dukovski asked Psyekoff. + +Yellow crash." + +"Excellent! You see they wore blue!" + +A few twigs of the burdock were cut off, and carefully wrapped in +paper by the investigators. At this point Police Captain +Artsuybasheff Svistakovski and Dr. Tyutyeff arrived. The captain +bade them "Good day!" and immediately began to satisfy his +curiosity. The doctor, a tall, very lean man, with dull eyes; a +long nose, and a pointed chin, without greeting anyone or asking +about anything, sat down on a log, sighed, and began: + +"The Servians are at war again! What in heaven's name can they +want now? Austria, it's all your doing!" + +The examination of the window from the outside did not supply any +conclusive data. The examination of the grass and the bushes +nearest to the window yielded a series of useful clews. For +example, Dukovski succeeded in discovering a long, dark streak, +made up of spots, on the grass, which led some distance into the +center of the garden. The streak ended under one of the lilac +bushes in a dark brown stain. Under this same lilac bush was found +a top boot, which turned out to be the fellow of the boot already +found in the bedroom. + +"That is a blood stain made some time ago," said Dukovski, +examining the spot. + +At the word "blood" the doctor rose, and going over lazily, looked +at the spot. + +"Yes, it is blood!" he muttered. + +"That shows he wasn't strangled, if there was blood," said +Chubikoff, looking sarcastically at Dukovski. + +"They strangled him in the bedroom; and here, fearing he might come +round again, they struck him a blow with some sharp-pointed +instrument. The stain under the bush proves that he lay there a +considerable time, while they were looking about for some way of +carrying him out of the garden. + +"Well, and how about the boot?" + +"The boot confirms completely my idea that they murdered him while +he was taking his boots off before going to bed. He had already +taken off one boot, and the other, this one here, he had only had +time to take half off. The half-off boot came off of itself, while +the body was dragged over, and fell--" + +"There's a lively imagination for you!" laughed Chubikoff. "He +goes on and on like that! When will you learn enough to drop your +deductions? Instead of arguing and deducing, it would be much +better if you took some of the blood-stained grass for analysis!" + +When they had finished their examination, and drawn a plan of the +locality, the investigators went to the director's office to write +their report and have breakfast. While they were breakfasting they +went on talking: + +"The watch, the money, and so on--all untouched--" Chubikoff began, +leading off the talk, "show as clearly as that two and two are four +that the murder was not committed for the purpose of robbery." + +"The murder was committed by an educated man!" insisted Dukovski. + +"What evidence have you of that?" + +"The safety match proves that to me, for the peasants hereabouts +are not yet acquainted with safety matches. Only the landowners +use them, and by no means all of them. And it is evident that +there was not one murderer, but at least three." Two held him, +while one killed him. Klausoff was strong, and the murderers must +have known it! + +"What good would his strength be, supposing he was asleep?" + +"The murderers came on him while he was taking off his boots. If +he was taking off his boots, that proves that he wasn't asleep!" + +"Stop inventing your deductions! Better eat!" + +"In my opinion, your worship," said the gardener Ephraim, setting +the samovar on the table, "it was nobody but Nicholas who did this +dirty trick!" + +"Quite possible," said Psyekoff. + +"And who is Nicholas?" + +"The master's valet, your worship," answered Ephraim. "Who else +could it be? He's a rascal, your worship! He's a drunkard and a +blackguard, the like of which Heaven should not permit! He always +took the master his vodka and put the master to bed. Who else +could it be? And I also venture to point out to your worship, he +once boasted at the public house that he would kill the master! It +happened on account of Aquilina, the woman, you know. He was +making up to a soldier's widow. She pleased the master; the master +made friends with her himself, and Nicholas--naturally, he was mad! +He is rolling about drunk in the kitchen now. He is crying, and +telling lies, saying he is sorry for the master--" + +The examining magistrate ordered Nicholas to be brought. Nicholas, +a lanky young fellow, with a long, freckled nose, narrow-chested, +and wearing an old jacket of his master's, entered Psyekoff's room, +and bowed low before the magistrate. His face was sleepy and tear- +stained. He was tipsy and could hardly keep his feet. + +"Where is your master?" Chubikoff asked him. + +"Murdered! your worship!" + +As he said this, Nicholas blinked and began to weep. + +"We know he was murdered. But where is he now? Where is his +body?" + +"They say he was dragged out of the window and buried in the +garden!" + +"Hum! The results of the investigation are known in the kitchen +already!--That's bad! Where were you, my good fellow, the night +the master was murdered? Saturday night, that is." + +Nicholas raised his head, stretched his neck, and began to think. + +"I don't know, your worship," he said. "I was drunk and don't +remember." + +"An alibi!" whispered Dukovski, smiling, and rubbing his hands. + +"So-o! And why is there blood under the master's window?" + +Nicholas jerked his head up and considered. + +"Hurry up!" said the Captain of Police. + +"Right away! That blood doesn't amount to anything, your worship! +I was cutting a chicken's throat. I was doing it quite simply, in +the usual way, when all of a sudden it broke away and started to +run. That is where the blood came from." + +Ephraim declared that Nicholas did kill a chicken every evening, +and always in some new place, but that nobody ever heard of a half- +killed chicken running about the garden, though of course it wasn't +impossible. + +"An alibi," sneered Dukovski; "and what an asinine alibi!" + +"Did you know Aquilina?" + +"Yes, your worship, I know her." + +"And the master cut you out with her?" + +"Not at all. HE cut me out--Mr. Psyekoff there, Ivan +Mikhailovitch; and the master cut Ivan Mikhailovitch out. That is +how it was." + +Psyekoff grew confused and began to scratch his left eye. Dukovski +looked at him attentively, noted his confusion, and started. He +noticed that the director had dark blue trousers, which he had not +observed before. The trousers reminded him of the dark blue +threads found on the burdock. Chubikoff in his turn glanced +suspiciously at Psyekoff. + +"Go!" he said to Nicholas. "And now permit me to put a question to +you, Mr. Psyekoff. Of course you were here last Saturday evening?" + +"Yes! I had supper with Marcus Ivanovitch about ten o'clock." + +"And afterwards?" + +"Afterwards--afterwards--Really, I do not remember," stammered +Psyekoff. "I had a good deal to drink at supper. I don't remember +when or where I went to sleep. Why are you all looking at me like +that, as if I was the murderer?" + +"Where were you when you woke up?" + +"I was in the servants' kitchen, lying behind the stove! They can +all confirm it. How I got behind the stove I don't know + +"Do not get agitated. Did you know Aquilina?" + +"There's nothing extraordinary about that--" + +"She first liked you and then preferred Klausoff?" + +"Yes. Ephraim, give us some more mushrooms! Do you want some more +tea, Eugraph Kuzmitch?" + +A heavy, oppressive silence began and lasted fully five minutes. +Dukovski silently kept his piercing eyes fixed on Psyekoff's pale +face. The silence was finally broken by the examining magistrate: + +"We must go to the house and talk with Maria Ivanovna, the sister +of the deceased. Perhaps she may be able to supply some clews." + +Chubikoff and his assistant expressed their thanks for the +breakfast, and went toward the house. They found Klausoff's +sister, Maria Ivanovna, an old maid of forty-five, at prayer before +the big case of family icons. When she saw the portfolios in her +guests' hands, and their official caps, she grew pale. + +"Let me begin by apologizing for disturbing, so to speak, your +devotions," began the gallant Chubikoff, bowing and scraping. "We +have come to you with a request. Of course, you have heard +already. There is a suspicion that your dear brother, in some way +or other, has been murdered. The will of God, you know. No one +can escape death, neither czar nor plowman. Could you not help us +with some clew, some explanation--?" + +"Oh, don't ask me!" said Maria Ivanovna, growing still paler, and +covering her face with her hands. "I can tell you nothing. +Nothing! I beg you! I know nothing--What can I do? Oh, no! no!-- +not a word about my brother! If I die, I won't say anything!" + +Maria Ivanovna began to weep, and left the room. The investigators +looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and beat a retreat. + +"Confound the woman!" scolded Dukovski, going out of the house. +"It is clear she knows something, and is concealing it! And the +chambermaid has a queer expression too! Wait, you wretches! We'll +ferret it all out!" + +In the evening Chubikoff and his deputy, lit on their road by the +pale moon, wended their way homeward. They sat in their carriage +and thought over the results of the day. Both were tired and kept +silent. Chubikoff was always unwilling to talk while traveling, +and the talkative Dukovski remained silent, to fall in with the +elder man's humor. But at the end of their journey the deputy +could hold in no longer, and said: + +"It is quite certain," he said, "that Nicholas had something to do +with the matter. Non dubitandum est! You can see by his face what +sort of a case he is! His alibi betrays him, body and bones. But +it is also certain that he did not set the thing going. He was +only the stupid hired tool. You agree? And the humble Psyekoff +was not without some slight share in the matter. His dark blue +breeches, his agitation, his lying behind the stove in terror after +the murder, his alibi and--Aquilina--" + +"'Grind away, Emilian; it's your week!' So, according to you, +whoever knew Aquilina is the murderer! Hothead! You ought to be +sucking a bottle, and not handling affairs! You were one of +Aquilina's admirers yourself--does it follow that you are +implicated too?" + +"Aquilina was cook in your house for a month. I am saying nothing +about that! The night before that Saturday I was playing cards +with you, and saw you, otherwise I should be after you too! It +isn't the woman that matters, old chap! It is the mean, nasty, low +spirit of jealousy that matters. The retiring young man was not +pleased when they got the better of him, you see! His vanity, +don't you see? He wanted revenge. Then, those thick lips of his +suggest passion. So there you have it: wounded self-love and +passion. That is quite enough motive for a murder. We have two of +them in our hands; but who is the third? Nicholas and Psyekoff +held him, but who smothered him? Psyekoff is shy, timid, an all- +round coward. And Nicholas would not know how to smother with a +pillow. His sort use an ax or a club. Some third person did the +smothering; but who was it?" + +Dukovski crammed his hat down over his eyes and pondered. He +remained silent until the carriage rolled up to the magistrate's +door. + +"Eureka!" he said, entering the little house and throwing off his +overcoat. "Eureka, Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch! The only thing I +can't understand is, how it did not occur to me sooner! Do you +know who the third person was?" + +"Oh, for goodness sake, shut up! There is supper! Sit down to +your evening meal!" + +The magistrate and Dukovski sat down to supper. Dukovski poured +himself out a glass of vodka, rose, drew himself up, and said, with +sparkling eyes: + +"Well, learn that the third person, who acted in concert with that +scoundrel Psyekoff, and did the smothering, was a woman! Yes-s! I +mean--the murdered man's sister, Maria Ivanovna!" + +Chubikoff choked over his vodka, and fixed his eyes on Dukovski. + +"You aren't--what's-its-name? Your head isn't what-do-you-call-it? +You haven't a pain in it?" + +"I am perfectly well! Very well, let us say that I am crazy; but +how do you explain her confusion when we appeared? How do you +explain her unwillingness to give us any information? Let us admit +that these are trifles. Very well! All right! But remember their +relations. She detested her brother. She never forgave him for +living apart from his wife. She is of the Old Faith, while in her +eyes he is a godless profligate. There is where the germ of her +hate was hatched. They say he succeeded in making her believe that +he was an angel of Satan. He even went in for spiritualism in her +presence! + +"Well, what of that?" + +"You don't understand? She, as a member of the Old Faith, murdered +him through fanaticism. It was not only that she was putting to +death a weed, a profligate--she was freeing the world of an +antichrist!--and there, in her opinion, was her service, her +religious achievement! Oh, you don't know those old maids of the +Old Faith. Read Dostoyevsky! And what does Lyeskoff say about +them, or Petcherski? It was she, and nobody else, even if you cut +me open. She smothered him! O treacherous woman! wasn't that the +reason why she was kneeling before the icons, when we came in, just +to take our attention away? 'Let me kneel down and pray,' she said +to herself, 'and they will think I am tranquil and did not expect +them!' That is the plan of all novices in crime, Nicholas +Yermolaiyevitch, old pal! My dear old man, won't you intrust this +business to me? Let me personally bring it through! Friend, I +began it and I will finish it!" + +Chubikoff shook his head and frowned. + +"We know how to manage difficult matters ourselves," he said; "and +your business is not to push yourself in where you don't belong. +Write from dictation when you are dictated to; that is your job!" + +Dukovski flared up, banged the door, and disappeared. + +"Clever rascal!" muttered Chubikoff, glancing after him. "Awfully +clever! But too much of a hothead. I must buy him a cigar case at +the fair as a present." + +The next day, early in the morning, a young man with a big head and +a pursed-up mouth, who came from Klausoff's place, was introduced +to the magistrate's office. He said he was the shepherd Daniel, +and brought a very interesting piece of information. + +"I was a bit drunk," he said. "I was with my pal till midnight. +On my way home, as I was drunk, I went into the river for a bath. +I was taking a bath, when I looked up. Two men were walking along +the dam, carrying something black. 'Shoo!' I cried at them. They +got scared, and went off like the wind toward Makareff's cabbage +garden. Strike me dead, if they weren't carrying away the master!" + +That same day, toward evening, Psyekoff and Nicholas were arrested +and brought under guard to the district town. In the town they +were committed to the cells of the prison. + + +II + + +A fortnight passed. + +It was morning. The magistrate Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch was +sitting in his office before a green table, turning over the papers +of the "Klausoff case"; Dukovski was striding restlessly up and +down, like a wolf in a cage. + +"You are convinced of the guilt of Nicholas and Psyekoff," he said, +nervously plucking at his young beard. "Why will you not believe +in the guilt of Maria Ivanovna? Are there not proofs enough for +you?" + +"I don't say I am not convinced. I am convinced, but somehow I +don't believe it! There are no real proofs, but just a kind of +philosophizing--fanaticism, this and that--" + +"You can't do without an ax and bloodstained sheets. Those +jurists! Very well, I'll prove it to you! You will stop sneering +at the psychological side of the affair! To Siberia with your +Maria Ivanovna! I will prove it! If philosophy is not enough for +you, I have something substantial for you. It will show you how +correct my philosophy is. Just give me permission--" + +"What are you going on about?" + +"About the safety match! Have you forgotten it? I haven't! I am +going to find out who struck it in the murdered man's room. It was +not Nicholas that struck it; it was not Psyekoff, for neither of +them had any matches when they were examined; it was the third +person, Maria Ivanovna. I will prove it to you. Just give me +permission to go through the district to find out." + +"That's enough! Sit down. Let us go on with the examination." + +Dukovski sat down at a little table, and plunged his long nose in a +bundle of papers. + +"Bring in Nicholas Tetekhoff!" cried the examining magistrate. + +They brought Nicholas in. Nicholas was pale and thin as a rail. +He was trembling. + +"Tetekhoff!" began Chubikoff. "In 1879 you were tried in the Court +of the First Division, convicted of theft, and sentenced to +imprisonment. In 1882 you were tried a second time for theft, and +were again imprisoned. We know all--" + +Astonishment was depicted on Nicholas's face. The examining +magistrate's omniscience startled him. But soon his expression of +astonishment changed to extreme indignation. He began to cry and +requested permission to go and wash his face and quiet down. They +led him away. + +"Brink in Psyekoff!" ordered the examining magistrate. They +brought in Psyekoff. The young man had changed greatly during the +last few days. He had grown thin and pale, and looked haggard. +His eyes had an apathetic expression. + +"Sit down, Psyekoff," said Chubikoff. "I hope that today you are +going to be reasonable, and will not tell lies, as you did before. +All these days you have denied that you had anything to do with the +murder of Klausoff, in spite of all the proofs that testify against +you. That is foolish. Confession will lighten your guilt. This +is the last time I am going to talk to you. If you do not confess +to-day, to-morrow it will be too late. Come, tell me all--" + +"I know nothing about it. I know nothing about your proofs," +answered Psyekoff, almost inaudibly. + +"It's no use! Well, let me relate to you how the matter took +place. On Saturday evening you were sitting in Klausoff's sleeping +room, and drinking vodka and beer with him." (Dukovski fixed his +eyes on Psyekoff's face, and kept them there all through the +examination.) "Nicholas was waiting on you. At one o'clock, +Marcus Ivanovitch announced his intention of going to bed. He +always went to bed at one o'clock. When he was taking off his +boots, and was giving you directions about details of management, +you and Nicholas, at a given signal, seized your drunken master and +threw him on the bed. One of you sat on his legs, the other on his +head. Then a third person came in from the passage--a woman in a +black dress, whom you know well, and who had previously arranged +with you as to her share in your criminal deed. She seized a +pillow and began to smother him. While the struggle was going on +the candle went out. The woman took a box of safety matches from +her pocket, and lit the candle. Was it not so? I see by your face +that I am speaking the truth. But to go on. After you had +smothered him, and saw that he had ceased breathing, you and +Nicholas pulled him out through the window and laid him down near +the burdock. Fearing that he might come round again, you struck +him with something sharp. Then you carried him away, and laid him +down under a lilac bush for a short time. After resting awhile and +considering, you carried him across the fence. Then you entered +the road. After that comes the dam. Near the dam, a peasant +frightened you. Well, what is the matter with you?" + +"I am suffocating!" replied Psyekoff. "Very well--have it so. +Only let me go out, please!" + +They led Psyekoff away. + +"At last! He has confessed!" cried Chubikoff, stretching himself +luxuriously. "He has betrayed himself! And didn't I get round him +cleverly! Regularly caught him flapping--" + +"And he doesn't deny the woman in the black dress!" exulted +Dukovski. "But all the same, that safety match is tormenting me +frightfully. I can't stand it any longer. Good-by! I am off!" + +Dukovski put on his cap and drove off. Chubikoff began to examine +Aquilina. Aquilina declared that she knew nothing whatever about +it. + +At six that evening Dukovski returned. He was more agitated than +he had ever been before. His hands trembled so that he could not +even unbutton his greatcoat. His cheeks glowed. It was clear that +he did not come empty-handed. + +"Veni, vidi, vici!" he cried, rushing into Chubikoff's room, and +falling into an armchair. "I swear to you on my honor, I begin to +believe that I am a genius! Listen, devil take us all! It is +funny, and it is sad. We have caught three already--isn't that so? +Well, I have found the fourth, and a woman at that. You will never +believe who it is! But listen. I went to Klausoff's village, and +began to make a spiral round it. I visited all the little shops, +public houses, dram shops on the road, everywhere asking for safety +matches. Everywhere they said they hadn't any. I made a wide +round. Twenty times I lost faith, and twenty times I got it back +again. I knocked about the whole day, and only an hour ago I got +on the track. Three versts from here. They gave me a packet of +ten boxes. One box was missing. Immediately: 'Who bought the +other box?' 'Such-a-one! She was pleased with them!' Old man! +Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch! See what a fellow who was expelled from +the seminary and who has read Gaboriau can do! From to-day on I +begin to respect myself! Oof! Well, come!" + +"Come where?" + +"To her, to number four! We must hurry, otherwise--otherwise I'll +burst with impatience! Do you know who she is? You'll never +guess! Olga Petrovna, Marcus Ivanovitch's wife--his own wife-- +that's who it is! She is the person who bought the matchbox!" + +"You--you--you are out of your mind!" + +"It's quite simple! To begin with, she smokes. Secondly, she was +head and ears in love with Klausoff, even after he refused to live +in the same house with her, because she was always scolding his +head off. Why, they say she used to beat him because she loved him +so much. And then he positively refused to stay in the same house. +Love turned sour. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' But +come along! Quick, or it will be dark. Come!" + +"I am not yet sufficiently crazy to go and disturb a respectable +honorable woman in the middle of the night for a crazy boy!" + +"Respectable, honorable! Do honorable women murder their husbands? +After that you are a rag, and not an examining magistrate! I never +ventured to call you names before, but now you compel me to. Rag! +Dressing-gown!--Dear Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch, do come, I beg of +you--!" + +The magistrate made a deprecating motion with his hand. + +"I beg of you! I ask, not for myself, but in the interests of +justice. I beg you! I implore you! Do what I ask you to, just +this once!" + +Dukovski went down on his knees. + +"Nicholas Yermolaiyevitch! Be kind! Call me a blackguard, a +ne'er-do-weel, if I am mistaken about this woman. You see what an +affair it is. What a case it is. A romance! A woman murdering +her own husband for love! The fame of it will go all over Russia. +They will make you investigator in all important cases. +Understand, O foolish old man!" + +The magistrate frowned, and undecidedly stretched his hand toward +his cap. + +"Oh, the devil take you!" he said. "Let us go!" + +It was dark when the magistrate's carriage rolled up to the porch +of the old country house in which Olga Petrovna had taken refuge +with her brother. + +"What pigs we are," said Chubikoff, taking hold of the bell, "to +disturb a poor woman like this!" + +"It's all right! It's all right! Don't get frightened! We can +say that we have broken a spring." + +Chubikoff and Dukovski were met at the threshold by a tall buxom +woman of three and twenty, with pitch-black brows and juicy red +lips. It was Olga Petrovna herself, apparently not the least +distressed by the recent tragedy. + +"Oh, what a pleasant surprise!" she said, smiling broadly. "You +are just in time for supper. Kuzma Petrovitch is not at home. He +is visiting the priest, and has stayed late. But we'll get on +without him! Be seated. You have come from the examination?" + +"Yes. We broke a spring, you know," began Chubikoff, entering the +sitting room and sinking into an armchair. + +"Take her unawares--at once!" whispered Dukovski; "take her +unawares!" + +"A spring--hum--yes--so we came in." + +"Take her unawares, I tell you! She will guess what the matter is +if you drag things out like that." + +"Well, do it yourself as you want. But let me get out of it," +muttered Chubikoff, rising and going to the window. + +"Yes, a spring," began Dukovski, going close to Olga Petrovna and +wrinkling his long nose. "We did not drive over here--to take +supper with you or--to see Kuzma Petrovitch. We came here to ask +you, respected madam, where Marcus Ivanovitch is, whom you +murdered!" + +"What? Marcus Ivanovitch murdered?" stammered Olga Petrovna, and +her broad face suddenly and instantaneously flushed bright scarlet. +"I don't--understand!" + +"I ask you in the name of the law! Where is Klausoff? We know +all!" + +"Who told you?" Olga Petrovna asked in a low voice, unable to +endure Dukovski's glance. + +"Be so good as to show us where he is!" + +"But how did you find out? Who told you?" + +"We know all! I demand it in the name of the law!" + +The examining magistrate, emboldened by her confusion, came forward +and said: + +"Show us, and we will go away. Otherwise, we--" + +"What do you want with him?" + +"Madam, what is the use of these questions? We ask you to show us! +You tremble, you are agitated. Yes, he has been murdered, and, if +you must have it, murdered by you! Your accomplices have betrayed +you!" + +Olga Petrovna grew pale. + +"Come!" she said in a low voice, wringing her hands. "I have him-- +hid--in the bath house! Only for heaven's sake, do not tell Kuzma +Petrovitch. I beg and implore you! He will never forgive me!" + +Olga Petrovna took down a big key from the wall, and led her guests +through the kitchen and passage to the courtyard. The courtyard +was in darkness. Fine rain was falling. Olga Petrovna walked in +advance of them. Chubikoff and Dukovski strode behind her through +the long grass, as the odor of wild hemp and dishwater splashing +under their feet reached them. The courtyard was wide. Soon the +dishwater ceased, and they felt freshly broken earth under their +feet. In the darkness appeared the shadowy outlines of trees, and +among the trees a little house with a crooked chimney. + +"That is the bath house," said Olga Petrovna. "But I implore you, +do not tell my brother! If you do, I'll never hear the end of it!" + +Going up to the bath house, Chubikoff and Dukovski saw a huge +padlock on the door. + +"Get your candle and matches ready," whispered the examining +magistrate to his deputy. + +Olga Petrovna unfastened the padlock, and let her guests into the +bath house. Dukovski struck a match and lit up the anteroom. In +the middle of the anteroom stood a table. On the table, beside a +sturdy little samovar, stood a soup tureen with cold cabbage soup +and a plate with the remnants of some sauce. + +"Forward!" + +They went into the next room, where the bath was. There was a +table there also. On the table was a dish with some ham, a bottle +of vodka, plates, knives, forks. + +"But where is it--where is the murdered man?" asked the examining +magistrate. + +"On the top tier," whispered Olga Petrovna, still pale and +trembling. + +Dukovski took the candle in his hand and climbed up to the top tier +of the sweating frame. There he saw a long human body lying +motionless on a large feather bed. A slight snore came from the +body. + +"You are making fun of us, devil take it!" cried Dukovski. "That +is not the murdered man! Some live fool is lying here. Here, +whoever you are, the devil take you!" + +The body drew in a quick breath and stirred. Dukovski stuck his +elbow into it. It raised a hand, stretched itself, and lifted its +head. + +"Who is sneaking in here?" asked a hoarse, heavy bass. "What do +you want?" + +Dukovski raised the candle to the face of the unknown, and cried +out. In the red nose, disheveled, unkempt hair, the pitch-black +mustaches, one of which was jauntily twisted and pointed insolently +toward the ceiling, he recognized the gallant cavalryman Klausoff. + +"You--Marcus--Ivanovitch? Is it possible?" + +The examining magistrate glanced sharply up at him, and stood +spellbound. + +"Yes, it is I. That's you, Dukovski? What the devil do you want +here? And who's that other mug down there? Great snakes! It is +the examining magistrate! What fate has brought him here?" + +Klausoff rushed down and threw his arms round Chubikoff in a +cordial embrace. Olga Petrovna slipped through the door. + +"How did you come here? Let's have a drink, devil take it! Tra- +ta-ti-to-tum--let us drink! But who brought you here? How did you +find out that I was here? But it doesn't matter! Let's have a +drink!" + +Klausoff lit the lamp and poured out three glasses of vodka. + +"That is--I don't understand you," said the examining magistrate, +running his hands over him. "Is this you or not you!" + +"Oh, shut up! You want to preach me a sermon? Don't trouble +yourself! Young Dukovski, empty your glass! Friends, let us bring +this--What are you looking at? Drink!" + +"All the same, I do not understand!" said the examining magistrate, +mechanically drinking off the vodka. "What are you here for?" + +"Why shouldn't I be here, if I am all right here?" + +Klausoff drained his glass and took a bite of ham. + +"I am in captivity here, as you see. In solitude, in a cavern, +like a ghost or a bogey. Drink! She carried me off and locked me +up, and--well, I am living here, in the deserted bath house, like a +hermit. I am fed. Next week I think I'll try to get out. I'm +tired of it here!" + +"Incomprehensible!" said Dukovski. + +"What is incomprehensible about it?" + +"Incomprehensible! For Heaven's sake, how did your boot get into +the garden?" + +"What boot?" + +"We found one boot in the sleeping room and the other in the +garden." + +"And what do you want to know that for? It's none of your +business! Why don't you drink, devil take you? If you wakened me, +then drink with me! It is an interesting tale, brother, that of +the boot! I didn't want to go with Olga. I don't like to be +bossed. She came under the window and began to abuse me. She +always was a termagant. You know what women are like, all of them. +I was a bit drunk, so I took a boot and heaved it at her. Ha-ha- +ha! Teach her not to scold another time! But it didn't! Not a +bit of it! She climbed in at the window, lit the lamp, and began +to hammer poor tipsy me. She thrashed me, dragged me over here, +and locked me in. She feeds me now--on love, vodka, and ham! But +where are you off to, Chubikoff? Where are you going?" + +The examining magistrate swore, and left the bath house. Dukovski +followed him, crestfallen. They silently took their seats in the +carriage and drove off. The road never seemed to them so long and +disagreeable as it did that time. Both remained silent. Chubikoff +trembled with rage all the way. Dukovski hid his nose in the +collar of his overcoat, as if he was afraid that the darkness and +the drizzling rain might read the shame in his face. + +When they reached home, the examining magistrate found Dr. Tyutyeff +awaiting him. The doctor was sitting at the table, and, sighing +deeply, was turning over the pages of the Neva. + +"Such goings-on there are in the world!" he said, meeting the +examining magistrate with a sad smile. "Austria is at it again! +And Gladstone also to some extent--" + +Chubikoff threw his cap under the table, and shook himself. + +"Devils' skeletons! Don't plague me! A thousand times I have told +you not to bother me with your politics! This is no question of +politics! And you," said Chubikoff, turning to Dukovski and +shaking his fist, "I won't forget this in a thousand years!" + +"But the safety match? How could I know?" + +"Choke yourself with your safety match! Get out of my way! Don't +make me mad, or the devil only knows what I'll do to you! Don't +let me see a trace of you!" + +Dukovski sighed, took his hat, and went out. + +"I'll go and get drunk," he decided, going through the door, and +gloomily wending his way to the public house. + + + +Vsevolod Vladimirovitch Krestovski + + +Knights of Industry + + +I + +THE LAST WILL OF THE PRINCESS + + +Princess Anna Chechevinski for the last time looked at the home of +her girlhood, over which the St. Petersburg twilight was +descending. Defying the commands of her mother, the traditions of +her family, she had decided to elope with the man of her choice. +With a last word of farewell to her maid, she wrapped her cloak +round her and disappeared into the darkness. + +The maid's fate had been a strange one. In one of the districts +beyond the Volga lived a noble, a bachelor, luxuriously, caring +only for his own amusement. He fished, hunted, and petted the +pretty little daughter of his housekeeper, one of his serfs, whom +he vaguely intended to set free. He passed hours playing with the +pretty child, and even had an old French governess come to give her +lessons. She taught little Natasha to dance, to play the piano, to +put on the airs and graces of a little lady. So the years passed, +and the old nobleman obeyed the girl's every whim, and his serfs +bowed before her and kissed her hands. Gracefully and willfully +she queened it over the whole household. + +Then one fine day the old noble took thought and died. He had +forgotten to liberate his housekeeper and her daughter, and, as he +was a bachelor, his estate went to his next of kin, the elder +Princess Chechevinski. Between the brother and sister a cordial +hatred had existed, and they had not seen one another for years. + +Coming to take possession of the estate, Princess Chechevinski +carried things with a high hand. She ordered the housekeeper to +the cow house, and carried off the girl Natasha, as her daughter's +maid, to St. Petersburg, from the first hour letting her feel the +lash of her bitter tongue and despotic will. Natasha had tried in +vain to dry her mother's tears. With growing anger and sorrow she +watched the old house as they drove away, and looking at the old +princess she said to herself, "I hate her! I hate her! I will +never forgive her!" + +Princess Anna, bidding her maid good-by, disappeared into the +night. The next morning the old princess learned of the flight. +Already ill, she fell fainting to the floor, and for a long time +her condition was critical. She regained consciousness, tried to +find words to express her anger, and again swooned away. Day and +night, three women watched over her, her son's old nurse, her maid, +and Natasha, who took turns in waiting on her. Things continued +thus for forty-eight hours. Finally, on the night of the third day +she came to herself. It was Natasha's watch. + +"And you knew? You knew she was going?" the old princess asked her +fiercely. + +The girl started, unable at first to collect her thoughts, and +looked up frightened. The dim flicker of the night light lit her +pale face and golden hair, and fell also on the grim, emaciated +face of the old princess, whose eyes glittered feverishly under her +thick brows. + +"You knew my daughter was going to run away?" repeated the old +woman, fixing her keen eyes on Natasha's face, trying to raise +herself from among the lace-fringed pillows. + +"I knew," the girl answered in a half whisper, lowering her eyes in +confusion, and trying to throw off her first impression of terror. + +"Why did you not tell me before?" the old woman continued, even +more fiercely. + +Natasha had now recovered her composure, and raising her eyes with +an expression of innocent distress, she answered: + +"Princess Anna hid everything from me also, until the very last. +How dare I tell you? Would you have believed me? It was not my +business, your excellency!" + +The old princess shook her head, smiling bitterly and +incredulously. + +"Snake!" she hissed fiercely, looking at the girl; and then she +added quickly: + +"Did any of the others know?" + +"No one but myself!" answered Natasha. + +"Never dare to speak of her again! Never dare!" cried the old +princess, and once more she sank back unconscious on the pillows. + +About noon the next day she again came to herself, and ordered her +son to be called. He came in quietly, and affectionately +approached his mother. + +The princess dismissed her maid, and remained alone with her son. + +"You have no longer a sister!" she cried, turning to her son, with +the nervous spasm which returned each time she spoke of her +daughter. "She is dead for us! She has disgraced us! I curse +her! You, you alone are my heir!" + +At these words the young prince pricked up his ears and bent even +more attentively toward his mother. The news of his sole heirship +was so pleasant and unexpected that he did not even think of asking +how his sister had disgraced them, and only said with a deep sigh: + +"Oh, mamma, she was always opposed to you. She never loved you!" + +"I shall make a will in your favor," continued the princess, +telling him as briefly as possible of Princess Anna's flight. +"Yes, in your favor--only on one condition: that you will never +recognize your sister. That is my last wish! + +"Your wish is sacred to me," murmured her son, tenderly kissing her +hand. He had always been jealous and envious of his sister, and +was besides in immediate need of money. + +The princess signed her will that same day, to the no small +satisfaction of her dear son, who, in his heart, was wondering how +soon his beloved parent would pass away, so that he might get his +eyes on her long-hoarded wealth. + + +II + +THE LITHOGRAPHER'S APPRENTICE + + +Later on the same day, in a little narrow chamber of one of the +huge, dirty tenements on Vosnesenski Prospekt, sat a young man of +ruddy complexion. He was sitting at a table, bending toward the +one dusty window, and attentively examining a white twenty-five +ruble note. + +The room, dusty and dark, was wretched enough. Two rickety chairs, +a torn haircloth sofa, with a greasy pillow, and the bare table at +the window, were its entire furniture. Several scattered +lithographs, two or three engravings, two slabs of lithographer's +stone on the table, and engraver's tools sufficiently showed the +occupation of the young man. He was florid, with red hair; of +Polish descent, and his name was Kasimir Bodlevski. On the wall, +over the sofa, between the overcoat and the cloak hanging on the +wall, was a pencil drawing of a young girl. It was the portrait of +Natasha. + +The young man was so absorbed in his examination of the twenty-five +ruble note that when a gentle knock sounded on the door he started +nervously, as if coming back to himself, and even grew pale, and +hurriedly crushed the banknote into his pocket. + +The knock was repeated--and this time Bodlevski's face lit up. It +was evidently a well-known and expected knock, for he sprang up and +opened the door with a welcoming smile. + +Natasha entered the room. + +"What were you dreaming about that you didn't open the door for +me?" she asked caressingly, throwing aside her hat and cloak, and +taking a seat on the tumble-down sofa. "What were you busy at?" + +"You know, yourself." + +And instead of explaining further, he drew the banknote from his +pocket and showed it to Natasha. + +"This morning the master paid me, and I am keeping the money," he +continued in a low voice, tilting back his chair. "I pay neither +for my rooms nor my shop, but sit here and study all the time." + +"It's so well worth while, isn't it?" smiled Natasha with a +contemptuous grimace. + +"You don't think it is worth while?" said the young man. "Wait! +I'll learn. We'll be rich! + +"Yes, if we aren't sent to Siberia!" the girl laughed. "What kind +of wealth is that?" she went on. "The game is not worth the +candle. I'll be rich before you are." + +"All right, go ahead!" + +"Go ahead? I didn't come to talk nonsense, I came on business. +You help me, and, on my word of honor, we'll be in clover!" + +Bodlevski looked at his companion in astonishment. + +"I told you my Princess Anna was going to run away. She's gone! +And her mother has cut her off from the inheritance," Natasha +continued with an exultant smile. "I looked through the scrap +basket, and have brought some papers with me." + +"What sort of papers?" + +"Oh, letters and notes. They are all in Princess Anna's +handwriting. Shall I give them to you?" jested Natasha. "Have a +good look at them, examine them, learn her handwriting, so that you +can imitate every letter. That kind of thing is just in your line; +you are a first-class copyist, so this is just the job for you." + +The engraver listened, and only shrugged his shoulders. + +"No, joking aside," she continued seriously, drawing nearer +Bodlevski, "I have thought of something out of the common; you will +be grateful. I have no time to explain it all now. You will know +later on. The main thing is--learn her handwriting." + +"But what is it all for?" said Bodlevski wonderingly. + +"So that you may be able to write a few words in the handwriting of +Princess Anna; what you have to write I'll dictate to you." + +"And then?" + +"Then hurry up and get me a passport in some one else's name, and +have your own ready. But learn her handwriting. Everything +depends on that!" + +"It won't be easy. I'll hardly be able to!" muttered Bodlevski, +scratching his head. + +Natasha flared up. + +"You say you love me?" she cried energetically, with a glance of +anger. "Well, then, do it. Unless you are telling lies, you can +learn to do banknotes." + +The young man strode up and down his den, perplexed. + +"How soon do you want it?" he asked, after a minute's thought. "In +a couple of days?" + +"Yes, in about two days, not longer, or the whole thing is done +for!" the girl replied decisively. "In two days I'll come for the +writing, and be sure my passport is ready!" + +"Very well. I'll do it," consented Bodlevski. And Natasha began +to dictate to him the wording of the letter. + +As soon as she was gone the engraver got to work. All the evening +and a great part of the night he bent over the papers she had +brought, examining the handwriting, studying the letters, and +practicing every stroke with the utmost care, copying and repeating +it a hundred times, until at last he had reached the required +clearness. At last he mastered the writing. It only remained to +give it the needed lightness and naturalness. His head rang from +the concentration of blood in his temples, but he still worked on. + +Finally, when it was almost morning, the note was written, and the +name of Princess Anna was signed to it. The work was a +masterpiece, and even exceeded Bodlevski's expectations. Its +lightness and clearness were remarkable. The engraver, examining +the writing of Princess Anna, compared it with his own work, and +was astonished, so perfect was the resemblance. + +And long he admired his handiwork, with the parental pride known to +every creator, and as he looked at this note he for the first time +fully realized that he was an artist. + + +III + +THE CAVE + + +"Half the work is done!" he cried, jumping from the tumble-down +sofa. "But the passport? There's where the shoe pinches," +continued the engraver, remembering the second half of Natasha's +commission. "The passport--yes--that's where the shoe pinches!" he +muttered to himself in perplexity, resting his head on his hands +and his elbows on his knees. Thinking over all kinds of possible +and impossible plans, he suddenly remembered a fellow countryman of +his, a shoemaker named Yuzitch, who had once confessed in a moment +of intoxication that "he would rather hook a watch than patch a +shoe." Bodlevski remembered that three months before he had met +Yuzitch in the street, and they had gone together to a wine shop, +where, over a bottle generously ordered by Yuzitch, Bodlevski had +lamented over the hardships of mankind in general, and his own in +particular. He had not taken advantage of Yuzitch's offer to +introduce him to "the gang," only because he had already determined +to take up one of the higher branches of the "profession," namely, +to metamorphose white paper into, banknotes. When they were +parting, Yuzitch had warmly wrung his hand, saying: + +"Whenever you want anything, dear friend, or if you just want to +see me, come to the Cave; come to Razyeziy Street and ask for the +Cave, and at the Cave anyone will show you where to find Yuzitch. +If the barkeeper makes difficulties just whisper to him that +'Secret' sent you, and he'll show you at once." + +As this memory suddenly flashed into his mind, Bodlevski caught up +his hat and coat and hurried downstairs into the street. Making +his way through the narrow, dirty streets to the Five Points, he +stopped perplexed. Happily he noticed a sleepy watchman leaning +leisurely against a wall, and going up to him he said: + +"Tell me, where is the Cave?" + +"The what?" asked the watchman impatiently. + +"The Cave." + +"The Cave? There is no such place!" he replied, looking +suspiciously at Bodlevski. + +Bodlevski put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some small +change: "If you tell me--" + +The watchman brightened up. "Why didn't you say so before?" he +asked, grinning. "You see that house, the second from the corner? +The wooden one? That's the Cave." + +Bodlevski crossed the street in the direction indicated, and looked +for the sign over the door. To his astonishment he did not find it +and only later he knew that the name was strictly "unofficial," +only used by members of "the gang." + +Opening the door cautiously, Bodlevski made his way into the low, +dirty barroom. Behind the bar stood a tall, handsome man with an +open countenance and a bald head. Politely bowing to Bodlevski, +with his eyes rather than his head, he invited him to enter the +inner room. But Bodlevski explained that he wanted, not the inner +room, but his friend Yuzitch. + +"Yuzitch?" said the barkeeper thoughtfully. "We don't know anyone +of that name." + +"Why, he's here all the time," cried Bodlevski, in astonishment. + +"Don't know him," retorted the barkeeper imperturbably. + +"'Secret' sent me!" Bodlevski suddenly exclaimed, without lowering +his voice. + +The barkeeper looked at him sharply and suspiciously, and then +asked, with a smile: + +"Who did you say?" + +"'Secret,'" repeated Bodlevski. + +After a while the barkeeper said, "And did your--friend make an +appointment?" + +"Yes, an appointment!" Bodlevski replied, beginning to lose +patience. + +"Well, take a seat in the inner room," again said the barkeeper +slyly. "Perhaps your friend will come in, or perhaps he is there +already." + +Bodlevski made his way into a roomy saloon, with five windows with +faded red curtains. The ceiling was black from the smoke of +hanging lamps; little square tables were dotted about the floor; +their covers were coarse and not above reproach on the score of +cleanliness. The air was pungent with the odor of cheap tobacco +and cheaper cigars. On the walls were faded oleographs of generals +and archbishops, flyblown and stained. + +Bodlevski, little as he was used to refined surroundings, found his +gorge rising. At some of the little tables furtive, impudent, +tattered, sleek men were drinking. + +Presently Yuzitch made his appearance from a low door at the other +end of the room. The meeting of the two friends was cordial, +especially on Bodlevski's side. Presently they were seated at a +table, with a flask of wine between them, and Bodlevski began to +explain what he wanted to his friend. + +As soon as he heard what was wanted, Yuzitch took on an air of +importance, knit his brows, hemmed, and hawed. + +"I can manage it," he said finally. "Yes, we can manage it. I +must see one of my friends about it. But it's difficult. It will +cost money." + +Bodlevski immediately assented. Yuzitch at once rose and went over +to a red-nosed individual in undress uniform, who was poring over +the Police News. + +"Friend Borisovitch," said Yuzitch, holding out his hand to him, +"something doing!" + +"Fair or foul?" asked the man with the red nose. + +"Hang your cheek!" laughed Yuzitch; "if I say it, of course it's +fair." After a whispered conference, Yuzitch returned to Bodlevski +and told him that it was all right; that the passport for Natasha +would be ready by the next evening. Bodlevski paid him something +in advance and went home triumphantly. + +At eleven o'clock the next evening Bodlevski once more entered the +large room at the Cave, now all lit up and full of an animated +crowd of men and women, all with the same furtive, predatory faces. +Bodlevski felt nervous. He had no fears while turning white paper +into banknotes in the seclusion of his own workshop, but he was +full of apprehensions concerning his present guest, because several +people had to be let into the secret. + +Yuzitch presently appeared through the same low door and, coming up +to Bodlevski, explained that the passport would cost twenty rubles. +Bodlevski paid the money over in advance, and Yuzitch led him into +a back room. On the table burned a tallow candle, which hardly lit +up the faces of seven people who were grouped round it, one of them +being the red-nosed man who was reading the Police News. The seven +men were all from the districts of Vilna and Vitebsk, and were +specialists in the art of fabricating passports. + +The red-nosed man approached Bodlevski: "We must get acquainted +with each other," he said amiably. "I have the honor to present +myself!" and he bowed low; "Former District Secretary Pacomius +Borisovitch Prakkin. Let me request you first of all to order some +vodka; my hand shakes, you know," he added apologetically. "I +don't want it so much for myself as for my hand--to steady it." + +Bodlevski gave him some change, which the red-nosed man put in his +pocket and at once went to the sideboard for a flask of vodka which +he had already bought. "Let us give thanks! And now to business!" +he said, smacking his lips after a glass of vodka. + +A big, red-haired man, one of the group of seven, drew from his +pocket two vials. In one was a sticky black fluid; in the other, +something as clear as water. + +"We are chemists, you see," the red-nosed man explained to +Bodlevski with a grin, and then added: + +"Finch! on guard!" + +A young man, who had been lolling on a couch in the corner, rose +and took up a position outside the door. + +"Now, brothers, close up!" cried the red-nosed man, and all stood +in close order, elbow to elbow, round the table. "And now we take +a newspaper and have it handy on the table! That is in case," he +explained to Bodlevski, "any outsider happened in on us--which +Heaven prevent! We aren't up to anything at all; simply reading +the political news! You catch on?" + +"How could I help catching on?" + +"Very well. And now let us make everything as clear as in a +looking-glass. What class do you wish to make the person belong +to? The commercial or the nobility?" + +"I think the nobility would be best," said Bodlevski. + +"Certainly! At least that will give the right of free passage +through all the towns and districts of the Russian Empire. Let us +see. Have we not something that will suit?" + +And Pacomius Borisovitch, opening his portfolio, filled with all +kinds of passports, certificates, and papers of identification, +began to turn them over, but without taking any out of the +portfolio. All with the same thought--that some stranger might +come in. + +"Ha! here's a new one! Where did it come from?" he cried. + +"I got it out of a new arrival," muttered the red-headed man. + +"Well done! Just what we want! And a noble's passport, too! It +is evident that Heaven is helping us. See what a blessing brings! + +"'This passport is issued by the District of Yaroslav,'" he +continued reading, "'to the college assessor's widow, Maria +Solontseva, with permission to travel,'" and so on in due form. +"Did you get it here?" he added, turning to the red-headed man. + +"Came from Moscow!" + +"Pinched?" + +"Knocked on the head!" briefly replied the red-headed man. + +"Knocked on the head?" repeated Pacomius Borisovitch. "Serious +business. Comes under sections 332 and 727 of the Penal Code." + +"Driveling again!" cried the red-headed man. "I'll teach you to +talk about the Penal Code!" and rising deliberately, he dealt +Pacomius Borisovitch a well-directed blow on the head, which sent +him rolling into the corner. Pacomius picked himself up, blinking +with indignation. + +"What is the meaning of such conduct?" he asked loftily. + +"It means," said the red-headed man, "that if you mention the Penal +Code again I'll knock your head off!" + +"Brothers, brothers!" cried Yuzitch in a good-humored tone; "we are +losing precious time! Forgive him!" he added, turning to Pacomius. +"You must forgive him!" + +"I--forgive him," answered Pacomius, but the light in his eye +showed that he was deeply offended. + +"Well," he went on, addressing Bodlevski, "will it suit you to have +the person pass as Maria Solontseva, widow of a college assessor?" + + +IV + +THE CAPTAIN OF THE GOLDEN BAND + + +Bodlevski had not time to nod his head in assent, when suddenly the +outer door was pushed quickly open and a tall man, well built and +fair-haired, stepped swiftly into the room. He wore a military +uniform and gold-rimmed eyeglasses. + +The company turned their faces toward him in startled surprise, but +no one moved. All continued to stand in close order round the +table. + +"Health to you, eaglets! honorable men of Vilna! What are you up +to? What are you busy at?" cried the newcomer, swiftly approaching +the table and taking the chair that Pacomius Borisovitch had just +been knocked out of. + +"What is all this?" he continued, with one hand seizing the vial of +colorless liquid and with the other the photograph of the college +assessor's widow. "So this is hydrochloric acid for erasing ink? +Very good! And this is a photo! So we are fabricating passports? +Very fine! Business is business! Hey! Witnesses!" + +And the fair-haired man whistled sharply. From the outer door +appeared two faces, set on shoulders of formidable proportions. + +The red-headed man silently went up to the newcomer and fiercely +seized him by the collar. At the same moment the rest seized +chairs or logs or bars to defend themselves. + +The fair-haired man meanwhile, not in the least changing his +expression of cool self-confidence, quickly slipped his hands into +his pockets and pulled out a pair of small double-barreled pistols. +In the profound silence in which this scene took place they could +distinctly hear the click of the hammers as he cocked them. He +raised his right hand and pointed the muzzle at the breast of his +opponent. + +The red-headed man let go his collar, and glancing contemptuously +at him, with an expression of hate and wrath, silently stepped +aside. + +"How much must we pay?" he asked sullenly. + +"Oho! that's better. You should have begun by asking that!" +answered the newcomer, settling himself comfortably on his chair +and toying with his pistols. "How much do you earn?" + +"We get little enough! Just five rubles," answered the red-headed +man. + +"That's too little. I need a great deal more. But you are lying, +brother! You would not stir for less than twenty rubles!" + +"Thanks for the compliment!" interrupted Pacomius Borisovitch. + +The fair-haired man nodded to him satirically. "I need a lot +more," he repeated firmly and impressively; "and if you don't give +me at least twenty-five rubles I'll denounce you this very minute +to the police--and you see I have my witnesses ready." + +"Sergei Antonitch! Mr. Kovroff! Have mercy on us! Where can we +get so much from? I tell you as in the presence of the Creator! +There are ten of us, as you see. And there are three of you. And +I, Yuzitch, and Gretcka deserve double shares!" added Pacomius +Borisovitch persuasively. + +"Gretcka deserves nothing at all for catching me by the throat," +decided Sergei Antonitch Kovroff. + +"Mr. Kovroff!" began Pacomius again. "You and I are gentlemen--" + +"What! What did you say?" Kovroff contemptuously interrupted him. +"You put yourself on my level? Ha! ha! ha! No, brother; I am +still in the Czar's service and wear my honor with my uniform! I, +brother, have never stained myself with theft or crime, Heaven be +praised. But what are you?" + +"Hm! And the Golden Band? Who is its captain?" muttered Gretcka +angrily, half to himself. + +"Who is its captain? I am--I, Lieutenant Sergei Antonitch Kovroff, +of the Chernovarski Dragoons! Do you hear? I am captain of the +Golden Band," he said proudly and haughtily, scrutinizing the +company with his confident gaze. "And you haven't yet got as far +as the Golden Band, because you are COWARDS! Chuproff," he cried +to one of his men, "go and take the mask off Finch, or the poor boy +will suffocate, and untie his arms--and give him a good crack on +the head to teach him to keep watch better." + +The "mask" that Kovroff employed on such occasions was nothing but +a piece of oilcloth cut the size of a person's face, and smeared on +one side with a thick paste. Kovroff's "boys" employed this +"instrument" with wonderful dexterity; one of them generally stole +up behind the unconscious victim and skillfully slapped the mask in +his face; the victim at once became dumb and blind, and panted from +lack of breath; at the same time, if necessary, his hands were tied +behind him and he was leisurely robbed, or held, as the case might +be. + +The Golden Band was formed in the middle of the thirties, when the +first Nicholas had been about ten years on the throne. Its first +founders were three Polish nobles. It was never distinguished by +the number of its members, but everyone of them could honestly call +himself an accomplished knave, never stopping at anything that +stood in the way of a "job." The present head of the band was +Lieutenant Kovroff, who was a thorough-paced rascal, in the full +sense of the word. Daring, brave, self-confident, he also +possessed a handsome presence, good manners, and the worldly finish +known as education. Before the members of the Golden Band, and +especially before Kovroff, the small rascals stood in fear and +trembling. He had his secret agents everywhere, following every +move of the crooks quietly but pertinaciously. At the moment when +some big job was being pulled off, Kovroff suddenly appeared +unexpectedly, with some of his "boys," and demanded a contribution, +threatening instantly to inform the police if he did not get +it--and the rogues, in order to "keep him quiet," had to give him +whatever share of their plunder he graciously deigned to indicate. +Acting with extraordinary skill and acumen in all his undertakings +he always managed so that not a shadow of suspicion could fall on +himself and so he got a double share of the plunder: robbing the +honest folk and the rogues at the same time. Kovroff escaped the +contempt of the crooks because he did things on such a big scale +and embarked with his Golden Band on the most desperate and +dangerous enterprises that the rest of roguedom did not even dare +to consider. + +The rogues, whatever their rank, have a great respect for daring, +skill, and force--and therefore they respected Kovroff, at the same +time fearing and detesting him. + +"Who are you getting that passport for?" he asked, calmly taking +the paper from the table and slipping it into his pocket. Gretcka +nodded toward Bodlevski. + +"Aha! for you, is it? Very glad to hear it!" said Kovroff, +measuring him with his eyes. "And so, gentlemen, twenty-five +rubles, or good-by--to our happy meeting in the police court!" + +"Mr. Kovroff! Allow me to speak to you as a man of honor!" +Pacomius Borisovitch again interrupted. "We are only getting +twenty rubles for the job. The whole gang will pledge their words +of honor to that. Do you think we would lie to you and stain the +honor of the gang for twenty measly rubles?" + +"That is business. That was well said. I love a good speech, and +am always ready to respect it," remarked Sergei Antonitch +approvingly. + +"Very well, then, see for yourself," went on the red-nosed +Pacomius, "see for yourself. If we give you everything, we are +doing our work and not getting a kopeck!" + +"Let him pay," answered Kovroff, turning his eyes toward Bodlevski. + +Bodlevski took out his gold watch, his only inheritance from his +father, and laid it down on the table before Kovroff with the five +rubles that remained. + +Kovroff again measured him with his eyes and smiled. + +"You are a worthy young man!" he said. "Give me your hand! I see +that you will go far." + +And he warmly pressed the engraver's hand. "But you must know for +the future," he added in a friendly but impressive way, "that I +never take anything but money when I am dealing with these fellows. +Ho, you!" he went on, turning to the company, "some one go to +uncle's and get cash for this watch; tell him to pay +conscientiously at least two thirds of what it is worth; it is a +good watch. It would cost sixty rubles to buy. And have a bottle +of champagne got ready for me at the bar, quick! And if you don't, +it will be the worse for you!" he called after the departing +Yuzitch, who came back a few minutes later, and gave Kovroff forty +rubles. Kovroff counted them, and put twenty in his pocket, +returning the remainder in silence, but with a gentlemanly smile, +to Bodlevski. + +"Fair exchange is no robbery," he said, giving Bodlevski the +passport of the college assessor's widow. "Now that old rascal +Pacomius may get to work." + +"What is there to do?" laughed Pacomius; "the passport will do very +well. So let us have a little glass, and then a little game of +cards." + +"We are going to know each other better; I like your face, so I +hope we shall make friends," said Kovroff, again shaking hands with +Bodlevski. "Now let us go and have some wine. You will tell me +over our glasses what you want the passport for, and on account of +your frankness about the watch, I am well disposed to you. +Lieutenant Sergei Kovroff gives you his word of honor on that. I +also can be magnanimous," he concluded, and the new friends +accompanied by the whole gang went out to the large hall. + +There began a scene of revelry that lasted till long after +midnight. Bodlevski, feeling his side pocket to see if the +passport was still there, at last left the hall, bewildered, as +though under a spell. He felt a kind of gloomy satisfaction; he +was possessed by this satisfaction, by the uncertainty of what +Natasha could have thought out, by the question how it would all +turn out, and by the conviction that his first crime had already +been committed. All these feelings lay like lead on his heart, +while in his ears resounded the wild songs of the Cave. + + +V + +THE KEYS OF THE OLD PRINCESS + + +It was nine o'clock in the evening. Natasha lit the night lamp in +the bedroom of the old Princess Chechevinski, and went silently +into the dressing room to prepare the soothing powders which the +doctors had prescribed for her, before going to sleep. + +The old princess was still very weak. Although her periods of +unconsciousness had not returned, she was still subject to +paroxysms of hysteria. At times she sank into forgetfulness, then +started nervously, sometimes trembling in every limb. The thought +of the blow of her daughter's flight never left her for a moment. + +Natasha had just taken the place of the day nurse. It was her turn +to wait on the patient until midnight. Silence always reigned in +the house of the princess, and now that she was ill the silence was +intensified tenfold. Everyone walked on tiptoe, and spoke in +whispers, afraid even of coughing or of clinking a teaspoon on the +sideboard. The doorbells were tied in towels, and the whole street +in front of the house was thickly strewn with straw. At ten the +household was already dispersed, and preparing for sleep. Only the +nurse sat silently at the head of the old lady's bed. + +Pouring out half a glass of water. Natasha sprinkled the powder in +it, and took from the medicine chest a phial with a yellowish +liquid. It was chloral. Looking carefully round, she slowly +brought the lip of the phial down to the edge of the glass and let +ten drops fall into it. "That will be enough," she said to +herself, and smiled. Her face, as always, was coldly quiet, and +not the slightest shade of any feeling was visible on it at that +moment. + +Natasha propped the old lady up with her arm. She drank the +medicine given to her and lay down again, and in a few minutes the +chloral began to have its effect. With an occasional convulsive +movement of her lower lip, she sank into a deep and heavy sleep. +Natasha watched her face following the symptoms of unconsciousness, +and when she was convinced that sleep had finally taken complete +possession of her, and that for several hours the old woman was +deprived of the power to hear anything or to wake up, she slowly +moved her chair nearer the bedstead, and without taking her quietly +observant eyes from the old woman's face, softly slipped her hand +under the lower pillow. Moving forward with the utmost care, not +more than an inch or so at a time, her hand stopped instantly, as +soon as there was the slightest nervous movement of the old woman's +face, on which Natasha's eyes were fixed immovably. But the old +woman slept profoundly, and the hand again moved forward half an +inch or so under the pillow. About half an hour passed, and the +girl's eyes were still fastened on the sleeping face, and her hand +was still slipping forward under the pillow, moving occasionally a +little to one side, and feeling about for something. Natasha's +expression was in the highest degree quiet and concentrated, but +under this quietness was at the same time concealed something else, +which gave the impression that if--which Heaven forbid!--the old +woman should at that moment awake, the other free hand would +instantly seize her by the throat. + +At last the finger-ends felt something hard. "That is it!" thought +Natasha, and she held her breath. In a moment, seizing its +treasure, her hand began quietly to withdraw. Ten minutes more +passed, and Natasha finally drew out a little bag of various +colored silks, in which the old princess always kept her keys, and +from which she never parted, carrying it by day in her pocket, and +by night keeping it under her pillow. One of the keys was an +ordinary one, that of her wardrobe. The other was smaller and +finely made; it was the key of her strong box. + +About an hour later, the same keys, in the same order, and with the +same precautions, found their way back to their accustomed place +under the old lady's pillow. + +Natasha carefully wiped the glass with her handkerchief, in order +that not the least odor of chloral might remain in it, and with her +usual stillness sat out the remaining hours of her watch. + + +VI + +REVENGED + + +The old princess awoke at one o'clock the next day. The doctor was +very pleased at her long and sound sleep, the like of which the old +lady had not enjoyed since her first collapse, and which, in his +view, was certain to presage a turn for the better. + +The princess had long ago formed a habit of looking over her +financial documents, and verifying the accounts of income and +expenditure. This deep-seated habit, which had become a second +nature, did not leave her, now she was ill; at any rate, every +morning, as soon as consciousness and tranquillity returned to her, +she took out the key of her wardrobe, ordered the strong box to be +brought to her, and, sending the day nurse out of the room, gave +herself up in solitude to her beloved occupation, which had by this +time become something like a childish amusement. She drew out her +bank securities, signed and unsigned, now admiring the colored +engravings on them, now sorting and rearranging them, fingering the +packets to feel their thickness, counting them over, and several +thousands in banknotes, kept in the house in case of need, and +finally carefully replaced them in the strong box. The girl, +recalled to the bedroom by the sound of the bell, restored the +strong box to its former place, and the old princess, after this +amusement, felt herself for some time quiet and happy. + +The nurses had had the opportunity to get pretty well used to this +foible; so that the daily examination of the strong box seemed to +them a part of the order of things, something consecrated by +custom. + +After taking her medicine, and having her hands and face wiped with +a towel moistened with toilet water, the princess ordered certain +prayers to be read out to her, or the chapter of the Gospel +appointed for the day, and then received her son. From the time of +her illness--that is, from the day when she signed the will making +him her sole heir--he had laid it on himself as a not altogether +pleasant duty to put in an appearance for five minutes in his +mother's room, where he showed himself a dutiful son by never +mentioning his sister, but asking tenderly after his mother's +health, and finally, with a deep sigh, gently kissing her hand, +taking his departure forthwith, to sup with some actress or to meet +his companions in a wine shop. + +When he soon went away, the old lady, as was her habit, ordered her +strong box to be brought, and sent the nurse out of the room. It +was a very handsome box of ebony, with beautiful inlaid work. + +The key clicked in the lock, the spring lid sprang up, and the eyes +of the old princess became set in their sockets, full of +bewilderment and terror. Twenty-four thousand rubles in bills, +which she herself with her own hands had yesterday laid on the top +of the other securities, were no longer in the strong box. All the +unsigned bank securities were also gone. The securities in the +name of her daughter Anna had likewise disappeared. There remained +only the signed securities in the name of the old princess and her +son, and a few shares of stock. In the place of all that was gone, +there lay a note directed "to Princess Chechevinski." + +The old lady's fingers trembled so that for a long time she could +not unfold this paper. Her staring eyes wandered hither and +thither as if she had lost her senses. At last she managed somehow +to unfold the note, and began to read: + + +"You cursed me, forced me to flee, and unjustly deprived me of my +inheritance. I am taking my money by force. You may inform the +police, but when you read this note, I myself and he who carried +out this act by my directions, will have left St. Petersburg +forever. + +"Your daughter, + +"PRINCESS ANNA CHECHEVINSKI." + + +The old lady's hands did not fall at her sides, but shifted about +on her lap as if they did not belong to her. Her wandering, +senseless eyes stopped their movements, and in them suddenly +appeared an expression of deep meaning. The old princess made a +terrible, superhuman effort to recover her presence of mind and +regain command over herself. A single faint groan broke from her +breast, and her teeth chattered. She began to look about the room +for a light, but the lamp had been extinguished; the dull gray +daylight filtering through the Venetian blinds sufficiently lit the +room. Then the old lady, with a strange, irregular movement, +crushed the note together in her hand, placed it in her mouth, and +with a convulsive movement of her jaws chewed it, trying to swallow +it as quickly as possible. + +A minute passed, and the note had disappeared. The old princess +closed the strong box and rang for the day nurse. Giving her the +usual order in a quiet voice, she had still strength enough to +support herself on her elbow and watch the nurse closing the +wardrobe, and then to put the little bag with the keys back under +her pillow, in its accustomed place. Then she again ordered the +nurse to go. + +When, two hours later, the doctor, coming for the third time, +wished to see his patient and entered her bedroom, he found only +the old woman's lifeless body. The blow had been too much--the +daughter of the ancient and ever honorable line of Chechevinski a +fugitive and a thief! + +Natasha had had her revenge. + + +VII + +BEYOND THE FRONTIER + + +On the morning of that same day, at nine o'clock, a well-dressed +lady presented at the Bank of Commerce a number of unsigned bank +shares. At the same time a young man, also elegantly dressed, +presented a series of signed shares, made out in the name of +"Princess Anna Chechevinski." They were properly indorsed, the +signature corresponding to that in the bank books. + +After a short interval the cashier of the bank paid over to the +well-dressed lady a hundred and fifty thousand rubles in bills, and +to the elegantly dressed young man seventy thousand rubles. The +lady signed her receipt in French, Teresa Dore; the young man +signed his name, Ivan Afonasieff, son of a merchant of Kostroma. + +A little later on the same day--namely, about two o'clock--a light +carriage carried two passengers along the Pargoloff road: a quietly +dressed young woman and a quietly dressed young man. Toward +evening these same young people were traveling in a Finnish coach +by the stony mountain road in the direction of Abo. + +Four days later the old Princesss Chechevinski was buried in the +Nevski monastery. + +On his return from the monastery, young Prince Chechevinski went +straight for the strong box, which he had hitherto seen only at a +distance, and even then only rarely. He expected to find a great +deal more money in it than he found--some hundred and fifty +thousand rubles; a hundred thousand in his late mother's name, and +fifty thousand in his own. This was the personal property of the +old princess, a part of her dowry. The young prince made a wry +face--the money might last him two or three years, not more. +During the lifetime of the old princess no one had known accurately +how much she possessed, so that it never even entered the young +prince's head to ask whether she had not had more. He was so +unmethodical that he never even looked into her account book, +deciding that it was uninteresting and not worth while. + +That same day the janitor of one of the huge, dirty tenements in +Vosnesenski Prospekt brought to the police office notice of the +fact that the Pole, Kasimir Bodlevski, had left the city; and the +housekeeper of the late Princess Chechevinski informed the police +that the serf girl Natalia Pavlovna (Natasha) had disappeared +without leaving a trace, which the housekeeper now announced, as +the three days' limit had elapsed. + +At that same hour the little ship of a certain Finnish captain was +gliding down the Gulf of Bothnia. The Finn stood at the helm and +his young son handled the sails. On the deck sat a young man and a +young woman. The young woman carried, in a little bag hung round +her neck, two hundred and forty-four thousand rubles in bills, and +she and her companion carried pistols in their pockets for use in +case of need. Their passports declared that the young woman +belonged to the noble class, and was the widow of a college +assessor, her name being Maria Solontseva, while the young man was +a Pole, Kasimir Bodlevski. + +The little ship was crossing the Gulf of Bothnia toward the coast +of Sweden. + + +VIII + +BACK TO RUSSIA + + +In the year 1858, in the month of September, the "Report of the St. +Petersburg City Police" among the names of "Arrivals" included the +following: + + +Baroness von Doring, Hanoverian subject. +Ian Vladislav Karozitch, Austrian subject. + + +The persons above described might have been recognized among the +fashionable crowds which thronged the St. Petersburg terminus of +the Warsaw railway a few days before: A lady who looked not more +than thirty, though she was really thirty-eight, dressed with +simple elegance, tall and slender, admirably developed, with +beautifully clear complexion, piercing, intelligent gray eyes, +under finely outlined brows, thick chestnut hair, and a firm mouth- +-almost a beauty, and with an expression of power, subtlety and +decision. "She is either a queen or a criminal," a physiognomist +would have said after observing her face. A gentleman with a red +beard, whom the lady addressed as "brother," not less elegantly +dressed, and with the same expression of subtlety and decision. +They left the station in a hired carriage, and drove to Demuth's +Hotel. + +Before narrating the adventures of these distinguished persons, let +us go back twenty years, and ask what became of Natasha and +Bodlevski. When last we saw them the ship that carried them away +from Russia was gliding across the Gulf of Bothnia toward the +Swedish coast. Late in the evening it slipped into the port of +Stockholm, and the worthy Finn, winding in and out among the heavy +hulls in the harbor--he was well used to the job--landed his +passengers on the wharf at a lonely spot near a lonely inn, where +the customs officers rarely showed their noses. Bodlevski, who had +beforehand got ready the very modest sum to pay for their passage, +with pitiable looks and gestures and the few Russian phrases the +good Finn could understand, assured him that he was a very poor +man, and could not even pay the sum agreed on in full. The deficit +was inconsiderable, some two rubles in all, and the good Finn was +magnanimous; he slapped his passenger on the shoulder, called him a +"good comrade," declared that he would not press a poor man, and +would always be ready to do him a service. He even found quarters +for Bodlevski and Natasha in the inn, under his protection. The +Finn was indeed a very honest smuggler. On the next morning, +bidding a final farewell to their nautical friend, our couple made +their way to the office of the British Consul, and asked for an +opportunity to speak with him. At this point Natasha played the +principal role. + +'My husband is a Pole," said the handsome girl, taking a seat +opposite the consul in his private office, "and I myself am Russian +on the father's side, but my mother was English. My husband is +involved in a political enterprise; he was liable to transportation +to Siberia, but a chance made it possible for us to escape while +the police were on their way to arrest him. We are now political +fugitives, and we intrust our lives to the protection of English +law. Be generous, protect us, and send us to England!" + +The ruse, skillfully planned and admirably presented, was +completely successful, and two or three days later the first +passenger ship under the English flag carried the happy couple to +London. + +Bodlevski destroyed his own passport and that of the college +assessor's widow, Maria Solontseva, which Natasha had needed as a +precaution while still on Russian soil. When they got to England, +it would be much handier to take new names. But with their new +position and these new names a great difficulty presented itself: +they could find no suitable outlet for their capital without +arousing very dangerous suspicions. The many-sided art of the +London rogues is known to all the world; in their club, Bodlevski, +who had lost no time in making certain pleasant and indispensable +acquaintances there, soon succeeded in getting for himself and +Natasha admirably counterfeited new passports, once more with new +names and occupations. With these, in a short time, they found +their way to the Continent. They both felt the full force of youth +and a passionate desire to live and enjoy life; in their hot heads +hummed many a golden hope and plan; they wished, to begin with, to +invest their main capital somewhere, and then to travel over +Europe, and to choose a quiet corner somewhere where they could +settle down to a happy life. + +Perhaps all this might have happened if it had not been for cards +and roulette and the perpetual desire of increasing their capital-- +for the worthy couple fell into the hands of a talented company, +whose agents robbed them at Frascati's in Paris, and again in +Hamburg and various health resorts, so that hardly a year had +passed when Bodlevski one fine night woke up to the fact that they +no longer possessed a ruble. But they had passed a brilliant year, +their arrival in the great cities had had its effect, and +especially since Natasha had become a person of title; in the +course of the year she succeeded in purchasing an Austrian barony +at a very reasonable figure--a barony which, of course, only +existed on paper. + +When all his money was gone, there was nothing left for Bodlevski +but to enroll himself a member of the company which had so +successfully accomplished the transfer of his funds to their own +pockets. Natasha's beauty and Bodlevski's brains were such strong +arguments that the company willingly accepted them as new recruits. +The two paid dear for their knowledge, it is true, but their +knowledge presently began to bear fruit in considerable abundance. +Day followed day, and year succeeded year, a long series of +horribly anxious nights, violent feelings, mental perturbations, +crafty and subtle schemes, a complete cycle of rascalities, an +entire science of covering up tracks, and the perpetual shadow of +justice, prison, and perhaps the scaffold. Bodlevski, with his +obstinate, persistent, and concentrated character, reached the +highest skill in card-sharping and the allied wiles. All games of +"chance" were for him games of skill. At thirty he looked at least +ten years older. The life he led, with its ceaseless effort, +endless mental work, perpetual anxiety, had made of him a fanatical +worshiper at the shrine of trickery. He dried up visibly in body +and grew old in mind, mastering all the difficult arts of his +profession, and only gained confidence and serenity when he had +reached the highest possible skill in every branch of his "work." +From that moment he took a new lease of life; he grew younger, he +became gay and self-confident, his health even visibly improved, +and he assumed the air and manner of a perfect gentleman. + +As for Natasha, her life and efforts in concert with Bodlevski by +no means had the same wearing effect on her as on him. Her proud, +decided nature received all these impressions quite differently. +She continued to blossom out, to grow handsomer, to enjoy life, to +take hearts captive. All the events which aroused so keen a mental +struggle in her companion she met with entire equanimity. The +reason was this: When she made up her mind to anything, she always +decided at once and with unusual completeness; a very short time +given to keen and accurate consideration, a rapid weighing of the +gains and losses of the matter in hand, and then she went forward +coldly and unswervingly on her chosen path. Her first aim in life +had been revenge, then a brilliant and luxurious life--and she knew +that they would cost dear. Therefore, once embarked on her +undertaking, Natasha remained calm and indifferent, brilliantly +distinguished, and ensnaring the just and the unjust alike. Her +intellect, education, skill, resource, and innate tact made it +possible for her everywhere to gain a footing in select +aristocratic society, and to play by no means the least role there. +Many beauties envied her, detested her, spoke evil of her, and yet +sought her friendship, because she almost always queened it in +society. Her friendship and sympathy always seemed so cordial, so +sincere and tender, and her epigrams were so pointed and poisonous, +that every hostile criticism seemed to shrivel up in that +glittering fire, and there seemed to be nothing left but to seek +her friendship and good will. For instance, if things went well in +Baden, one could confidently foretell that at the end of the summer +season Natasha would be found in Nice or Geneva, queen of the +winter season, the lioness of the day, and the arbiter of fashion. +She and Bodlevski always behaved with such propriety and watchful +care that not a shadow ever fell on Natasha's fame. It is true +that Bodlevski had to change his name once or twice and to seek a +new field for his talents, and to make sudden excursions to distant +corners of Europe--sometimes in pursuit of a promising "job," +sometimes to evade the too persistent attentions of the police. So +far everything had turned out favorably, and his name "had remained +unstained," when suddenly a slight mishap befell. The matter was a +trifling one, but the misfortune was that it happened in Paris. +There was a chance that it might find issue in the courts and the +hulks, so that there ensued a more than ordinarily rapid change of +passports and a new excursion--this time to Russia, back to their +native land again, after an absence of twenty years. Thus it +happened that the papers announced the arrival in St. Petersburg of +Baroness von Doring and Ian Vladislav Karozitch. + + +IX + +THE CONCERT OF THE POWERS + + +A few days after there was a brilliant reunion at Princess +Shadursky's. All the beauty and fashion of St. Petersburg were +invited, and few who were invited failed to come. It happened that +Prince Shadursky was an admirer of the fair sex, and also that he +had had the pleasure of meeting the brilliant Baroness von Doring +at Hamburg, and again in Paris. It was, therefore, to be expected +that Baroness von Doring should be found in the midst of an +admiring throng at Princess Shadursky's reception. Her brother, +Ian Karozitch, was also there, suave, alert, dignified, losing no +opportunity to make friends with the distinguished company that +thronged he prince's rooms. + +Late in the evening the baroness and her brother might have been +seen engaged in a tete-a-tete, seated in two comfortable armchairs, +and anyone who was near enough might have heard the following +conversation: + +"How goes it?" Karozitch asked in a low tone. + +"As you see, I am making a bit," answered the baroness in the same +quiet tone. But her manner was so detached and indifferent that no +one could have guessed her remark was of the least significance. +It should be noted that this was her first official presentation to +St. Petersburg society. And in truth her beauty, united with her +lively intellect, her amiability, and her perfect taste in dress, +had produced a general and even remarkable effect. People talked +about her and became interested in her, and her first evening won +her several admirers among those well placed in society. + +"I have been paying attention to the solid capitalists," replied +Karozitch; "we have made our debut in the role of practical actors. +Well, what about him?" he continued, indicating Prince Shadursky +with his eyes. + +"In the web," she replied, with a subtle smile. + +"Then we can soon suck his brains?" + +"Soon--but he must be tied tighter first. But we must not talk +here." A moment later Karozitch and the baroness were in the midst +of the brilliant groups of guests. + +A few late corners were still arriving. "Count Kallash!" announced +the footman, who stood at the chief entrance to the large hall. + +At this new and almost unknown but high-sounding name, many eyes +were turned toward the door through which the newcomer must enter. +A hum of talk spread among the guests: + +"Count Kallash--" + +"Who is he--?" + +"It is a Hungarian name--I think I heard of him somewhere." + +"Is this his first appearance?" + +"Who is this Kallash? Oh, yes, one of the old Hungarian families--" + +"How interesting--" + +Such questions and answers crossed each other in a running fire +among the various groups of guests who filled the hall, when a +young man appeared in the doorway. + +He lingered a moment to glance round the rooms and the company; +then, as if conscious of the remarks and glances directed toward +him, but completely "ignoring" them, and without the least shyness +or awkwardness, he walked quietly through the hall to the host and +hostess of the evening. + +People of experience, accustomed to society and the ways of the +great world, can often decide from the first minute the role which +anyone is likely to play among them. People of experience, at the +first view of this young man, at his first entrance, merely by the +way he entered the hall, decided that his role in society would be +brilliant--that more than one feminine heart would beat faster for +his presence, that more than one dandy's wrath would be kindled by +his successes. + +"How handsome he is!" a whisper went round among the ladies. The +men for the most part remained silent. A few twisted the ends of +their mustache and made as though they had not noticed him. This +was already enough to foreshadow a brilliant career. + +And indeed Count Kallash could not have passed unnoticed, even +among a thousand young men of his class. Tall and vigorous, +wonderfully well proportioned, he challenged comparison with +Antinous. His pale face, tanned by the sun, had an expression +almost of weariness. His high forehead, with clustering black hair +and sharply marked brows, bore the impress of passionate feeling +and turbulent thought strongly repressed. It was difficult to +define the color of his deep-set, somewhat sunken eyes, which now +flashed with southern fire, and were now veiled, so that one seemed +to be looking into an abyss. A slight mustache and pointed beard +partly concealed the ironical smile that played on his passionate +lips. The natural grace of good manners and quiet but admirably +cut clothes completed the young man's exterior, behind which, in +spite of all his reticence, could be divined a haughty and +exceptional nature. A more profound psychologist would have seen +in him an obstinately passionate, ungrateful nature, which takes +from others everything it desires, demanding it from them as a +right and without even a nod of acknowledgment. Such was Count +Nicholas Kallash. + +A few days after the reception at Prince Shadursky's Baroness von +Doring was installed in a handsome apartment on Mokhovoi Street, at +which her "brother," Ian Karozitch, or, to give him his former +name, Bodlevski, was a frequent visitor. By a "lucky accident" he +had met on the day following the reception our old friend Sergei +Antonovitch Kovroff, the "captain of the Golden Band." Their +recognition was mutual, and, after a more or less faithful recital +of the events of the intervening years, they had entered into an +offensive and defensive alliance. + +When Baroness von Doring was comfortably settled in her new +quarters, Sergei Antonovitch brought a visitor to Bodlevski: none +other than the Hungarian nobleman, Count Nicholas Kallash. + +"Gentlemen, you are strangers; let me introduce you to each other," +said Kovroff, presenting Count Kallash to Bodlevski. + +"Very glad to know you," answered the Hungarian count, to +Bodlevski's astonishment in Russian; "very glad, indeed! I have +several times had the honor of hearing of you. Was it not you who +had some trouble about forged notes in Paris?" + +"Oh, no! You are mistaken, dear count!" answered Bodlevski, with a +pleasant smile. "The matter was not of the slightest importance. +The amount was a trifle and I was unwilling even to appear in +court!" + +"You preferred a little journey to Russia, didn't you?" Kovroff +remarked with a smile. + +"Little vexations of that kind may happen to anyone," said +Bodlevski, ignoring Kovroff's interruption. "You yourself, dear +count, had some trouble about some bonds, if I am not mistaken?" + +"You are mistaken," the count interrupted him sharply. "I have had +various troubles, but I prefer not to talk about them." + +"Gentlemen," interrupted Kovroff, "we did not come here to quarrel, +but to talk business. Our good friend Count Kallash," he went on, +turning to Bodlevski, "wishes to have the pleasure of cooperating +in our common undertaking, and--I can recommend him very highly." + +"Ah!" said Bodlevski, after a searching study of the count's face. +"I understand! the baroness will return in a few minutes and then +we can discuss matters at our leisure." + +But in spite of this understanding it was evident that Bodlevski +and Count Kallash had not impressed each other very favorably. +This, however, did not prevent the concert of the powers from +working vigorously together. + + +X + +AN UNEXPECTED REUNION + + +On the wharf of the Fontauka, not far from Simeonovski Bridge, a +crowd was gathered. In the midst of the crowd a dispute raged +between an old woman, tattered, disheveled, miserable, and an +impudent-looking youth. The old woman was evidently stupid from +misery and destitution. + +While the quarrel raged a new observer approached the crowd. He +was walking leisurely, evidently without an aim and merely to pass +the time, so it is not to be wondered at that the loud dispute +arrested his attention. + +"Who are you, anyway, you old hag? What is your name?" cried the +impudent youth. + +"My name? My name?" muttered the old woman in confusion. "I am a-- +I am a princess," and she blinked at the crowd. + +Everyone burst out laughing. "Her Excellency, the Princess! Make +way for the Princess!" cried the youth. + +The old woman burst into sudden anger. + +"Yes, I tell you, I am a princess by birth!" and her eyes flashed +as she tried to draw herself up and impose on the bantering crowd. + +"Princess What? Princess Which? Princess How?" cried the impudent +youth, and all laughed loudly. + +"No! Not Princess How!" answered the old woman, losing the last +shred of self-restraint; but Princess Che-che-vin-ski! Princess +Anna Chechevinski!" + +When he heard this name Count Kallash started and his whole +expression changed. He grew suddenly pale, and with a vigorous +effort pushed his way through the crowd to the miserable old +woman's side. + +"Come!" he said, taking her by the arm. "Come with me! I have +something for you!" + +"Something for me?" answered the old woman, looking up with stupid +inquiry and already forgetting the existence of the impudent youth. +"Yes, I'll come! What have you got for me?" + +Count Kallash led her by the arm out of the crowd, which began to +disperse, abashed by his appearance and air of determination. +Presently he hailed a carriage, and putting the old woman in, +ordered the coachman to drive to his rooms. + +There he did his best to make the miserable old woman comfortable, +and his housekeeper presently saw that she was washed and fed, and +soon the old woman was sleeping in the housekeeper's room. + +To explain this extraordinary event we must go back twenty years. + + +In 1838 Princess Anna Chechevinski, then in her twenty-sixth year, +had defied her parents, thrown to the winds the traditions of her +princely race, and fled with the man of her choice, followed by her +mother's curses and the ironical congratulations of her brother, +who thus became sole heir. + +After a year or two she was left alone by the death of her +companion, and step by step she learned all the lessons of sorrow. +From one stage of misfortune to another she gradually fell into the +deepest misery, and had become a poor old beggar in the streets +when Count Kallash came so unexpectedly to her rescue. + +It will be remembered that, as a result of Natasha's act of +vengeance, the elder Princess Chechevinski left behind her only a +fraction of the money her son expected to inherit. And this +fraction he by no means hoarded, but with cynical disregard of the +future he poured money out like water, gambling, drinking, plunging +into every form of dissipation. Within a few months his entire +inheritance was squandered. + +Several years earlier Prince Chechevinski had taken a deep interest +in conjuring and had devoted time and care to the study of various +forms of parlor magic. He had even paid considerable sums to +traveling conjurers in exchange for their secrets. Naturally +gifted, he had mastered some of the most difficult tricks, and his +skill in card conjuring would not have done discredit even to a +professional magician. + +The evening when his capital had almost melted away and the shadow +of ruin lay heavy upon him, he happened to be present at a +reception where card play was going on and considerable sums were +staked. + +A vacancy at one of the tables could not be filled, and, in spite +of his weak protest of unwillingness, Prince Chechevinski was +pressed into service. He won for the first few rounds, and then +began to lose, till the amount of his losses far exceeded the +slender remainder of his capital. A chance occurred where, by the +simple expedient of neutralizing the cut, mere child's play for one +so skilled in conjuring, he was able to turn the scale in his +favor, winning back in a single game all that he had already lost. +He had hesitated for a moment, feeling the abyss yawning beneath +him; then he had falsed, made the pass, and won the game. That +night he swore to himself that he would never cheat again, never +again be tempted to dishonor his birth; and he kept his oath till +his next run of bad luck, when he once more neutralized the cut and +turned the "luck" in his direction. + +The result was almost a certainty from the outset, Prince +Chechevinski became a habitual card sharper. + +For a long time fortune favored him. His mother's reputation for +wealth, the knowledge that he was her sole heir, the high position +of the family, shielded him from suspicion. Then came the +thunderclap. He was caught in the act of "dealing a second" in the +English Club, and driven from the club as a blackleg. Other +reverses followed: a public refusal on the part of an officer to +play cards with him, followed by a like refusal to give him +satisfaction in a duel; a second occasion in which he was caught +redhanded; a criminal trial; six years in Siberia. After two years +he escaped by way of the Chinese frontier, and months after +returned to Europe. For two years he practiced his skill at +Constantinople. Then he made his way to Buda-Pesth, then to +Vienna. While in the dual monarchy, he had come across a poverty- +stricken Magyar noble, named Kallash, whom he had sheltered in a +fit of generous pity, and who had died in his room at the Golden +Eagle Inn. Prince Chechevinski, who had already borne many +aliases, showed his grief at the old Magyar's death by adopting his +name and title; hence it was that he presented himself in St. +Petersburg in the season of 1858 under the high-sounding title of +Count Kallash. + +An extraordinary coincidence, already described, had brought him +face to face with his sister Anna, whom he had never even heard of +in all the years since her flight. He found her now, poverty- +stricken, prematurely old, almost demented, and, though he had +hated her cordially in days gone by, his pity was aroused by her +wretchedness, and he took her to his home, clothed and fed her, and +surrounded her with such comforts as his bachelor apartment +offered. + +In the days that followed, every doubt he might have had as to her +identity was dispelled. She talked freely of their early +childhood, of their father's death, of their mother; she even spoke +of her brother's coldness and hostility in terms which drove away +the last shadow of doubt whether she was really his sister. But at +first he made no corresponding revelations, remaining for her only +Count Kallash. + + +XI + +THE PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM + + +Little by little, however, as the poor old woman recovered +something of health and strength, his heart went out toward her. +Telling her only certain incidents of his life, he gradually +brought the narrative back to the period, twenty years before, +immediately after their mother's death, and at last revealed +himself to his sister, after making her promise secrecy as to his +true name. Thus matters went on for nearly two years. + +The broken-down old woman lived in his rooms in something like +comfort, and took pleasure in dusting and arranging his things. +One day, when she was tidying the sitting room, her brother was +startled by a sudden exclamation, almost a cry, which broke from +his sister's lips. + +"Oh, heaven, it is she!" she cried, her eyes fixed on a page of the +photograph album she had been dusting. "Brother, come here; for +heaven's sake, who is this?" + +"Baroness von Doring," curtly answered Kallash, glancing quickly at +the photograph. "What do you find interesting in her?" + +"It is either she or her double! Do you know who she looks like?" + +"Lord only knows! Herself, perhaps!" + +"No, she has a double! I am sure of it! Do you remember, at +mother's, my maid Natasha?" + +"Natasha?" the count considered, knitting his brows in the effort +to recollect. + +"Yes, Natasha, my maid. A tall, fair girl. A thick tress of +chestnut hair. She had such beautiful hair! And her lips had just +the same proud expression. Her eyes were piercing and intelligent, +her brows were clearly marked and joined together--in a word, the +very original of this photograph!" + +"Ah," slowly and quietly commented the count, pressing his hand to +his brow. "Exactly. Now I remember! Yes, it is a striking +likeness." + +"But look closely," cried the old woman excitedly; "it is the +living image of Natasha! Of course she is more matured, completely +developed. How old is the baroness?" + +"She must be approaching forty. But she doesn't look her age; you +would imagine her to be about thirty-two from her appearance. + +"There! And Natasha would be just forty by now!" + +"The ages correspond," answered her brother. + +"Yes." Princess Anna sighed sadly. "Twenty-two years have passed +since then. But if I met her face to face I think I would +recognize her at once. Tell me, who is she?" + +"The baroness? How shall I tell you? She has been abroad for +twenty years, and for the last two years she has lived here. In +society she says she is a foreigner, but with me she is franker, +and I know that she speaks Russian perfectly. She declares that +her husband is somewhere in Germany, and that she lives here with +her brother." + +"Who is the 'brother'?" asked the old princess curiously. + +"The deuce knows! He is also a bit shady. Oh, yes! Sergei +Kovroff knows him; he told me something about their history; he +came here with a forged passport, under the name of Vladislav +Karozitch, but his real name is Kasimir Bodlevski." + +"Kasimir Bodlevski," muttered the old woman, knitting her brows. +"Was he not once a lithographer or an engraver, or something of the +sort?" + +"I think he was. I think Kovroff said something about it. He is a +fine engraver still." + +"He was? Well, there you are!" and Princess Anna rose quickly from +her seat. "It is she--it is Natasha! She used to tell me she had +a sweetheart, a Polish hero, Bodlevski. And I think his name was +Kasimir. She often got my permission to slip out to visit him; she +said he worked for a lithographer, and always begged me to persuade +mother to liberate her from serfdom, so that she could marry him." + +This unexpected discovery meant much to Kallash. Circumstances, +hitherto slight and isolated, suddenly gained a new meaning, and +were lit up in a way that made him almost certain of the truth. He +now remembered that Kovroff had once told him of his first +acquaintance with Bodlevski, when he came on the Pole at the Cave, +arranging for a false passport; he remembered that Natasha had +disappeared immediately before the death of the elder Princess +Chechevinski, and he also remembered how, returning from the +cemetery, he had been cruelly disappointed in his expectations when +he had found in the strong box a sum very much smaller than he had +always counted on, and with some foundation; and before him, with +almost complete certainty, appeared the conclusion that the maid's +disappearance was connected with the theft of his mother's money, +and especially of the securities in his sister's name, and that all +this was nothing but the doing of Natasha and her companion +Bodlevski. + +"Very good! Perhaps this information will come in handy!" he said +to himself, thinking over his future measures and plans. "Let us +see--let us feel our way--perhaps it is really so! But I must go +carefully and keep on my guard, and the whole thing is in my hands, +dear baroness! We will spin a thread from you before all is over." + + +XII + +THE BARONESS AT HOME + + +Every Wednesday Baroness von Doring received her intimate friends. +She did not care for rivals, and therefore ladies were not invited +to these evenings. The intimate circle of the baroness consisted +of our Knights of Industry and the "pigeons" of the bureaucracy, +the world of finance, the aristocracy, which were the objects of +the knights' desires. It often happened, however, that the number +of guests at these intimate evenings went as high as fifty, and +sometimes even more. + +The baroness was passionately fond of games of chance, and always +sat down to the card table with enthusiasm. But as this was done +conspicuously, in sight of all her guests, the latter could not +fail to note that fortune obstinately turned away from the +baroness. She almost never won on the green cloth; sometimes +Kovroff won, sometimes Kallash, sometimes Karozitch, but with the +slight difference that the last won more seldom and less than the +other two. + +Thus every Wednesday a considerable sum found its way from the +pocketbook of the baroness into that of one of her colleagues, to +find its way back again the next morning. The purpose of this +clever scheme was that the "pigeons" who visited the luxurious +salons of the baroness, and whose money paid the expenses of these +salons, should not have the smallest grounds for suspicion that the +dear baroness's apartment was nothing but a den of sharpers. Her +guests all considered her charming, to begin with, and also rich +and independent and passionate by nature. This explained her love +of play and the excitement it brought, and which she would not give +up, in spite of her repeated heavy losses. + +Her colleagues, the Knights of Industry, acted on a carefully +devised and rigidly followed plan. They were far from putting +their uncanny skill in motion every Wednesday. So long as they had +no big game in sight, the game remained clean and honest. In this +way the band might lose two or three thousand rubles, but such a +loss had no great importance, and was soon made up when some fat +"pigeon" appeared. + +It sometimes happened that this wily scheme of honest play went on +for five or six weeks in succession, so that the small fry, winning +the band's money, remained entirely convinced that it was playing +in an honorable and respectable private house, and very naturally +spread abroad the fame of it throughout the whole city. But when +the fat pigeon at last appeared, the band put forth all its forces, +all the wiles of the black art, and in a few hours made up for the +generous losses of a month of honorable and irreproachable play on +the green cloth. + +Midnight was approaching. + +The baroness's rooms were brilliantly lit up, but, thanks to the +thick curtains which covered the windows, the lights could not be +seen from the street, though several carriages were drawn up along +the sidewalk. + +Opening into the elegant drawing-room was a not less elegant card +room, appreciatively nicknamed the Inferno by the band. In it +stood a large table with a green cloth, on which lay a heap of bank +notes and two little piles of gold, before which sat Sergei +Antonovitch Kovroff, presiding over the bank with the composure of +a true gentleman. + +What Homeric, Jovine calm rested on every feature of his face! +What charming, fearless self-assurance, what noble self-confidence +in his smile, in his glance! What grace, what distinction in his +pose, and especially in the hand which dealt the cards! Sergei +Kovroff's hands were decidedly worthy of attention. They were +almost always clad in new gloves, which he only took off on special +occasions, at dinner, or when he had some writing to do, or when he +sat down to a game of cards. As a result, his hands were almost +feminine in their delicacy, the sensibility of the finger tips had +reached an extraordinary degree of development, equal to that of +one born blind. And those fingers were skillful, adroit, alert, +their every movement carried out with that smooth, indefinable +grace which is almost always possessed by the really high-class +card sharper. His fingers were adorned with numerous rings, in +which sparkled diamonds and other precious stones. And it was not +for nothing that Sergei Kovroff took pride in them! This glitter +of diamonds, scattering rainbow rays, dazzled the eyes of his +fellow players. When Sergei Kovroff sat down to preside over the +bank, the sparkling of the diamonds admirably masked those motions +of his fingers which needed to be masked; they almost insensibly +drew away the eyes of the players from his fingers, and this was +most of all what Sergei Kovroff desired. + +Round the table about thirty guests were gathered. Some of them +sat, but most of them played standing, with anxious faces, +feverishly sparkling eyes, and breathing heavily and unevenly. +Some were pale, some flushed, and all watched with passionate +eagerness the fall of the cards. There were also some who had +perfect command of themselves, distinguished by extraordinary +coolness, and jesting lightly whether they lost or won. But such +happily constituted natures are always a minority when high play is +going on. + +Silence reigned in the Inferno. There was almost no conversation; +only once in a while was heard a remark, in a whisper or an +undertone, addressed by a player to his neighbor; the only sound +was that short, dry rustle of the cards and the crackling of new +bank notes, or the tinkle of gold coins making their way round the +table from the bank to the players, and from the players back to +the bank. + +The two Princes Shadursky, father and son, both lost heavily. They +sat opposite Sergei Kovroff, and between them sat Baroness von +Doring, who played in alliance with them. The clever Natasha egged +them on, kindling their excitement with all the skill and +calculation possible to one whose blood was as cold as the blood of +a fish, and both the Shadurskys had lost their heads, no longer +knowing how much they were losing. + + +XIII + +AN EXPLANATION + + +Count Kallash and his sister had just breakfasted when the count's +French footman entered the study. + +"Madame la baronne von Doring!" he announced obsequiously. + +Brother and sister exchanged a rapid glance. + +"Now is our opportunity to make sure," said Kallash, with a smile. + +"If it is she, I shall recognize her by her voice," whispered +Princess Anna. "Shall I remain here or go?" + +"Remain in the meantime; it will be a curious experience. Faites +entrer!" he added to the footman. + +A moment later light, rapid footsteps were heard in the entrance +hall, and the rustling of a silk skirt. + +"How do you do, count! I have come to see you for a moment. I +came in all haste, on purpose. I have come IN PERSON, you must be +duly appreciative! Vladislav is too busy, and the matter is an +important one. I wanted to see you at the earliest opportunity. +Well, we may all congratulate ourselves. Fate and fortune are +decidedly on our side!" said the baroness, speaking rapidly, as she +entered the count's study. + +"What has happened? What is the news?" asked the count, going +forward to meet her. + +"We have learned that the Shadurskys have just received a large sum +of money; they have sold an estate, and the purchaser has paid them +in cash. Our opportunity has come. Heaven forbid that we should +lose it! We must devise a plan to make the most of it." + +The baroness suddenly stopped short in the middle of the sentence, +and became greatly confused, noticing that there was a third person +present. + +"Forgive me! I did not give you warning," said the count, +shrugging his shoulders and smiling; "permit me! PRINCESS ANNA +CHECHEVINSKI!" he continued with emphasis, indicating his poor, +decrepit sister. "Of course you would not have recognized her, +baroness." + +"But I recognized Natasha immediately," said the old woman quietly, +her eyes still fixed on Natasha's face. + +The baroness suddenly turned as white as a sheet, and with +trembling hands caught the back of a heavy armchair. + +Kallash with extreme politeness assisted her to a seat. + +"You didn't expect to meet me, Natasha?" said the old woman gently +and almost caressingly, approaching her. + +"I do not know you. Who are you?" the baroness managed to whisper, +by a supreme effort. + +"No wonder; I am so changed," replied Princess Anna. "But YOU are +just the same. There is hardly any change at all." + +Natasha began to recover her composure. + +"I don't understand you," she said coldly, contracting her brows. + +"But I understand YOU perfectly." + +"Allow me, princess," Kallash interrupted her, "permit me to have +an explanation with the baroness; she and I know each other well. +And if you will pardon me, I shall ask you in the meantime to +withdraw." + +And he courteously conducted his sister to the massive oak doors, +which closed solidly after her. + +"What does this mean?" said the baroness, rising angrily, her gray +eyes flashing at the count from under her broad brows. + +"A coincidence," answered Kallash, shrugging his shoulders with an +ironical smile. + +"How a coincidence? Speak clearly!" + +"The former mistress has recognized her former maid--that is all." + +"How does this woman come to be here? Who is she?" + +"I have told you already; Princess Anna Chechevinski. And as to +how she came here, that was also a coincidence, and a strange one." + +"Impossible!" exclaimed the baroness. + +"Why impossible? They say the dead sometimes return from the tomb, +and the princess is still alive. And why should the matter not +have happened thus, for instance? Princess Anna Chechevinski's +maid Natasha took advantage of the confidence and illness of the +elder princess to steal from her strong box, with the aid of her +sweetheart, Kasimir Bodlevski, money and securities--mark this, +baroness--securities in the name of Princess Anna. And might it +not happen that this same lithographer Bodlevski should get false +passports at the Cave, for himself and his sweetheart, and flee +with her across the frontier, and might not this same maid, twenty +years later, return to Russia under the name of Baroness von +Doring? You must admit that there is nothing fantastic in all +this! What is the use of concealing? You see I know everything!" + +"And what follows from all this?" replied the baroness with a +forced smile of contempt. + +"Much MAY follow from it," significantly but quietly replied +Kallash. "But at present the only important matter is, that I know +all. I repeat it--ALL." + +"Where are your facts?" asked the baroness. + +"Facts? Hm!" laughed Kallash. "If facts are needed, they will be +forthcoming. Believe me, dear baroness, that if I had not legally +sufficient facts in my hands, I would not have spoken to you of +this." + +Kallash lied, but lied with the most complete appearance of +probability. + +The baroness again grew confused and turned white. + +"Where are your facts? Put them in my hands!" she said at last, +after a prolonged silence. + +"Oh, this is too much! Get hold of them yourself!" the count +replied, with the same smile. "The facts are generally set forth +to the prisoner by the court; but it is enough for you in the +meantime to know that the facts exist, and that they are in my +possession. Believe, if you wish. If you do not wish, do not +believe. I will neither persuade you nor dissuade you." + +"And this means that I am in your power?" she said slowly, raising +her piercing glance to his face. + +"Yes; it means that you are in my power," quietly and confidently +answered Count Kallash. + +"But you forget that you and I are in the same boat." + +"You mean that I am a sharper, like you and Bodlevski? Well, you +are right. We are all berries of the same bunch--except HER" (and +he indicated the folding doors). "She, thanks to many things, has +tasted misery, but she is honest. But we are all rascals, and I +first of all. You are perfectly right in that. If you wish to get +me in your power--try to find some facts against me. Then we shall +be quits!" + +"And what is it you wish?" + +"It is too late for justice, at least so far as she is concerned," +replied the count, with a touch of sadness; "but it is not too late +for a measure of reparation. But we can discuss that later," he +went on more lightly, as if throwing aside the heavy impression +produced by the thought of Princess Anna's misery. "And now, dear +baroness, let us return to business, the business of Prince +Shadursky! I will think the matter over, and see whether anything +suggests itself." + +He courteously conducted the baroness to the carriage, and they +parted, to all appearance, friends. But there were dangerous +elements for both in that seeming friendship. + + +XIV + +GOLD MINING + + +A wonderful scheme was hatched in Count Kallash's fertile brain. +Inspired by the thought of Prince Shadursky's newly replenished +millions, he devised a plan for the gang which promised brilliant +results, and only needed the aid of a discreet and skillful +confederate. And what confederate could be more trustworthy than +Sergei Antonovitch Kovroff? So the two friends were presently to +be found in secret consultation in the count's handsome study, with +a bottle of good Rhine wine before them, fine cigars between their +lips, and the memory of a well-served breakfast lingering +pleasantly in their minds. They were talking about the new +resources of the Shadurskys. + +"To take their money at cards--what a wretched business--and so +infernally commonplace," said Count Kallash. "To tell you the +truth, I have for a long time been sick of cards! And, besides, +time is money! Why should we waste several weeks, or even months, +over something that could be done in a few days?" + +Kovroff agreed completely, but at the same time put the question, +if not cards, what plan was available? + +"That is it exactly!" cried Kallash, warming up. "I have thought +it all over. The problem is this: we must think up something that +would surprise Satan himself, something that would make all Hades +smile and blow us hot kisses. But what of Hades?--that's all +nonsense. We must do something that will make the whole Golden +Band throw up their caps. That is what we have to do!" + +"Quite a problem," lazily answered Kovroff, chewing the end of his +cigar. "But you are asking too much." + +"But that is not all," the count interrupted him; "listen! This is +what my problem demands. We must think of some project that unites +two precious qualities: first, a rapid and huge profit; second, +entire absence of risk." + +"Conditions not altogether easy to fulfill," remarked Kovroff +doubtfully. + +"So it seems. And daring plans are not to be picked up in the +street, but are the result of inspiration. It is what is called a +'heavenly gift,' my dear friend." + +"And you have had an inspiration?" smiled Sergei Antonovitch, with +a slightly ironical shade of friendly skepticism. + +"I have had an inspiration," replied the supposititious Hungarian +nobleman, falling into the other's tone. + +"And your muse is--?" + +"The tenth of the muses," the count interrupted him: "another name +is Industry." + +"She is the muse of all of us." + +"And mine in particular. But we are not concerned with her, but +with her prophetic revelations." + +"Oh, dear count! Circumlocutions apart! This Rhine wine evidently +carries you to misty Germany. Tell me simply what the matter is." + +"The matter is simply this: we must institute a society of 'gold +miners,' and we must find gold in places where the geological +indications are dead against it. That is the problem. The Russian +laws, under threat of arrest and punishment, sternly forbid the +citizens of the Russian Empire, and likewise the citizens of other +lands within the empire, to buy or sell the noble metals in their +crude form, that is, in nuggets, ore, or dust. For example, if you +bought gold in the rough from me--gold dust, for example--we should +both, according to law, have to take a pleasant little trip beyond +the Ural Mountains to Siberia, and there we should have to engage +in mining the precious metal ourselves. A worthy occupation, no +doubt, but not a very profitable one for us." + +"Our luxuries would be strictly limited," jested Kovroff, with a +wry smile. + +"There it is! You won't find many volunteers for that occupation, +and that is the fulcrum of my whole plan. You must understand that +gold dust in the mass is practically indistinguishable in +appearance from brass filings. Let us suppose that we secretly +sell some perfectly pure brass filings for gold dust, and that they +are readily bought of us, because we sell considerably below the +market rate. It goes without saying that the purchaser will +presently discover that we have done him brown. But, I ask you, +will he go and accuse us knowing that, as the penalty for his +purchase, he will have to accompany us along the Siberian road?" + +"No man is his own enemy," sententiously replied Kovroff, beginning +to take a vivid interest in what his companion was saying. "But +how are you going to work it?" + +"You will know at the proper time. The chief thing is, that our +problem is solved in the most decisive manner. You and I are +pretty fair judges of human nature, so we may be pretty sure that +we shall always find purchasers, and I suggest that we make a +beginning on young Prince Shadursky. How we shall get him into it +is my business. I'll tell you later on. But how do you like the +general idea of my plan?" + +"It's clever enough!" cried Kovroff, pressing his hand with the gay +enthusiasm of genuine interest. + +"For this truth much thanks!" cried Kallash, clinking glasses with +him. "It is clever--that is the best praise I could receive from +you. Let us drink to the success of my scheme!" + + +XV + +THE FISH BITES + + +Three days after this conversation the younger prince Shadursky +dined with Sergei Antonovitch Kovroff. + +That morning he received a note from Kovroff, in which the worthy +Sergei complained of ill health and begged the prince to come and +dine with him and cheer him up. + +The prince complied with his request, and appearing at the +appointed time found Count Kallash alone with his host. + +Among other gossip, the prince announced that he expected shortly +to go to Switzerland, as he had bad reports of the health of his +mother, who was in Geneva. + +At this news Kallash glanced significantly toward Kovroff. + +Passing from topic to topic, the conversation finally turned to the +financial position of Russia. Sergei Antonovitch, according to his +expression, "went to the root of the matter," and indicated the +"source of the evil," very frankly attacking the policy of the +government, which did everything to discourage gold mining, hedging +round this most important industry with all kinds of difficulties, +and practically prohibiting the free production of the precious +metals by laying on it a dead weight of costly formalities. + +"I have facts ready to hand," he went on, summing up his argument. +"I have an acquaintance here, an employee of one of the best-known +men in the gold-mining industry." Here Kovroff mentioned a well- +known name. "He is now in St. Petersburg. Well, a few days ago he +suddenly came to me as if he had something weighing on his mind. +And I have had business relations with him in times past. Well, +what do you think? He suddenly made me a proposal, secretly of +course; would I not take some gold dust off his hands? You must +know that these trusted employees every year bring several hundred +pounds of gold from Asia, and of course it stands to reason that +they cannot get rid of it in the ordinary way, but smuggle it +through private individuals. It is uncommonly profitable for the +purchasers, because they buy far below the market rates. So there +are plenty of purchasers. Several of the leading jewelers" (and +here he named three or four of the best-known firms) "never refuse +such a deal, and last year a banking house in Berlin bought a +hundred pounds' weight of gold through agents here. Well, this +same employee, my acquaintance, is looking for an opportunity to +get rid of his wares. And he tells me he managed to bring in about +forty pounds of gold, if not more. I introduce this fact to +illustrate the difficulties put in the way of enterprise by our +intelligent government." + +Shadursky did not greatly occupy himself with serious questions and +he was totally ignorant of all details of financial undertakings. +It was, therefore, perfectly easy for Sergei Antonovitch to assume +a tone of solid, practical sense, which imposed completely on the +young prince. Young Shadursky, from politeness, and to prove his +worldly wisdom, assented to Kovroff's statements with equal +decision. All the same, from this conversation, he quite clearly +seized on the idea that under certain circumstances it would be +possible to buy gold at a much lower price than that demanded by +the Imperial Bank. And this was just the thought which Kallash and +Kovroff wished to sow in the young prince's mind. + +"Of course, I myself do not go in for that kind of business," went +on Kovroff carelessly, "and so I could not give my friend any help. +But if some one were going abroad, for instance, he might well risk +such an operation, which would pay him a very handsome profit." + +"How so? In what way?" asked Shadursky. + +"Very simply. You buy the goods here, as I already said, much +below the government price. So that to begin with you make a very +profitable bargain. Then you go abroad with your wares and there, +as soon as the exchange value of gold goes up, you can sell it at +the nearest bank. I know, for instance, that the agent of the ----- +Bank" (and he mentioned a name well known in St. Petersburg) made +many a pretty penny for himself by just such a deal. This is how +it was: He bought gold dust for forty thousand rubles, and six +weeks later got rid of it in Hamburg for sixty thousand. Whatever +you may say, fifty per cent on your capital in a month and a half +is pretty good business." + +"Deuce take it! A pretty profitable bargain, without a doubt!" +cried Shadursky, jumping from his chair. "It would just suit me! +I could get rid of it in Geneva or Paris," he went on in a jesting +tone. + +"What do you think? Of course!" Sergei Antonovitch took him up, +but in a serious tone. "You or some one else--in any case it would +be a good bargain. For my acquaintance has to go back to Asia, and +has only a few days to spare. He doesn't know where to turn and +rather than take his gold back with him, he would willingly let it +go at an even lower rate than the smugglers generally ask. If I +had enough free cash I would go in for it myself." + +"It looks a good proposition," commented Count Kallash. + +"It is certainly very enticing; what do you think?" said Prince +Shadursky interrogatively, folding his arms. + +"Hm--yes! very enticing," answered Kovroff. "A fine chance for +anyone who has the money." + +"I would not object! I would not object!" protested Shadursky. +"Suppose you let me become acquainted with your friend." + +"You? Well--" And Kovroff considered; "if you wish. Why not? +Only I warn you, first, if you are going to buy, buy quickly, for +my friend can't wait; and secondly, keep the matter a complete +secret, for very unpleasant results might follow." + +"That goes without saying. That stands to reason," assented +Shadursky. "I can get the money at once and I am just going +abroad, in a day or two at the latest. So it would be foolish to +miss such a chance. So it is a bargain?" And he held out his hand +to Kovroff. + +"How a bargain?" objected the cautious Sergei Antonovitch. "I am +not personally concerned in the matter, and you must admit, my dear +prince, that I can make no promises for my acquaintance." + +"I don't mean that!" cried Shadursky. "I only ask you to arrange +for me to meet him. Bring us together--and drop him a hint that I +do not object to buying his wares. You will confer a great +obligation on me." + +"Oh, that is quite a different matter. That I can always do; the +more so, because we are such good friends. Why should I not do you +such a trifling service? As far as an introduction is concerned, +you may count on it." + +And they cordially shook each other by the hand. + + +XVI + +GOLD DUST + + +Both Kallash and Kovroff were too cautious to take an immediate, +personal part in the gold-dust sale. There was a certain +underling, Mr. Escrocevitch by name, at Sergei Kovroff's beck and +call--a shady person, rather dirty in aspect, and who was, +therefore, only admitted to Sergei's presence by the back door and +through the kitchen, and even then only at times when there were no +outsiders present. + +Mr. Escrocevitch was a person of general utility and was especially +good at all kinds of conjuring tricks. Watches, snuff-boxes, +cigar-cases, silver spoons, and even heavy bronze paper-weights +acquired the property of suddenly vanishing from under his hands, +and of suddenly reappearing in a quite unexpected quarter. This +valuable gift had been acquired by Mr. Escrocevitch in his early +years, when he used to wander among the Polish fairs, swallowing +burning flax for the delectation of the public and disgorging +endless yards of ribbon and paper. + +Mr. Escrocevitch was a precious and invaluable person also owing to +his capacity of assuming any role, turning himself into any given +character, and taking on the corresponding tone, manners, and +appearance, and he was, further, a pretty fair actor. + +He it was who was chosen to play the part of the Siberian employee. + +Not more than forty-eight hours had passed since the previous +conversation. Prince Shadursky was just up, when his footman +announced to him that a Mr. Valyajnikoff wished to see him. + +The prince put on his dressing gown and went into the drawing-room, +where the tolerably presentable but strangely dressed person of Mr. +Escrocevitch presented itself to him. + +"Permit me to have the honor of introducing myself," he began, +bowing to Prince Shadursky; "I am Ivanovitch Valyajnikoff. Mr. +Sergei Antonovitch Kovroff was so good as to inform me of a certain +intention of yours about the dust. So, if your excellency has not +changed your mind, I am ready to sell it to you with pleasure." + +"Very good of you," answered Prince Shadursky, smiling gayly, and +giving him a chair. + +"To lose no time over trifles," continued Mr. Escrocevitch, "let me +invite you to my quarters. I am staying at a hotel; you can see +the goods there; you can make tests, and, if you are satisfied, I +shall be very happy to oblige your excellency." + +Prince Shadursky immediately finished dressing, ordered his +carriage, and went out with the supposititious Valyajnikoff. They +drove to a shabby hotel and went to a dingy room. + +"This is my poor abode. I am only here on the wing, so to speak. +I humbly request you to be seated," Mr. Escrocevitch said +obsequiously. "Not to lose precious time, perhaps your excellency +would like to look at my wares? Here they are--and I am most +willing to show them." + +And he dragged from under the bed a big trunk, in which were five +canvas bags of various sizes, packed full and tied tightly. + +"Here, here it is! This is our Siberian dust," he said, smiling +and bowing, indicating the trunk with a wave of his hand, as if +introducing it to Prince Shadursky. + +"Would not your excellency be so good as to choose one of these +bags to make a test? It will be much better if you see yourself +that the business is above board, with no swindle about it. Choose +whichever you wish!" + +Shadursky lifted one of the bags from the trunk, and when Mr. +Escrocevitch untied it, before the young prince's eyes appeared a +mass of metallic grains, at which he gazed not without inward +pleasure. + +"How are you going to make a test?" he asked. "We have no blow- +pipes nor test-tubes here?" + +"Make your mind easy, your excellency! We shall find everything we +require--blow-pipes and test-tubes and nitric acid, and even a +decimal weighing machine. In our business we arrange matters in +such a way that we need not disturb outsiders. Only charcoal we +haven't got, but we can easily send for some." + +And going to the door, he gave the servant in the passage an order, +and a few minutes later the latter returned with a dish of +charcoal. + +"First class! Now everything is ready," cried Mr. Escrocevitch, +rubbing his hands; and for greater security he turned the key in +the door. + +"Take whichever piece of charcoal you please, your excellency; but, +not to soil your hands, you had better let me take it myself, and +you sprinkle some of the dust on it," and he humbled himself before +the prince. "Forgive me for asking you to do it all yourself, +since it is not from any lack of politeness on my part, but simply +in order that your excellency should be fully convinced that there +is no deception." Saying this, he got his implements ready and lit +the lamp. + +The blow-pipe came into action. Valyajnikoff made the experiment, +and Shadursky attentively followed every movement. The charcoal +glowed white hot, the dust ran together and disappeared, and in its +place, when the charcoal had cooled a little, and the amateur +chemist presented it to Prince Shadursky, the prince saw a little +ball of gold lying in a crevice of the charcoal, such as might +easily have formed under the heat of the blow-pipe. + +"Take the globule, your excellency, and place it, for greater +security, in your pocketbook," said Escrocevitch; "you may even +wrap it up in a bit of paper; and keep the sack of gold dust +yourself, so that there can be no mistake." + +Shadursky gladly followed this last piece of advice. + +"And now, your excellency, I should like you kindly to select +another bag; we shall make two or three more tests in the same +way." + +The prince consented to this also. + +Escrocevitch handed him a new piece of charcoal to sprinkle dust +on, and once more brought the blow-pipe into operation. And again +the brass filings disappeared and in the crevice appeared a new +globule of gold. + +"Well, perhaps these two tests will be sufficient. What is your +excellency good enough to think on that score?" asked the supposed +Valyajnikoff. + +"What is the need of further tests? The matter is clear enough," +assented the prince. + +"If it is satisfactory, we shall proceed to make it even more +satisfactory. Here we have a touch-stone, and here we have some +nitric acid. Try the globules on the touchstone physically, and, +so to speak, with the nitric acid chemically. And if you wish to +make even more certain, this is what we shall do. What quantity of +gold does your excellency wish to take?" + +"The more the better. I am ready to buy all these bags." + +"VERY much obliged to your excellency, as this will suit me +admirably," said Escrocevitch, bowing low. "And so, if your +excellency is ready, then I humbly beg you to take each bag, +examine it, and seal it with your excellency's own seal. Then let +us take one of the globules and go to one of the best jewelers in +St. Petersburg. Let him tell us the value of the gold and in this +way the business will be exact; there will be no room for complaint +on either side, since everything will be fair and above board." + +The prince was charmed with the honesty and frankness of Mr. +Valyajnikoff. + +They went together to one of the best-known jewelers, who, in their +presence, made a test and announced that the gold was chemically +pure, without any alloy, and therefore of the highest value. + +On their return to the hotel, Mr. Escrocevitch weighed the bags, +which turned out to weigh forty-eight pounds. Allowing three +pounds for the weight of the bags, this left forty-five pounds of +pure gold. + +"How much a pound do you want?" Shadursky asked him. + +"A pretty low price, your excellency," answered the Siberian, with +a shrug of his shoulders, "as I am selling from extreme necessity, +because I have to leave for Siberia; I've spent too much time and +money in St. Petersburg already; and if I cannot sell my wares, I +shall not be able to go at all. I assume that the government price +is known to your excellency?" + +"But I am willing to take two hundred rubles a pound. I can't take +a kopeck less, and even so I am making a reduction of nearly a +hundred rubles the pound." + +"All right!" assented Shadursky. "That will amount to--" he went +on, knitting his brows, "forty-five pounds at two hundred rubles a +pound--" + +"It will make exactly nine thousand, your excellency. Just exactly +nine," Escrocevitch obsequiously helped him out. The prince, +cutting the matter short, immediately gave him a check, and taking +the trunk with the coveted bags, drove with the Siberian employee +to his father's house, where the elder Prince Shadursky, at his +son's pressing demand, though very unwillingly, exchanged the check +for nine thousand rubles in bills, for which Ivan Ivanovitch +Valyajnikoff forthwith gave a receipt. The prince was delighted +with his purchase, and he did not utter a syllable about it to +anyone except Kovroff. + +Sergei Antonovitch gave him a friendly counsel not to waste any +time, but to go abroad at once, as, according to the Exchange +Gazette, gold was at that moment very high, so that he had an +admirable opportunity to get rid of his wares on very favorable +terms. + +The prince, in fact, without wasting time got his traveling +passport, concealed his purchase with the utmost care, and set out +for the frontier, announcing that he was on his way to his mother, +whose health imperatively demanded his presence. + +The success of the whole business depended on the fact that brass +filings, which bear a strong external resemblance to gold dust, are +dissipated in the strong heat of the blowpipe. The charcoal was +prepared beforehand, a slight hollow being cut in it with a +penknife, in the bottom of which is placed a globule of pure gold, +the top of which is just below the level of the charcoal, and the +hollow is filled up with powdered charcoal mixed with a little +beeswax. The "chemist" who makes the experiments must make himself +familiar with the distinctive appearance of the charcoal, so as to +pick it out from among several pieces, and must remember exactly +where the crevice is. + +On this first occasion, Escrocevitch had prepared all four pieces +of charcoal, which were brought by the servant in the passage. He +chose as his temporary abode a hotel whose proprietor was an old +ally of his, and the servant was also a confederate. + +Thus was founded the famous "Gold Products Company," which is still +in very successful operation, and is constantly widening its sphere +of activity. + + +XVII + +THE DELUGE + + +Count Kallash finally decided on his course of action. It was too +late to seek justice for his sister, but not too late for a tardy +reparation. The gang had prospered greatly, and the share of +Baroness von Doring and Bodlevski already amounted to a very large +figure. Count Kallash determined to demand for his sister a sum +equal to that of the securities in her name which Natasha had +stolen, calculating that this would be enough to maintain his +sister in peace and comfort to the end of her days. His own life +was too stormy, too full of risks for him to allow his sister's +fate to depend on his, so he had decided to settle her in some +quiet nook where, free from danger, she might dream away her few +remaining years. + +To his surprise Baroness von Doring flatly refused to be put under +contribution. + +"Your demand is outrageous," she said. "I am not going to be the +victim of any such plot!" + +"Very well, I will compel you to unmask?" + +"To unmask? What do you mean, count? You forget yourself!" + +"Well, then, I shall try to make you remember me!" And Kallash +turned his back on her and strode from the room. A moment later, +and she heard the door close loudly behind him. + +The baroness had already told Bodlevski of her meeting with +Princess Anna, and she now hurried to him for counsel. They agreed +that their present position, with Kallash's threats hanging over +their heads, was intolerable. But what was to be done? + +Bodlevski paced up and down the room, biting his lips, and seeking +some decisive plan. + +"We must act in such a way," he said, coming to a stand before the +baroness, "as to get rid of this fellow once for all. I think he +is dangerous, and it never does any harm to take proper +precautions. Get the money ready, Natasha; we must give it to +him." + +"What! give him the money!" and the baroness threw up her hands. +"Will that get us out of his power? Can we feel secure? It will +only last till something new happens. At the first occasion--" + +"Which will also be the last!" interrupted Bodlevski. "Suppose we +do give him the money to-day; does that mean that we give it for +good? Not at all! It will be back in my pocket to-morrow! Let us +think it out properly!" and he gave her a friendly pat on the +shoulder, and sat down in an easy chair in front of her. + +The result of their deliberations was a little note addressed to +Count Kallash: + + +"DEAR COUNT," it ran, "I was guilty of an act of folly toward you +to-day. I am ashamed of it, and wish to make amends as soon as +possible. We have always been good friends, so let us forget our +little difference, the more so that an alliance is much more +advantageous to us both than a quarrel. Come this evening to +receive the money you spoke of, and to clasp in amity the hand of +your devoted friend, + +VON D." + + +Kallash came about ten o'clock in the evening, and received from +Bodlevski the sum of fifty thousand rubles in notes. The baroness +was very amiable, and persuaded him to have some tea. There was +not a suggestion of future difficulties, and everything seemed to +promise perfect harmony for the future. Bodlevski talked over +plans of future undertakings, and told him, with evident +satisfaction, that they had just heard of the arrest of the younger +Prince Shadursky, in Paris, for attempting to defraud a bank by a +pretended sale of gold dust. Count Kallash was also gay, and a +certain satisfaction filled his mind at the thought of his sister's +security, as he felt the heavy packet of notes in his pocket. He +smoked his cigar with evident satisfaction, sipping the fragrant +tea from time to time. The conversation was gay and animated, and +for some reason or other turned to the subject of clubs. + +"Ah, yes," interposed Bodlevski, "a propos! I expect to be a +member of the Yacht Club this summer. Let me recommend to you a +new field of action. They will disport themselves on the green +water, and we on the green cloth! By the way, I forgot to speak of +it--I bought a boat the other day, a mere rowboat. It is on the +Fontauka Canal, at the Simeonovski bridge. We must come for a row +some day." + +"Delightful," exclaimed the baroness. "But why some day? Why not +to-night? The moon is beautiful, and, indeed, it is hardly dark at +midnight. Your speaking of boats has filled me with a sudden +desire to go rowing. What do you say, dear count?" and she turned +amiably to Kallash. + +Count Kallash at once consented, considering the baroness's idea an +admirable one, and they were soon on their way toward the +Simeonovski bridge. + +"How delightful it is!" cried the baroness, some half hour later, +as they were gliding over the quiet water. "Count, do you like +strong sensations?" she asked suddenly. + +"I am fond of strong sensations of every kind," he replied, taking +up her challenge. + +"Well, I am going to offer you a little sensation, though it always +greatly affects me. Everything is just right for it, and I am in +the humor, too." + +"What is it to be?" asked Count Kallash indifferently. + +"You will see in a moment. Do you know that there are underground +canals in St. Petersburg?" + +"In St. Petersburg?" asked Kallash in astonishment. + +"Yes, in St. Petersburg! A whole series of underground rivers, +wide enough for a boat to pass through. I have rowed along them +several times. Does not that offer a new sensation, something +quite unlike St. Petersburg?" + +"Yes, it is certainly novel," answered Count Kallash, now +interested. "Where are they? Pray show them to me." + +"There is one a few yards off. Shall we enter? You are not +afraid?" she said with a smile of challenge. + +"By no means--unless you command me to be afraid," Kallash replied +in the same tone. "Let us enter at once!" + +"Kasimir, turn under the arch!" and the boat cut across the canal +toward a half circle of darkness. A moment more and the darkness +engulfed them completely. They were somewhere under the Admiralty, +not far from St. Isaac's Cathedral. Away ahead of them was a tiny +half circle of light, where the canal joined the swiftly flowing +Neva. Carriages rumbled like distant thunder above their heads. + +"Deuce take it! it is really rather fine!" cried the count, with +evident pleasure. "A meeting of pirates is all we need to make it +perfect. It is a pity that we cannot see where we are!" + +"Light a match. Have you any?" said the baroness. "I have, and +wax matches, too." The count took out a match and lit it, and the +underground stream was lit by a faint ruddy glow. The channel, +covered by a semicircular arch, was just wide enough for one boat +to pass through, with oars out. The black water flowed silently by +in a sluggish, Stygian stream. Bats, startled by the light, +fluttered in their faces, and then disappeared in the darkness. + +As the boat glided on, the match burned out in Count Kallash's +fingers. He threw it into the water, and opened his matchbox to +take another. + +At the same moment he felt a sharp blow on the head, followed by a +second, and he sank senseless in the bottom of the boat. + +"Where is the money?" cried Bodlevski, who had struck him with the +handle of the oar. "Get his coat open!" and the baroness deftly +drew the thick packet from the breast pocket of his coat. "Here it +is! I have it!" she replied quickly. + +"Now, overboard with him! Keep the body steady!" A dull splash, +and then silence. "To-night we shall sleep secure!" + + +They counted without their host. Princess Anna had also her scheme +of vengeance, and had worked it out, without a word to her brother. +When Natasha and Bodlevski entered their apartment, they found the +police in possession, and a few minutes later both were under +arrest. Abundant evidence of fraud and forgery was found in their +dwelling, and the vast Siberian solitudes avenged the death of +their last victim. + + + +Jorgen Wilhelm Bergsoe + +The Amputated Arms + + +It happened when I was about eighteen or nineteen years old (began +Dr. Simsen). I was studying at the University, and being coached +in anatomy by my old friend Solling. He was an amusing fellow, +this Solling. Full of jokes and whimsical ideas, and equally +merry, whether he was working at the dissecting table or brewing a +punch for a jovial crowd. + +He had but one fault--if one might call it so--and that was his +exaggerated idea of punctuality. He grumbled if you were late two +minutes; any longer delay would spoil the entire evening for him. +He himself was never known to be late. At least not during the +entire years of my studying. + +One Wednesday evening our little circle of friends met as usual in +my room at seven o'clock. I had made the customary preparations +for the meeting, had borrowed three chairs--I had but one myself-- +had cleaned all my pipes, and had persuaded Hans to take the +breakfast dishes from the sofa and carry them downstairs. One by +one my friends arrived, the clock struck seven, and to our great +astonishment, Solling had not yet appeared. One, two, even five +minutes passed before we heard him run upstairs and knock at the +door with his characteristic short blows. + +When he entered the room he looked so angry and at the same time so +upset that I cried out: "What's the matter, Solling? You look as +if you had been robbed." + +"That's exactly what has happened," replied Solling angrily. "But +it was no ordinary sneak thief," he added, hanging his overcoat +behind the door. + +"What have you lost?" asked my neighbor Nansen. + +"Both arms from the new skeleton I've just recently received from +the hospital," said Solling with an expression as if his last cent +had been taken from him. "It's vandalism!" + +We burst out into loud laughter at this remarkable answer, but +Solling continued: "Can you imagine it? Both arms are gone, cut +off at the shoulder joint;--and the strangest part of it is that +the same thing has been done to my shabby old skeleton which stands +in my bedroom. There wasn't an arm on either of them." + +"That's too bad," I remarked. "For we were just going to study the +ANATOMY of the arm to-night." + +"Osteology," corrected Solling gravely. "Get out your skeleton, +little Simsen. It isn't as good as mine, but it will do for this +evening." + +I went to the corner where my anatomical treasures were hidden +behind a green curtain--"the Museum," was what Solling called it-- +but my astonishment was great when I found my skeleton in its +accustomed place and wearing as usual my student's uniform--but +without arms. + +"The devil!" cried Solling. "That was done by the same person who +robbed me; the arms are taken off at the shoulder joint in exactly +the same manner. You did it, Simsen!" + +I declared my innocence, very angry at the abuse of my fine +skeleton, while Nansen cried: "Wait a moment, I'll bring in mine. +There hasn't been a soul in my room since this morning, I can swear +to that. I'll be back in an instant." + +He hurried into his room, but returned in a few moments greatly +depressed and somewhat ashamed. The skeleton was in its usual +place, but the arms were gone, cut off at the shoulder in exactly +the same manner as mine. + +The affair, mysterious in itself, had now come to be a serious +matter. We lost ourselves in suggestions and explanations, none of +which seemed to throw any light on the subject. Finally we sent a +messenger to the other side of the house where, as I happened to +know, was a new skeleton which the young student Ravn had recently +received from the janitor of the hospital. + +Ravn had gone out and taken the key with him. The messenger whom +we had sent to the rooms of the Iceland students returned with the +information that one of them had used the only skeleton they +possessed to pummel the other with, and that consequently only the +thigh bones were left unbroken. + +What were we to do? We couldn't understand the matter at all. +Solling scolded and cursed and the company was about to break up +when we heard some one coming noisily upstairs. The door was +thrown open and a tall, thin figure appeared on the threshold--our +good friend Niels Daae. + +He was a strange chap, this Niels Daae, the true type of a species +seldom found nowadays. He was no longer young, and by reason of a +queer chain of circumstances, as he expressed it, he had been +through nearly all the professions and could produce papers proving +that he had been on the point of passing not one but three +examinations. + +He had begun with theology; but the story of the quarrel between +Jacob and Esau had led him to take up the study of law. As a law +student he had come across an interesting poisoning case, which had +proved to him that a study of medicine was extremely necessary for +lawyers; and he had taken up the study of medicine with such energy +that he had forgotten all his law and was about to take his last +examinations at the age of forty. + +Niels Daae took the story of our troubles very seriously. "Every +pot has two handles," he began. "Every sausage two ends, every +question two sides, except this one--this has three." (Applause.) +"When we look at it from the legal point of view there can be no +doubt that it belongs in the category of ordinary theft. But from +the fact that the thief took only the arms when he might have taken +the entire skeleton, we must conclude that he is not in a +responsible condition of mind, which therefore introduces a medical +side to the affair. From a legal point of view, the thief must be +convicted for robbery, or at least for the illegal appropriation of +the property of others; but from the medical point of view, we must +acquit him, because he is not responsible for his acts. Here we +have two professions quarreling with one another, and who shall say +which is right? But now I will introduce the theological point of +view, and raise the entire affair up to a higher plane. +Providence, in the material shape of a patron of mine in the +country, whose children I have inoculated with the juice of wisdom, +has sent me two fat geese and two first-class ducks. These animals +are to be cooked and eaten this evening in Mathiesen's +establishment, and I invite this honored company to join me there. +Personally I look upon the disappearance of these arms as an all- +wise intervention of Providence, which sets its own inscrutable +wisdom up against the wisdom which we would otherwise have heard +from the lips of my venerable friend Solling." + +Daae's confused speech was received with laughter and applause, and +Solling's weak protests were lost in the general delight at the +invitation. I have often noticed that such improvised festivities +are usually the most enjoyable, and so it was for us that evening. +Niels Daae treated us to his ducks and to his most amusing jokes, +Solling sang his best songs, our jovial host Mathiesen told his +wittiest stories, and the merriment was in full swing when we heard +cries in the street, and then a rush of confused noises broken by +screams of pain. + +"There's been an accident," cried Solling, running out to the door. + +We all followed him and discovered that a pair of runaway horses +had thrown a carriage against a tree, hurling the driver from his +box, under the wheels. His right arm had been broken near the +shoulder. In the twinkling of an eye the hall of festivities was +transformed into an emergency hospital. Solling shook his head as +he examined the injury, and ordered the transport of the patient to +the city hospital. It was his belief that the arm would have to be +amputated, cut off at the shoulder joint, just as had been the case +with our skeleton. "Damned odd coincidence, isn't it?" he remarked +to me. + +Our merry mood had vanished and we took our way, quiet and +depressed, through the old avenues toward our home. For the first +time in its existence possibly, our venerable "barracks," as we +called the dormitory, saw its occupants returning home from an +evening's bout just as the night watchman intoned his eleven +o'clock verse. + +"Just eleven," exclaimed Solling. "It's too early to go to bed, +and too late to go anywhere else. We'll go up to your room, little +Simsen, and see if we can't have some sort of a lesson this +evening. You have your colored plates and we'll try to get along +with them. It's a nuisance that we should have lost those arms +just this evening." + +"The Doctor can have all the arms and legs he wants," grinned Hans, +who came out of the doorway just in time to hear Solling's last +word. + +"What do you mean, Hans?" asked Solling in astonishment. + +"It'll be easy enough to get them," said Hans. "They've torn down +the planking around the Holy Trinity churchyard, and dug up the +earth to build a new wall. I saw it myself, as I came past the +church. Lord, what a lot of bones they've dug out there! There's +arms and legs and heads, many more than the Doctor could possibly +need." + +"Much good that does us," answered Solling. "They shut the gates +at seven o'clock and it's after eleven already." + +"Oh, yes, they shut them," grinned Hans again. "But there's +another way to get in. If you go through the gate of the porcelain +factory and over the courtyard, and through the mill in the fourth +courtyard that leads out into Spring Street, there you will see +where the planking is torn down, and you can get into the +churchyard easily." + +"Hans, you're a genius!" exclaimed Solling in delight. "Here, +Simsen, you know that factory inside and out, you're so friendly +with that fellow Outzen who lives there. Run along to him and let +him give you the key of the mill. It will be easy to find an arm +that isn't too much decayed. Hurry along, now; the rest of us will +wait for you upstairs." + +To be quite candid I must confess that I was not particularly eager +to fulfill Solling's command. I was at an age to have still a +sufficient amount of reverence for death and the grave, and the +mysterious occurrence of the stolen arms still ran through my mind. +But I was still more afraid of Solling's irony and of the laughter +of my comrades, so I trotted off as carelessly as if I had been +sent to buy a package of cigarettes. + +It was some time before I could arouse the old janitor of the +factory from his peaceful slumbers. I told him that I had an +important message for Outzen, and hurried upstairs to the latter's +room. Outzen was a strictly moral character; knowing this, I was +prepared to have him refuse me the key which would let me into the +fourth courtyard and from there into the cemetery. As I expected, +Outzen took the matter very seriously. He closed the Hebrew Bible +which he had been studying as I entered, turned up his lamp and +looked at me in astonishment as I made my request. + +"Why, my dear Simsen, it is a most sinful deed that you are about +to do," he said gravely. "Take my advice and desist. You will get +no key from me for any such cause. The peace of the grave is +sacred. No man dare disturb it." + +"And how about the gravedigger? He puts the newly dead down beside +the old corpses, and lives as peacefully as anyone else." + +"He is doing his duty," answered Outzen calmly. "But to disturb +the peace of the grave from sheer daring, with the fumes of the +punch still in your head,--that is a different matter,--that will +surely be punished!" + +His words irritated me. It is not very flattering, particularly if +one is not yet twenty, to be told that you are about to perform a +daring deed simply because you are drunk. Without any further +reply to his protests I took the key from its place on the wall and +ran downstairs two steps at a time, vowing to myself that I would +take home an arm let cost what it would. I would show Outzen, and +Solling, and all the rest, what a devil of a fellow I was. + +My heart beat rapidly as I stole through the long dark corridor, +past the ruins of the old convent of St. Clara, into the so-called +third courtyard. Here I took a lantern from the hall, lit it and +crossed to the mill where the clay was prepared for the factory. +The tall wheels and cylinders, with their straps and bolts, looked +like weird creatures of the night in the dim light of my tallow +candle. I felt my courage sinking even here, but I pulled myself +together, opened the last door with my key and stepped out into the +fourth courtyard. A moment later I stood on the dividing line +between the cemetery and the factory. + +The entire length of the tall blackened planking had been torn +down. The pieces of it lay about, and the earth had been dug up to +considerable depth, to make a foundation for a new wall between +Life and Death. The uncanny emptiness of the place seized upon me. +I halted involuntarily as if to harden myself against it. It was a +raw, cold, stormy evening. The clouds flew past the moon in jagged +fragments, so that the churchyard, with its white crosses and +stones, lay now in full light, now in dim shadow. Now and then a +rush of wind rattled over the graves, roared through the leafless +trees, bent the complaining bushes, and caught itself in the little +eddy at the corner of the church, only to escape again over the +roofs, turning the old weather vane with a sharp scream of the +rusty iron. + +I looked toward the left--there I saw several weird white shapes +moving gently in the moonlight. "White sheets," I said to myself, +"it's nothing but white sheets! This drying of linen in the +churchyard ought to be stopped." + +I turned in the opposite direction and saw a heap of bones scarce +two paces distant from me. Holding my lantern lower, I approached +them and stretched out my hand--there was a rattling in the heap; +something warm and soft touched my fingers. + +I started and shivered. Then I exclaimed: "The rats! nothing but +the rats in the churchyard! I must not get frightened. It will be +so foolish--they would laugh at me. Where the devil is that arm? +I can't find one that isn't broken!" + +With trembling knees and in feverish haste I examined one heap +after another. The light in my lantern flickered in the wind and +suddenly went out. The foul smell of the smoking wick rose to my +face and I felt as if I were about to faint, it took all my energy +to recover my control. I walked two or three steps ahead, and saw +at a little distance a coffin which had been still in good shape +when taken out of the earth. + +I approached it and saw that it was of old-fashioned shape, made of +heavy oaken boards that were already rotting. On its cover was a +metal plate with an illegible inscription. The old wood was so +brittle that it would have been very easy for me to open the coffin +with any sort of a tool. I looked about me and saw a hatchet and a +couple of spades lying near the fence. I took one of the latter, +put its flat end between the boards--the old coffin fell apart with +a dull crackling protest. + +I turned my head aside, put my hand in through the opening, felt +about, and taking a firm hold on one arm of the skeleton, I +loosened it from the body with a quick jerk. The movement loosened +the head as well, and it rolled out through the opening right to my +very feet. I took up the skull to lay it in the coffin again--and +then I saw a greenish phosphorescent glimmer in its empty eye +sockets, a glimmer which came and went. Mad terror shook me at the +sight. I looked up at the houses in the distance, then back again +to the skull; the empty sockets shone more brightly than before. I +felt that I must have some natural explanation for this appearance +or I would go mad. I took up the head again--and never in my life +have I had so overpowering an impression of the might of death and +decay than in this moment. Myriads of disgusting clammy insects +poured out of every opening of the skull, and a couple of shining, +wormlike centipedes--Geophiles, the scientists call them--crawled +about in the eye sockets. I threw the skull back into the coffin, +sprang over the heaps of bones without even taking time to pick up +my lantern, and ran like a hunted thing through the dark mill, over +the factory courtyards, until I reached the outer gate. Here I +washed the arm at the fountain, and smoothed my disarranged +clothing. I hid my booty under my overcoat, nodded to the sleepy +old janitor as he opened the door to me, and a few moments later I +entered my own room with an expression which I had attempted to +make quite calm and careless. + +"What the devil is the matter with you, Simsen?" cried Solling as +he saw me. "Have you seen a ghost? Or is the punch wearing off +already? We thought you'd never come; why, it's nearly twelve +o'clock!" + +Without a word I drew back my overcoat and laid my booty on the +table. + +"By all the devils," exclaimed Solling in anatomical enthusiasm, +"where did you find that superb arm? Simsen knows what he's about +all right. It's a girl's arm; isn't it beautiful? Just look at +the hand--how fine and delicate it is! Must have worn a No. 6 +glove. There's a pretty hand to caress and kiss!" + +The arm passed from one to the other amid general admiration. +Every word that was said increased my disgust for myself and for +what I had done. It was a woman's arm, then--what sort of a woman +might she have been? Young and beautiful possibly--her brothers' +pride, her parents' joy. She had faded away in her youth, cared +for by loving hands and tender thoughts. She had fallen asleep +gently, and those who loved her had desired to give her in death +the peace she had enjoyed throughout her lifetime. For this they +had made her coffin of thick, heavy oaken boards. And this hand, +loved and missed by so many--it lay there now on an anatomical +table, encircled by clouds of tobacco smoke, stared at by curious +glances, and made the object of coarse jokes. O God! how terrible +it was! + +"I must have that arm," exclaimed Solling, when the first burst of +admiration had passed. "When I bleach it and touch it up with +varnish, it wild be a superb specimen. I'll take it home with me." + +"No," I exclaimed, "I can't permit it. It was wrong of me to bring +it away from the churchyard. I'm going right back to put the arm +in its place." + +"Well, will you listen to that?" cried Solling, amid the hearty +laughter of the others. "Simsen's so lyric, he certainly must be +drunk. I must have that arm at any cost." + +"Not much," cut in Niels Daae; "you have no right to it. It was +buried in the earth and dug out again; it is a find, and all the +rest of us have just as much right to it as you have." + +"Yes, everyone of us has some share in it," said some one else. + +"But what are you going to do about it?" remarked Solling. "It +would be vandalism to break up that arm. What God has joined +together let no man put asunder," he concluded with pathos. + +"Let's auction it off," exclaimed Daae. "I will be the auctioneer, +and this key to the graveyard will serve me for a hammer." + +The laughter broke out anew as Daae took his place solemnly at the +head of the table and began to whine out the following +announcement: "I hereby notify all present that on the 25th of +November, at twelve o'clock at midnight, in corridor No. 5 of the +student barracks, a lady's arm in excellent condition, with all its +appurtenances of wrist bones, joints, and finger tips, is to be +offered at public auction. The buyer can have possession of his +purchase immediately after the auction, and a credit of six weeks +will be given to any reliable customer. I bid a Danish shilling." + +"One mark," cried Solling mockingly. + +"Two," cried somebody else. + +"Four," exclaimed Solling. "It's worth it. Why don't you join in, +Simsen? You look as if you were sitting in a hornet's nest." + +I bid one mark more, and Solling raised me a thaler. There were no +more bids, the hammer fell, and the arm belonged to Solling. + +"Here, take this," he said, handing me a mark piece; "it's part of +your commission as grave robber. You shall have the rest later, +unless you prefer that I should turn it over to the drinking fund." +With these words Solling wrapped the arm in a newspaper, and the +gay crowd ran noisily down the stairs and through the streets, +until their singing and laughter were lost in the distance. + +I stood alone, still dazed and bewildered, staring at the piece of +money in my hand. My thoughts were far too much excited that I +should hope to sleep. I turned up my lamp and took out one of my +books to try and study myself into a quieter mood. But without +success. + +Suddenly I heard a sound like that of a swinging pendulum. I +raised my head and listened attentively. There was no clock either +in my room or in the neighboring ones--but I could still hear the +sound. At the same moment my lamp began to flicker. The oil was +apparently exhausted. I was about to rise to fill it again, when +my eyes fell upon the door, and I saw the graveyard key, which I +had hung there, moving slowly back and forth with a rhythmic swing. +Just as its motion seemed about to die away, it would receive a +gentle push as from an unseen hand, and would swing back and forth +more than ever. I stood there with open mouth and staring eyes, +ice-cold chills ran down my back, and drops of perspiration stood +out on my forehead. Finally, I could endure it no longer. I +sprang to the door, seized the key with both hands and put it on my +desk under a pile of heavy books. Then I breathed a sigh of +relief. + +My lamp was about to go out and I discovered that I had no more +oil. With feverish haste I threw my clothes off, blew out the +light and sprang into bed as if to smother my fears. + +But once alone in the darkness the fears grew worse than ever. +They grew into dreams and visions. It seemed to me as if I were +out in the graveyard again, and heard the screaming of the rusty +weather vane as the wind turned it. Then I was in the mill again; +the wheels were turning and stretching out ghostly hands to draw me +into the yawning maw of the machine. Then again, I found myself in +a long, low, pitch-black corridor, followed by Something I could +not see--Something that drove me to the mouth of a bottomless +abyss. I would start up out of my half sleep, listen and look +about me, then fall back again into an uneasy slumber. + +Suddenly something fell from the ceiling onto the bed, and "buzz-- +buzz--buzz" sounded about my head. It was a huge fly which had +been sleeping in a corner of my room and had been roused by the +heat of the stove. It flew about in great circles, now around the +bed, now in all four corners of the chamber--"buzz--buzz--buzz"--it +was unendurable! At last I heard it creep into a bag of sugar +which had been left on the window sill. I sprang up and closed the +bag tight. The fly buzzed worse than ever, but I went back to bed +and attempted to sleep again, feeling that I had conquered the +enemy. + +I began to count: I counted slowly to one hundred, two hundred, +finally up to one thousand, and then at last I experienced that +pleasant weakness which is the forerunner of true sleep. I seemed +to be in a beautiful garden, bright with many flowers and odorous +with all the perfumes of spring. At my side walked a beautiful +young girl. I seemed to know her well, and yet it was not possible +for me to remember her name, or even to know how we came to be +wandering there together. As we walked slowly through the paths +she would stop to pick a flower or to admire a brilliant butterfly +swaying in the air. Suddenly a cold wind blew through the garden. +The young girl trembled and her cheeks grew pale. "I am cold," she +said to me, "do you not see? It is Death who is approaching us." + +I would have answered, but in the same moment another stronger and +still more icy gust roared through the garden. The leaves turned +pale on the trees, the flowerets bent their heads, and the bees and +butterflies fell lifeless to the earth. "That is Death," whispered +my companion, trembling. + +A third icy gust blew the last leaves from the bushes, white +crosses and gravestones appeared between the bare twigs--and I was +in the churchyard again and heard the screaming of the rusty +weather vane. Beside me stood a heavy brass-bound coffin with a +metal plate on the cover. I bent down to read the inscription, the +cover rolled off suddenly, and from out the coffin rose the form of +the young girl who had been with me in the garden. I stretched out +my arms to clasp her to my breast--then, oh horror! I saw the +greenish-gleaming, empty eye sockets of the skull. I felt bony +arms around me, dragging me back into the coffin. I screamed aloud +for help and woke up. + +My room seemed unusually light; but I remembered that it was a +moonlight night and thought no more of it. I tried to explain the +visions of my dream with various natural noises about me. The +imprisoned fly buzzed as loudly as a whole swarm of bees; one half +of my window had blown open, and the cold night air rushed in gusts +into my room. + +I sprang up to close the window, and then I saw that the strong +white light that filled my room did not come from the moon, but +seemed to shine out from the church opposite. I heard the chiming +of the bells, soft at first, as if in far distance, then stronger +and stronger until, mingled with the rolling notes of the organ, a +mighty rush of sound struck against my windows. I stared out into +the street and could scarcely believe my eyes. The houses in the +market place just beyond were all little one-story buildings with +bow windows and wooden eave troughs ending in carved dragon heads. +Most of them had balconies of carved woodwork, and high stone +stoops with gleaming brass rails. + +But it was the church most of all that aroused my astonishment. +Its position was completely changed. Its front turned toward our +house where usually the side had stood. The church was brilliantly +lighted, and now I perceived that it was this light which filled my +room. I stood speechless amid the chiming of the bells and the +roaring of the organ, and I saw a long wedding procession moving +slowly up the center aisle of the church toward the altar. The +light was so brilliant that I could distinguish each one of the +figures. They were all in strange old-time costumes; the ladies in +brocades and satins with strings of pearls in their powdered hair, +the gentlemen in uniform with knee breeches, swords, and cocked +hats held under their arms. But it was the bride who drew my +attention most strongly. She was clothed in white satin, and a +faded myrtle wreath was twisted through the powdered locks beneath +her sweeping veil. The bridegroom at her side wore a red uniform +and many decorations. Slowly they approached the altar, where an +old man in black vestments and a heavy white wig was awaiting them. +They stood before him, and I could see that he was reading the +ritual from a gold-lettered book. + +One of the train stepped forward and unbuckled the bridegroom's +sword, that his right hand might be free to take that of the bride. +She seemed about to raise her own hand to his, when she suddenly +sank fainting at his feet. The guests hurried toward the altar, +the lights went out, the music stopped, and the figures floated +together like pale white mists. + +But outside in the square it was still brighter than before, and I +suddenly saw the side portal of the church burst open and the +wedding procession move out across the market place. + +I turned as if to flee, but could not move a muscle. Quiet, as if +turned to stone, I stood and watched the ghostly figures that came +nearer and nearer. The clergyman led the train, then came the +bridegroom and the bride, and as the latter raised her eyes to me I +saw that it was the young girl of the garden. Her eyes were so +full of pain, so full of sad entreaty that I could scarce endure +them; but how shall I explain the feeling that shot through me as I +suddenly discovered that the right sleeve of her white satin gown +hung empty at her side? The train disappeared, and the tone of the +church bells changed to a strange, dry, creaking sound, and the +gate below me complained as it turned on its rusty hinges. I faced +toward my own door. I knew that it was shut and locked, but I knew +that the ghostly procession were coming to call me to account, and +I felt that no walls could keep them out. My door flew open, there +was a rustling as of silken gowns, but the figures seemed to float +in in the changing forms of swaying white mists. Closer and closer +they gathered around me, robbing me of breath, robbing me of the +power to move. There was a silence as of the grave--and then I saw +before me the old priest with his gold-lettered book. He raised +his hand and spoke with a soft, deep voice: "The grave is sacred! +Let no one dare to disturb the peace of the dead." + +"The grave is sacred!" an echo rolled through the room as the +swaying figures moved like reeds in the wind. + +"What do you want? What do you demand?" I gasped in the grip of a +deathly fear. + +"Give back to the grave that which belongs to it," said the deep +voice again. + +"Give back to the grave that which belongs to it," repeated the +echo as the swaying forms pressed closer to me. + +"But it's impossible--I can't--I have sold it--sold it at auction!" +I screamed in despair. "It was buried and found in the earth--and +sold for five marks eight shillings--" + +A hideous scream came from the ghostly ranks. They threw +themselves upon me as the white fog rolls in from the sea, they +pressed upon me until I could no longer breathe. Beside myself, I +threw open the window and attempted to spring out, screaming aloud: +"Help! help! murder! they are murdering me!" + +The sound of my own voice awoke me. I found myself in my night +clothes on the window sill, one leg already out of the window and +both hands clutching at the center post. On the street below me +stood the night watchman, staring up at me in astonishment, while +faint white clouds of mist rolled out of my window like smoke. All +around outside lay the November fog, gray and moist, and as the +fresh air of the early dawn blew cool on my face I felt my senses +returning to me. I looked down at the night watch man--God bless +him! He was a big, strong, comfortably fat fellow made of real +flesh and blood, and no ghost shape of the night. I looked at the +round tower of the church--how massive and venerable it stood +there, gray in the gray of the morning mists. I looked over at the +market place. There was a light in the baker shop and a farmer +stood before it, tying his horse to a post. Back in my own room +everything was in its usual place. Even the little paper bag with +the sugar lay there on the window sill, and the imprisoned fly +buzzed louder than ever. I knew that I was really awake and that +the day was coming. I sprang back hastily from the window and was +about to jump into bed, when my foot touched something hard and +sharp. + +I stooped to see what it was, felt about on the floor in the half +light, and touched a long, dry, skeleton arm which held a tiny roll +of paper in its bony fingers. I felt about again, and found still +another arm, also holding a roll of paper. Then I began to think +that my reason must be going. What I had seen thus far was only an +unusually vivid dream--a vision of my heated imagination. But I +knew that I was awake now, and yet here lay two-no, three (for +there was still another arm)--hard, undeniable, material proofs +that what I had thought was hallucination, might have been reality. +Trembling in the thought that madness was threatening me, I tore +open the first roll of paper. On it was written the name: +"Solling." I caught at the second and opened it. There stood the +word: "Nansen." I had just strength enough left to catch the third +paper and open it--there was my own name: "Simsen." + +Then I sank fainting to the floor. + +When I came to myself again, Niels Daae stood beside me with an +empty water bottle, the contents of which were dripping off my +person and off the sofa upon which I was lying. "Here, drink +this," he said in a soothing tone. "It will make you feel better." + +I looked about me wildly, as I sipped at the glass of brandy which +put new life into me once more. "What has happened?" I asked +weakly. + +"Oh, nothing of importance," answered Niels. "You were just about +to commit suicide by means of charcoal gas. Those are mighty bad +ventilators on your old stove there. The wind must have blown them +shut, unless you were fool enough to close them yourself before you +went to bed. If you had not opened the window, you would have +already been too far along the path to Paradise to be called back +by a glass of brandy. Take another." + +"How did you get up here?" I asked, sitting upright on the sofa. + +"Through the door in the usual simple manner," answered Niels Daae. +"I was on watch last night in the hospital; but Mathiesen's punch +is heavy and my watching was more like sleeping, so I thought it +better to come away in the early morning. As I passed your +barracks here, I saw you sitting in the window in your nightshirt +and calling down to the night watchman that some one was murdering +you. I managed to wake up Jansen down below you, and got into the +house through his window. Do you usually sleep on the bare floor?" + +"But where did the arms come from?" I asked, still half bewildered. + +"Oh, the devil take those arms," cried Niels. "Just see if you can +stand up all right now. Oh, those arms there? Why, those are the +arms I cut off your skeletons. Clever idea, wasn't it? You know +how grumpy Solling gets if anything interferes with his tutoring. +You see, I'd had the geese sent me, and I wanted you to all come +with me to Mathiesen's place. I knew you were going to read the +osteology of the arm, so I went up into Solling's room, opened it +with his own keys and took the arms from his skeleton. I did the +same here while you were downstairs in the reading room. Have you +been stupid enough to take them down off their frames, and take +away their tickets? I had marked them so carefully, that each man +should get his own again." + +I dressed hastily and went out with Niels into the fresh, cool +morning air. A few minutes later we separated, and I turned toward +the street where Solling lived. Without heeding the protest of his +old landlady, I entered the room where he still slept the sleep of +the just. The arm, still wrapped in newspaper, lay on his desk. I +took it up, put the mark piece in its place and hastened with all +speed to the churchyard. + +How different it looked in the early dawn! The fog had risen and +shining frost pearls hung in the bare twigs of the tall trees where +the sparrows were already twittering their morning song. There was +no one to be seen. The churchyard lay quiet and peaceful. I +stepped over the heaps of bones to where the heavy oaken coffin lay +under a tree. Cautiously I pushed the arm back into its interior, +and hammered the rusty nails into their places again, just as the +first rays of the pale November sun touched a gleam of light from +the metal plate on the cover.--Then the weight was lifted from my +soul. + + + +Otto Larssen + +The Manuscript + + +Two gentlemen sat chatting together one evening. + +Their daily business was to occupy themselves with literature. At +the present moment they were engaged in drinking whisky,--an +occupation both agreeable and useful,--and in chatting about books, +the theater, women and many other things. Finally they came around +to that inexhaustible subject for conversation, the mysterious life +of the soul, the hidden things, the Unknown, that theme for which +Shakespeare has given us an oft-quoted and oft-abused device, which +one of the men, Mr. X., now used to point his remarks. Raising his +glass, he looked at himself meditatively in a mirror opposite, and, +in a good imitation of the manner of his favorite actor, he quoted: + +"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in +thy philosophy, Horatio." + +Mr. Y. arranged a fresh glass for himself, and answered: + +"I believe it. I believe also that it is given but to a few chosen +ones to see these things. It never fell to my lot, I know. +Fortunately for me, perhaps. For,--at least so it appears to me,-- +these chosen ones appear on closer investigation to be individuals +of an abnormal condition of brain. As far as I personally am +concerned, I know of nothing more strange than the usual logical +and natural sequence of events on our globe. I confess things do +sometimes happen outside of this orderly sequence; but for the +cold-blooded and thoughtful person the Strange, the apparently +Inexplicable, usually turns out to be a sum of Chance, that Chance +we will never be quite clever enough to fully take into our +calculations. + +"As an instance I would like to tell you the story of what happened +several years back to a friend of mine, a young French writer. He +had a good, sincere mind, but he had also a strong leaning toward +which was just then in danger of becoming as much of a fashion in +France as it is here now. The event of which I am about to tell +you threw him into what was almost a delirium, which came near to +robbing him of his normal intelligence, and therefore came near to +robbing French readers of a few excellent books. + +"This was the way it happened: + +"It was about ten years back, and I was spending the spring and +summer in Paris. I had a room with the family of a concierge on +the left bank, rue de Vaugirard, near the Luxembourg Gardens. + +"A few steps from my modest domicile lived my friend Lucien F. We +had become acquainted through a chain of circumstances which do not +belong to this story, but these circumstances had made firm friends +of us, a friendship which was a source of great pleasure and also +of assistance to me in my study of Paris conditions. This +friendship also enabled me to enjoy better and cheaper whisky than +one can usually meet with in the city by the Seine, a real good +'Jameson Highland.' + +"Lucien F. had already published several books which had aroused +attention through the oddity of their themes, and their gratifying +success had made it possible for him to establish himself in a +comfortably furnished bachelor apartment on the corner of the rue +de Vaugirard and the rue de Conde. + +"The apartment had a corridor and three rooms; a dining room, a +bedroom and a charming study with an inclosed balcony, the three +windows of which,--a large one in the center and two smaller ones +at the side,--sent a flood of light in over the great writing table +which filled nearly the entire balcony. Inside the room, near the +balcony, stood a divan covered with a bearskin rug. Upon this +divan I spent many of my hours in Paris, occupied in the smoking of +my friend's excellent cigars, and the sampling of his superlatively +good whisky. At the same time I could lie staring up at the tops +of the trees in the Luxembourg Gardens, while Lucien worked at his +desk. For, unlike most writers, he could work best when he was not +alone. + +"If I remained away several days, he would invariably ring my bell +early some morning, and drag me out of bed with the remark: 'The +whisky is ready. I can't write if you are not there.' + +"During the particular days of which I shall tell you, he was +engaged in the writing of a fantastic novelette, 'The Force of the +Wind,' a work which interested him greatly, and which he would +interrupt unwillingly at intervals to furnish copy for the well- +known newspaper that numbered him among the members of its staff. +His books were printed by the same house that did the printing for +the paper. + +"Often, as I lay in my favorite position on the divan, the bell +would ring and we would he honored by a visit from the printer's +boy Adolphe, a little fellow in a blue blouse, the true type of +Paris gamin. Adolphe rejoiced in a broken nose, a pair of crafty +eyes, and had his fists always full of manuscripts which he treated +with a carelessness that would have driven a literary novice to +despair. The long rolls of yellow paper would hang out of his +trousers pockets as if ready to fall apart at his next movement. +And the disrespectful manner in which he crammed my friend Lucien's +scarcely dried essay into the breast of his blouse would have +certainly called forth remarks from a journalist of more self- +conceit. + +"But his eyes were so full of sly cunning, and there was such an +atmosphere of Paris about the stocky little fourteen-year-old chap, +that we would often keep him longer with us, and treat him to a +glass of anisette to hear his opinion of the writers whose work he +handled. He was an amusing cross between a tricky little Paris +gamin and a real child, and he hit off the characteristics of the +various writers with as keen a touch of actuality as he could put +into his stories of how many centimes he had won that morning at +'craps' from his friend Pierre. Pierre was another employee of the +printing house, Adolphe's comrade in his study of the mysteries of +Paris streets, and now his rival. They were both in love with the +same girl, the fifteen-year-old daughter of the keeper of 'La +Prunelle' Cafe, and her favor was often the prize of the morning's +game. + +"Now and then this rivalry between the two young Parisians would +drop into a hand-to-hand fight. I myself was witness to such a +skirmish one day, in front of 'La Prunelle.' The rivals pulled +each other's hair mightily while the manuscripts flew about over +the pavement, and Virginie, in her short skirts, stood at the door +of the cafe and laughed until she seemed about to shake to pieces. + +"Pierre was the strongest, and Adolphe came off with a bloody nose. +He gathered up his manuscripts in grim silence and left the +battlefield and the still laughing Virginie with an expression of +deep anger on his wounded face. + +"The following day, when I teased him a little because of his +defeat, he smiled a sly smile and remarked: + +"'Yes, but I won a franc from him, the big stupid animal. And so +it was I, after all, who took Virginie out that evening. We went +to the Cafe "Neant," where I let them put me in the coffin and +pretend to be decaying, to amuse her. She thought it was lots of +fun.' + +"One morning Lucien had come for me as usual, put me on the divan, +and seated himself at his writing table. He was just putting the +last words to his novel, and the table was entirely covered with +the scattered leaves, closely written. I could just see his neck +as he sat there, a thin-sinewed, expressive neck. He bent over his +work, blind and deaf for anything else. I lay there and gazed out +over the tops of the trees in the park up into the blue summer sky. +The window on the left side of the desk stood wide open, for it was +a warm and sultry day. I sipped my whisky slowly. The air was +heavy, and thunder threatened in the distance. After a little +while the clouds gathered together, heavy, low-hanging, copper- +hued, real thunder clouds, and the trees in the park rustled +softly. The air was stifling, and lay heavy as lead on my breast. + +"'Lucien!' + +"Lucien did not hear or see anything, his pen flew over the paper. + +"I fell hack lazily on my divan. + +"Then, suddenly, there was a mighty tumult. A strong gust of wind +swept through the street, bending the trees in the gardens quite +out of my horizon. With a crash the right-hand window in the +balcony flew wide open, and like a cyclone, the wind swept through, +clearing the table in an instant of all the loose sheets of paper +that had lain scattered about it. + +"'The devil! Why don't you shut the window!' I cried, springing up +from the sofa. + +"'Spare your energy, it's too late,' said Lucien with a gentle +mockery in his soft voice. 'Look there!'--he pointed out into the +street, where his sheets of paper went swirling about in the heavy +air like white doves. + +"A second later came the rain, a veritable cloud-burst. We shut +the windows and gave ourselves up to melancholy thoughts about the +lost manuscript, the recovery of which now seemed utterly hopeless. + +"'That's one thousand francs, at least, that the wind has robbed me +of,' sighed Lucien. 'Well, enfin, that doesn't matter so much. +But do you know anything more tiresome than to work over the same +subject a second time? I can't think of doing it. It would fairly +make me sick to try it.' + +"We were in a sad mood that morning. When we went out to breakfast +at about two o'clock, we looked about for some traces of the lost +manuscript. + +"There was nothing to be seen. It had vanished completely, whirled +off to all four corners of the earth probably, this manuscript from +which Lucien had expected so much. Truly it was 'The Force of the +Wind.' + + . . . . . + +"Now comes the strange part of the story. One morning, two weeks +later, Lucien stood in the door of my little room, pale as a ghost. +He had a bundle of printer's proofs in his hand, and held them out +to me without a word. + +"I looked at it and read: + +"'"The Force of the Wind," by Lucien F.' + +"It was a good bundle of proofs, the entire first proofs of +Lucien's novel, that novel the manuscript of which we had seen +blown out of the balcony window and whirled away by the winds. + +"'My dear man,' I exclaimed, as I handed him back the proofs. 'You +HAVE been industrious indeed, to write your entire novel over again +in so short a time--and to have proofs already--' + +"Lucien did not answer. He stood silent, staring at me with a +weird look in his otherwise so sensible eyes. After a moment he +stammered: + +"'I did not write the novel over again. I have not touched a pen +since the day the manuscript blew out of the window.' + +"'Are you a sleep-walker, Lucien?' + +"'Why do you ask?' + +"'Why, that would be the only natural explanation. They say we can +do a great many things in sleep, of which we know nothing when we +wake. I've heard queer stories of that. Men have committed +murders in their sleep. It happens quite often that sleep-walkers +write letters in a handwriting they do not recognize when awake.' + +"'I have never been a sleep-walker,' answered Lucien. + +"'Oh, you never can tell,' I remarked. 'Would you rather explain +it as magic? Or as the work of fairies? Or do you believe in +ghosts? Your muse has fascinated you, you mystic!' And I laughed +and trilled a line from 'The Mascot,' which we had seen the evening +before at the Lyric. + +"But my merriment did not seem to strike an answering note in +Lucien. He turned from me in silence, and with an offended +expression took his hat and his proofs, and--humorist and skeptic +as he was ordinarily, he parted from me with the words, uttered in +a theatrical tone: + +"'There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in +thy philosophy.' + +"He turned on his heel and left the room. + +"To be candid, I was unpleasantly affected by the little scene. I +could not for an instant doubt Lucien's honesty,--he was so pale, +so frightened almost--so touching in the alarm and excitement of +his soul. Of course the only explanation that I could see was that +he had written his novel in a sleep-walking state. + +"For certainly no printer could set up type from a manuscript that +did not exist,--to say nothing of printing it and sending out +proofs. + +"Several days passed, but Lucien did not come near me. I went to +his place once or twice, but the door was locked. Had the devil +carried him off bodily? Or had this strange and inexplicable +occurrence robbed him of his sanity, and robbed me of his +friendship and his excellent whisky? + +"After three useless attempts to find him at home, and after +writing him a letter which he did not answer, I gave up Lucien +without any further attempt to understand his enigmatical behavior. +A short time after, I left for my home without having seen or heard +anything more of him. + + . . . . . + +"Months passed. I remained at home, and one evening when, during +the course of a gay party, the conversation came around to the +subject of mysticism and occult occurrences, I dished up my story +of the enigmatical manuscript. The Unknown, the Occult, was the +rage just then, and my story was received with great applause and +called forth numerous quotations as to 'more things in heaven and +earth.' I came to think so much of it myself that I wrote it out +and sent it to Professor Flammarion, who was just then making a +study of the Unknown, which he preserved in his later book +'L'Inconnu.' + +"The occupying myself with the story brought my mind around again +to memories of Lucien. One day, I saw a notice in Le Figaro to the +effect that his book, 'The Force of the Wind,' had appeared in a +second large edition, and had aroused much attention, particularly +in spiritualistic circles. I seemed to see him again before me, +with his long nervous neck, which was so expressive. The vision of +this neck rose up before me whenever I drank the same sort of +whisky that I had drunk so often with him, and the longing to hear +something more of my lost friend came over me. I sat down one +evening when in a sentimental mood, and wrote to him, asking him to +tell me something of himself and to send me his book. + +"A week later I received the little book and the following letter +which I have here in my pocket. It is somewhat crumpled, for I +have read it several times. But no matter. I will read it to you +now, if you will pardon my awkward translating of the French +original. + +"Here it is: + + +"DEAR FRIEND: + +"Many thanks for your letter. Here is the book. I have to thank +you also that you did not lay my behavior of your last days in +Paris up against me. It must have seemed strange to you. I will +try to explain it. + +"I have been nervous from childhood. The fact that most of my +books have treated of fantastic subjects,--somewhat in the manner +of Edgar Allan Poe--has made me more susceptible for all that world +which lies beyond and about the world of every-day life. I have +sought after,--and yet feared--the mystical; cool and lucid as I +can be at times, I have always had an inclination for the +enigmatical, the Unknown. + +"But the first thing that ever happened in my life that I could not +explain or understand was the affair of the manuscript. You +remember the day I stood in your room? I must have looked the +picture of misery. The affair had played more havoc with my nerves +than you can very well understand. Your mockery hurt me, and yet +under all I felt ashamed of my own thoughts concerning this foolish +occurrence. I could not explain the phenomenon, and I shivered at +the things that it suggested to me. In this condition, which +lasted several weeks, I could not bear to see you or anyone else, +and I was impolite enough even to leave your letter unanswered. + +"The book appeared and made a hit, since that sort of thing was the +center of interest just then. But almost a month passed before I +could arouse myself from that condition of fear and--I had almost +said, softening of the brain--which prevented my enjoyment of my +success. + +"Then the explanation came. Thanks to this occurrence I know now +that I shall never again be in danger of being 'haunted.' + +"And I know now that Chance can bring about stranger happenings +than can any fancied visitations from the spirit world. Here you +have the story of this 'mystic' occurrence, which came near +endangering my sanity, and which turns out to be a chance +combination of a gust of wind, a sudden downpour of rain, and the +strange elements in the character of our little friend Adolphe the +printer's boy. + +"You remember that funny little chap with the crafty eye, his +talent for gambling, and his admiration for the girl of 'La +Prunelle'? A queer little mixture this child who has himself alone +to look to for livelihood and care, the typical race of the Paris +streets, the modified gamin from 'Les Miserables.' + +"About a month after the appearance of my book I lay on the divan +one day,--your favorite place, you remember?--and lost myself in +idle reasonings on the same old subject that never left my mind day +or night, when the bell rang and Adolphe appeared, to call for the +essay on 'Le Boulevarde.' There was an unusually nervous gleam in +his eyes that day. I gave him an anisette and tried to find out +what his trouble was. I did find it out, and I found out a good +deal more besides. + +"Thanks to his good fortune as a gambler, Virginie came to look +upon him with favor. Pierre was quite out of the race and +Adolphe's affection was reciprocated as much as his heart could +desire. But with his good fortune in love came all the suffering, +all the torture, the suspicions that tear the hearts of us men when +we set our hopes upon a woman's truth. Young as he was he went +through them all, and now he was torturing himself with the thought +that she did not really love him and was only pretending, while she +gave her heart to another. Perhaps he was right--why not? + +"I talked to Adolphe as man to man, and managed to bring back a +gleam of his usual jollity and sly humor. He took another glass of +anisette, and said suddenly: + +"'M. Lucien--I did something--' + +"'Did what?' I asked. + +"'Something I should have told you long ago--it was wrong, and +you've always been so nice to me--' + +"You remember the day, two months ago, when we had such a sudden +wind and rain storm, a regular cloud-burst? I was down here in +this neighborhood fetching manuscripts from M. Labouchere and M. +Laroy. I was to have come up here for copy from you, too. But +then--you'll understand after all I've been telling you,--I came +around past 'La Prunelle' and Virginie stood in the doorway, and +she'd promised to go out with me that evening. So I ran up to +speak to her. And then when I went on again, I saw a sheet with +your writing lying in the street. You know I know all the +gentlemen's writing, whose copy I fetch. Then I was frightened. I +thought to myself, 'The devil,' I thought, 'here I've lost M. +Lucien's manuscript.' I couldn't remember calling for it, but I +thought I must have done so before I got M. Laroy's. I can't +remember much except Virginie these days. I took up the sheet and +saw three others a little further on. And I saw a lot more shining +just behind the railing of the Luxembourg Garden. You know how +hard it rained. The water held the paper down, so the wind +couldn't carry it any further. I ran into the Garden and picked up +all the sheets, thirty-two of them. All of them, except the first +four I found in the street, had blown in behind the railing. And I +can tell you I was precious glad that I had them all together. I +ran back to the office, told them I had dropped the manuscript in +the street, but asked them not to say anything to you about it. +But the sheets were all there,--you always number them so clearly, +and 'handsome August,' the compositer, promised he wouldn't tell on +me. I knew if the foreman heard of it, he'd put me out, for he had +a grudge against me. So nobody knew anything about it. But I +thought I ought to tell you, 'cause you've been so nice to me. +Maybe you'll understand how one gets queer at times, when a girl +like Virginie tells you she likes you better than Pierre, and yet +you think she might deceive you for his sake--that big, stupid +animal-- But now I'll be going. Much obliged for your kindness, +M. Lucien, and for the anisette--' And he left me. + +"There you have the explanation, the very simple and natural +explanation of the phenomenon that almost drove me crazy. + +"The entire 'supernatural' occurrence was caused by a careless +boy's love affairs, by a gust of southwest wind, by a sudden heavy +rain, and by the chance that I had used English ink, the kind that +water cannot blur. All these simple natural things made me act so +foolishly toward a good friend, the sort of friend I have always +known you to be. Let me hear from you, and tell me what you people +up North think of my book. I give you my word that the 'Unknown +Powers' shall never again make me foolish enough to risk losing +your friendship! + +"Yours + +"LUCIEN." + +"So this is my story. Yes, 'there are more things in heaven and +earth--' But the workings of Chance are the strangest of all. And +this whisky is really very good. Here's to you." + + + +Bernhard Severin Ingemann + +The Sealed Room + + +For many years there stood in a side street in Kiel an +unpretentious old frame house which had a forbidding, almost +sinister appearance, with its old-fashioned balcony and its +overhanging upper stories. For the last twenty years the house had +been occupied by a greatly respected widow, Madame Wolff, to whom +the dwelling had come by inheritance. She lived there quietly with +her one daughter, in somewhat straitened circumstances. + +What gave the house a mysterious notoriety, augmenting the sinister +quality in its appearance, was the fact that one of its rooms, a +corner room on the main floor, had not been opened for generations. +The door was firmly fastened and sealed with plaster, as well as +the window looking out upon the street. Above the door was an old +inscription, dated 1603, which threatened sudden death and eternal +damnation to any human being who dared to open the door or efface +the inscription. Neither door nor window had been opened in the +two hundred years that had passed since the inscription was put up. +But for a generation back or more, the partition wall and the +sealed door had been covered with wall paper, and the inscription +had been almost forgotten. + +The room adjoining the sealed chamber was a large hall, utilized +only for rare important events. Such an occasion arose with the +wedding of the only daughter of the house. For that evening the +great hall, as it was called, was brilliantly decorated and +illuminated for a ball. The building had deep cellars and the old +floors were elastic. Madame Wolff had in vain endeavored to avoid +using the great hall at all, for the foolish old legend of the +sealed chamber aroused a certain superstitious dread in her heart, +and she rarely if ever entered the hall herself. But merry Miss +Elizabeth, her pretty young daughter, was passionately fond of +dancing, and her mother had promised that she should have a ball on +her wedding day. Her betrothed, Secretary Winther, was also a good +dancer, and the two young people combated the mother's prejudice +against the hall and laughed at her fear of the sealed room. They +thought it would be wiser to appear to ignore the stupid legend +altogether, and thus to force the world to forget it. In spite of +secret misgivings Madame Wolff yielded to their arguments. And for +the first time in many years the merry strains of dance music were +heard in the great hall that lay next the mysterious sealed +chamber. + +The bridal couple, as well as the wedding guests, were in the +gayest mood, and the ball was an undoubted success. The dancing +was interrupted for an hour while supper was served in an adjoining +room. After the repast the guests returned to the hall, and it was +several hours more before the last dance was called. The season +was early autumn and the weather still balmy. The windows had been +opened to freshen the air. But the walls retained their dampness +and suddenly the dancers noticed that the old wall paper which +covered the partition wall between the hall and the sealed chamber +had been loosened through the jarring of the building, and had +fallen away from the sealed door with its mysterious inscription. + +The story of the sealed chamber had been almost forgotten by most +of those present, forgotten with many other old legends heard in +childhood. The inscription thus suddenly revealed naturally +aroused great interest, and there was a general curiosity to know +what the mysterious closed room might hide. Conjectures flew from +mouth to mouth. Some insisted that the closed door must hide the +traces of a hideous murder, or some other equally terrible crime. +Others suggested that perhaps the room had been used as a hiding +place for garments and other articles belonging to some person who +had died of a pestilence, and that the room had been sealed for +fear of spreading the disease. Still others thought that in the +sealed chamber there might be found a secret entrance from the +cellars, which had made the room available as a hiding place for +robbers or smugglers. The guests had quite forgotten their dancing +in the interest awakened by the sight of the mysterious door. + +"For mercy's sake, don't let's go too near it!" exclaimed some of +the young ladies. But the majority thought it would be great fun +to see what was hidden there. Most of the men said that they +considered it foolish not to have opened the door long ago, and +examined the room. The young bridegroom did not join in this +opinion, however. He upheld the decision of his mother-in-law not +to allow any attempt to effect an entrance into the room. He knew +that there was a clause in the title deeds to the house which made +the express stipulation that no owner should ever permit the corner +room to be opened. There was discussion among the guests as to +whether such a clause in a title deed could be binding for several +hundred years, and many doubted its validity at any time. But most +of them understood why Madame Wolff did not wish any investigation, +even should any of those present have sufficient courage to dare +the curse and break open the door. + +"Nonsense! What great courage is necessary for that?" exclaimed +Lieutenant Flemming Wolff, a cousin of the bride of the evening. +This gentleman had a reputation that was not of the best. He was +known to live mostly on debt and pawn tickets, and was of a most +quarrelsome disposition. As a duelist he was feared because of his +specialty. This was the ability, and the inclination, through a +trick in the use of the foils, to disfigure his opponent's face +badly, without at all endangering his life. In this manner he had +already sadly mutilated several brave officers and students, who +had had the bad luck to stand up against him. He himself was +anything but pleasant to look upon, his natural plainness having +been rendered repellent by a life of low debauchery. He cherished +a secret grudge against the bridegroom and bitter feelings toward +the bride, because the latter had so plainly shown her aversion for +him when he had ventured to pay suit to her. + +The family had not desired any open break with this disagreeable +relative, and had therefore sent him an invitation to the wedding. +They had taken it for granted that, under the circumstances, he +would prefer to stay away. But he had appeared at the ball, and, +perhaps to conceal his resentment, he had been the most +indefatigable dancer of the evening. At supper he had partaken +freely of the strongest wines, and was plainly showing the effect +of them by this time. His eyes rolled wildly, and those who knew +him took care not to contradict him, or to have anything to say to +him at all. + +With a boastful laugh he repeated his assertion that it didn't take +much courage to open a sealed door, especially when there might be +a fortune concealed behind it. In his opinion it was cowardly to +let oneself be frightened by a century-old legend. HE wouldn't let +that bother him if HE had influence enough in the family to win the +daughter and induce the mother to give a ball in the haunted hall. +With this last hit he hoped to arouse the young husband's ire. But +the latter merely shrugged his shoulders and turned away with a +smile of contempt. + +Lieutenant Wolff fired up at this, and demanded to know whether the +other intended to call his, the lieutenant's, courage into question +by his behavior. + +"Not in the slightest, when it is a matter of obtaining a loan, or +of mutilating an adversary with a trick at fencing," answered the +bridegroom angrily, taking care, however, that neither the bride +nor any of the other ladies should hear his words. Then he +continued in a whisper: "But I don't believe you'd have the courage +to remain here alone and in darkness, before this closed door, for +a single hour. If you wish to challenge me for this doubt, I am at +your disposal as soon as you have proven me in the wrong. But I +choose the weapons." + +"They must be chosen by lot, sir cousin," replied the lieutenant, +his cheek pale and his jaws set. "I will expect you to breakfast +to-morrow morning at eight o'clock." + +The bridegroom nodded, and took the other's cold dry hand for an +instant. The men who had overheard the short conversation looked +upon it as a meaningless incident, the memory of which would +disappear from the lieutenant's brain with the vanishing wine +fumes. + +The ball was now over. The bride left the hall with her husband +and several of the guests who were to accompany the young couple to +their new home. The lights went out in the old house. The door of +the dancing hall had been locked from the outside. Lieutenant +Flemming Wolff remained alone in the room, having hidden himself in +a dark corner where he had not been seen by the servants, who had +extinguished the lights and locked the door. The night watchman +had just called out two o'clock when the solitary guest found +himself, still giddy from the heavy wine, alone in the great dark +hall in front of the mysterious door. + +The windows were at only a slight elevation from the street, and a +spring would take him to safety should his desire to remain there, +or to solve the mystery of the sealed room, vanish. But next +morning all the windows in the great hall were found closed, just +as the servants had left them the night before. The night watchman +reported that he had heard a hollow-sounding crash in that +unoccupied part of the house during the night. But that was +nothing unusual, as there was a general belief in the neighborhood +that the house was haunted. + +For hollow noises were often heard there, and sounds as of money +falling on the floor, and rattling and clinking as of a factory +machine. Enlightened people, it is true, explained these sounds as +echoes of the stamping and other natural noises from a large stable +just behind the old house. But in spite of these explanations and +their eminent feasibility, the dread of the unoccupied portion of +the house was so great that not even the most reckless man servant +could be persuaded to enter it alone after nightfall. + +Next morning at eight o'clock Winther appeared at his mother-in- +law's door, saying that he had forgotten something of importance in +the great hall the night before. Madame Wolff had not yet arisen, +but the maid who let in the early visitor noticed with surprise +that he had a large pistol sticking out of one of his pockets. + +Winther had been to his cousin's apartment and found it locked. He +now entered the great hall, and at first glance thought it empty. +To his alarm and astonishment, however, he saw that the sealed door +had been broken open. He approached it with anxiety, and found his +wife's cousin, the doughty duelist, lying pale and lifeless on the +threshold. Beside him lay a large stone which had struck his head +in falling and must have killed him at once. Over the door was a +hole in the wall, just the size of the stone. The latter had +evidently rested on the upper edge of the door, and must certainly +have fallen on its opening. The unfortunate man lay half in the +mysterious chamber and half in the hall, just as he must have +fallen when the stone struck him. + +The formal investigation of the closed room was made in the +presence of the police authorities. It contained nothing but a +small safe which was built into the wall. When the safe had been +opened by force, an inner chamber, which had to be broken open by +itself, was found to contain a number of rolls of gold pieces, many +jewels and numerous notes and I. O. U.'s. The treasure was covered +by an old document. From this latter it was learned that the owner +of the house two hundred years ago had been a silk weaver by the +name of Flemming Ambrosius Wolff. He was said to have lent money +on security for many years, but had died apparently a poor man, +because he had so carefully hidden his riches that little of it was +found after his death. + +With a niggardliness that bordered on madness, he had believed that +he could hide his treasure forever by shutting it up in the sealed +room. The curse over the door was to frighten away any venturesome +mortal, and further security was given by the clause in the title +deed. + +The universally disliked Lieutenant Flemming Wolff must have had +many characteristics in common with this disagreeable old ancestor, +to whose treasure he would have fallen heir had he not lost his +life in the discovering of it. The old miser had not hidden his +wealth for all eternity, as he had hoped, but had only brought +about the inheriting of it by Madame Wolff, the owner of the house, +and the next of kin. The first use to which this lady put the +money was to tear down the uncanny old building and to erect in its +stead a beautiful new home for her daughter and son-in-law. + + + +Steen Steensen Blicher + +The Rector of Veilbye + + +These extracts from the diary of Erik Sorensen, District Judge, +followed by two written statements by the rector of Aalso, give a +complete picture of the terrible events that took place in the +parish of Veilbye during Judge Sorensen's first year of office. +Should anyone be inclined to doubt the authenticity of these +documents let him at least have no doubt about the story, which is, +alas! only too sadly true. The memory of these events is still +fresh in the district, and the events themselves have been the +direct cause of a change in the method of criminal trials. A +suspected murderer is now tried through all the courts before his +conviction can be determined. Readers versed in the history of law +will doubtless know by this during what epoch the story is laid. + + +I + + +[From the Diary of District Judge Erik Sorensen.] + +Now am I, unworthy one, by the grace of God made judge over this +district. May the Great Judge above give me wisdom and uprightness +that I may fulfill my difficult task in all humility! From the +Lord alone cometh judgment. + + +It is not good that man should live alone. Now that I am able to +support a wife I will look about me for a helpmeet. I hear much +good said about the daughter of the Rector of Veilbye. Since her +mother's death she has been a wise and economical keeper of her +father's house. And as she and her brother the student are the +only children, she will inherit a tidy sum when the old man dies. + +Morten Bruus of Ingvorstrup was here to-day and wanted to make me a +present of a fat calf. But I answered him in the words of Moses, +"Cursed be he who taketh gifts." He is of a very quarrelsome +nature, a sharp bargainer, and a boastful talker. I do not want to +have any dealings with him, except through my office as judge. + +I have prayed to God for wisdom and I have consulted with my own +heart, and I believe that Mistress Mette Quist is the only woman +with whom I could live and die. But I will watch her for a time in +secret. Beauty is deceptive and charm is a dangerous thing. But I +must say that she is the most beautiful woman I have yet seen. + + +I think that Morten Bruus a very disagreeable person--I scarcely +know why myself. But whenever I see him something comes over me, +something that is like the memory of an evil dream. And yet it is +so vague and so faint, that I could not say whether I had really +ever seen the man in my dreams or not. It may be a sort of +presentiment of evil; who knows? + +He was here again and offered me a pair of horses--beautiful +animals--at a ridiculously low price. It looked queer to me. I +know that he paid seventy thalers for them, and he wanted to let me +have them for the same price. They are at the least worth one +hundred thalers, if not more. Was it intended for a bribe? He may +have another lawsuit pending. I do not want his horses. + + +I paid a visit to the Rector of Veilbye to-day. He is a fine, God- +fearing man, but somewhat quick-tempered and dictatorial. And he +is close with his money, too, as I could see. Just as I arrived a +peasant was with him trying to be let off the payment of part of +his tithe. The man is surely a rogue, for the sum is not large. +But the rector talked to him as I wouldn't have talked to a dog, +and the more, he talked the more violent he became. + +Well, we all have our faults. The rector meant well in spite of +his violence, for later on he told his daughter to give the man a +sandwich and a good glass of beer. She is certainly a charming and +sensible girl. She greeted me in a modest and friendly manner, and +my heart beat so that I could scarcely say a word in reply. My +head farm hand served in the rectory three years. I will question +him,--one often hears a straight and true statement from servants. + +A surprise! My farm hand Rasmus tells me that Morten Bruus came a- +wooing to the rectory at Veilbye some years back, but was sent away +with a refusal. The rector seemed to be pleased with him, for the +man is rich. But his daughter would not hear to it at all. Pastor +Soren may have tried hard to persuade her to consent at first. But +when he saw how much she disliked the man he let her do as she +would. It was not pride on her part, Rasmus said, for she is as +simple and modest as she is good and beautiful. And she knows that +her own father is peasant-born as well as Bruus. + + +Now I know what the Ingvorstrup horses were intended for. They +were to blind the judge and to lead him aside from the narrow path +of righteousness. The rich Morten Bruns covets poor Ole Anderson's +peat moor and pasture land. It would have been a good bargain for +Morten even at seventy thalers. But no indeed, my good fellow, you +don't know Erik Sorensen! + + +Rector Soren Quist of Veilbye came to see me this morning. He has +a new coachman, Niels Bruus, brother to the owner of Ingvorstrup. +Neils is lazy and impertinent. The rector wanted him arrested, but +he had no witnesses to back up his complaint. I advised him to get +rid of the man somehow, or else to get along with him the best he +could until the latter's time was up. The rector was somewhat +hasty at first, but later on he listened calmly and thanked me for +my good advice. He is inclined to be violent at times, but can +always be brought to listen to reason. We parted good friends. + + +I spent a charming day in Veilbye yesterday. The rector was not at +home, but Mistress Mette received me with great friendliness. She +sat by the door spinning when I arrived, and it seemed to me that +she blushed. It was hardly polite for me to wait so long before +speaking. When I sit in judgment I never lack for words, but in +the presence of this innocent maiden I am as stupid as the veriest +simpleton of a chicken thief. But I finally found my voice and the +time passed quickly until the rector's return. Then Mistress Mette +left us and did not return until she brought in our supper. + +Just as she stepped through the doorway the rector was saying to +me, "Isn't it about time that you should think of entering into the +holy estate of matrimony?" (We had just been speaking of a recent +very fine wedding in the neighborhood.) Mistress Mette heard the +words and flushed a deep red. Her father laughed and said to her, +"I can see, my dear daughter, that you have been standing before +the fire." + +I shall take the good man's advice and will very soon try my fate +with her. For I think I may take the rector's words to be a secret +hint that he would not object to me as a son-in-law. And the +daughter? Was her blush a favorable sign? + + +Poor Ole Anderson keeps his peat moor and his pasture land, but +rich Morten Bruus is angry at me because of it. When he heard the +decision he closed his eyes and set his lips tight, and his face +was as pale as a whitewashed wall. But he controlled himself and +as he went out he called back to his adversary, "Wish you joy of +the bargain, Ole Anderson. The peat bog won't beggar me, and the +cattle at Ingvorstrup have all the hay they can eat." I could hear +his loud laughter outside and the cracking of his whip. It is not +easy to have to sit in judgment. Every decision makes but one +enemy the more. + + +Yesterday was the happiest day of my life. We celebrated our +betrothal in the Rectory of Veilbye. My future father-in-law spoke +to the text, "I gave my handmaid into thy bosom" (Genesis xvi, 5). +His words touched my heart. I had not believed that this serious +and sometimes brusque man could talk so sweetly. When the +solemnity was over, I received the first kiss from my sweet +betrothed, and the assurance of her great love for me. + + +At supper and later on we were very merry. Many of the dead +mother's kin were present. The rector's family were too far away. +After supper we danced until daybreak and there was no expense +spared in the food and wine. My future father-in-law was the +strongest man present, and could easily drink all the others under +the table. The wedding is to take place in six weeks. God grant +us rich blessings. + + +It is not good that my future father-in-law should have this Niels +Bruus in his service. He is a defiant fellow, a worthy brother of +him of Ingvorstrup. If it were I, he should have his wages and be +turned off, the sooner the better. But the good rector is stubborn +and insists that Niels shall serve out his time. The other day he +gave the fellow a box on the ear, at which Niels cried out that he +would make him pay for it. The rector told me of this himself, for +no one else had been present. I talked to Niels, but he would +scarcely answer me. I fear he has a stubborn and evil nature. My +sweet betrothed also en-treats her father to send the fellow away, +but the rector will not listen to reason. I do not know what the +old man will do when his daughter leaves his home for mine. She +saves him much worry and knows how to make all things smooth and +easy. She will be a sweet wife for me. + + +As I thought, it turned out badly. But there is one good thing +about it, Niels has now run off of himself. The rector is greatly +angered, but I rejoice in secret that he is rid of that dangerous +man. Bruus will probably seek retaliation, but we have law and +justice in the land to order such matters. + +This was the way of it: The rector had ordered Niels to dig up a +bit of soil in the garden. After a time when he went out himself +to look at the work, he found Niels leaning on his spade eating +nuts. He had not even begun to dig. The rector scolded him, but +the fellow answered that he had not taken service as a gardener. +He received a good box on the ear for that. At this he threw away +his spade and swore valiantly at his master. The old rector lost +his temper entirely, seized the spade and struck at the man several +times. He should not have done this, for a spade is a dangerous +weapon, especially in the hands of a man as strong as is the pastor +in spite of his years. Niels fell to the ground as if dead. But +when the pastor bent over him in alarm, he sprang up suddenly, +jumped the hedge and ran away to the woods. + +This is the story of the unfortunate affair as my father-in-law +tells it to me. My beloved Mette is much worried about it. She +fears the man may do harm to the cattle, or set fire to the house, +or in some such way take his revenge. But I tell her there is +little fear of that. + + +Three weeks more and my beloved leaves her father's house for mine. +She has been here and has gone over the house and the farm. She is +much pleased with everything and praises our orderliness. She is +an angel, and all who know her say that I am indeed a fortunate +man. To God be the praise! + + +Strange, where that fellow Niels went to! Could he have left the +country altogether? It is an unpleasant affair in any case, and +there are murmurings and secret gossip among the peasants. The +talk has doubtless started in Ingvorstrup. It would not be well to +have the rector hear it. He had better have taken my advice, but +it is not my province to school a servant of God, and a man so much +older than I. The idle gossip may blow over ere long. I will go +to Veilbye to-morrow and find out if he has heard anything. + +The bracelet the goldsmith has made for me is very beautiful. I am +sure it will please my sweet Mette. + + +My honored father-in-law is much distressed and downhearted. +Malicious tongues have repeated to him the stupid gossip that is +going about in the district. Morten Bruus is reported to have said +that "he would force the rector to bring back his brother, if he +had to dig him out of the earth." The fellow may be in hiding +somewhere, possibly at Ingvorstrup. He has certainly disappeared +completely, and no one seems to know where he is. My poor +betrothed is much grieved and worried. She is alarmed by bad +dreams and by presentiments of evil to come. + + +God have mercy on us all! I am so overcome by shock and horror +that I can scarcely hold the pen. It has all come in one terrible +moment, like a clap of thunder. I take no account of time, night +and morning are the same to me and the day is but a sudden flash of +lightning destroying the proud castle of my hopes and desires. A +venerable man of God--the father of my betrothed--is in prison! +And as a suspected murderer! There is still hope that he may be +innocent. But this hope is but as a straw to a drowning man. A +terrible suspicion rests upon him--And I, unhappy man that I am, +must be his judge. And his daughter is my betrothed bride! May +the Saviour have pity on us! + + +It was yesterday that this horrible thing came. About half an hour +before sunrise Morten Bruus came to my house and had with him the +cotter Jens Larsen of Veilbye, and the widow and daughter of the +shepherd of that parish. Morten Bruus said to me that he had the +Rector of Veilbye under suspicion of having killed his brother +Niels. I answered that I had heard some such talk but had regarded +it as idle and malicious gossip, for the rector himself had assured +me that the fellow had run away. "If that was so," said Morten, +"if Niels had really intended to run away, he would surely at first +come to me to tell me of it. But it is not so, as these good +people can prove to you, and I demand that you shall hear them as +an officer of the law." + +"Think well of what you are doing," I said. "Think it over well, +Morten Bruus, and you, my good people. You are bringing a terrible +accusation against a respected and unspotted priest and man of God. +If you can prove nothing, as I strongly suspect, your accusations +may cost you dear." + +"Priest or no priest," cried Bruus, "it is written, 'thou shalt not +kill!' And also is it written, that the authorities bear the sword +of justice for all men. We have law and order in the land, and the +murderer shall not escape his punishment, even if he have the +district judge for a son-in-law." + +I pretended not to notice his thrust and began, "It shall be as you +say. Kirsten Mads' daughter, what is it that you know of this +matter in which Morten Bruus accuses your rector? Tell the truth, +and the truth only, as you would tell it before the judgment seat +of the Almighty. The law will demand from you that you shall later +repeat your testimony under oath." + +The woman told the following story: The day on which Niels Bruus +was said to have run away from the rectory, she and her daughter +were passing along the road near the rectory garden a little after +the noon hour. She heard some one calling and saw that it was +Niels Bruus looking out through the garden hedge. He asked the +daughter if she did not want some nuts and told the women that the +rector had ordered him to dig in the garden, but that he did not +take the command very seriously and would much rather eat nuts. At +that moment they heard a door open in the house and Niels said, +"Now I'm in for a scolding." He dropped back behind the hedge and +the women heard a quarrel in the garden. They could hear the words +distinctly but they could see nothing, as the hedge was too high. +They heard the rector cry, "I'll punish you, you dog. I'll strike +you dead at my feet!" Then they heard several sounding slaps, and +they heard Niels curse back at the rector and call him evil names. +The rector did not answer this, but the women heard two dull blows +and saw the head of a spade and part of the handle rise and fall +twice over the hedge. Then it was very quiet in the garden, and +the widow and her daughter were frightened and hurried on to their +cattle in the field. The daughter gave the same testimony, word +for word. I asked them if they had not seen Niels Bruus coming out +of the garden. But they said they had not, although they had +turned back several times to look. + +This accorded perfectly with what the rector had told me. It was +not strange that the women had not seen the man run out of the +garden, for he had gone toward the wood which is on the opposite +side of the garden from the highroad. I told Marten Bruus that +this testimony was no proof of the supposed murder, especially as +the rector himself had narrated the entire occurrence to me exactly +as the women had described it. But he smiled bitterly and asked me +to examine the third witness, which I proceeded to do. + +Jens Larsen testified that he was returning late one evening from +Tolstrup (as he remembered, it was not the evening of Niels Bruus's +disappearance, but the evening of the following day), and was +passing the rectory garden on the easterly side by the usual +footpath. From the garden he heard a noise as of some one digging +in the earth. He was frightened at first for it was very late, but +the moon shone brightly and he thought he would see who it was that +was at work in the garden at that hour. He put off his wooden +shoes and pushed aside the twigs of the hedge until he had made a +peep hole. In the garden he saw the rector in his usual house +coat, a white woolen nightcap on his head. He was busily smoothing +down the earth with the flat of his spade. There was nothing else +to be seen. Just then the rector had started and partly turned +toward the hedge, and the witness, fearing he might be discovered, +slipped down and ran home hastily. + +Although I was rather surprised that the rector should be working +in his garden at so late an hour, I still saw nothing in this +statement that could arouse suspicion of murder. I gave the +complainant a solemn warning and advised him not only to let fall +his accusation, but to put an end to the talk in the parish. He +replied, "Not until I see what it is that the rector buried in his +garden." + +"That will be too late," I said. "You are playing a dangerous +game. Dangerous to your own honor and welfare." + +"I owe it to my brother," he replied, "and I demand that the +authorities shall not refuse me assistance." + +My office compelled me to accede to his demands. Accompanied by +the accuser and his witnesses I took my way to Veilbye. My heart +was very heavy, not so much because of any fear that we might find +the missing man buried in the garden, but because of the surprise +and distress I must cause the rector and my beloved. As we went on +our way I thought over how severely the law would allow me to +punish the calumniators. But alas, Merciful Heavens! What a +terrible discovery was in store for me! + +I had wished to have a moment alone with the rector to prepare him +for what was coming. But as I drove through the gate Morten Bruus +spurred his horse past me and galloped up to the very door of the +house just as the rector opened it. Bruus cried out in his very +face, "People say that you have killed my brother and buried him in +your garden. I am come with the district judge to seek for him." + +The poor rector was so shocked and astounded that he could not find +a word to answer. I sprang from my wagon and addressed him: "You +have now heard the accusation. I am forced by my office to fulfill +this man's demands. But your own honor demands that the truth +shall be known and the mouth of slander silenced." + +"It is hard enough," began the rector finally, "for a man in my +position to have to clear himself from such a suspicion. But come +with me. My garden and my entire house are open to you." + +We went through the house to the garden. On the way we met my +betrothed, who was startled at seeing Bruus. I managed to whisper +hastily to her, "Do not be alarmed, dear heart. Your enemies are +going to their own destruction." Marten Bruus led the way to the +eastern side of the garden near the hedge. We others followed with +the rector's farm hands, whom he himself had ordered to join us +with spades. + +The accuser stood and looked about him until we approached. Then +he pointed to one spot. "This looks as if the earth had been +disturbed lately. Let us begin here." + +"Go to work at once," commanded the rector angrily. + +The men set to work, but they were not eager enough to suit Bruus, +who seized a spade himself to fire them on. A few strokes only +sufficed to show that the firm earth of this particular spot had +not been touched for many years. We all rejoiced--except Bruus-- +and the rector was very happy. He triumphed openly over his +accuser, and laughed at him, "Can't you find anything, you +libeler?" + +Bruus did not answer. He pondered for a few moments, then called +out, "Jens Larsen, where was it you saw the rector digging?" + +Jens Larsen had been standing to one side with his hands folded, +watching the work. At Bruus's words he aroused himself as if from +a dream, looked about him and pointed to a corner of the garden +several yards from where we stood. "I think it was over there." + +"What's that, Jens!" cried the rector angrily. "When did I dig +here?" + +Paying no heed to this, Morten Bruus called the men to the corner +in question. The earth here was covered by some withered cabbage +stalks, broken twigs, and other brush which he pushed aside +hurriedly. The work began anew. + +I stood by the rector talking calmly with him about the punishment +we could mete out to the dastardly accuser, when one of the men +suddenly cried out with an oath. We looked toward them; there lay +a hat half buried in the loose earth. "We have found him," cried +Bruus. "That is Niels's hat; I would know it anywhere." + +My blood seemed turned to ice. All my hopes dashed to the ground. +"Dig! Dig!" cried the bloodthirsty accuser, working himself with +all his might. I looked at the rector. He was ghastly pale, +staring with wide-open eyes at the horrible spot. + +Another shout! A hand was stretched up through the earth as if to +greet the workers. "See there!" screamed Bruus. "He is holding +out his hand to me. Wait a little, Brother Niels! You will soon +be avenged!" + +The entire corpse was soon uncovered. It was the missing man. His +face was not recognizable, as decomposition had begun, and the nose +was broken and laid flat by a blow. But all the garments, even to +the shirt with his name woven into it, were known to those who +stood there. In one ear was a leaden ring, which, as we all knew, +Niels Bruus had worn for many years. + +"Now, priest," cried Marten Bruus, "come and lay your hand on this +dead man if you dare to!" + +"Almighty God!" sighed the rector, looking up to heaven, "Thou art +my witness that I am innocent. I struck him, that I confess, and I +am bitterly sorry for it. But he ran away. God Almighty alone +knows who buried him here." + +"Jens Larsen knows also," cried Bruus, "and I may find more +witnesses. Judge! You will come with me to examine his servants. +But first of all I demand that you shall arrest this wolf in +sheep's clothing." + +Merciful God, how could I doubt any longer? The truth was clear to +all of us. But I was ready to sink into the earth in my shock and +horror. I was about to say to the rector that he must prepare to +follow me, when he himself spoke to me, pale and trembling like an +aspen leaf. "Appearances are against me," he said, but this is the +work of the devil and his angels. There is One above who will +bring my innocence to light. Come, judge, I will await my fate in +fetters. Comfort my daughter. Remember that she is your betrothed +bride." + +He had scarcely uttered the words when I heard a scream and a fall +behind us. It was my beloved who lay unconscious on the ground. I +thought at first that she was dead, and God knows I wished that I +could lie there dead beside her. I raised her in my arms, but her +father took her from me and carried her into the house. I was +called to examine the wound on the dead man's head. The cut was +not deep, but it had evidently fractured the skull, and had plainly +been made by a blow from a spade or some similar blunt instrument. + +Then we all entered the house. My beloved had revived again. She +fell on my neck and implored me, in the name of God, to help her +father in his terrible need. She begged me by the memory of our +mutual love to let her follow him to prison, to which I consented. +I myself accompanied him to Grenaa, but with a mournful heart. +None of us spoke a word on the sad journey. I parted from them in +deep distress. The corpse was laid in a coffin and will be buried +decently to-morrow in Veilbye churchyard. + +To-morrow I must give a formal hearing to the witnesses. God be +merciful to me, unfortunate man! + + +Would that I had never obtained this position for which I--fool +that I am--strove so hard. + +As the venerable man of God was brought before me, fettered hand +and foot, I felt as Pilate must have felt as they brought Christ +before him. It was to me as if my beloved--God grant her comfort, +she lies ill in Grenaa--had whispered to me, "Do nothing against +that good man!" + + +Oh, if he only were innocent, but I see no hope! + +The three first witnesses repeated their testimony under oath, word +for word. Then came statements by the rector's two farm hands and +the dairy maid. The men had been in the kitchen on the fatal day, +and as the windows were open they had heard the quarrel between the +rector and Niels. As the widow had stated, these men had also +heard the rector say, "I will strike you dead at my feet!" They +further testified that the rector was very quick-tempered, and that +when angered he did not hesitate to strike out with whatever came +into his hand. He had struck a former hand once with a heavy maul. + +The girl testified that on the night Jens Larsen claimed to have +seen the rector in the garden, she had lain awake and heard the +creaking of the garden door. When she looked out of the window she +had seen the rector in his dressing gown and nightcap go into the +garden. She could not see what he was doing there. But she heard +the door creak again about an hour later. + +When the witnesses had been heard, I asked the unfortunate man +whether he would make a confession, or else, if he had anything to +say in his own defense. He crossed his hands over his breast and +said, "So help me God, I will tell the truth. I have nothing more +to say than what I have said already. I struck the dead man with +my spade. He fell down, but jumped up in a moment and ran away +from the garden out into the woods. What may have happened to him +there, or how he came to be buried in my garden, this I do not +know. When Jens Larsen and my servant testify that they saw me at +night in the garden, either they are lying, or Satan has blinded +them. I can see this--unhappy man that I am--that I have no one to +turn to for help here on earth. Will He who is in heaven be silent +also, then must I bow to His inscrutable will." He bowed his head +with a deep sigh. + +Some of those present began to weep, and a murmur arose that he +might possibly be innocent. But this was only the effect of the +momentary sympathy called out by his attitude. My own heart indeed +spoke for him. But the judge's heart may not dare to dictate to +his brain or to his conscience. My conviction forced me to declare +that the rector had killed Niels Bruus, but certainly without any +premeditation or intention to do so. It is true that Niels Bruus +had often been heard to declare that he would "get even with the +rector when the latter least expected it." But it is not known +that he had fulfilled his threat in any way. Every man clings to +life and honor as long as he can. Therefore the rector persists in +his denial. My poor, dear Mette! She is lost to me for this life +at least, just as I had learned to love her so dearly. + + +I have had a hard fight to fight to-day. As I sat alone, pondering +over this terrible affair in which it is my sad lot to have to give +judgment, the door opened and the rector's daughter--I may no +longer call her my betrothed--rushed in and threw herself at my +feet. I raised her up, clasped her in my arms and we wept together +in silence. I was first to control myself. "I know what you would +say, dear heart. You want me to save your father. Alas, God help +us poor mortals, I cannot do it! Tell me, dearest one, tell me +truly, do you yourself believe your father to be innocent?" + +She crossed her hands on her heart and sobbed, "I do not know!" +Then she burst into tears again. "But he did not bury him in the +garden," she continued after a few moments. "The man may have died +in the wood from the blow. That may have happened--" + +"But, dearest heart," I said, "Jens Larsen and the girl saw your +father in the garden that night." + +She shook her head slowly and answered, "The evil one blinded their +eyes." She wept bitterly again. + +"Tell me, beloved," she began again, after a while, "tell me +frankly this much. If God sends us no further enlightenment in +this unfortunate affair, what sentence must you give?" + +She gazed anxiously at me, her lips trembling. + +"If I did not believe," I began slowly, "that anyone else in my +place would be more severe than I, then I would gladly give up my +position at once and refuse to speak the verdict. But I dare not +conceal from you that the mildest sentence that God, our king, and +our laws demand is, a life for a life." + +She sank to her knees, then sprang up again, fell back several +steps as if afraid of me, and cried out: "Would you murder my +father? Would you murder your betrothed bride? See here! See +this!" She came nearer and held up her hand with my ring on it +before my eyes. "Do you see this betrothal ring? What was it my +father said when you put this ring upon my finger? 'I have given +my maid unto thy bosom!' But you, you thrust the steel deep into +my bosom!" + +Alas, every one of her words cut deep into my own heart. "Dearest +love," I cried, "do not speak so. You thrust burning irons into my +heart. What would you have me do? Acquit him, when the laws of +God and man condemn?" + +She was silent, sobbing desperately. + +"One thing I can do," I continued. "If it be wrong may God forgive +me. If the trial goes on to an end his life is forfeited, there is +no hope except in flight. If you can arrange an escape I will +close my eyes. I will not see or hear anything. As soon as your +father was imprisoned, I wrote to your brother in Copenhagen. He +can arrive any moment now. Talk to him, make friends with the +jailer. If you lack money, all I have is yours." + +When I had finished her face flushed with joy, and she threw her +arms about my neck. "God bless you for these words. Were my +brother but here, he will know what to do. But where shall we go?" +her tone changed suddenly and her arms dropped. "Even should we +find a refuge in a foreign country I could never see you again!" +Her tone was so sad that my heart was near to breaking. + +"Beloved," I exclaimed, "I will find you wherever you may hide +yourself! Should our money not be sufficient to support us I can +work for us all. I have learned to use the ax and the hoe." + +She rejoiced again and kissed me many times. We prayed to God to +bless our undertaking and parted with glad hearts. I also hoped +for the best. Doubts assail me, but God will find for us some +light in this darkness. + + +Two more new witnesses. They bring nothing good, I fear, for Bruus +announced them with an expression I did not like. He has a heart +of stone, which can feel nothing but malice and bitterness. I give +them a hearing to-morrow. I feel as if they had come to bear +witness against me myself. May God strengthen my heart. + + +All is over. He has confessed. + +The court was in session and the prisoner had been brought in to +hear the testimony of the new witnesses. These men stated as +follows: On the night in question they were walking along the path +that led between the woods and the rectory garden. A man with a +large sack on his back came out of the woods and walked ahead of +them toward the garden. They could not see his face, but in the +bright moonlight his figure was clearly visible, and they could see +that he wore a loose green garment, like a dressing gown, and a +white nightcap. The man disappeared through an opening in the +rectory garden fence. + +Scarcely had the first witness ended his statement when the rector +turned ghastly pale, and gasped, in a voice that could scarcely be +heard, "I am ill." They gave him a chair. + +Bruus turned to his neighbor and exclaimed audibly, "That helped +the rector's memory." + +The prisoner did not hear the words, but motioned to me and said, +"Lead me back to my prison. I will talk to you there." They did +as he demanded. + +We set out at once for Grenaa. The rector was in the wagon with +the jailer and the gendarme, and I rode beside them. + +When the door of the cell was opened my beloved was making up her +father's bed, and over a chair by the bedside hung the fatal green +dressing gown. My dear betrothed greeted me with a cry of joy, as +she believed that I was come to set her father free. She hung +about the old man's neck, kissing away the tears that rolled +unhindered down his cheeks. I had not the heart to undeceive her, +and I sent her out into the town to buy some things for us. + +"Sit down, dear friend," said the rector, when we were alone. He +seated himself on the bed, staring at the ground with eyes that did +not see. Finally he turned toward me where I sat trembling, as if +it were my own sentence I was to hear, as in a manner it was. "I +am a great sinner," he sighed, "God only knows how great. His +punishment crushes me here that I may enter into His mercy +hereafter." + +He grew gradually calmer and began: + +"Since my childhood I have been hot-tempered and violent. I could +never endure contradiction, and was always ready to give a blow. +But I have seldom let the sun go down upon my wrath, and I have +never borne hatred toward any man. As a half-grown boy I killed +our good, kind watchdog in one of my fits of rage for some trifling +offense, and I have never ceased to regret it. Later, as a student +in Leipzig, I let myself be carried away sufficiently to wound +seriously my adversary in one of our fencing bouts. A merciful +fate alone saved me from becoming a murderer then. It is for these +earlier sins that I am now being punished, but the punishment falls +doubly hard, now that I am an old man, a priest, a servant of the +Lord of Peace, and a father! Ah, that is the deepest wound!" He +sprang up and wrung his hands in deep despair. I would have said +something to comfort him, but I could find no words for such +sorrow. + +When he had controlled himself somewhat he sat down again and +continued: "To you, once my friend and now my judge, I will confess +this crime, which it seems beyond a doubt that I have committed, +although I am not conscious of having done so." (I was startled at +this, as I had expected a remorseful confession.) "Listen well to +what I shall now tell you. That I struck the unfortunate man with +the spade, that he fell down and then ran away, this is all that I +know with full consciousness. . . . What followed then? Four +witnesses have seen that I fetched the body and buried it in my +garden--and now at last I am forced to believe that it must be +true. These are my reasons for the belief. "Three or four times +in my life I have walked in my sleep. The last time--it may have +been nine or ten years ago--I was to have held a funeral service on +the following day, over the body of a man who had died a sudden and +terrible death. I could not find a suitable text, until suddenly +there came to me the words of an old Greek philosopher, 'Call no +man fortunate until his death.' It was in my mind that the same +idea was expressed in different words in the Holy Scriptures. I +sought and sought, but could not find it. At last I went to bed +much fatigued, and slept soundly. Next morning, when I sat down at +my desk, to my great astonishment I saw there a piece of paper, on +which was written, 'Call no man happy until his end hath come' +(Sirach xi. 34), and following it was a funeral sermon, short, but +as good in construction as any I have ever written. And all this +was in my own handwriting. It was quite out of the question that +anyone could have entered the room during the night, as I had +locked it myself, and it had not been opened until I entered next +day. I knew what had happened, as I could remember one or two such +occurrences in my life before. + +"Therefore, dear friend, when the last witnesses gave their +testimony to-day, I suddenly remembered my sleepwalking exploits, +and I also remembered, what had slipped my mind before, that on the +morning after the night the body was buried I had found my dressing +gown in the hall outside of my bedroom. This had surprised me, as +I always hung it over a chair near my bed. The unfortunate victim +of my violence must have died in the woods from his wound, and in +my dream consciousness I must have seen this and gone to fetch the +body. It must be so. I know no other explanation. God have mercy +on my sinful soul." He was silent again, covering his face with +his hands and weeping bitterly. + +I was struck dumb with astonishment and uncertainty. I had always +suspected that the victim had died on the spot where he was buried, +although I could not quite understand how the rector had managed to +bury the body by day without being seen. But I thought that he +might have covered it lightly with earth and twigs and finished his +work at night. He was a man of sufficient strength of mind to have +done this. When the latest witnesses were telling their story, I +noted the possible contradiction, and hoped it might prove a +loophole of escape. But, alas, it was all only too true, and the +guilt of the rector proven beyond a doubt. It was not at all +impossible for a man to do such things in his sleep. Just as it +was quite possible that a man with a fractured skull could run some +distance before he fell to die. The rector's story bore the stamp +of truth, although the doubt WILL come that he desired thus to save +a shred of honor for his name. + +The prisoner walked up and down the room several times, then +stopping before me he said gravely: "You have now heard my +confession, here in my prison walls. It is your mouth that must +speak my sentence. But what says your heart?" + +I could scarcely utter the words, "My heart suffers beyond +expression. I would willingly see it break if I could but save you +from a shameful death." (I dared not mention to him my last hope +of escape in flight.) + +"That is impossible," he answered. "My life is forfeited. My +death is just, and shall serve as a warning to others. But promise +me that you will not desert my poor daughter. I had thought to lay +her in your arms"--tears choked his voice--"but, alas, that fond +hope is vanished. You cannot marry the daughter of a sentenced +murderer. But promise me that you will watch over her as her +second father." In deep sorrow and in tears I held his hand in +mine. "Have you any news from my son?" he began again. "I hope it +will be possible to keep him in ignorance of this terrible affair +until--until it is all over. I could not bear to see him now. And +now, dear friend, let us part, not to meet again except in the hall +of justice. Grant me of your friendship one last service, let it +end soon. I long for death. Go now, my kind, sympathetic judge. +Send for me to-morrow to speak my sentence, and send to-day for my +brother in God, the pastor in Aalso. He shall prepare me for +death. God be with you." + +He gave me his hand with his eyes averted. I staggered from the +prison, hardly conscious of what I was doing. I would have ridden +home without seeing his daughter had she not met me by the prison +door. She must have seen the truth in my face, for she paled and +caught at my arm. She gazed at me with her soul in her eyes, but +could not speak. "Flee! Save your father in flight!" was all I +could say. + +I set spurs to my horse and rode home somehow. + +To-morrow, then! + + +The sentence is spoken. + +The accused was calmer than the judge. All those present, except +his bitter enemy, were affected almost to tears. Some whispered +that the punishment was too severe. + +May God be a milder judge to me than I, poor sinner, am forced to +be to my fellow men. + + +She has been here. She found me ill in bed. There is no escape +possible. He will not flee. Everything was arranged and the +jailer was ready to help. But he refuses, he longs for death. God +be merciful to the poor girl. How will she survive the terrible +day? I am ill in body and soul, I can neither aid nor comfort her. +There is no word from the brother. + + +I feel that I am near death myself, as near perhaps as he is, whom +I sent to his doom. Farewell, my own beloved bride. . . . What +will she do? she is so strangely calm--the calm of wordless +despair. Her brother has not yet come, and to-morrow--on the +Ravenshill--! + + +Here the diary of Erik Sorensen stopped suddenly. What followed +can be learned from the written and witnessed statements of the +pastor of Aalso, the neighboring parish to Veilbye. + + +II + + +It was during the seventeenth year of my term of office that the +terrible event happened in the neighborhood which filled all who +heard of it with shock and horror, and brought shame and disgrace +upon our holy calling. The venerable Soren Quist, Rector of +Veilbye, killed his servant in a fit of rage and buried the body in +his garden. + +He was found guilty at the official trial, through the testimony of +many witnesses, as well as through his own confession. He was +condemned to death, and the sentence was carried out in the +presence of several thousand people on the little hill known as +Ravenshill, here in the field of Aalso. + +The condemned man had asked that I might visit him in his prison. +I must state that I have never given the holy sacrament to a better +prepared or more truly repentant Christian. He was calm to the +last, full of remorse for his great sin. On the field of death he +spoke to the people in words of great wisdom and power, preaching +to the text from the Lamentations of Jeremiah, chap. ii., verse 6: +"He hath despised the priest in the indignation of his anger." He +spoke of his violence and of its terrible results, and of his deep +remorse. He exhorted his hearers to let his sin and his fate be an +example to them, and a warning not to give way to anger. Then he +commended his soul to the Lord, removed his upper garments, bound +up his eyes with his own hand, then folded his hands in prayer. +When I had spoken the words, "Brother, be of good cheer. This day +shalt thou be with thy Saviour in Paradise," his head fell by the +ax. + +The one thing that made death bitter for him was the thought of his +children. The son had been sent for from Copenhagen, but as we +afterwards learned, he had been absent from the city, and therefore +did not arrive until shortly after his father had paid the penalty +for his crime. + +I took the daughter into my home, where she was brought, half +fainting, after they had led her father from the prison. She had +been tending him lovingly all the days of his trial. What made +even greater sorrow for the poor girl, and for the district judge +who spoke the sentence, was that these two young people had +solemnly plighted their troth but a few short weeks before, in the +rectory of Veilbye. The son arrived just as the body of the +executed criminal was brought into my house. It had been permitted +to us to bury the body with Christian rites, if we could do it in +secret. The young man threw himself over the lifeless body. Then, +clasping his sister in his arms, the two wept together in silence +for some while. At midnight we held a quiet service over the +remains of the Rector of Veilbye, and the body was buried near the +door of Aalso church. A simple stone, upon which I have carved a +cross, still stands to remind the passer-by of the sin of a most +unfortunate man. + +The next morning his two children had disappeared. They have never +been heard of since. God knows to what far-away corner of the +world they have fled, to hide their shame and their sorrow. The +district judge is very ill, and it is not believed that he will +recover. + +May God deal with us all after His wisdom and His mercy! + +O Lord, inscrutable are thy ways! + +In the thirty-eighth year of my service, and twenty-one years after +my unfortunate brother in office, the Rector of Veilbye had been +beheaded for the murder of his servant, it happened one day that a +beggar came to my door. He was an elderly man, with gray hair, and +walked with a crutch. He looked sad and needy. None of the +servants were about, so I myself went into the kitchen and gave him +a piece of bread. I asked him where he came from. He sighed and +answered: + +"From nowhere in particular." + +Then I asked him his name. He sighed still deeper, looked about +him as if in fear, and said, "They once called me Niels Bruus." + +I was startled, and said, "God have mercy on us! That is a bad +name. That is the name of a man who was killed many years back." + +Whereat the man sighed still deeper and replied: "It would have +been better for me had I died then. It has gone ill with me since +I left the country." + +At this the hair rose on my head, and I trembled in every limb. +For it seemed to me that I could recognize him, and also it seemed +to me that I saw Morten Bruus before me in the flesh, and yet I had +laid the earth over him three years before. I stepped back and +made the sign of the cross, for verily I thought it was a ghost I +saw before me. + +But the man sat down in the chimney corner and continued to speak. +"Reverend father, they tell me my brother Morten is dead. I have +been to Ingvorstrup, but the new owner chased me away. Is my old +master, the Rector of Veilbye, still alive?" Then it was that the +scales fell from my eyes and I saw into the very truth of this +whole terrible affair. But the shock stunned me so that I could +not speak. The man bit into his bread greedily and went on. "Yes, +that was all Brother Morten's fault. Did the old rector have much +trouble about it?" + +"Niels! Niels!" I cried from out the horror of my soul, "you have +a monstrous black sin upon your conscience! For your sake that +unfortunate man fell by the ax of the executioner!" + +The bread and the crutch fell from his hand, and he himself was +near to falling into the fire. "May God forgive you, Morten!" he +groaned. "God knows I didn't mean anything like that. May my sin +be forgiven me! But surely you only mean to frighten me! I come +from far away, and have heard nothing. No one but you, reverend +father, has recognized me. I have told my name to no one. When I +asked them in Veilbye if the rector was still there, they said that +he was." + +"That is the new rector," I replied. "Not he whom you and your +sinful brother have slain." + +He wrung his hands and cried aloud, and then I knew that he had +been but a tool in the hands of that devil, Morten. Therefore I +set to work to comfort him, and took him into my study that he +might calm himself sufficiently to tell me the detail of this +Satan's work. + +This was the story as he tells it: His brother Morten--truly a son +of Belial--cherished a deadly hatred toward pastor Soren Quist +since the day the latter had refused him the hand of his daughter. +As soon as he heard that the pastor's coachman had left him, he +persuaded Niels to take the place. + +"Watch your chance well," he had said, "we'll play the black coat a +trick some day, and you will he no loser by it." + +Niels, who was rough and defiant by nature, soon came to a quarrel +with his master, and when he had received his first chastisement, +he ran at once to Ingvorstrup to report it. "Let him strike you +just once again," said Marten. "Then come to me, and we will pay +him for it." + +Then came the quarrel in the garden, and Niels ran off to +Ingvorstrup. He met his brother in the woods and told him what had +occurred. + +"Did anyone see you on the way here?" asked Morten + +Niels thought not. "Good," said Morten; "now we'll give him a +fright that he will not forget for a week or so." + +He led Niels carefully to the house, and kept him hidden there the +rest of the day. When all the household else had gone to sleep the +two brothers crept out, and went to a field where several days +before they had buried the body of a man of about Niel's age, size, +and general appearance. (He had hanged himself, some said because +of ill-treatment from Morten, in whose service he was. Others said +it was because of unhappy love.) They dug up the corpse, although +Niels did not like the work, and protested. But Morten was the +stronger, and Niels had to do as he was ordered. They carried the +body back with them into the house. + +Then Niels was ordered to take off all his clothes, piece by piece, +even to his shirt, and dress the dead man in them. Even his leaden +earring, which he had worn for many years, was put in the ear of +the corpse. After this was done, Morten took a spade and gave the +head of the corpse two crashing blows, one over the nose, the other +on the temple. The body was hidden in a sack and kept in the house +during the next day. At night the day following, they carried it +out to the wood near Veilbye. + +Several times Niels had asked of his brother what all this +preparation boded. But Morten answered only, "That is my affair. +Do as I tell you, and don't ask questions." + +When they neared the edge of the wood by Veilbye, Morten said, "Now +fetch me one of the coats the pastor wears most. If you can, get +the green dressing gown I have often seen him wear mornings." + +"I don't dare," said Niels, "he keeps it in his bed chamber." + +"Well, then, I'll dare it myself," said Morten. "And now, go your +way, and never show yourself here again. Here is a bag with one +hundred thalers. They will last you until you can take service +somewhere in another country. Go where no one has ever seen you, +and take another name. Never come back to Denmark again. Travel +by night, and hide in the woods by day until you are well away from +here. Here are provisions enough to last you for several days. +And remember, never show yourself here again, as you value your +life." + +Niels obeyed, and has never seen his brother since that day. He +had had much trouble, had been a soldier and lost his health in the +war, and finally, after great trials and sufferings, had managed to +get back to the land of his birth. This was the story as told me +by the miserable man, and I could not doubt its truth. + +It was now only too clear to me that my unfortunate brother in the +Lord had fallen a victim to the hatred of his fiendish enemy, to +the delusion of his judge and the witnesses, and to his own +credulous imagination. + +Oh, what is man that he shall dare to sit in judgment over his +fellows! God alone is the Judge. He who gives life may alone give +death! + +I did not feel it my duty to give official information against this +crushed and broken sinner, particularly as the district judge is +still alive, and it would have been cruelty to let him know of his +terrible error. + +Instead, I gave what comfort my office permitted to the poor man, +and recommended him not to reveal his name or tell his story to +anyone in the district. On these conditions I would give him a +home until I could arrange for a permanent refuge for him in my +brother's house, a good distance from these parts. + +The day following was a Sunday. When I returned from evening +service at my branch parish, the beggar had disappeared. But by +the evening of the next day the story was known throughout the +neighborhood. + +Goaded by the pangs of conscience, Niels had gone to Rosmer and +made himself known to the judge as the true Niels Bruus. Upon the +hearing of the terrible truth, the judge was taken with a stroke +and died before the week was out. But on Tuesday morning they +found Niels Bruus dead on the grave of the late rector Soren Quist +of Veilbye, by the door of Aalso church. + + + +Hungarian Mystery Stories + + +Ferencz Molnar + +The Living Death + + +Here is a very serious reason, my dear sisters, why at last, after +an absence of twenty years in America, I am confiding to you this +strange secret in the life of our beloved and lamented father, and +of the old house where we were children together. The truth is, if +I read rightly the countenances of my physicians as they whisper to +each other by the window of the chamber in which I am lying, that +only a few days of this life remain to me. + +It is not right that this secret should die with me, my dear +sisters. Though it will seem terrible to you, as it has to me, it +will enable you to better understand our blessed father, help you +to account for what must have seemed to you to be strange +inconsistencies in his character. That this secret was revealed to +me was due to my indolence and childish curiosity. + +For the first, and the last, time in my life I listened at a +keyhole. With shame and a hotly chiding conscience I yielded to +that insatiable curiosity--and when you have read these lines you +will understand why I do not regret that inexcusable, furtive act. + +I was only a lad when we went to live in that odd little house. +You remember it stood in the outskirts of Rakos, near the new +cemetery. It stood on a deep lot, and was roughly boarded on the +side which looked on the highway. You remember that on the first +floor, next the street, were the room of our father, the dining +room, and the children's room. In the rear of the house was the +sculpture studio. There we had the large white hall with big +windows, where white-clothed laborers worked. They mixed the +plaster, made forms, chiseled, scratched, and sawed. Here in this +large hall had our father worked for thirty years. + +When I arrived, in the holidays, I noted a change in our father's +countenance. His beard was white, even when he did not work with +the plaster. Through his strong spectacles his eyes glittered +peculiarly. He was less calm than formerly. And he did not speak +much, but all the more did he read. + +Why, we all knew that after the passing away of our mother he +became a bookworm, reading very often by candlelight until morning. + +Then did it happen, about the fourth day after my arrival. I spent +my leisure hours in the studio; I carved little figures, formed +little pillar heads from the white plaster. In the corner a big +barrel stood filled with water. It was noon; the laborers went to +lunch. + +I sat down close to the barrel and carved a Corinthian pillar. +Father came into the studio and did not notice me. He carried in +his hands two plates of soup. When he came into the studio he +closed the door behind him and looked around in the shop, as though +to make sure he was not observed. As I have said, he did not +notice me. I was astonished. Holding my breath, I listened. +Father went through the large hall, and then opened a small door, +of which I knew only so much that it led into a chamber three steps +lower than the studio. + +I was full of expectation: I listened. I did not hear a word of +conversation. Presently father came back with the empty plates in +his hand. Somebody bolted the chamber's door behind him. + +Father went out of the studio, and I, much embarrassed, crept from +behind the barrel. + +I knew that the chamber had a window, which looked back toward the +plowed fields. I ran out of the studio and around the house. Much +to my astonishment, the chamber's window was curtained inside. A +large yellow plaid curtain hid everything from view. But I had to +go, anyway, for I heard Irma's voice calling from the yard: + +"Antal, to lunch!" + +I sat down to the table with you, my sisters, and looked at father. +He was sitting at the head of the table, and ate without saying a +word. + +Day after day I troubled my head about this mystery in the chamber, +but said not a word to anybody. I went into the studio, as usual, +but I did not notice anything peculiar. Not a sound came from the +chamber, and when our father worked in the shop with his ten +laborers he passed by the small door as if beyond it there was +nothing out of the ordinary. + +On Thursday I had to go back to Germany. On Tuesday night +curiosity seized me again. Suddenly I felt that perhaps never +would I know what was going on in my father's house. That night, +when the working people were gone, I went into the studio. For a +long time I was lost in my thoughts. All kinds of romantic ideas +passed through my head, while my gaze rested on that small +mysterious chamber door. + +In the studio it was dark already, and from under the small door in +a thin border a yellow radiance poured out. Suddenly I regained my +courage. I went to the door and listened. Somebody was speaking. +It was a man's voice, but I did not understand what he was saying. +I was putting my ear close to the door, when I heard steps at the +front of the studio. Father came. + +I quickly withdrew myself behind the barrel. Father walked through +the hall and knocked on the door softly. The bolt clicked and the +door opened. Father went into the chamber and closed the door +immediately and locked it. + +Now all discretion and sense of honor in me came to an end. +Curiosity mastered me. I knew that last year one part of this +small room had been partitioned off and was used as a woodhouse. +And I knew that there was a possibility of going into the woodhouse +through the yard. + +I went out, therefore, but found the woodhouse was closed. Driven +by trembling curiosity, I ran into the house, took the key of the +woodhouse from its nail, and in a minute, through the crevice +between two planks, I was looking into that mysterious little room. + +There was a table in the middle of the room, and beside the wall +were two straw mattresses. On the table a lighted candle stood. A +bottle of wine was beside it, and around the table were sitting +father and two strangers. Both the strangers were all in black. +Something in their appearance froze me with terror. + +I fled in a panic of unreasoning fear, but returned soon, devoured +by curiosity. + +You, my sister Irma, must remember how I found you there, gazing +with starting eyeballs on the same mysteriously terrifying scene-- +and how I drew you away with a laugh and a trifling explanation, so +that I might return and resume my ghastly vigil alone. + +One of the strangers wore a frock coat and had a sunburned, brown +face. He was not old yet, not more than forty-five or forty-eight. +He seemed to be a tradesman in his Sunday clothes. That did not +interest me much. + +I looked at the other old man, and then a shiver of cold went +through me. He was a famous physician, a professor, Mr. H----. I +desire to lay stress upon it that he it was, for I had read two +weeks before in the papers that he had died and was buried! + +And now he was sitting, in evening dress, in the chamber of a poor +plaster sculptor, in the chamber of my father behind a bolted door! + +I was aware of the fact that the physician knew father. Why, you +can recall that when father had asthma he consulted Mr. H----. +Moreover, the professor visited us very frequently. The papers +said he was dead, yet here he was! + +With beating heart and in terror, I looked and listened. + +The professor put some shining little thing on the table. + +"Here is my diamond shirt stud," he said to my father. "It is +yours." + +Father pushed the jewel aside, refusing the gift. + +"Why, you are spending money on me," said the professor. + +"It makes no difference," replied father; "I shan't take the +diamond." + +Then they were silent for a long while. At length the professor +smiled and said: + +"The pair of cuff buttons which I had from Prince Eugene I +presented to the watchman in the cemetery. They are worth a +thousand guldens." + +And he showed his cuffs, from which the buttons were missing. Then +he turned to the sunburned man: + +"What did you give him, General Gardener?" + +The tall, strong man unbuttoned his frock coat. + +"Everything I had--my gold chain, my scarf pin, and my ring." + +I did not understand all that. What was it? Where did they come +from? A horrible presentiment arose in me. They came from the +cemetery! They wore the very clothes in which they were buried! + +What had happened to them? Were they only apparently dead? Did +they awake? Did they rise from the dead? What are they seeking +here? + +They had a very low-voiced conversation with father. I listened in +vain. Only later on, when they got warmed with their subject and +spoke more audibly, did I understand them. + +"There is no other way," said the professor. "Put it in your will +that the coroner shall pierce your heart through with a knife." + +Do you remember, my sisters, the last will of our father, which was +thus executed? + +Father did not say a word. Then the professor went on, saying: + +"That would be a splendid invention. Had I been living till now I +would have published a book about it. Nobody takes the Indian +fakir seriously here in Europe. But despite this, the buried +fakirs, who are two months under ground and then come back into +life, are very serious men. Perhaps they are more serious than +ourselves, with all our scientific knowledge. There are strange, +new, dreadful things for which we are not yet matured enough. + +"I died upon their methods; I can state that now. The mental state +which they reach systematically I reached accidentally. The +solitude, the absorbedness, the lying in a bed month by month, the +gazing upon a fixed point hour by hour--these are all self-evident +facts with me, a deserted misanthrope. + +"I died as the Indian fakirs do, and were I not a descendant of an +old noble family, who have a tomb in this country, I would have +died really. + +"God knows how it happened. I don't think there is any use of +worrying ourselves about it. I have still four days. Then we go +for good and all. But not back, no, no, not back to life!" + +He pointed with his hand toward the city. His face was burning +from fever, and he knitted his brows. His countenance was horrible +at this moment. Then he looked at the man with the sunburned face. + +"The case of Mr. Gardener is quite different. This is an ordinary +physician's error. But he has less than four days. He will be +gone to-morrow or positively day after to-morrow." + +He grasped the pulse of the sunburned man. + +"At this minute his pulse beats a hundred and twelve. You have a +day left, Mr. Gardener. But not back. We don't go back. Never!" + +Father said nothing. He looked at the professor with seriousness, +and fondly. The professor drank a glass of wine, and then turned +toward father. + +"Go to bed. You have to get up early; you still live; you have +children. We shall sleep if we can do so. It is very likely that +General Gardener won't see another morning. You must not witness +that." + +Now father began to speak, slowly, reverently. + +"If you, professor, have to send word--or perhaps Mr. Gardener-- +somebody we must take care of--a command, if you have--" + +The professor looked at him sternly, saying but one word: + +"Nothing." + +Father was still waiting. + +"Absolutely nothing," repeated the professor. "I have died, but I +have four days yet. I live those here, my dear old friend, with +you. But I don't go back any more. I don't even turn my face +backward. I don't want to know where the others live. I don't +want life, old man. It is not honorable to go back. Go, my +friend--go to bed." + +Father shook hands with them and disappeared. General Gardener sat +stiffly on his chair. The professor gazed into the air. + +I began to be aware of all that had happened here. These two +apparently dead men had come back from the cemetery, but how, in +what manner, by what means? I don't understand it perfectly even +now. There, in the small room, near to the cemetery, they were +living their few remaining days. They did not want to go back +again into life. + +I shuddered. During these few minutes I seemed to have learned the +meaning of life and of death. Now I myself felt that the life of +the city was at a vast distance. I had a feeling that the +professor was right. It was not worth while. I, too, felt tired, +tired of life, like the professor, the feverish, clever, serious +old man who came from the coffin and was sitting there in his grave +clothes waiting for the final death. + +They did not speak a word to each other. They were simply waiting. +I did not have power to move away from the crack in the wall +through which I saw them. + +And now there happened the awful thing that drove me away from our +home, never to return. + +It was about half-past one when someone tapped on the window. The +professor took alarm and looked at Mr. Gardener a warning to take +no notice. But the tapping grew louder. The professor got up and +went to the window. He lifted the yellow curtain and looked out +into the night. Quickly he returned and spoke to General Gardener, +and then both went to the window and spoke with the person who had +knocked. After a long conversation they lifted the man through the +window. + +On this terrible day nothing could happen that would surprise me. +I was benumbed. The man who was lifted through the window was clad +in white linen to his feet. He was a Hebrew, a poor, thin, weak, +pale Hebrew. He wore his white funeral dress. He shivered from +cold, trembled, seemed almost unconscious. The professor gave him +some wine. The Hebrew stammered: + +"Terrible! Oh, horrible!" + +I learned from his broken language that he had not been buried yet, +like the professor. He had not yet known the smell of the earth. +He had come from his bier. + +"I was laid out a corpse," he whimpered. "My God, they would have +buried me by to-morrow!" + +The professor gave him wine again. + +"I saw a light here," he went on. "I beg you will give me some +clothes--some soup, if you please--and I am going back again." +Then he said in German: + +"Meine gute, theure Frau! Meine Kinder!" (My good wife, my +children.) + +He began to weep. The professor's countenance changed to a +devilish expression when he heard this lament. He despised the +lamenting Hebrew. + +"You are going back?" he thundered. "But you won't go back! Don't +shame yourself!" + +The Hebrew gazed at him stupidly. + +"I live in Rottenbiller Street," he stammered. "My name is Joseph +Braun." + +He bit his nails in his nervous agitation. Tears filled his eyes. + +"Ich muss zu meine Kinder," he said in German again. (I must go to +my children.) + +"No!" exclaimed the professor. "You'll never go back!" + +"But why?" + +"I will not permit it!" + +The Hebrew looked around. He felt that something was wrong here. +His startled manner seemed to ask: "Am I in a lunatic asylum?" He +dropped his head and said to the professor simply: + +"I am tired." + +The professor pointed to the straw mattress. + +"Go to sleep. We will speak further in the morning." + +Fever blazed in the professor's face. On the other straw mattress +General Gardener now slept with his face to the wall. + +The Hebrew staggered to the straw mattress, threw himself down, and +wept. The weeping shook him terribly. The professor sat at the +table and smiled. + +Finally the Hebrew fell asleep. Hours passed in silence. I stood +motionless looking at the professor, who gazed into the +candlelight. There was not much left of it. Presently he sighed +and blew it out. For a little while there was dark, and then I saw +the dawn penetrating the yellow curtain at the window. The +professor leaned back in his chair, stretched out his feet, and +closed his eyes. + +All at once the Hebrew got up silently and went to the window. He +believed the professor was asleep. He opened the window carefully +and started to creep out. The professor leaped from his chair, +shouting: + +"No!" + +He caught the Hebrew by his shroud and held him back. There was a +long knife in his hand. Without another word, the professor +pierced the Hebrew through the heart. + +He put the limp body on the straw mattress, then went out of the +chamber toward the studio. In a few minutes he came back with +father. Father was pale and did not speak. They covered the dead +Hebrew with a rug, and then, one after the other, crept out through +the window, lifted the corpse out, and carried it away. In a +quarter of an hour they came back. They exchanged a few words, +from which I learned that they had succeeded in putting the dead +Hebrew back on his bier without having been observed. + +They shut the window. The professor drank a glass of wine and +again stretched out his legs on the chair. + +"It is impossible to go back," he said. "It is not allowed." + +Father went away. I did not see him any more. I staggered up to +my room, went to bed, and slept immediately. The next day I got up +at ten o'clock. I left the city at noon. + +Since that time, my dear sisters, you have not seen me. I don't +know anything more. At this minute I say to myself that what I +know, what I have set down here, is not true. Maybe it never +happened, maybe I have dreamed it all. I am not clear in my mind. +I have a fever. + +But I am not afraid of death. Here, on my hospital bed, I see the +professor's feverish but calm and wise face. When he grasped the +Hebrew by the throat he looked like a lover of Death, like one who +has a secret relation with the passing of life, who advocates the +claims of Death, and who punishes him who would cheat Death. + +Now Death urges his claim upon me. I have no desire to cheat him-- +I am so tired, so very tired. + +God be with you, my dear sisters. + + + +Maurus Jokai + +Thirteen at Table + + +We are far amidst the snow-clad mountains of Transylvania. + +The scenery is magnificent. In clear weather, the plains of +Hungary as far as the Rez promontory may be seen from the summit of +the mountains. Groups of hills rise one above the other, covered +with thick forest, which, at the period when our tale commences, +had just begun to assume the first light green of spring. + +Toward sunset, a slight purple mist overspread the farther +pinnacles, leaving their ridges still tinged with gold. On the +side of one of these hills the white turrets of an ancient family +mansion gleamed from amid the trees. + +Its situation was peculiarly romantic. A steep rock descended on +one side, on whose pinnacle rose a simple cross. In the depth of +the valley beneath lay a scattered village, whose evening bells +melodiously broke the stillness of nature. + +Farther off, some broken roofs arose among the trees, from whence +the sound of the mill, and the yellow-tinted stream, betrayed the +miners' dwellings. + +Through the meadows in the valley beneath a serpentine rivulet +wound its silvery way, interrupted by numerous falls and huge +blocks of stone, which had been carried down in bygone ages from +the mountains during the melting of the snows. + +A little path, cut in the side of the rock, ascended to the castle; +while higher up, a broad road, somewhat broken by the mountain +streams, conducted across the hills to more distant regions. + +The castle itself was an old family mansion, which had received +many additions at different periods, as the wealth or necessities +of the family suggested. + +It was surrounded by groups of ancient chestnut trees, and the +terrace before the court was laid out in gardens, which were now +filled with anemones, hyacinths, and other early flowers. Now and +then the head of a joyous child appeared at the windows, which were +opened to admit the evening breeze; while various members of the +household retinue were seen hastening through the corridors, or +standing at the doors in their embroidered liveries. + +The castle was completely surrounded by a strong rail-work of iron, +the stone pillars were overgrown by the evergreen leaves of the +gobea and epomoea. + +It was the early spring of 1848. + +A party, consisting of thirteen persons, had assembled in the +dining-room. They were all members of one family, and all bore the +name of Bardy. + +At the head of the board sat the grandmother, an old lady of eighty +years of age, whose snow-white hair was dressed according to the +fashion of her times beneath her high white cap. Her face was pale +and much wrinkled, and the eyes turned constantly upwards, as is +the case with persons who have lost their sight. Her hand and +voice trembled with age, and there was something peculiarly +striking in the thick snow-white eyebrows. + +On her right hand sat her eldest son, Thomas Bardy, a man of +between fifty and sixty. With a haughty and commanding +countenance, penetrating glance, lofty figure, and noble mien, he +was a true type of that ancient aristocracy which is now beginning +to die out. + +Opposite to him, at the old lady's left hand, sat the darling of +the family--a lovely girl of about fifteen. Her golden hair fell +in luxuriant tresses round a countenance of singular beauty and +sweetness. The large and lustrous deep-blue eyes were shaded by +long dark lashes, and her complexion was pale as the lily, +excepting when she smiled or spoke, and a slight flush like the +dawn of morning overspread her cheeks. + +Jolanka was the orphan child of a distant relative, whom the Bardys +had adopted. They could not allow one who bore their name to +suffer want; and it seemed as if each member of the family had +united to heap affection and endearment on the orphan girl, and +thus prevented her from feeling herself a stranger among them. + +There were still two other female members of the family: Katalin, +the old lady's daughter, who had been for many years a widow; and +the wife of one of her sons, a pretty young woman, who was trying +to teach a little prattler at her side to use the golden spoon +which she had placed in his small, fat hand, while he laughed and +crowed, and the family did their best to guess what he said, or +what he most preferred. + +Opposite to them there sat two gentlemen. One of them was the +husband of the young mother. Jozsef Bardy--a handsome man of about +thirty-five, with regular features, and black hair and beard; a +constant smile beamed on his gay countenance, while he playfully +addressed his little son and gentle wife across the table. The +other was his brother, Barnabas--a man of herculean form and +strength. His face was marked by smallpox; he wore neither beard +or mustache, and his hair was combed smoothly back, like a +peasant's. His disposition was melancholy and taciturn; but he +seemed constantly striving to atone, by the amiability of his +manners, for an unprepossessing exterior. + +Next to him sat a little cripple, whose pale countenance bore that +expression of suffering sweetness so peculiar to the deformed, +while his lank hair, bony hands, and misshapen shoulders awakened +the beholder's pity. He, too, was an orphan--a grandchild of the +old lady's; his parents had died some years before. + +Two little boys of about five years old sat opposite to him. They +were dressed alike, and the resemblance between them was so +striking that they were constantly mistaken. They were twin- +children of the young couple. + +At the lower end of the table sat Imre Bardy, a young man of +twenty, whose handsome countenance was full of life and +intelligence, his figure manly and graceful, and his manner +courteous and agreeable. A slight moustache was beginning to shade +his upper lip, and his dark hair fell in natural ringlets around +his head. He was the only son of the majoresco, Tamas Bardy, and +resembled him much in form and feature. + +Beside him sat an old gentleman, with white hair and ruddy +complexion. This was Simon Bardy, an ancient relative, who had +grown old with the grandmother of the family. + +The same peculiarity characterized every countenance in the Bardy +family--namely the lofty forehead and marked brows, and the large +deep-blue eyes, shaded by their heavy dark lashes.* + + +* There is a race of the Hungarians in the Carpath who, unlike the +Hungarians of the plain, have blue eyes and often fair hair. + + +"How singular!" exclaimed one of the party; "we are thirteen at +table to-day." + +"One of us will surely die," said the old lady; and there was a +mournful conviction in the faint, trembling tones. + +"Oh, no, grandmother, we are only twelve and a half!" exclaimed the +young mother, taking the little one on her knee. + +"This little fellow only counts half on the railroad." + +All the party laughed at this remark, even the little cripple's +countenance relaxed into a sickly smile. + +"Ay, ay," continued the old lady, "the trees are now putting forth +their verdure, but at the fall of the leaf who knows if all of us, +or any of us, may still be sitting here?" + + +Several months had passed since this slight incident. + +In one of the apartments of the castle, the eldest Bardy and his +son were engaged in earnest conversation. + +The father paced hastily up and down the apartment, now and then +stopping short to address his son, who stood in the embrasure of +one of the windows. The latter wore the dress of the Matyas +Hussars*--a gray dolmany, with crimson cord; he held a crimson +esako, with a tricolored cockade, in his hand. + + +* Part of the free corps raised in 1848. + + +"Go," said the father, speaking in broken accents; "the sooner the +better; let me not see you! Do not think I speak in anger, but I +cannot bear to look at you, and think where you are going. You are +my only son, and you know how I have loved you--how all my hopes +have been concentrated in you. But do not think that these tears, +which you see me shed for the first time, are on your account; for +if I knew I should lose you,--if your blood were to flow at the +next battle,--I should only bow my head in dust and say, 'The Lord +gave, and the Lord takes away, blessed be His holy name!' Yes, if +I heard that you and your infatuated companions were cut to pieces, +I could stifle the burning tears; but to know that your blood, when +it flows, will be a curse upon the earth, and your death will be +the death of two kingdoms--" + +"They may die now; but they will regenerate--" + +"This is not true; you only deceive yourselves with the idea that +you can build up a new edifice when you have overthrown the old +one. Great God, what sacrilege! Who had intrusted you with the +fate of our country, to tempt the Almighty? Who authorized you to +lose all there is for the hope of what may be? For centuries past +have so many honorable men fought in vain to uphold the old +tottering constitution, as you call it? Or were they not true +patriots and heroes? Your companions have hissed their persecuted +countrymen in the Diet; but do they love their country better than +we do, who have shed our blood and sacrificed our interests for her +from generation to generation, and even suffered disgrace, if +necessary, to keep her in life?--for though that life has been +gradually weakened, still it is life. You promise her glory; but +the name of glory is death!" + +"It may be so, father; we may lose our country as regards +ourselves, but we give one instead of ten millions, who were +hitherto our own people, and yet strangers in their native land." + +"Chimera! The people will not understand you. They never even +dreamt of what you wish to give them. The true way to seek the +people's welfare is to give them what they need. + +"Ask my dependents! Is there one among them whom I have allowed to +suffer want or ruin, whom I have not assisted in times of need?--or +have I ever treated them unjustly? You will not hear a murmur. +Tell them that I am unjust notwithstanding, because I do not call +the peasant from his plow to give his opinions on forming the laws +and constitution,--and what will be the consequence? They will +stare at you in astonishment; and yet, in their mistaken wrath, +they will come down some night and burn this house over my head." + +"That is the unnatural state of the times. It is all the fault of +the past bad management, if the people have no better idea. But +let the peasant once be free, let him be a man, and he will +understand all that is now strange to him." + +"But that freedom will cost the lives of thousands!" + +"I do not deny it. Indeed, I believe that neither I nor any of the +present generation will reap the fruits of this movement. I think +it probable that in a few years not one of those whose names we now +hear spoken of may still be living; and what is more, disgrace and +curses may be heaped upon their dust. But a time will come when +the great institutions of which they have laid the foundation will +arise and render justice to the memory of those who sacrificed +themselves for the happiness of future generations. To die for our +country is a glorious death, but to carry with us the curses of +thousands, to die despised and hated for the salvation of future +millions, oh! that is sublime--it is Messiah-like!" + +"My son--my only son!" cried his father, throwing himself +passionately on the young man's neck and sobbing bitterly. "Do you +see these tears?" + +"For the first time in my life I see them, father--I see you weep; +my heart can scarcely bear the weight of these tears--and yet I go! +You have reason to weep, for I bring neither joy nor glory on your +head--and yet I go! A feeling stronger than the desire of glory, +stronger than the love of my country, inspires my soul; and it is a +proof of the strength of my faith that I see your tears, my father-- +and yet I go!" + +"Go!" murmured his father, in a voice of despair. "You may never +return again, or, when you do, you may find neither your father's +house nor the grave in which he is laid! But know, even then, in +the hour of your death, or in the hour of mine, I do not curse you-- +and now, leave me." With these words he turned away and motioned +to his son to depart. + +Imre silently left the apartment, and as soon as he had closed the +door the tears streamed from his eyes; but before his sword had +struck the last step his countenance had regained its former +determination, and the fire of enthusiasm had kindled in his eye. + +He then went to take leave of his Uncle Jozsef, whom he found +surrounded by his family. The twins were sitting at his feet, +while his wife was playing bo-peep with the little one, who laughed +and shouted, while his mother hid herself behind his father's +armchair. + +Imre's entrance interrupted the general mirth. The little boy ran +over to examine the sword and golden tassels, while the little one +began to cry in alarm at the sight of the strange dress. + +"Csitt, baba!" said his mother, taking him from his father's arms; +"your cousin is going to wars, and will bring you a golden horse." + +Jozsef wrung his nephew's hand. "God be with you!" he exclaimed, +and added in a lower voice, "You are the noblest of us all--you +have done well!" + +They then all embraced him in turns, and Imre left them, amidst +clamors of the little ones, and proceeded to his grandmother's +apartments. + +On the way, he met his Uncle Barnabas, who embraced him again and +again in silence, and then tore himself away without saying a word. + +The old lady sat in her great armchair, which she seldom quitted, +and as she heard the clash of Imre's sword, she looked up and asked +who was coming. + +"It is Imre!" said the fair-haired maiden, blushing, and her heart +beat quickly as she pronounced his name. + +Jolanka felt that Imre was more than a brother to her, and the +feeling with which she had learnt to return his affection was +warmer than even a sister's love. + +The widow lady and the cripple were also in the grandmother's +apartment; the child sat on a stool at the old lady's feet, and +smiled sadly as the young man entered. + +"Why that sword at your side, Imre?" asked the old lady in a feeble +voice. "Ah, this is no good world--no good world! But if God is +against us, who can resist His hand? I have spoken with the dead +again in dreams. I thought they all came around me and beckoned me +to follow them; but I am ready to go, and place my life with +gratitude and confidence in the hands of the Lord. Last night I +saw the year 1848 written in the skies in letters of fire. Who +knows what may come over us yet? This is no good world--no good +world!" + +Imre bent silently over the old lady's hand and kissed it. + +"And so you are going? Well, God bless and speed you, if you go +beneath the cross, and never forget in life or in death to raise +your heart to the Lord;" and the old lady placed her withered hand +upon her grandson's head, and murmured, "God Almighty bless you!" + +"My husband was just such a handsome youth when I lost him," sighed +the widow lady as she embraced her nephew. "God bless you!" + +The little cripple threw his arms around his cousin's knees and, +sobbing, entreated him not to stay long away. + +The last who bade farewell was Jolanka. She approached with +downcast eyes, holding in her small white hands an embroidered +cockade, which she placed on his breast. It was composed of five +colors--blue and gold, red, white, and green.* + + +* Blue and gold are the colors of Transylvania. + + +"I understand," said the young man, in a tone of joyful surprise, +as he pressed the sweet girl to his heart, "Erdely* and Hungary +united! I shall win glory for your colors!" + + +* Transylvania. + + +The maiden yielded to his warm embrace, murmuring, as he released +her, "Remember me!" + +"When I cease to remember you, I shall be no more," replied the +youth fervently. + +And then he kissed the young girl's brow, and once more bidding +farewell, he hurried from the apartment. + +Old Simon Bardy lived on the first floor: Imre did not forget him. + +"Well, nephew," said the old man cheerfully, "God speed you, and +give you strength to cut down many Turks!" + +"It is not with the Turks that we shall have to do," replied the +young man, smiling. + +"Well, with the French," said the old soldier of the past century, +correcting himself. + +A page waited at the gate with two horses saddled and bridled. + +"I shall not require you--you may remain at home," said Imre, as, +taking the bridle of one of the horses, vaulting lightly into the +saddle, he pressed his csako over his brow and galloped from the +castle. + +As he rode under the cross, he checked his horse and looked back. +Was it of his grandmother's words, or of the golden-haired Jolanka +that he thought? + +A white handkerchief waved from the window. "Farewell, light of my +soul!" murmured the youth; and kissing his hand, he once more +dashed his spurs into his horse's flank, and turned down the steep +hill. + +Those were strange times. All at once the villages began to be +depopulated; the inhabitants disappeared, none knew whither. The +doors of the houses were closed. + +The bells were no longer heard in the evening, nor the maiden's +song as she returned from her work. The barking of dogs which had +lost their masters alone interrupted the silence of the streets, +where the grass began to grow. + +Imre Bardy rode through the streets of the village without meeting +a soul; few of the chimneys had smoke, and no fires gleamed through +the kitchen windows. + +Evening was drawing on, and a slight transparent mist had +overspread the valley. Imre was desirous of reaching Kolozsvar* +early on the next morning, and continued his route all night. + + +* Klausenburg. + + +About midnight the moon rose behind the trees, shedding her silvery +light over the forest. All was still, excepting the echo of the +miner's hammer, and the monotonous sound of his horse's step along +the rocky path. He rode on, lost in thought; when suddenly the +horse stopped short, and pricked his ears. + +"Come, come," said Imre, stroking his neck, "you have not heard the +cannon yet." + +The animal at last proceeded, turning his head impatiently from +side to side, and snorting and neighing with fear. + +The road now led through a narrow pass between two rocks, whose +summits almost met, and a slight bridge, formed of one or two +rotten planks, was thrown across the dry channel of a mountain +stream which cut up the path. + +As Imre reached the bridge, the horse backed, and no spurring could +induce him to cross. Imre at last pressed his knee angrily against +the trembling animal, striking him at the same time across the neck +with the bridle, on which the horse suddenly cleared the chasm at +one bound and then again turned and began to back. + +At that instant a fearful cry arose from beneath, which was echoed +from the rocks around, and ten or fifteen savage-looking beings +climbed from under the bridge, with lances formed of upright +scythes. + +Even then there would have been time for the horseman to turn back, +and dash through a handful of men behind him, but either he was +ashamed of turning from the first conflict, or he was desirous, at +any risk, to reach Kolozsvar at the appointed time, and instead of +retreating by the bridge, he galloped towards the other end of the +pass, where the enemy rushed upon him from every side, yelling +hideously. + +"Back, Wallachian dogs!" cried Imre, cutting two of them down, +while several others sprang forward with the scythes. + +Two shots whistled by, and Imre, letting go the bridle, cut right +and left, his sword gleaming rapidly among the awkward weapons; and +taking advantage of a moment in which the enemy's charge began to +slacken, he suddenly dashed through the crowd towards the outlet of +the rock, without perceiving that another party awaited him above +the rocks with great stones, with which they prepared to crush him +as he passed. + +He was only a few paces from the spot, when a gigantic figure, +armed with a short broad-axe, and with a Roman helmet on his head, +descended from the rock in front of him, and seizing the reins of +the horse forced him to halt. The young man aimed a blow at his +enemy's head, and the helmet fell back, cut through the middle, but +the force of the blow had broken his sword in two; and the horse +lifted by his giant foe, reared, so that the rider, losing his +balance, was thrown against the side of the rock, and fell +senseless to the ground. + +At the same instant a shot was fired toward them from the top of +the rock. + +"Who fired there?" cried the giant, in a voice of thunder. The +bloodthirsty Wallachians would have rushed madly on their +defenseless prey, had not the giant stood between him and them. + +"Who fired on me?" he sternly exclaimed. The Wallachians stood +back in terror. + +"It was not on you, Decurio, that I fired, but on the hussar," +stammered out one of the men, on whom the giant had fixed his eye. + +"You lie, traitor! Your ball struck my armor, and had I not worn a +shirt of mail, it would have pierced my heart." + +The man turned deadly pale, trembling from head to foot. "My +enemies have paid you to murder me?" The savage tried to speak, but +words died upon his lips. + +"Hang him instantly--he is a traitor!" + +The rest of the gang immediately seized the culprit and carried him +to the nearest tree, from whence his shrieks soon testified that +his sentence was being put in execution. + +The Decurio remained alone with the young man; and hastily lifting +him, still senseless, from the ground, he mounted his horse, and +placing him before him ere the savage horde had returned, he had +galloped some distance along the road from whence the youth had +come, covering him with his mantle as he passed the bridge, to +conceal him from several of the gang who stood there, and +exclaiming, "Follow me to the Tapanfalva." + +As soon as they were out of sight, he suddenly turned to the left, +down a steep, hilly path, and struck into the depth of the forest. + +The morning sun had just shot its first beams across the hills, +tinting with golden hue the reddening autumn leaves, when the young +hussar began to move in his fevered dreams, and murmured the name +"Jolanka." + +In a few moments he opened his eyes. He was lying in a small +chamber, through the only window of which the sunbeams shone upon +his face. + +The bed on which he lay was made of lime-boughs, simply woven +together, and covered with wolves' skins. A gigantic form was +leaning against the foot of the bed with his arms folded, and as +the young man awoke, he turned round. It was the Decurio. + +"Where am I?" asked the young man, vaguely endeavoring to recall +the events of the past night. + +"In my house," replied Decurio. + +"And who are you?" + +"I am Numa, Decurio of the Roumin* Legion, your foe in battle, but +now your host and protector." + + +* The Wallachians were, in the days of Trajan, subdued by the +Romans, with whom they became intermixed, and are also called +Roumi. + + +"And why did you save me from your men?" asked the young man, after +a short silence. + +"Because the strife was unequal--a hundred against one." + +"But had it not been for you, I could have freed myself from them." + +"Without me you had been lost. Ten paces from where I stopped your +horse, you would inevitably have been dashed to pieces by huge +stones which they were preparing to throw down upon you from the +rock." + +"And you did not desire my death?" + +"No, because it would have reflected dishonor on the Roumin name." + +"You are a chivalrous man, Decurio!" + +"I am what you are; I know your character, and the same feeling +inspires us both. You love your nation, as I do mine. Your nation +is great and cultivated; mine is despised and neglected, and my +love is more bitterly devoted. Your love for your country makes +you happy; mine deprives me of peace. You have taken up arms to +defend your country without knowing your own strength, or the +number of the foe; I have done the same. Either of us may lose, or +we may both be blotted out; but though the arms may be buried in +the earth, rust will not eat them." + +"I do not understand your grievances." + +"You do not understand? Know, then, that although fourteen +centuries have passed since the Roman eagle overthrew Diurbanus, +there are still those among us--the now barbarous people--who can +trace their descent from generation to generation, up to the times +of its past glory. We have still our traditions, if we have +nothing more; and can point out what forest stands in the place of +the ancient Sarmisaegethusa, and what town is built where one +Decebalus overthrew the far-famed troops of the Consulate. And +alas for that town! if the graves over which its houses are built +should once more open, and turn the populous streets into a field +of battle! What is become of the nation, the heir of so much +glory?--the proud Dacians, the descendants of the far-famed +legions? I do not reproach any nation for having brought us to +what we now are; but let none reproach me if I desire to restore my +people to what they once were." + +"And do you believe that this is the time?" + +"We have no prophets to point out the hour, but it seems yours do +not see more clearly. We shall attempt it now, and if we fail our +grandchildren will attempt it again. We have nothing to lose but a +few lives; you risk much that is worth losing, and yet you assemble +beneath the banner of war. Then war. Then what would you do if +you were like us?--a people who possess nothing in this world among +whom there is not one able or one instructed head; for although +every third man bears the name of Papa, it is not every hundredth +who can read! A people excluded from every employment; who live a +miserable life in the severest manual labor; who have not one noble +city in their country, the home of three-fourths of their people. +Why should we seek to know the signs of the times in which we are +to die, or be regenerated! We have nothing but our wretchedness, +and if we are conquered we lose nothing. Oh! you did wrong for +your own peace to leave a nation to such utter neglect!" + +"We do not take up arms for our nation alone, but for freedom in +general." + +"You do wrong. It is all the same to us who our sovereign may be; +only let him be just towards us, and raise up our fallen people; +but you will destroy your nation--its power, its influence, and +privileges--merely that you may live in a country without a head." + +A loud uproar interrupted the conversation. A disorderly troop of +Wallachians approached the Decurio's house, triumphantly bearing +the hussar's csako on a pole before them. + +"Had I left you there last night, they would now have exhibited +your head instead of your csako." + +The crowd halted before the Decurio's window, greeting him with +loud vociferations. + +The Decurio spoke a few words in the Wallachian language, on which +they replied more vehemently than before, at the same time +thrusting forward the kalpag on the pole. + +The Decurio turned hastily round. "Was your name written on your +kalpag?" he asked the young man, in evident embarrassment. + +"It was." + +"Unhappy youth! The people, furious at not having found you, are +determined to attack your father's house." + +"And you will permit them?" asked the youth, starting from bed. + +"I dare not contradict them, unless I would lose their confidence. +I can prevent nothing." + +"Give me up--let them wreak their bloody vengeance on my head!" + +"I should only betray myself for having concealed you; and it would +not save your father's house." + +"And if they murder the innocent and unprotected, on whom will the +ignominy of their blood fall?" + +"On me; but I will give you the means of preventing this disgrace. +Do you accept it?" + +"Speak!" + +"I will give you a disguise; hasten to Kolozsvar and assemble your +comrades,--then return and protect your house. I will wait you +there, and man to man, in open honorable combat, the strife will no +longer be ignominious." + +"Thanks, thanks!" murmured the youth, pressing the Decurio's hand. + +"There is not a moment to lose; here is a peasant's mantle--if you +should be interrogated, you have only to show this paszura,* and +mention my name. Your not knowing the language is of no +consequence; my men are accustomed to see Hungarian gentlemen visit +me in disguise, and having only seen you by night, they will not +recognize you." + + +* Everything on which a double-headed eagle--the emblem of the +Austrian Government--was painted, engraved or sculptured, the +Wallachians called paszura. + + +Imre hastily took the dress, while Decurio spoke to the people, +made arrangements for the execution of their plans, and pointed out +the way to the castle, promising to follow them immediately. + +"Accept my horse as a remembrance," said the young man, turning to +the Decurio. + +"I accept it, as it would only raise suspicion were you to mount +it; but you may recover it again in the field. Haste, and lose no +time! If you delay you will bring mourning on your own head and +disgrace on mine!" + +In a few minutes the young man, disguised as a Wallachian peasant, +was hastening on foot across the hills of Kolozsvar. + + +It was past midnight. + +The inhabitants of the Bardy castle had all retired to rest. + +The iron gate was locked and the windows barred, when suddenly the +sound of demoniac cries roused the slumberers from their dreams. + +"What is that noise?" cried Jozsef Bardy, springing from his bed, +and rushing to the window. + +"The Olahok!"* cried a hussar, who had rushed to his master's +apartments on hearing the sounds. + + +* Olah, Wallachian--ok, plural. + + +"The Olah! the Olah!" was echoed through the corridors by the +terrified servants. + +By the light of a few torches, a hideous crowd was seen before the +windows, armed with scythes and axes, which they were brandishing +with fearful menaces. + +"Lock all the doors!" cried Jozsef Bardy, with calm presence of +mind. "Barricade the great entrance, and take the ladies and +children to the back rooms. You must not lose your heads, but all +assemble together in the turret-chamber, from whence the whole +building may be protected. And taking down two good rifles from +over his bed, he hastened to his elder brother Tamas's apartments, +and overlooked the court. + +Have you heard the noise?" asked his brother as he entered. + +"I knew it would come," he replied, and coolly continued to pace +the room. + +"And are you not preparing for defense?" + +"To what purpose?--they will kill us all. I am quite prepared for +what must inevitably happen." + +"But it will not happen if we defend ourselves courageously. We +are eight men--the walls of the castle are strong--the besiegers +have no guns, and no place to protect them; we may hold out for +days until assistance comes from Kolozsvar." + +"We shall lose," replied Tamas coldly, and without the slightest +change of countenance. + +"Then I shall defend the castle myself. I have a wife and +children, our old grandmother and our sisters are here, and I shall +protect them, if I remain alone." + +At that instant Barnabas and old Simon entered with the widowed +sister. + +Barnabas had a huge twenty-pound iron club in his hand; grinding +his teeth, and with eyes darting fire, he seemed capable of meeting +single-handed the whole troop. + +He was followed by the widow, with two loaded pistols in her hand, +and old Simon, who entreated them not to use violence or exasperate +the enemy. + +"Conduct yourselves bravely!" replied the widow dryly; "let us not +die in vain." + +"Come with me--we shall send them all to hell!" cried Barnabas, +swinging his club in his herculean arm as if it had been a reed. + +"Let us not be too hasty," interrupted Jozsef; we will stand here +in the tower, from whence we can shoot every one that approaches, +and if they break in, we can meet them on the stairs." + +"For Heaven's sake!" cried Simon, "what are you going to do? If +you kill one of them they will massacre us all. Speak to them +peaceably--promise them wine--take them to the cellar--give them +money--try to pacify them! Nephew Tamas, you will speak to them?" +continued the old man, turning to Tamas, who still paced up and +down, without the slightest visible emotion. + +"Pacification and resistance are equally vain," he replied coldly; +"we are inevitably lost!" + +"We have no time for delay," said Jozsef impatiently; "take the +arms from the wall, Barnabas, give one to each servant--let them +stand at the back windows of the house, we two are enough here. +Sister, stand between the windows, that the stones may not hit you; +and when you load, do not strike the balls too far in, that our aim +may be the more secure!" + +"No! no!--I cannot let you fire," exclaimed the old man, +endeavoring to drag Jozsef from the window. "You must not fire +yet--only remain quiet." + +"Go to the hurricane, old man! would you have us use holy water +against a shower of stones?" + +At that instant several large stones were dashed through the +windows, breaking the furniture against which they fell. + +"Only wait," said Simon, "until I speak with them. I am sure I +shall pacify them. I can speak their language and I know them all-- +just let me go to them." + +"A vain idea! If you sue for mercy they will certainly kill you, +but if you show courage, you may bring them to their senses. You +had better stay and take a gun." + +But the old man was already out of hearing, and hurrying +downstairs, he went out of a back door into the court, which the +Wallachians had not yet taken possession of. + +They were endeavoring to break down one of the stone pillars of the +iron gate with their axes and hammers, and had already succeeded in +making an aperture, through which one of the gang now climbed. + +Old Simon recognized him. "Lupey, my son, what do you want here?" +said the old man. "Have we ever offended you? Do you forget all +that I have done for you?--how I cured your wife when she was so +ill, and got you off from the military; and how, when your ox died, +I gave you two fine bullocks to replace it? Do you not know me, my +son Lupey?" + +"I am not your son Lupey now; I am a 'malcontent!'" cried the +Wallachian, aiming a blow with a heavy hammer at the old man's +head. + +Uttering a deep groan, Simon fell lifeless to the ground. + +The rest of the party saw the scene from the tower. + +Barnabas rushed from the room like a maddened tiger, while Jozsef, +retiring cautiously behind the embrasure of the window, aimed his +gun as they were placing his uncle's head upon a spike, and shot +the first who raised it. Another seized it, and the next instant +he, too, fell to the earth; another and another, as many as +attempted to raise the head, till, finally, none dared approach. + +The widow loaded the guns while Tamas sat quietly in an armchair. + +Meanwhile Barnabas had hurried to the attic, where several large +fragments of iron had been stowed away, and dragging them to a +window which overlooked the entrance, he waited until the gang had +assembled round the door, and were trying to break in; when lifting +an enormous piece with gigantic strength, he dropped it on the +heads of the besiegers. + +Fearful cries arose and the gang, who were at the door, fled right +and left, leaving four or five of their number crushed beneath the +ponderous mass. + +The next moment they returned with redoubled fury, dashing stones +against the windows and the roof, while the door resounded with the +blows of their clubs. + +Notwithstanding the stones which were flying round him, Barnabas +stood at the window dashing heavy iron masses, and killing two or +three men every time. + +His brother meanwhile continued firing from the tower, and not a +ball was aimed in vain. The besiegers had lost a great number, and +began to fall back, after fruitless efforts to break in the door, +when a footman entered breathless to inform Barnabas that the +Wallachians were beginning to scale the opposite side of the castle +with ladders, and that the servants were unable to resist them. + +Barnabas rushed to the spot. + +Two servants lay mortally wounded in one of the back rooms, through +the windows of which the Wallachians were already beginning to +enter, while another ladder had been placed against the opposite +window, which they were beginning to scale as Barnabas entered. + +"Here, wretches!" he roared furiously, and, seizing the ladder with +both hands, shook it so violently that the men were precipitated +from it, and then lifting it with supernatural strength, he dashed +it against the opposite one, which broke with the force of the +weight thrown against it, the upper part falling backwards with the +men upon it, while one of the party remained hanging from the +window-sill, and, after immense exertions to gain a footing, he too +fell to the earth. + +Barnabas rushed into the next room grinding his teeth, his lips +foaming, and his face of a livid hue; so appalling was his +appearance, that one of the gang, who had been the first to enter +by the window, turned pale with terror, and dropped his axe. + +Taking advantage of this, Barnabas darted on his enemy, and +dragging him with irresistible force to the window, he dashed him +from it. + +"On here! as many as you are!" he shouted furiously, the blood +gushing from his mouth from the blow of a stone. "On! all who wish +a fearful death!" + +At that instant, a shriek of terror rose within the house. + +The Wallachians had discovered the little back door which Simon had +left open, and, stealing through it, were already inside the house, +when the shrieks of a servant girl gave the besieged notice of +their danger. + +Barnabas, seizing his club, hurried in the direction of the sounds; +he met his brother on the stairs, who had likewise heard the cry, +and hastened thither with his gun in his hand, accompanied by the +widow. + +"Go, sister!" said Jozsef, "take my wife and children to the +attics; we will try to guard the staircase step by step. Kiss them +all for me. If we die, the villains will put us all in one grave-- +we shall meet again!" + +The widow retired. + +The two brothers silently pressed hands, and then, standing on the +steps, awaited their enemies. They did not wait long. + +The bloodhounds with shouts of vengeance rushed on the narrow stone +stairs. + +"Hah! thus near I love to have you, dogs of hell!" cried Barnabas, +raising his iron club with both hands, and dealing such blows right +and left, that none whom it reached rose again. The stairs were +covered with the dead and wounded, while their death cries, and the +sound of the heavy club, echoed fearfully through the vaulted +building. + +The foremost of the gang retreated as precipitately as they had +advanced, but were continually pressed forward again by the members +from behind, while Barnabas drove them back unweariedly, cutting an +opening through them with the blows of his club. + +He had already beaten them back nearly to the bottom of the stairs, +when one of the gang, who had concealed himself in a niche, pierced +him through the back with a spike. + +Dashing his club amongst the retreating crowd, he turned with a cry +of rage, and seizing his murderer by the shoulders, dragged him +down with him to the ground. + +The first four who rushed to help the murderer were shot dead by +Jozsef Bardy, who, when he had fired off both his muskets, still +defended his prostrated brother with the butt-end of one, until he +was overpowered and disarmed; after which a party of them carried +him out to the iron cross, and crucified him on it amidst the most +shocking tortures. + +On trying to separate the other brother from his murderer, they +found them both dead. With his last strength Barnabas had choked +his enemy, whom he still held firmly in his deadly grip, and they +were obliged to cut off his hand in order to disengage the +Wallachian's body. + +Tamas, the eldest brother, now alone survived. Seated in his +armchair he calmly awaited his enemies, with a large silver +chandelier burning on the table before him. + +As the noise approached his chamber, he drew from its jeweled +sheath his broad curved sword, and, placing it on the table before +him, proceeded coolly to examine the ancient blade, which was +inscribed with unknown characters. + +At last the steps were at the door; the handle was turned--it had +not even been locked. + +The magnate rose, and, taking his sword from the table, he stood +silently and calmly before the enemies, who rushed upon him with +fearful oaths, brandishing their weapons still reeking with the +blood of his brothers. + +The nobleman stood motionless as a statue until they came within +two paces of him, when suddenly the bright black steel gleamed +above his head, and the foremost man fell at his feet with his +skull split to the chin. The next received a deep gash in the +shoulder of his outstretched arm, but not a word escaped the +magnate's lips, his countenance retained its cold and stern +expression as he looked at his enemies in calm disdain, as if to +say, "Even in combat a nobleman is worth ten boors." + +Warding off with the skill of a professed swordsman every blow +aimed at him, he coolly measured his own thrusts, inflicting severe +wounds on his enemies' faces and heads; but the more he evaded them +the more furious they became. At last he received a severe wound +in the leg from a scythe, and fell on one knee; but without +evincing the slightest pain, he still continued fighting with the +savage mob, until, after a long and obstinate struggle, he fell +without a murmur, or even a death-groan. + +The enraged gang cut his body to pieces, and in a few minutes they +had hoisted his head on his own sword. Even then the features +retained their haughty, contemptuous expression. + +He was the last man of the family with whom they had to combat, +but more than a hundred of their own band lay stretched in the +court and before the windows, covering the stairs and rooms with +heaps of bodies, and when the shouts of triumph ceased for an +instant, the groans of the wounded and the dying were heard from +every side. + +None now remained but women and children. When the Wallachians +broke into the castle, the widow had taken them all to the attics, +leaving the door open, that her brothers might find refuge in case +they were forced to retreat; and here the weaker members of the +family awaited the issue of the combat which was to bring them life +or death, listening breathlessly to the uproar, and endeavoring, +from its confused sounds, to determine good or evil. + +At last the voices died away, and the hideous cries of the +besiegers ceased. The trembling women believed that the +Wallachians had been driven out, and, breathing more freely, each +awaited with impatience the approach of brother--husband--sons. + +At last a heavy step was heard on the stairs leading to the garret. + +"This is Barnabas's step!" cried the widow, joyfully, and still +holding the pistols in her hand, she ran to the door of the garret. + +Instead of her expected brother, a savage form, drunken with blood, +strode towards her, his countenance burning with rage and triumph. + +The widow started back, uttering a shriek of terror, and then with +that unaccountable courage of desperation, she aimed one of the +pistols at the Wallachian's breast, who instantly fell backwards on +one of his comrades, who followed close behind. The other pistol +she discharged into her own bosom. + +And now we must draw a veil over the scene that followed. What +happened there must not be witnessed by human eyes. + +Suffice it to say, they murdered every one, women and children, +with the most refined and brutal cruelty, and then threw their dead +bodies out of the window from which Barnabas had dashed down the +iron fragments on the besiegers' heads. + +They left the old grandmother to the last, that she might witness +the extermination of her whole family. Happily for her, her eyes +had ceased to distinguish the light of sun, and ere long the light +of an eternal glory had risen upon them. + +The Wallachians then dug a common grave for the bodies, and threw +them all in together. The little one, whom his parents loved so +well, they cast in alive, his nurse having escaped from the attics +and carried him downstairs, where they had been overtaken by the +savages. + +"There are only eleven here!" cried one of the gang, who had +counted the bodies, "one of them must be still alive somewhere-- +there ought to be twelve!" And then they once more rushed through +the empty rooms, overturning all the furniture, and cutting up and +breaking everything they met with. They searched the garrets and +every corner of the cellars, but without success. + +At last a yell of triumph was heard. One of them had discovered a +door which, being painted of the same color as the walls, had +hitherto escaped their observation. It concealed a small apartment +in the turret. With a few blows of their axes it was broken open, +and they rushed in. + +"Ah! a rare booty!" cried the foremost of the ruffians, while, with +bloodthirsty curiosity, the others pressed round to see the new +victim. + +There lay the little orphan with the golden hair; her eyes were +closed and a death-like hue had overspread her beautiful features. + +Her aunt, with an instinctive foreboding, had concealed her here +when she took the others to the attic. + +The orphan grasped a sharp knife in her hand, with which she had +attempted to kill herself; and when her fainting hands refused the +fearful service, she had swooned in despair. + +"Ah!" cried the Wallachians, in savage admiration, their +bloodthirsty countenances assuming a still more hellish expression. + +"This is a common booty!" cried several voices together. + +"A beautiful girl! A noble lady! ha, ha! She will just suit the +tattered Wallachians!" And with their foul and bloody hands, they +seized the young girl by her fair slight arms. + +"Ha! what is going on here?" thundered a voice from behind. + +The Wallachians looked round. + +A figure stood among them fully a head taller than all the rest. +He wore a brass helmet, in which a deep cleft was visible, and held +in his left hand a Roman sword. His features bore the ancient +Roman character. + +"The Decurio!" they murmured, making way for him. + +"What is going on here?" he repeated; and seizing the fainting girl +in the arms of a Wallachian, he ordered him to lay her down. + +"She is one of our enemies," replied the savage insolently. + +"Silence, knave! Does one of the Roumin nation seek enemies in +women? Lay her down instantly." + +"Not so, leader," interrupted Lupey; "our laws entitle us to a +division of the spoil. This girl is our booty; she belongs to us +after the victory." + +"I know our laws better than you do, churl! Due division of spoil +is just and fair; but we cast lots for what cannot be divided." + +"True, leader: a horse or an ox cannot be divided, and for them we +cast lots, but in this case--" + +"I have said it cannot, and I should like to know who dares to say +it can!" + +Lupey knew the Decurio too well to proffer another syllable, and +the rest turned silently from the girl; one voice alone was heard +to exclaim, "It can!" + +"Who dares to say that?" cried the Decurio; "let him come forward!" + +A young Wallachian, with long plaited hair, confronted the Decurio. +He was evidently intoxicated, and replied, striking his breast with +his fist: "I said so." + +Scarcely had the words escaped his lips, than the Decurio, raising +his left hand, severed the contradictor's head at one stroke from +his body; and as it fell back, the lifeless trunk dropped on its +knees before the Decurio, with its arms around him, as if in +supplication. + +"Dare anyone still say it can?" asked Numa, with merciless rigor. + +The Wallachians turned silently away. + +"Put the horses immediately to the carriage; the girl must be +placed in it, and brought to Topanfalvo. Whoever has the good +fortune of winning her, has a right to receive her as I confide her +to you; but if anyone of you should dare to offend her in the +slightest degree, even by a look or a smile, remember this and take +example from it," continued the Decurio, pointing with his sword to +the headless body of the young man. "And now you may go--destroy +and pillage." + +At these words the band scattered right and left, the Decurio with +the fainting girl, whom he lifted into the carriage and confided to +some faithful retainers of the family, pointing out the road across +the hills. + +In half an hour the castle was in flames and the Wallachians, +descending into the cellars, had knocked out the bottoms of the +casks, and bathed in the sea of flowing wine and brandy, singing +wild songs, while the fire burst from every window enveloping the +blackened walls; after which the revelers departed, leaving their +dead, and those who were too helplessly intoxicated to follow them. + +Meanwhile they brought the young girl to the Decurio's house, and +as each man considered that he had an equal right to the prize, +they kept a vigilant eye upon her, and none dared offend her so +much as by a look. + +When the Decurio arrived, they all crowded into the house with him, +filling the rooms, as well as the entrance and porch. + +Having laid out the spoil before them on the ground, the leader +proceeded to divide it into equal shares, retaining for himself a +portion of ten men, after which most of the band dispersed to their +homes; but a good many remained, greedily eyeing their still +unappropriated victim, who lay pale and motionless as the dead on +the couch of lime-boughs where they had laid her. + +"You are waiting, I suppose, to cast lots for the girl?" said Numa +dryly. + +"Certainly," replied Lupey, with an insolent leer; "and his she +will be who casts highest. If two, or ten, or twenty of us should +cast the same, we have an equal right to her." + +"I tell you only one can have her," interrupted Numa sternly. + +"Then those who win must cast again among each other." + +"Casting the die will not do; we may throw all day long, and two +may remain at the end." + +"Well, let us play cards for her." + +"I cannot allow that, the more cunning will deceive the simpler." + +"Well, write our names upon bricks, and throw them all into a +barrel; and whichever name you draw will take away the girl." + +"I can say what name I please, for none of you can read." + +The Wallachian shook his head impatiently. + +"Well, propose something yourself, Decurio." + +"I will. Let us try which of us can give the best proof of courage +and daring; and whoever can do that, shall have the girl, for he +best deserves her." + +"Well said!" cried the men unanimously. "Let us each relate what +we have done, and then you can judge which among us is the +boldest." + +"I killed the first Bardy in the court in sight of his family." + +"I broke in the door, when that terrible man was dashing down the +iron on our heads." + +"But it was I who pierced his heart." + +"I mounted the stairs first." + +"I fought nearly half an hour with the noble in the cloth of gold." + +And thus they continued. Each man, according to his own account, +was the first and the bravest--each had performed miracles of +valor. + +"You have all behaved with great daring, but it is impossible now +to prove what has happened. The proof must be given here, by all +of us together, before my eyes, indisputably." + +"Well, tell us how," said Lupey impatiently, always fearing that +the Decurio was going to deceive them. + +"Look here," said Numa, drawing a small cask from beneath the bed-- +and in doing so he observed that the young girl half opened her +eyes, as she glanced at him, and then closed them. She was awake, +and had heard all. + +As he stooped down, Numa whispered gently in her ear: "Fear +nothing," and then drew the cask into the middle of the room. + +The Wallachians stared with impatient curiosity as he knocked out +the bottom of the cask with a hatchet. + +"This cask contains gunpowder," continued Decurio. "We will light +a match and place it in the middle of the cask, and whoever remains +longest in the room is undoubtedly the most courageous; for there +is enough here to blow up not only this house, but the whole of the +neighboring village." + +At this proposition several of the men began to murmur. + +"If any are afraid they are not obliged to remain," said the +Decurio dryly. + +"I agree," said Lupey doggedly. "I will remain here; and perhaps, +after all, it is poppy-seeds you have got there--it looks very much +like them." + +The Decurio stooped down, and taking a small quantity between his +fingers, threw it into the Wallachian's pipe, which immediately +exploded, causing him to stagger backwards, and the next instant he +stood with a blackened visage, sans beard and moustache, amidst the +jeers and laughter of his comrades. + +This only exasperated him the more. + +"I will stay for all that!" he exclaimed; and lifting up the pipe +which he had dropped, he walked over and lit it at the burning +match which the Decurio was placing in the cask. + +Upon this, two-thirds of the men left the room. + +The rest assembled around the cask with much noise and bravado, +swearing by heaven and earth that they would stay until the match +burned out; but the more they swore, the more they looked at the +burning match, the flame of which was slowly approaching the +gunpowder. + +For some minutes their courage remained unshaken, but after that +they ceased to boast, and began to look at each other in silent +consternation, while their faces grew paler every instant. At last +one or two rose and stood aloof; the others followed their example, +and some grinding their teeth with rage, others chattering with +terror, they all began to leave the room. + +Only two remained beside the cask; Numa, who stood with his arms +folded leaning against the foot of the bed; and Lupey, who was +sitting on the iron of the cask with his back turned to the danger, +and smoking furiously. + +As soon as they were alone, the latter glanced behind him and saw +the flame was within an inch of the powder. + +"I'll tell you what, Decurio," he said, springing up, "we are only +two left, don't let us make food of each other; let us come to an +understanding on this matter." + +"If you are tired of waiting, I can press the match lower." + +"This is no jest, Numa; you are risking your own life. How can you +wish to send us both to hell for the sake of a pale girl? But I'll +tell you what--I'll give her up to you if you will only promise +that she shall be mine when you are tired of her." + +"Remain here and win her--if you dare." + +"To what purpose?" said the Wallachian, in a whining voice, and in +his impatience he began to tear his clothes and stamp with his +feet, like a petted child. + +"What I have said stands good," said the Decurio; "whoever remains +longest has the sole right to the lady." + +"Well, I will stay, of course; but what do I gain by it? I know +you will stay, too, and then the devil will have us both; and I +speak not only for myself when I say I do not wish that." + +"If you do not wish it, you had better be gone." + +"Well, I don't care--if you will give me a golden mark." + +"Not the half; stay if you like it." + +"Decurio, this is madness! The flame will reach the powder +immediately." + +"I see it." + +"Well, say a dollar." + +"Not a whit." + +"May the seventy-seven limited thunder-bolt strike you on St. +Michael's Day!" roared the Wallachian fiercely, as he rushed to the +door; but after he had gone out, he once more thrust his head in +and cried: "Will you give even a form? I am not gone yet." + +"Nor have I removed the match; you may come back." The Wallachian +slammed the door, and ran for his life, till exhausted and +breathless he sank under a tree, where he lay with his tunic over +his head, and his ears covered with his hands, only now and then +raising his head nervously, to listen for the awful explosion which +was to blow up the world. + +Meanwhile Numa coolly removed the match, which was entirely burnt +down; and throwing it into the grate, he stepped over to the bed +and whispered into the young girl's ear: "You are free!" + +Trembling, she raised herself in the bed and taking the Decurio's +large, sinewy hands within her own, she murmured: "Be merciful! O +hear my prayer, and kill me!" + +The Decurio stroked the fair hair of the lovely suppliant. "Poor +child!" he replied gently; "you have nothing to fear; nobody will +hurt you now." + +"You have saved me from these fearful people--now save me from +yourself!" + +"You have nothing to fear from me," replied the Dacian, proudly; "I +fight for liberty alone, and you may rest as securely within my +threshold as on the steps of the altar. When I am absent you need +have no anxiety, for these walls are impregnable, and if anyone +should dare offend you by the slightest look, that moment shall be +the last of his mortal career. And when I am at home you have +nothing to fear, for woman's image never dwelt within my heart. +Accept my poor couch, and may your rest be sweet!--Imre Bardy slept +on it last night." + +"Imre!" exclaimed the starting girl. "You have seen him, then?-- +oh! where is he!" + +The Decurio hesitated. "He should not have delayed so long," he +murmured, pressing his hand against his brow; "all would have been +otherwise." + +"Oh! let me go to him; if you know where he is." + +"I do not know, but I am certain he will come here if he is alive-- +indeed he must come." + +"Why do you think that?" + +"Because he will seek you." + +"Did he then speak--before you?" + +"As he lay wounded on that couch, he pronounced your name in his +dreams. Are you not that Jolanka Bardy whom they call 'The Angel'? +I knew you by your golden locks." + +The young girl cast down her eyes. "Then you think he will come?" +she said in a low voice. And my relations?" + +"He will come as soon as possible; and now you must take some food +and rest. Do not think about your relations now; they are all in a +safe place--nobody can hurt them more. + +The Decurio brought some refreshment, laid a small prayer-book on +the pillow, and left the orphan by herself. + +The poor girl opened the prayer-book, and her tears fell like rain- +drops on the blessed page; but, overcome by the fatigue and terror +she had undergone, her head ere long sank gently back, and she +slept calmly and sweetly the sleep of exhausted innocence. + +As evening closed, the Decurio returned, and softly approaching the +bed, looked long and earnestly at the fair sleeper's face, until +two large tears stood unconsciously in his eyes. + +The Roumin hastily brushed away the unwonted moisture, and as if +afraid of the feeling which had stolen into his breast, he hastened +from the room, and laid himself upon his woolen rug before the open +door. + +The deserted castle still burned on, shedding a ghastly light on +the surrounding landscape, while the deepest silence reigned +around, only broken now and then by an expiring groan, or the +hoarse song of a drunken reveler. + +Day was beginning to dawn as a troop of horsemen galloped furiously +towards the castle from the direction of Kolozsvar. + +They were Imre and his comrades. + +Silently and anxiously they pursued their course, their eyes fixed +upon one point, as they seemed to fly rather than gallop along the +road. "We are too late!" exclaimed one of the party at last, +pointing to a dim red smoke along the horizon. "Your castle is +burning!" + +Without returning an answer, Imre spurred his panting horse to a +swifter pace. A turn in the road suddenly brought the castle to +their view, its blackened walls still burning, while red smoke rose +high against the side of the hill. + +The young man uttered a fierce cry of despair, and galloped madly +down the declivity. In less than a quarter of an hour he stood +before the ruined walls. + +"Where is my father? where are my family? where is my bride?" he +shrieked in frantic despair, brandishing his sword over the head of +a half-drunken Wallachian, who was leaning against the ruined +portico. + +The latter fell to his knees, imploring mercy, and declaring that +it was not he who killed them. + +"Then they are dead!" exclaimed the unhappy youth, as, half-choked +by his sobs, he fell forward on his horse's neck. + +Meanwhile his companions had ridden up, and immediately sounded the +Wallachian, whom, but for Imre's interference, they would have cut +down. + +"Lead us to where you have buried them. Are they all dead?" he +continued; "have you not left one alive? Accursed be the sun that +rises after such a night!" + +The Wallachian pointed to a large heap of fresh-raised mould. +"They are all there!" he said. + +Imre fell from his horse without another word, as if struck down. + +His companions removed him to a little distance, where the grass +was least red. + +They then began to dig twelve graves with their swords. Imre +watched them in silence. He seemed unconscious what they were +about. + +When they had finished the graves they proceeded to open the large +pit, but the sight was too horrible, and they carried Imre away by +force. He could not have looked on what was there and still retain +his senses. + +In a short time, one of his comrades approached and told him that +there were only eleven bodies in the grave. + +"Then one of them must be alive!" cried Imre, a slight gleam of +hope passing over his pale features; "which is it?--speak! Is +there not a young girl with golden locks among them?" + +"I know not," stammered his comrade, in great embarrassment. + +"You do not know?--go and look again." His friend hesitated. + +"Let me go--I must know," said Imre impatiently, as the young man +endeavored to detain him. + +"O stay, Imre, you cannot look on them; they are all headless!" + +"My God!" exclaimed the young man, covering his face with both +hands, and, bursting into tears he threw himself down with his face +upon the earth. + +His comrades questioned the Wallachian closely as to what he knew +about the young girl. First he returned no answer, pretending to +be drunk and not to understand; but on their promising to spare his +life, on the sole condition that he would speak the truth, he +confessed that she had been carried away to the mountains, where +the band were to cast lots for her. + +"I must go!" said Imre, starting as if in a trance. + +"Whither?" inquired his comrades. + +"To seek her! Take off your dress," he continued, turning to the +Wallachian, "you may have mine in exchange," and, hastily putting +on the tunic, he concealed his pistols in the girdle beneath it. + +"We will follow you," said his comrades, taking up their arms; "we +will seek her from village to village." + +"No, no, I must go alone! I shall find her more easily alone. If +I do not return, avenge this for me," he said, pointing to the +moat; then, turning to the Wallachian, he added sternly: "I have +found beneath your girdle a gold medallion, which my grandmother +wore suspended from her neck, and by which I know you to be one of +her murderers, and, had I not promised to spare your life, you +should now receive the punishment that you deserve. Keep him +here," he said to his comrades, "until I have crossed the hills, +and then let him go." + +And taking leave of his friends, he cast one glance at the eleven +heaps, and at the burning castle of his ancestors, and hastened +toward the mountains. + +The hoary autumn nights had dyed the leaves of the forest. The +whole country looked as if it had been washed in blood. + +Deep amidst the wildest forest the path suddenly descends into a +narrow valley, surrounded by steep rocks at the foot of which lies +a little village half concealed among the trees. + +It seemed as if the settlers there had only cleared sufficient +ground to build their dwellings, leaving all the rest a dense +forest. Apart from the rest, on the top of a rock, stood a +cottage, which, unlike others, was constructed entirely of large +blocks of stone, and only approachable by a small path cut in the +rock. + +A young man ascended this path. He was attired in a peasant's garb +and although he evidently had traveled far, his step was light and +fleet. When he had ascended about halfway, he was suddenly stopped +by an armed Wallachian, who had been kneeling before a shrine in +the rock, and seeing the stranger, rose and stood in his path. + +The latter pronounced the Decurio's name, and produced his pazsura. + +The Wallachian examined it on every side, and then stepped back to +let the stranger pass, after which he once more laid down his +scythe and cap, and knelt before the shrine. + +The stranger knocked at the Decurio's door, which was locked, and +an armed Wallachian appeared from behind the rocks, and informed +him that the Decurio was not at home, only his wife. + +"His wife?" exclaimed the stranger in surprise. + +"Yes, that pale girl who fell to him by lot." + +"And she is his wife." + +"He told us so himself, and swore that if any of us dared so much +as lift his eye upon her, he would send him to St. Nicholas in +paradise." + +"Can I not see her?" + +"I would not advise you; for if the Decurio hears of it, he will +make halves of you; but you may go around to the window if you +like--only let me get out of the way first, that the Decurio may +not find me here." + +The stranger hastened to the window, and looking in, he saw the +young girl seated on an armchair made of rough birch boughs, with a +little prayer-book on her knee; her fair arm supporting her head, +while a mass of golden ringlets half veiled her face, which was as +pale as an alabaster statue; the extreme sadness of its expression +rendering her beauty still more touching. + +"Jolanka!" exclaimed the stranger passionately. + +She started at the well-known voice, and, uttering a cry of joy, +rushed to the window. + +"Oh, Imre!" she murmured, "are you come at last!" + +"Can I not enter? can I not speak with you?" + +The young girl hastened to unbar the door, which was locked on the +inside, and as Imre entered she threw herself into his arms, while +he pressed her fondly to his heart. + +The Wallachian, who had stolen to the window, stood aghast with +terror and, soon as the Decurio arrived, he ran to meet him, and +related, with vehement gesticulations, how the girl had thrown +herself into the peasant's arms. + +"And how did you know that?" asked Numa coldly. + +"I saw them through the window." + +"And dared you look through my window? Did I not forbid you? Down +on your knees, and pray!" + +The Wallachian fell on his knees, and clasped his hands. "Rebel! +you deserve your punishment of death for having disobeyed my +commands; and if you ever dare to open your lips on the subject, +depend upon it, you shall not escape!" And with these words he +strode away, leaving the astonished informer on his knees, in which +posture he remained for some time afterwards, not daring to raise +his head until the Decurio's steps had died away. + +As Numa entered the house, the lovers hastened to meet him. For an +instant or two he stood at the threshold, regarding the young man +with a look of silent reproach. "Why did you come so late?" he +asked. + +Imre held out his hand, but the Decurio did not accept it. "The +blood of your family is on my hand," he whispered. "You have let +dishonor come on me, and mourning on yourself." + +The young man's head sunk on his breast in silent anguish. + +"Take his hand," said Jolanka, in her low, sweet accents; and then +turning to Imre, "He saved your life--he saved us both, and he will +rescue our family, too." + +Imre looked at her in astonishment. + +The Decurio seized his arms and drew him aside. "She does not know +that they are dead," he whispered; "she was not with them, and +knows nothing of their fate; and I have consoled her with the idea +that they are all prisoners, she must never know the horrors of +that fearful night." + +"But sooner or later she will hear it." + +"Never! you must leave the place and the kingdom. You must go to +Turkey." + +"My way lies towards Hungary." + +"You must not think of it. Evil days await that country; your +prophets do not see them, but I know, and see them clearly. Go to +Turkey; I will give you letters by which you may pass in security +through Wallachia and Moldavia; and here is a purse of gold--do not +scruple to accept it, for it is your own, it belonged to THEM. +Promise me, for her sake," he continued earnestly, pointing to +Jolanka, "that you will not go to Hungary." + +Imre hesitated. "I cannot promise what I am not sure I shall +fulfill; but I shall remember your advice." + +Numa took the hands of the two lovers, and, gazing long and +earnestly on their faces, he said, in a voice of deep feeling, "You +love one another?" + +They pressed his hand in silence. + +"You will be happy--you will forget your misfortunes. God bless +and guide you on your way! Take these letters, and keep the direct +road to Brasso,* by the Saxon-land.** You will find free passage +everywhere, and never look behind until the last pinnacles of the +snowy mountains are beyond your sight. Go! we will not take leave, +not a word, let us forget each other!" + + +* Brasso, or Kyonstadt, a town in the southeast of Transylvania, on +the frontier of Wallachia. + +** A district inhabited by a colony of Saxons. + + +The Decurio watched the lovers until they were out of sight; and +called to them, even when they could hear him no longer: "Do not go +towards Hungary." + +He then entered his house. The prayer-book lay open as the young +girl had left it; the page was still damp with her tears. Numa's +hand trembled, as he kissed the volume fervently and placed it in +his bosom. + +When night came on, the Roumin lay down on his wolf-skin couch, +where the golden-haired maiden, and her lover before her, had +slept, but it seemed as if they had stolen his rest--he could not +close his eyes there, so he rose and went out on the porch, where +he spread his rug before the open door; but it was long ere he +could sleep--there was an unwonted feeling at his heart, something +like happiness, yet inexpressibly sad; and, buried in deep reverie, +he lay with his eyes fixed on the dark blue starry vault above him +till past midnight. Suddenly he thought he heard the report of +some fire-arms at a great distance, and at the same moment two +stars sank beneath the horizon. Numa thought of the travelers, and +a voice seemed to whisper, "They are now happy!" + +The moon had risen high in the heavens, when the Decurio was roused +from his sleep by heavy footsteps, and five or six Wallachians, +among whom was Lupey, stood before him. + +"We have brought two enemies' heads," said the latter, with a dark +look at the Decurio; "pay us their worth!" and taking two heads +from his pouch he laid them on Numa's mat. + +The Wallachians watched their leader's countenance with sharp, +suspicious glances. + +Numa recognized the two heads by the light of the moon. They were +those of Imre and Jolanka, but his features did not betray the +slightest emotion. + +"You will know them probably," continued Lupey. "The young +magnate, who escaped us at the pass, came for the girl in your +absence, and at the same time stole your money, and, what is more, +we found your pazsura upon him also." + +"Who killed them?" asked the Decurio, in his usual calm voice. + +"None of us," replied the Wallachian; "as we rushed upon them, the +young magnate drew two pistols from his girdle, and shot the girl +through the head first, and himself afterwards." + +"Were you all there?" + +"And more of us besides." + +"Go back and bring the rest. I will divide the money you have +found on them among you. Make haste; and should one of you remain +behind, his share will be divided among the rest." + +The Wallachians hastened to seek their comrades with cries of joy. + +The Decurio then locked the door, and, throwing himself upon the +ground beside the two heads, he kissed them a hundred times, and +sobbed like a child. + +"I warned you not to go toward Hungary!" he said bitterly. "Why +did you not hear me, unhappy children? why did you not take my +word?" and he wept over his enemies' heads as if he had been their +father. + +He then rose, his eyes darting fire, and, shaking his terrible +fist, he cried, in a voice hoarse with rage: "Czine mintye!"* + + +* Czine mintye!--A Wallachian term signifying revenge. + + +In a few hours, the Wallachians had assembled before the Decurio's +house. They were about fifty or sixty, all wild, fearful-looking +men. + +Numa covered the two heads with a cloth, and laid them on the bed, +after which he opened the door. + +Lupey entered last. + +"Lock the door," said Numa, when they were all in; we must not be +interrupted;" and, making them stand in a circle, he looked around +at them all, one by one. + +"Are you all here?" he asked at last. + +"Not one is absent." + +"Do you consider yourselves all equally deserving of sharing THE +BOOTY?" + +"All of us." + +"It was you," he continued to Lupey, "who struck down the old man?" + +"It was." + +"And you who pierced the magnate with a spike?" + +"You are right, leader." + +"And you really killed all the women in the castle?" turning to a +third. + +"With my own hand." + +"And one and all of you can boast of having massacred, and +plundered, and set on fire?" + +"All! all!" they cried, striking their breasts. + +"Do not lie before Heaven. See! your wives are listening at the +window to what you say, and will betray you if you do not speak the +truth." + +"We speak the truth!" + +"It is well!" said the leader, as he calmly approached the bed; +and, seating himself on it, uncovered the two heads and placed them +on his knee. "Where did you put their bodies?" he asked. + +"We cut them in pieces and strewed them on the highroad." + +There was a short silence. Numa's breathing became more and more +oppressed, and his large chest heaved convulsively. "Have you +prayed yet?" he asked in an altered voice. + +"Not yet, leader. What should we pray for?" said Lupey. + +"Fall down on your knees and pray, for this is the last morning +which will dawn on any of you again." + +"Are you in your senses, leader? What are you going to do?" + +"I am going to purge the Roumin nation of a set of ruthless +murderers and brigands. Miserable wretches; instead of glory, you +have brought dishonor and disgrace upon our arms wherever you have +appeared. While the brave fought on the field of battle, you +slaughtered their wives and children; while they risked their lives +before the cannon's mouth you attacked the house of the sleepers +and robbed and massacred the helpless and the innocent. Fall down +on your knees and pray for your souls, for the angel of death +stands over you, to blot out your memory from among the Roumin +people!" + +The last words were pronounced in a fearful tone. Numa was no +longer the cold unmoved statue he had hitherto appeared, he was +like a fiery genius of wrath, whose very breath was destruction. + +The Wallachians fell upon their knees in silent awe, while the +women who had been standing outside, rushed shrieking down the +rocks. + +The Decurio drew a pistol from his breast, and approached the cask +of gunpowder. + +With a fearful howl, they rushed upon him; the shriek of despair +was heard for an instant, then the terrible explosion which caused +the rocks to tremble, while the flames rose with a momentary flash +amidst clouds of dust and smoke, scaring the beasts of the forest, +and scattering stones and beams, and hundreds of dismembered limbs, +far through the valley, and over the houses of the terrified +inhabitants! + +When the smoke had dissipated, a heap of ruins stood in the place +of Numa's dwelling. + +The sun rose and smiled upon the earth, which was strewed with the +last leaves of autumn, but where were those who had assembled at +the spring-time of the year? + +The evening breezes whispered mournfully through the ruined walls, +and strewed the faded leaves upon eleven grassy mounds. + +The pen trembles in my hand--my heart sickens at the recital of +such misery. + +Would that I could believe it an imagination--the ghostly horror of +a fevered brain! + +Would that I could bid my gentle readers check the falling tear or +tell them: "Start not with horror; it is but romance--the creation +of some fearful dream--let us awake, and see it no more!" + + + +Etienne Barsony + +The Dancing Bear + + +Fife and drum were heard from the big market-place. People went +running towards it. In a village the slightest unusual bustle +makes a riot. Everybody is curious to know the cause of the alarm, +and whether the wheels of the world are running out of their orbit. +In the middle of the great dusty market-place some stunted locust +trees were hanging their faint, dried foliage, and from far off one +could already see that underneath these miserable trees a tall, +handsome, young man and a huge, plump dark-brown, growling bear +were hugging each other. + +Joco, the bear-leader, was giving a performance. His voice rang +like a bugle-horn, and, singing his melancholy songs, he from time +to time interrupted himself and hurrahed, whereupon the bear began +to spring and roar angrily. The two stamped their feet, holding +close together, like two tipsy comrades. But the iron-weighted +stick in the young man's hand made it evident that the gigantic +beast was quite capable of causing trouble, and was only restrained +from doing so because it had learnt from experience that the least +outbreak never failed to bring down vengeance upon its back. The +bear was a very powerful specimen from Bosnia, with thick brown fur +and a head as broad as a bull's. When he lifted himself up on his +hind legs he was half a head taller than Joco, his master. + +The villagers stood round them with anxious delight, and animated +the bear with shouts of "Jump, Ibrahim! Hop, Ibrahim!" but nobody +ventured to go near. Joco was no stranger to these people. After +every harvest he visited the rich villages of Banat with his bear. +They knew that he was a native of the frontier of Slavonia, and +they were not particularly keen to know anything else about him. A +man who leads such a vagrant life does not stay long in any one +place, and has neither friends nor foes anywhere. They supposed +that he spent part of the year in Bosnia, perhaps the winter, +visiting, one after the other, the Servian monasteries. Now, in +midsummer, when he was least to be expected, they suddenly hear his +fife and drum. + +Ibrahim, the big old bear, roused the whole village in less than a +quarter of an hour with his far-reaching growls. The dogs crouched +horror-struck, their hair standing on end, barking at him in fear +and trembling. + +When Joco stopped at some street corner, or in the market-place, +and began to beat his rattling drum, the bear lifted himself with +heavy groans on his hind legs, and then the great play began, the +cruel amusement, the uncanny, fearful embracings which one could +never be sure would not end fatally. For Joco is not satisfied to +let Ibrahim jump and dance, but, whistling and singing, grasps the +wild beast's skin, and squeezes his paws; and so the two dance +together, the one roaring and groaning, the other singing with +monotonous voice a melancholy song. + +The company of soldiers stationed in the village was just returning +from drill, and Captain Winter, Ritter von Wallishausen, turned in +curiosity his horse's head towards the crowd, and made a sign to +Lieutenant Vig to lead the men on. His fiery half-blood Graditz +horse snuffed the disgusting odor of the wild beast, and would go +no nearer. + +The Captain called a hussar from the last line that passed him, and +confided the stubborn horse to his charge. Then he bent his steps +towards the swaying crowd. The villagers opened out a way for him, +and soon the Captain stood close behind the bear-leader. But +before he could fix his eyes on Ibrahim they were taken captive by +something else. + +A few steps away from Joco a young girl sat upon the ground, gently +stroking a light-colored little bear. They were both so huddled up +together that the villagers scarcely noticed them, and the Captain +was therefore all the better able to observe the young woman, who +appeared to be withdrawing herself as much as possible from public +gaze. And really she seemed to be an admirable young creature. +She was slight of build, perhaps not yet fully developed, with the +early ripeness of the Eastern beauty expressed in face and figure-- +a black cherry, at sight of which the mouth of such a gourmand as +the Ritter von Wallishausen would naturally water! Her fine face +seemed meant only to be the setting of her two black eyes. She +wore a shirt of coarse linen, a frock of many-colored material, and +a belt around her waist. Her beautifully formed bosoms covered +only by the shirt, rose and fell in goddesslike shamelessness. A +string of glass beads hung round her neck, and two long earrings +tapped her cheeks at every movement. She made no effort to hide +her bare feet, but now and then put back her untidy but beautiful +black hair from her forehead and eyes; for it was so thick that if +she did not do so she could not see. + +The girl felt that the Captain's fiery gaze was meant for her and +not for the little bear. She became embarrassed, and instinctively +turned her head away. Just at this moment Joco turned round with +Ibrahim. The tall Servian peasant let the whistle fall from his +hand, and the wild dance came to an end. Ibrahim understood that +the performance was over, and, putting down his front paws on the +ground, licked, as he panted, the strong iron bars of his muzzle. + +The Captain and Joco looked at each other. The powerful young +bear-leader was as pale as death. He trembled as if something +terrible had befallen him. Captain Winter looked at him +searchingly. Where, he asked himself, had he met this man? + +The villagers did not understand what was going on, and began to +shout, "Zorka! Now, Zorka, it is your turn with Mariska." The +cries of the villagers brought Joco to himself, and with a motion +worthy of a player he roused the little bear to its feet. Then he +made signs to the girl. Being too excited to blow his whistle, he +started singing and beating the drum; but his voice trembled so +much that by and by he left off singing and let the girl go through +her performance alone. + +Then the Captain saw something that wrought him up to ecstasy. +Zorka was singing a sad Bosnian song in her tender, crooning voice, +and dancing with graceful steps round the little bear, who, to tell +the truth, also danced more lightly than the heavy Ibrahim, and was +very amusing when he lifted his paw to his head as Hungarians do +when they are in high spirits and break forth in hurrahs. + +Captain Winter, however, saw nothing but the fair maid, whose +pearly white teeth shone out from between her red lips. He felt he +would like to slip a silk ribbon round her waist, which swayed as +lightly as a reed waving to and fro in the wind, and lead her off +as if she were a beautiful colored butterfly. + +Zorka grew tired of the sad, melancholy song, and began to dance +wildly and passionately. Perhaps her natural feminine vanity was +roused within her, and she wanted to show off at her best before +the handsome soldier. Her eyes sparkled; a flush spread from time +to time over her face; with her sweet voice she animated the little +bear, crying, "Mariska, Mariska, jump!" But after a while she +seemed to forget the growling little creature altogether, and went +on dancing a kind of graceful fandango of her own invention. As +she swayed, it seemed as if the motion and excitement caused every +fiber of her body to flash out a sort of electric glow. By the +time the girl flung herself, quite exhausted, in the dust at his +feet, Captain Winter was absolutely beside himself. Such a morsel +of heavenly daintiness did not often drop in his path now that he +was fasting in this purgatory of a village. His stay there had +been one long Lent, during which joys and pleasures had been rare +indeed. + + . . . . . + +It began to grow dark. At the other end of the marketplace several +officers were on their way to supper at the village inn where they +always messed. The Captain turned to the man and woman in +possession of the bears and ordered them in no friendly tone to go +with him to the inn as his guests. Joco bowed humbly like a +culprit, and gloomily led on his comrade Ibrahim. Zorka, on the +contrary, looked gay as she walked along beside the light-colored +bear. + +The Captain looked again and again at the bear-leader walking in +front of him. "Where have I seen this fellow before?" he kept +asking himself. His uncertainty did not last long. His face +brightened. "Oh, yes; I remember!" he inwardly exclaimed. Now he +felt sure that this black cherry of Bosnia, this girl with the +waist of a dragon-fly, was his. + +The inn, once a gentleman's country-house, was built of stone. The +bears were lodged in a little room which used to serve the former +owner of the house as pantry, and were chained to the strong iron +lattice of the window. In one corner of this little room the +landlord ordered one of his servants to make a good bed of straw. +"The Captain will pay for it," he said. + +When everything was ready in the little room, the Captain called +Joco and took him there. He knew that what he was going to do was +not chivalrous; but he had already worked himself up to a blaze of +excitement over the game he meant to play, and this fellow was too +stupid to understand what a hazardous piece of play it was. When +they were alone he stood erect before the bear-leader and looked +fixedly into his eyes. + +"You are Joco Hics," he said; "two years ago you deserted from my +regiment." + +The strong, tall, young peasant began to tremble so that his knees +knocked together, but could not answer a single word. Fritz +Winter, Ritter von Wallishausen, whispered into Joco's ear, his +speech agitated and stuttering: "You have a woman with you," he +said, "who surely is not your wife. Set her free. I will buy her +from you for any price you ask. You can go away with your bears +and pluck yourself another such flower where you found this one." + +Joco stood motionless for a while as if turned into stone. He did +not tremble any longer: the crisis was over. He had only been +frightened as long as he was uncertain whether or not he would be +instantly hanged if he were found out. + +"In all Bosnia," he answered gloomily, "there was only one such +flower and that I stole." + +Before a man who was willing to share his guilt, he dared +acknowledge his crime. In truth, this man was no better than +himself. He only wore finer clothes. + +The Captain became impatient. "Are you going to give her up, or +not?" he asked. "I do not want to harm you; but I could put you in +prison and in chains, and what would become of your sweetheart +then?" + +Joco answered proudly: "She would cry her eyes out for me; +otherwise she would not have run away from her rich father's house +for my sake." + +Ah! thought the Captain, if it were only that! By degrees I could +win her to me. + +But it was not advisable to make a fuss, whether for the sake of +his position or because of his wife, who lived in town. + +"Joco, I tell you what," said the Captain, suddenly becoming calm. +"I am going away now for a short time. I shall be gone about an +hour. By that time everybody will be in bed. The officers who sup +with me, and the innkeeper and his servants, will all be sound +asleep. I give you this time to think it over. When I come back +you will either hold out your hand to be chained or to receive a +pile of gold in it. In the meantime I shall lock you in there, +because I know how very apt you are to disappear." He went out, +and turned the key twice in the lock. Joco was left alone. + +When the hour had expired Captain Winter noisily opened the door. +His eyes sparkled from the strong wine he had taken during supper, +as well as from the exquisite expectation which made his blood +boil. + +Joco stood smiling submissively before him. "I have thought it +over, sir," he said. "I will speak with the little Zorka about +it." + +Ritter Winter now forgot that he was speaking with a deserter, whom +it was his duty to arrest. He held out his hand joyfully to the +Bosnian peasant, and said encouragingly: "Go speak with her; but +make haste. Go instantly." + +They crept together to the pantry where the girl slept near the +chained bears. Joco opened the door without making a sound, and +slipped in. It seemed to the Captain that he heard whispering +inside. These few moments seemed an eternity to him. At last the +bear-leader reappeared and, nodding to the Captain, said: "Sir, you +are expected." + +Captain Winter had undoubtedly taken too much wine. He staggered +as he entered the pantry, the door of which the bear-leader shut +and locked directly he had entered. He then listened with such an +expression on his face as belongs only to a born bandit. Almost +immediately a growling was heard, and directly afterwards some +terrible swearing and a fall. The growling grew stronger and +stronger. At last it ended in a wild roar. A desperate cry +disturbed the stillness of the night: "Help! help!" + +In the yard and round about it the dogs woke up, and with terrible +yelping ran towards the pantry, where the roaring of the bear grew +ever wilder and more powerful. The rattling of the chain and the +cries of the girl mingled with Ibrahim's growling. The neighbors +began to wake up. Human voices, confused questionings, were heard. +The inn-keeper and his servants appeared on the scene in their +night clothes, but, hearing the terrible roaring, fled again into +security. The Captain's cries for help became weaker and weaker. +And now Joco took his iron stake, which he always kept by him, +opened the door, and at one bound was at the side of the wild +beast. His voice sounded again like thunder, and the iron stick +fell with a thud on the bear's back. Ibrahim had smelt blood. +Beneath his paws a man's mangled body was writhing. The beast +could hardly be made to let go his prey. In the light that came +through the small window, Joco soon found the chain from which not +long before he had freed Ibrahim, and with a swift turn he put the +muzzle over the beast's jaws. It was done in a twinkling. During +this time Zorka had been running up and down the empty yard, crying +in vain for help. Nobody had dared come near. + +The following day Captain Fritz Winter, Ritter von Wallishausen, +was lying between burning wax candles upon his bier. Nobody could +be made responsible for the terrible accident. Why did he go to +the bears when he was not sober? + +But that very day the siren of Bosnia danced her wild dance again +in the next village, and with her sweet, melodious voice urged the +light-colored little bear: "Mariska, jump, jump!" + + + +Arthur Elck + +The Tower Room + + +There were many wonderful things that aroused our childish fantasy, +when Balint Orzo and I were boys, but none so much as the old tower +that stands a few feet from the castle, shadowy and mysterious. It +is an old, curious, square tower, and at the brink of its notched +edge there is a shingled helmet which was erected by one of the +late Orzos. + +There is many and many a legend told about this old tower. A rumor +exists that it has a secret chamber into which none is permitted to +enter, except the head of the family. Some great secret is +concealed in the tower-room, and when the first-born son of the +Orzo family becomes of age his father takes him there and reveals +it. And the effect of the revelation is such that every young man +who enters that room comes out with gray hair. + +As to what the secret might be, there was much conjecturing. One +legend had it that once some Orzo imprisoned his enemies in the +tower and starved them until the unfortunates ate each other in +their crazed suffering. + +According to another story Kelemen Orzo ordered his faithless wife +Krisztina Olaszi to be plastered into the wall of the room. Every +night since, sobbing is heard from the tower. + +Another runs that every hundred years a child with a dog's face is +born in the Orzo family and that this little monster has to perish +in the tower-room, so as to hide the disgrace of the family. + +Another conjecture was that once the notorious Menyhart Orzo, who +was supreme under King Rudolph in the castle, played a game of +checkers with his neighbor, Boldizsar Zomolnoky. They commenced to +play on a Monday and continued the game and drank all week until +Sunday morning dawned upon them. Then Menyhart Orzo's confessor +came and pleaded with the gamblers. He begged them to stop the +game on the holy day of Sunday, when all true Christians are in +church praising the Lord. But Menyhart, bringing his fist down on +the table in such rage that all the wine glasses and bottles +danced, cried: "And if we have to sit here till the world comes to +an end, we won't stop till we have finished this game!" + +Scarcely had he uttered his vow when, somewhere from the earth, or +from the wall, a thundering voice was heard promising to take him +at his word--that they would continue playing till the end of the +world. And ever since, the checkers are heard rattling, and the +two damned souls are still playing the game in the tower-room. + +When we were boys, the secret did not give us any rest, and we were +always discussing and plotting as to how we could discover it. We +made at least a hundred various plans, but all failed. It was an +impossibility to get into the tower, because of a heavy iron-barred +oaken door. The windows were too high to be reached. We had to +satisfy ourselves with throwing a well-aimed stone, which hit the +room through the window. Such an achievement was somewhat of a +success, for oftentimes we drove out an alarmed flock of birds. + +One day I decided that the best way would be to find out the secret +of the tower from Balint's father himself. "He is the head of the +family," I thought, "and if any light is to be had on the mystery, +it is through him." But Balint didn't like the idea of approaching +the old man; he knew his father's temper. + +However, once he ventured the question, but he was sorry for it +afterwards, for the older Orzo flew into a passion, and scolded and +raged, ending by telling him that he must not listen to such +nursery-tales; that the tower was moldering and decaying with age; +that the floor timbers and staircase were so infirm that it would +fall to pieces should anyone approach it; and that this was why no +one could gain admittance. + +For a long time afterwards neither of us spoke of it. + +But curiosity was incessantly working within us, and one evening +Balint solemnly vowed to me that as soon as he became of age and +had looked into the room, he would call for me, should I be even at +the end of the world, and would let me into the secret. In order +to make it more solemn, we called this a "blood-contract." + +With this vow we parted. My parents sent me to college; Balint had +a private tutor and was kept at home in the castle. After that we +only met at vacation time. + +Eight years passed before I saw the Orzo home again. At Balint's +urgent, sudden invitation I had hurriedly journeyed back to my +rocky fatherland. + +I had scarcely stepped on the wide stone stairway leading from the +terrace in the front of the castle, when someone shouted that the +honorable master was near! He came galloping in on a foaming +horse. I looked at him and started, as if I had seen a ghost, for +this thin, tall rider was the perfect resemblance of his father. +The same knotty hair and bearded head, the same densely furrowed +face, the same deep, calm, gray eyes. And his hair and beard were +almost as white as his father's! + +He came galloping through the gate, pulled the bridle with a sudden +jerk, and the next moment was on the paving; then with one bound he +reached the terrace, and had me in his strong arms. With wild +eagerness he showed me into the castle and at the same time kept +talking and questioning me without ceasing. Then he thrust me into +my room and declared that he gave me fifteen minutes--no more--to +dress. + +The time had not even expired, when he came, like a whirlwind, +embraced me again and carried me into the dining-room. There +chandeliers and lamps were already lit; the table was elaborately +decorated, and bore plenty of wine. + +At the meal he spoke again. Nervously jerking out his words, he +was continually questioning me on one subject and then another, +without waiting for the answer. He laughed often and harshly. +When we came to the drinking, he winked to the servants, and +immediately five Czigany musicians entered the room. Balint +noticed the astonishment on my face, and half evasively said: + +"I have sent to Iglo for them in honor of you. Let the music +sound, and the wine flow; who knows when we will see each other +again?" + +He put his face into his palm. The Cziganys played old Magyar +songs. Balint glanced at me now and then, and filled the glasses; +we clinked them together, but he always seemed to be worried. + +It was dawning. The soft sound of a church bell rose to us. +Balint put his hand on my shoulder and bent to my ear. + +"Do you know how my father died?" he asked in a husky voice. "He +killed himself." + +I looked at him with amazement; I wanted to speak, but he shook his +head, and grasped my hand. + +"Do you remember my father?" he asked me. Of course; while I +looked at him it seemed as if his father were standing before me. +The very fibrous, skinny figure, the muscles and flesh seeming +peeled off. Even through his coat arm I felt the naked, unveiled +nerves. + +"I always admired and honored my father, but we were never true +intimates; I knew that he loved me, but I felt as if it was not for +my own sake; as if he loved something in my soul that was strange +to me. I never saw him smile; sometimes he was so harsh that I was +afraid of him; at another time he was unmanageable. + +"I did not understand him, but the older I became the better did I +feel that there was a sad secret germinating in the bottom of his +soul, where it grew like a spreading tree, the branches of which +crept up to the castle and covered the walls, little by little +overshadowed the sunlight, absorbed the air, and darkened +everyone's heart. I gritted my teeth in vain; I could not work; I +could not start to accomplish anything. I struggled with hundreds +and hundreds of determinations; to-day I prepared for this or that; +tomorrow for something else; ambition pressed me within; I could +not make up my mind. Behind every resolution I made, I noticed my +father's countenance, like a note of interrogation. The old fables +that we heard together in our childhood were renewed in my memory. +Little by little the thought grew within me, like a fixed delusion, +that my father's fatal secret was locked up in the tower room. +After that I lived by the calendar and dwelt on the passing of time +on the clock. And when the sun that shone on me when I was born +arose the twenty-fourth time, I pressed my hand on my heart and +entered my father's room--this very room. + +"'Father,' I said, 'I became of age to-day, everything may be +opened before me, and I am at liberty to know everything.' Father +looked at me and pondered over this. + +"'Oh, yes!' he whispered, 'this is the day.' + +"'I may know everything now,' continued I;' I am not afraid of any +secrets. In the name of our family tradition, I beg of you, please +open the tower-room.' + +"Father raised his hand, as if he wanted to make me become silent. +His face was as white as a ghost. + +"'Very well,' he murmured, 'I will open the tower-room for you.' + +"And then he pulled off his coat, tore his shirt on his breast, and +pointed to his heart. + +"'Here is the tower-room, my boy!' did he whisper in a husky voice. +'Here is the tower-room, and within our family secret. Do you see +it?' + +"That is all he said, but when I looked at him I immediately +perceived the secret; everything was clear before me and I had a +presentiment that something was nearing its end, something about to +break. + +"Father walked up and down; and then he stopped and pointed to this +picture; to this very picture. + +"'Did you ever thoroughly look at your ancestors? They are all +from the Orzos. If you scrutinize their faces you will recognize +in them your father, yourself, and your grandfather; and if you +ever read their documents, which were left to us--there they are in +the box--then you will know that they are just the same material as +we are. Their way of thinking was the same as ours and so were +their desires, their wills, their lives, and deaths. We had among +them soldiers, clergymen, scientists, but not even one great, +celebrated man, although their talent, their strength almost tore +them asunder. + +"'In every one of them the family curse took root: not one of them +could be a great man, neither my father nor yours.' + +"Then I felt as if something horrible was coming from his lips. My +breath almost ceased. Father did not finish what he was going to +say, but stopped and listened for a minute. + +"'I was my father's only hope,' he went on after a while; 'I too +was born talented and prepared for great things, but the Orzos' +destiny overtook me, and you see now what became of me. I looked +into the tower-room. You know what it contains? You know what the +name of our secret is? He who saw this secret lost faith in +himself. For him it would have been better not to have come into +this world at all. But I loved to live and did not want to abandon +all my hopes. I married your mother; she consoled me until you +were born, and then I regained my delight in life. I knew what I +had to keep before my eyes to bring up my son to be such a man as +his father could not be. + +"'I acquiesced when you left for the foreign countries; then your +letters came. I made a special study of every sentence and of +every word of it, for I did not want to trust my reason. I thought +the first time that the fault was in me; that I saw unnecessary +phantoms. But it wasn't so, for what I read out of your words was +our destiny, the curse of the Orzos; from the way of your thinking, +I found out that everything is in vain; you too turned your head +backward, you too looked into yourself and noticed there the thing +that makes the perceiver sterile forever. You did not even notice +what you have done; you could not grasp it with your reason, but +the poison is already within you.' + +"'It cannot be, father!' I broke out, terrified. + +"But he sadly shook his head. 'I am old; I cannot believe in +anything now. I wish you were right, and would never come to know +what I know. God bless you, my son; it is getting late, and I am +getting tired.' + +"It struck me that he was trying to cover his disbelief with +sarcasm. Both of us were without sleep that night. At dawn there +was silence in his room. I bitterly thought, 'When will I go to +rest?' When I went into his room in the morning he was lying in +his bed. All was over. He had taken poison, and written his +farewell on a piece of paper. His last wish was that no one should +ever know under what circumstances he died." + +Balint left off speaking and gazed with outstretched eyes toward +the window in the darkness. I slowly went to him and put my hand +upon his shoulder. He started at my touch. + +"I more than once thought of the woman who could be the mother of +my son. How many times have I been tempted to fulfill my father's +last wish! But at such a time it has always come to my mind that I +too might have such a son, who would cast into his father's teeth +that he was a coward and a selfish man; that he sacrificed a life +for his illusive hopes. + +"No! I won't do it. I won't do it. I am the last of the Orzos. +With me this damned family will die out. My fathers were cowards +and rascals. I do not want anybody to curse my memory." + +I kissed Balint's wet forehead; I knew that this was the last time +I would see him. The next day I left the castle, and the day +after, his death was made public. He committed suicide, like his +father. He was the last Orzo, and I turned about the coat of arms +above his head. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Most Interesting Stories of All Nations + diff --git a/1552.zip b/1552.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d35cf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/1552.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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