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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This Etext prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + + +The Secret of the Night + +by Gaston Leroux + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + +I GAYETY AND DYNAMITE +II NATACHA +III THE WATCH +IV "THE YOUTH OF Moscow Is DEAD" +V BY ROULETABILLE'S ORDER THE GENERAL PROMENADES +VI THE MYSTERIOUS HAND +VII ARSENATE OF SODA +VIII THE LITTLE CHAPEL OF THE GUARDS +IX ANNOUCHEA +X A DRAMA IN THE NIGHT +XI THE POISON CONTINUES +XII PERE ALEXIS +XIII THE LIVING BOMBS +XIV THE MARSHES +XV "I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU" +XVI BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL +XVII THE LAST CRAVAT +XVIII A SINGULAR EXPERIENCE +XIX THE TSAR + + + + +THE SECRET OF THE NIGHT + + + + +I + +GAYETY AND DYNAMITE + + +"BARINIA, the young stranger has arrived." + +"Where is he?" + +"Oh, he is waiting at the lodge." + +"I told you to show him to Natacha's sitting-room. Didn't you +understand me, Ermolai?" + +"Pardon, Barinia, but the young stranger, when I asked to search +him, as you directed, flatly refused to let me." + +"Did you explain to him that everybody is searched before being +allowed to enter, that it is the order, and that even my mother +herself has submitted to it?" + +"I told him all that, Barinia; and I told him about madame your +mother." + +"What did he say to that?" + +"That he was not madame your mother. He acted angry." + +"Well, let him come in without being searched." + +"The Chief of Police won't like it." + +"Do as I say." + +Ermolai bowed and returned to the garden. The "barinia" left the +veranda, where she had come for this conversation with the old +servant of General Trebassof, her husband, and returned to the +dining-room in the datcha des Iles, where the gay Councilor Ivan +Petrovitch was regaling his amused associates with his latest +exploit at Cubat's resort. They were a noisy company, and certainly +the quietest among them was not the general, who nursed on a sofa +the leg which still held him captive after the recent attack, that +to his old coachman and his two piebald horses had proved fatal. +The story of the always-amiable Ivan Petrovitch (a lively, little, +elderly man with his head bald as an egg) was about the evening +before. After having, as he said, "recure la bouche " for these +gentlemen spoke French like their own language and used it among +themselves to keep their servants from understanding - after having +wet his whistle with a large glass of sparkling rosy French wine, +he cried: + +"You would have laughed, Feodor Feodorovitch. We had sung songs +on the Barque* and then the Bohemians left with their music and we + +[*The "Barque" is a restaurant on a boat, among the isles, +near the Gulf of Finland, on a bank of the Neva.] + +went out onto the river-bank to stretch our legs and cool our faces +in the freshness of the dawn, when a company of Cossacks of the +Guard came along. I knew the officer in command and invited him to +come along with us and drink the Emperor's health at Cubat's place. +That officer, Feodor Feodorovitch, is a man who knows vintages and +boasts that he has never swallowed a glass of anything so common as +Crimean wine. When I named champagne he cried, 'Vive l'Empereur!' +A true patriot. So we started, merry as school-children. The +entire company followed, then all the diners playing little whistles, +and all the servants besides, single file. At Cubat's I hated to +leave the companion-officers of my friend at the door, so I invited +them in, too. They accepted, naturally. But the subalterns were +thirsty as well. I understand discipline. You know, Feodor +Feodorovitch, that I am a stickler for discipline. Just because +one is gay of a spring morning, discipline should not be forgotten. +I invited the officers to drink in a private room, and sent the +subalterns into the main hall of the restaurant. Then the soldiers +were thirsty, too, and I had drinks served to them out in the +courtyard. Then, my word, there was a perplexing business, for now +the horses whinnied. The brave horses, Feodor Feodorovitch, who +also wished to drink the health of the Emperor. I was bothered +about the discipline. Hall, court, all were full. And I could not +put the horses in private rooms. Well, I made them carry out +champagne in pails and then came the perplexing business I had tried +so hard to avoid, a grand mixture of boots and horse-shoes that was +certainly the liveliest thing I have ever seen in my life. But the +horses were the most joyous, and danced as if a torch was held under +their nostrils, and all of them, my word! were ready to throw their +riders because the men were not of the same mind with them as to +the route to follow! From our window we laughed fit to kill at such +a mixture of sprawling boots and dancing hoofs. But the troopers +finally got all their horses to barracks, with patience, for the +Emperor's cavalry are the best riders in the world, Feodor +Feodorovitch. And we certainly had a great laugh! - Your health, +Matrena Petrovna." +These last graceful words were addressed to Madame Trebassof, who +shrugged her shoulders at the undesired gallantry of the gay +Councilor. She did not join in the conversation, excepting to +calm the general, who wished to send the whole regiment to the +guard-house, men and horses. And while the roisterers laughed over +the adventure she said to her husband in the advisory voice of the +helpful wife: + +"Feodor, you must not attach importance to what that old fool Ivan +tells you. He is the most imaginative man in the capital when he +has had champagne." + +"Ivan, you certainly have not had horses served with champagne in +pails," the old boaster, Athanase Georgevitch, protested jealously. +He was an advocate, well-known for his table-feats, who claimed the +hardest drinking reputation of any man in the capital, and he +regretted not to have invented that tale. + +"On my word! And the best brands! I had won four thousand +roubles. I left the little fete with fifteen kopecks." + +Matrena Petrovna was listening to Ermolai, the faithful country +servant who wore always, even here in the city, his habit of fresh +nankeen, his black leather belt, his large blue pantaloons and his +boots glistening like ice, his country costume in his master's city +home. Madame Matrena rose, after lightly stroking the hair of her +step-daughter Natacha, whose eyes followed her to the door, +indifferent apparently to the tender manifestations of her father's +orderly, the soldier-poet, Boris Mourazoff, who had written +beautiful verses on the death of the Moscow students, after having +shot them, in the way of duty, on their barricades. + +Ermolai conducted his mistress to the drawing-room and pointed +across to a door that he had left open, which led to the +sitting-room before Natacha's chamber. + +"He is there," said Ermolai in a low voice. + +Ermolai need have said nothing, for that matter, since Madame +Matrena was aware of a stranger's presence in the sitting-room +by the extraordinary attitude of an individual in a maroon +frock-coat bordered with false astrakhan, such as is on the coats +of all the Russian police agents and makes the secret agents +recognizable at first glance. This policeman was on his knees +in the drawing-room watching what passed in the next room through +the narrow space of light in the hinge-way of the door. In this +manner, or some other, all persons who wished to approach General +Trebassof were kept under observation without their knowing it, +after having been first searched at the lodge, a measure adopted +since the latest attack. + +Madame Matrena touched the policeman's shoulder with that heroic +hand which had saved her husband's life and which still bore traces +of the terrible explosion in the last attack, when she had seized +the infernal machine intended for the general with her bare hand. +The policeman rose and silently left the room, reached the veranda +and lounged there on a sofa, pretending to be asleep, but in +reality watching the garden paths. + +Matrena Petrovna took his place at the hinge-vent. This was her +rule; she always took the final glance at everything and everybody. +She roved at all hours of the day and night round about the general, +like a watch-dog, ready to bite, to throw itself before the danger, +to receive the blows, to perish for its master. This had commenced +at Moscow after the terrible repression, the massacre of +revolutionaries under the walls of Presnia, when the surviving +Nihilists left behind them a placard condemning the victorious +General Trebassof to death. Matrena Petrovna lived only for the +general. She had vowed that she would not survive him. So she had +double reason to guard him. + +But she had lost all confidence even within the walls of her own +home. + +Things had happened even there that defied her caution, her +instinct, her love. She had not spoken of these things save to the +Chief of Police, Koupriane, who had reported them to the Emperor. +And here now was the man whom the Emperor had sent, as the supreme +resource, this young stranger - Joseph Rouletabille, reporter. + +"But he is a mere boy!" she exclaimed, without at all understanding +the matter, this youthful figure, with soft, rounded cheeks, eyes +clear and, at first view, extraordinarily naive, the eyes of an +infant. True, at the moment Rouletabille's expression hardly +suggested any superhuman profundity of thought, for, left in view +of a table, spread with hors-d'oeuvres, the young man appeared +solely occupied in digging out with a spoon all the caviare that +remained in the jars. Matrena noted the rosy freshness of his +cheeks, the absence of down on his lip and not a hint of beard, the +thick hair, with the curl over the forehead. Ah, that forehead +- the forehead was curious, with great over-hanging cranial lumps +which moved above the deep arcade of the eye-sockets while the mouth +was busy - well, one would have said that Rouletabille had not +eaten for a week. He was demolishing a great slice of Volgan +sturgeon, contemplating at the same time with immense interest a +salad of creamed cucumbers, when Matrena Petrovna appeared. + +He wished to excuse himself at once and spoke with his mouth full. + +"I beg your pardon, madame, but the Czar forgot to invite me to +breakfast." + +Madame Matrena smiled and gave him a hearty handshake as she urged +him to be seated. + +"You have seen His Majesty?" + +"I come from him, madame. It is to Madame Trebassof that I have +the honor of speaking?" + +"Yes. And you are Monsieur - ?" + +"Joseph Rouletabille, madame. I do not add, 'At your service +- because I do not know about that yet. That is what I said just +now to His Majesty." + +"Then?" asked Madame Matrena, rather amused by the tone the +conversation had taken and the slightly flurried air of Rouletabille. + +"Why, then, I am a reporter, you see. That is what I said at once +to my editor in Paris, 'I am not going to take part in revolutionary +affairs that do not concern my country,' to which my editor replied, +'You do not have to take part. You must go to Russia to make an +inquiry into the present status of the different parties. You will +commence by interviewing the Emperor.' I said, 'Well, then, here +goes,' and took the train." + +"And you have interviewed the Emperor?" + +"Oh, yes, that has not been difficult. I expected to arrive direct +at St. Petersburg, but at Krasnoie-Coelo the train stopped and the +grand-marshal of the court came to me and asked me to follow him. +It was very flattering. Twenty minutes later I was before His +Majesty. He awaited me! I understood at once that this was +obviously for something out of the ordinary." + +"And what did he say to you?" + +"He is a man of genuine majesty. He reassured me at once when I +explained my scruples to him. He said there was no occasion for me +to take part in the politics of the matter, but to save his most +faithful servant, who was on the point of becoming the victim of +the strangest family drama ever conceived." + +Madame Matrena, white as a sheet, rose to her feet. + +"Ah," she said simply. + +But Rouletabille, whom nothing escaped, saw her hand tremble on the +back of the chair. + +He went on, not appearing to have noticed her emotion: + +"His Majesty added these exact words: 'It is I who ask it of you; +I and Madame Trebassof. Go, monsieur, she awaits you'" + +He ceased and waited for Madame Trebassof to speak. + +She made up her mind after brief reflection. + +"Have you seen Koupriane?" + +"The Chief of Police? Yes. The grand-marshal accompanied me back +to the station at Krasnoie-Coelo, and the Chief of Police +accompanied me to St. Petersburg station. One could not have been +better received." + +"Monsieur Rouletabille," said Matrena, who visibly strove to regain +her self-control, "I am not of Koupriane's opinion and I am not " +- here she lowered her trembling voice - " of the opinion His +Majesty holds. It is better for me to tell you at once, so that +you may not regret intervening in an affair where there are - where +there are - risks - terrible risks to run. No, this is not a family +drama. The family is small, very small: the general, his daughter +Natacha (by his former marriage), and myself. There could not be a +family drama among us three. It is simply about my husband, +monsieur, who did his duty as a soldier in defending the throne of +his sovereign, my husband whom they mean to assassinate! There is +nothing else, no other situation, my dear little guest." + +To hide her distress she started to carve a slice of jellied veal +and carrot. + +"You have not eaten, you are hungry. It is dreadful, my dear young +man. See, you must dine with us, and then - you will say adieu. +Yes, you will leave me all alone. I will undertake to save him all +alone. Certainly, I will undertake it." + +A tear fell on the slice she was cutting. Rouletabille, who felt +the brave woman's emotion affecting him also, braced himself to keep +from showing it. + +"I am able to help you a little all the same," he said. "Monsieur +Koupriane has told me that there is a deep mystery. It is my +vocation to get to the bottom of mysteries." + +"I know what Koupriane thinks," she said, shaking her head. "But +if I could bring myself to think that for a single day I would +rather be dead." + +The good Matrena Petrovna lifted her beautiful eyes to Rouletabille, +brimming with the tears she held back. + +She added quickly: + +"But eat now, my dear guest; eat. My dear child, you must forget +what Koupriane has said to you, when you are back in France." + +"I promise you that, madame." + +"It is the Emperor who has caused you this long journey. For me, +I did not wish it. Has he, indeed, so much confidence in you?" she +asked naively, gazing at him fixedly through her tears. + +"Madame, I was just about to tell you. I have been active in some +important matters that have been reported to him, and then sometimes +your Emperor is allowed to see the papers. He has heard talk, too +(for everybody talked of them, madame), about the Mystery of the +Yellow Room and the Perfume of the Lady in Black." + +Here Rouletabille watched Madame Trebassof and was much mortified +at the undoubted ignorance that showed in her frank face of either +the yellow room or the black perfume. + +"My young friend," said she, in a voice more and more hesitant, +"you must excuse me, but it is a long time since I have had good +eyes for reading." + +Tears, at last, ran down her cheeks. + +Rouletabille could not restrain himself any further. He saw in one +flash all this heroic woman had suffered in her combat day by day +with the death which hovered. He took her little fat hands, whose +fingers were overloaded with rings, tremulously into his own: + +"Madame, do not weep. They wish to kill your husband. Well then, +we will be two at least to defend him, I swear to you." + +"Even against the Nihilists!" + +"Aye, madame, against all the world. I have eaten all your caviare. +I am your guest. I am your friend." + +As he said this he was so excited, so sincere and so droll that +Madame Trebassof could not help smiling through her tears. She made +him sit down beside her. + +"The Chief of Police has talked of you a great deal. He came here +abruptly after the last attack and a mysterious happening that I +will tell you about. He cried, 'Ah, we need Rouletabille to unravel +this!' The next day he came here again. He had gone to the Court. +There, everybody, it appears, was talking of you. The Emperor +wished to know you. That is why steps were taken through the +ambassador at Paris." + +"Yes, yes. And naturally all the world has learned of it. That +makes it so lively. The Nihiists warned me immediately that I +would not reach Russia alive. That, finally, was what decided me +on coming. I am naturally very contrary." + +"And how did you get through the journey?" + +"Not badly. I discovered at once in the train a young Slav assigned +to kill me, and I reached an understanding with him. He was a +charming youth, so it was easily arranged." + +Rouletabille was eating away now at strange viands that it would +have been difficult for him to name. Matrena Petrovna laid her fat +little hand on his arm: + +"You speak seriously?" + +"Very seriously." + +"A small glass of vodka?" + +"No alcohol." + +Madame Matrena emptied her little glass at a draught. + +"And how did you discover him? How did you know him?" + +"First, he wore glasses. All Nihilists wear glasses when traveling. +And then I had a good clew. A minute before the departure from +Paris I had a friend go into the corridor of the sleeping-car, a +reporter who would do anything I said without even wanting to know +why. I said, 'You call out suddenly and very loud, "Hello, here is +Rouletabille."' So he called, 'Hello, here is Rouletabille,' and +all those who were in the corridor turned and all those who were +already in the compartments came out, excepting the man with the +glasses. Then I was sure about him." + +Madame Trebassof looked at Rouletabile, who turned as red as the +comb of a rooster and was rather embarrassed at his fatuity. + +"That deserves a rebuff, I know, madame, but from the moment the +Emperor of all the Russias had desired to see me I could not admit +that any mere man with glasses had not the curiosity to see what +I looked like. It was not natural. As soon as the train was off +I sat down by this man and told him who I thought he was. I was +right. He removed his glasses and, looking me straight in the eyes, +said he was glad to have a little talk with me before anything +unfortunate happened. A half-hour later the entente-cordiale was +signed. I gave him to understand that I was coming here simply on +business as a reporter and that there was always time to check me +if I should be indiscreet. At the German frontier he left me to +go on, and returned tranquilly to his nitro-glycerine." + +"You are a marked man also, my poor boy." + +"Oh, they have not got us yet." + +Matrena Petrovna coughed. That us overwhelmed her. With what +calmness this boy that she had not known an hour proposed to share +the dangers of a situation that excited general pity but from which +the bravest kept aloof either from prudence or dismay. + +"Ah, my friend, a little of this fine smoked Hamburg beef?" + +But the young man was already pouring out fresh yellow beer. + +"There," said he. "Now, madame, I am listening. Tell me first +about the earliest attack." + +"Now," said Matrena, "we must go to dinner." + +Rouletabille looked at her wide-eyed. + +"But, madame, what have I just been doing?" + +Madame Matrena smiled. All these strangers were alike. Because +they had eaten some hors-d'ceuvres, some zakouskis, they imagined +their host would be satisfied. They did not know how to eat. + +"We will go to the dining-room. The general is expecting you. +They are at table." + +"I understand I am supposed to know him." + +"Yes, you have met in Paris. It is entirely natural that in passing +through St. Petersburg you should make him a visit. You know him +ery well indeed, so well that he opens his home to you. Ah, yes, +my step-daughter also " - she flushed a little - " Natacha believes +that her father knows you." + +She opened the door of the drawing-room, which they had to cross in +order to reach the dining-room. + +>From his present position Rouletabille could see all the corners of +the drawing-room, the veranda, the garden and the entrance lodge at +the gate. In the veranda the man in the maroon frock-coat trimmed +with false astrakhan seemed still to be asleep on the sofa; in one +of the corners of the drawing-room another individual, silent and +motionless as a statue, dressed exactly the same, in a maroon +frock-coat with false astrakhan, stood with his hands behind his +back seemingly struck with general paralysis at the sight of a +flaring sunset which illumined as with a torch the golden spires of +Saints Peter and Paul. And in the garden and before the lodge +three others dressed in maroon roved like souls in pain over the +lawn or back and forth at the entrance. Rouletabille motioned to +Madame Matrena, stepped back into the sitting-room and closed the +door. + +"Police?" he asked. + +Matrena Petrovna nodded her head and put her finger to her mouth +in a naive way, as one would caution a child to silence. +Rouletabille smiled. + +"How many are there?" + +"Ten, relieved every six hours." + +"That makes forty unknown men around your house each day." + +"Not unknown," she replied. "Police." + +"Yet, in spite of them, you have had the affair of the bouquet in +the general's chamber." + +"No, there were only three then. It is since the affair of the +bouquet that there have been ten." + +"It hardly matters. It is since these ten that you have had ..." + +"What?" she demanded anxiously. + +"You know well - the flooring." + +"Sh-h-h." + +She glanced at the door, watching the policeman statuesque before +the setting sun. + +"No one knows that - not even my husband." + +"So M. Koupriane told me. Then it is you who have arranged for +these ten police-agents?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well, we will commence now by sending all these police away." + +Matrena Petrovna grasped his hand, astounded. + +"Surely you don't think of doing such a thing as that!" + +"Yes. We must know where the blow is coming from. You have four +different groups of people around here - the police, the domestics, +your friends, your family. Get rid of the police first. They must +not be permitted to cross your threshold. They have not been able +to protect you. You have nothing to regret. And if, after they +are gone, something new turns up, we can leave M. Koupriane to +conduct the inquiries without his being preoccupied here at the +house." + +"But you do not know the admirable police of Koupriane. These brave +men have given proof of their devotion." + +"Madame, if I were face to face with a Nihilist the first thing I +would ask myself about him would be, 'Is he one of the police?' +The first thing I ask in the presence of an agent of your police is, +'Is he not a Nihilist?'" + +"But they will not wish to go." + +"Do any of them speak French?" + +"Yes, their sergeant, who is out there in the salon." + +"Pray call him." + +Madame Trebassof walked into the salon and signaled. The man +appeared. Rouletabille handed him a paper, which the other read. + +"You will gather your men together and quit the villa," ordered +Rouletabille. "You will return to the police Headguarters. Say to +M. Koupriane that I have commanded this and that I require all police +service around the villa to be suspended until further orders." + +The man bowed, appeared not to understand, looked at Madame +Trebassof and said to the young man: + +"At your service." + +He went out. + +"Wait here a moment," urged Madame Trebassof, who did not know how +to take this abrupt action and whose anxiety was really painful +to see. + +She disappeared after the man of the false astrakhan. A few moments +afterwards she returned. She appeared even more agitated. + +"I beg your pardon," she murmured, "but I cannot let them go like +this. They are much chagrined. They have insisted on knowing where +they have failed in their service. I have appeased them with money." + +"Yes, and tell me the whole truth, madame. You have directed them +not to go far away, but to remain near the villa so as to watch it +as closely as possible." + +She reddened. + +"It is true. But they have gone, nevertheless. They had to obey +you. What can that paper be you have shown them?" + +Rouletabille drew out again the billet covered with seals and signs +and cabalistics that he did not understand. Madame Trebassof +translated it aloud: "Order to all officials in surveillance of the +Villa Trebassof to obey the bearer absolutely. Signed: Koupriane." + +"Is it possible!" murmured Matrena Petrovna. "But Koupriane would +never have given you this paper if he had imagined that you would +use it to dismiss his agents." + +"Evidently. I have not asked him his advice, madame, you may be +sure. But I will see him to-morrow and he will understand." + +"Meanwhile, who is going to watch over him?" cried she. + +Rouletabille took her hands again. He saw her suffering, a prey +to anguish almost prostrating. He pitied her. He wished to give +her immediate confidence. + +"We will," he said. + +She saw his young, clear eyes, so deep, so intelligent, the +well-formed young head, the willing face, all his young ardency for +her, and it reassured her. Rouletabille waited for what she might +say. She said nothing. She took him in her arms and embraced him. + + + + +II + +NATACHA + +In the dining-room it was Thaddeus Tchnichnikoff's turn to tell +hunting stories. He was the greatest timber-merchant in Lithuania. +He owned immense forests and he loved Feodor Feodorovitch* as a +_____________________________________________________________________ + +*In this story according to Russian habit General Trebassof is +called alternately by that name or the family name Feodor +Feodorovitch, and Madame Trebassof by that name or her family +name, Matrena Petrovna.- Translator's Note. +_____________________________________________________________________ + +brother, for they had played together all through their childhood, +and once he had saved him from a bear that was just about to crush +his skull as one might knock off a hat. General Trebassof's father +was governor of Courlande at that time, by the grace of God and the +Little Father. Thaddeus, who was just thirteen years old, killed +the bear with a single stroke of his boar-spear, and just in time. +Close ties were knit between the two families by this occurrence, +and though Thaddeus was neither noble-born nor a soldier, Feodor +considered him his brother and felt toward him as such. Now +Thaddeus had become the greatest timber-merchant of the western +provinces, with his own forests and also with his massive body, +his fat, oily face, his bull-neck and his ample paunch. He quitted +everything at once - all his affairs, his family - as soon as he +learned of the first attack, to come and remain by the side of his +dear comrade Feodor. He had done this after each attack, without +forgetting one. He was a faithful friend. But he fretted because +they might not go bear-hunting as in their youth. 'Where, he would +ask, are there any bears remaining in Courlande, or trees for that +matter, what you could call trees, growing since the days of the +grand-dukes of Lithuania, giant trees that threw their shade right +up to the very edge of the towns? Where were such things nowadays? +Thaddeus was very amusing, for it was he, certainly, who had cut +them away tranquilly enough and watched them vanish in locomotive +smoke. It was what was called Progress. Ah, hunting lost its +national character assuredly with tiny new-growth trees which had +not had time to grow. And, besides, one nowadays had not time for +hunting. All the big game was so far away. Lucky enough if one +seized the time to bring down a brace of woodcock early in the +morning. At this point in Thaddeus's conversation there was a +babble of talk among the convivial gentlemen, for they had all the +time in the world at their disposal and could not see why he should +be so concerned about snatching a little while at morning or +evening, or at midday for that matter. Champagne was flowing like +a river when Rouletabille was brought in by Matrena Petrovna. The +general, whose eyes had been on the door for some time, cried at +once, as though responding to a cue: + +"Ah, my dear Rouletabille! I have been looking for you. Our +friends wrote me you were coming to St. Petersburg." + +Rouletabille hurried over to him and they shook hands like friends +who meet after a long separation. The reporter was presented to +the company as a close young friend from Paris whom they had enjoyed +so much during their latest visit to the City of Light. Everybody +inquired for the latest word of Paris as of a dear acquaintance. + +"How is everybody at Maxim's?" urged the excellent Athanase +Georgevitch. + +Thaddeus, too, had been once in Paris and he returned with an +enthusiastic liking for the French demoiselles. + +"Vos gogottes, monsieur," he said, appearing very amiable and +leaning on each word, with a guttural emphasis such as is common +in the western provinces, "ah, vos gogottes!" + +Matrena Perovna tried to silence him, but Thaddeus insisted on his +right to appreciate the fair sex away from home. He had a turgid, +sentimental wife, always weeping and cramming her religious notions +down his throat. + +Of course someone asked Rouletabille what he thought of Russia, but +he had no more than opened his mouth to reply than Athanase +Georgevitch closed it by interrupting: + +"Permettez! Permettez! You others, of the young generation, what +do you know of it? You need to have lived a long time and in all +its districts to appreciate Russia at its true value. Russia, +my young sir, is as yet a closed book to you." + +"Naturally," Rouletabille answered, smiling. + +"Well, well, here's your health! What I would point out to you +first of all is that it is a good buyer of champagne, eh?" - and +he gave a huge grin. "But the hardest drinker I ever knew was born +on the banks of the Seine. Did you know him, Feodor Feodorovitch? +Poor Charles Dufour, who died two years ago at fete of the officers +of the Guard. He wagered at the end of the banquet that he could +drink a glassful of champagne to the health of each man there. +There were sixty when you came to count them. He commenced the +round of the table and the affair went splendidly up to the +fifty-eighth man. But at the fifty-ninth - think of the +misfortune! - the champagne ran out! That poor, that charming, +that excellent Charles took up a glass of vin dore which was in the +glass of this fifty-ninth, wished him long life, drained the glass +at one draught, had just time to murmur, 'Tokay, 1807,' and fell +back dead! Ah, he knew the brands, my word! and he proved it to +his last breath! Peace to his ashes! They asked what he died of. +I knew he died because of the inappropriate blend of flavors. There +should be discipline in all things and not promiscuous mixing. One +more glass of champagne and he would have been drinking with us +this evening. Your health, Matrena Petrovna. Champagne, Feodor +Feodorovitch! Vive la France, monsieur! Natacha, my child, you +must sing something. Boris will accompany you on the guzla. Your +father will enjoy it." + +All eyes turned toward Natacha as she rose. + +Rouletabille was struck by her serene beauty. That was the first +enthralling impression, an impression so strong it astonished him, +the perfect serenity, the supreme calm, the tranquil harmony of her +noble features. Natacha was twenty. Heavy brown hair circled about +er forehead and was looped about her ears, which were half-concealed. +Her profile was clear-cut; her mouth was strong and revealed between +red, firm lips the even pearliness of her teeth. She was of medium +height. In walking she had the free, light step of the highborn +maidens who, in primal times, pressed the flowers as they passed +without crushing them. But all her true grace seemed to be +concentrated in her eyes, which were deep and of a dark blue. +The impression she made upon a beholder was very complex. And it +would have been difficult to say whether the calm which pervaded +every manifestation of her beauty was the result of conscious +control or the most perfect ease. + +She took down the guzla and handed it to Boris, who struck some +plaintive preliminary chords. + +"What shall I sing?" she inquired, raising her father's hand from +the back of the sofa where he rested and kissing it with filial +tenderness. + +"Improvise," said the general. "Improvise in French, for the sake +of our guest." + +"Oh, yes," cried Boris; "improvise as you did the other evening." + +He immediately struck a minor chord. + +Natacha looked fondly at her father as she sang: + + "When the moment comes that parts us at the close of day, + when the Angel of Sleep covers you with azure wings; + "Oh, may your eyes rest from so many tears, and your oppressed + heart have calm; + "In each moment that we have together, Father dear, let our + souls feel harmony sweet and mystical; + "And when your thoughts may have flown to other worlds, oh, may + my image, at least, nestle within your sleeping eyes." + +Natacha's voice was sweet, and the charm of it subtly pervasive. +The words as she uttered them seemed to have all the quality of a +prayer and there were tears in all eyes, excepting those of Michael +Korsakoff, the second orderly, whom Rouletabille appraised as a man +with a rough heart not much open to sentiment. + +"Feodor Feodorovitch," said this officer, when the young girl's +voice had faded away into the blending with the last note of the +guzla, "Feodor Feodorovitch is a man and a glorious soldier who is +able to sleep in peace, because he has labored for his country and +for his Czar." + +"Yes, yes. Labored well! A glorious soldier!" repeated Athanase +Georgevitch and Ivan Petrovitch. "Well may he sleep peacefully." + +"Natacha sang like an angel," said Boris, the first orderly, in a +tremulous voice. + +"Like an angel, Boris Nikolaievitch. But why did she speak of his +heart oppressed? I don't see that General Trebassof has a heart +oppressed, for my part." Michael Korsakoff spoke roughly as he +drained his glass. + +"No, that's so, isn't it?" agreed the others. + +"A young girl may wish her father a pleasant sleep, surely!" said +Matrena Petrovna, with a certain good sense. "Natacha has affected +us all, has she not, Feodor?" + +"Yes, she made me weep," declared the general. "But let us have +champagne to cheer us up. Our young friend here will think we +are chicken-hearted." + +"Never think that," said Rouletabille. "Mademoiselle has touched +me deeply as well. She is an artist, really a great artist. And +a poet." + +"He is from Paris; he knows," said the others. + +And all drank. + +Then they talked about music, with great display of knowledge +concerning things operatic. First one, then another went to the +piano and ran through some motif that the rest hummed a little +first, then shouted in a rousing chorus. Then they drank more, +amid a perfect fracas of talk and laughter. Ivan Petrovitch and +Athanase Georgevitch walked across and kissed the general. +Rouletabille saw all around him great children who amused +themselves with unbelievable naivete and who drank in a fashion +more unbelievable still. Matrena Petrovna smoked cigarettes of +yellow tobacco incessantly, rising almost continually to make a +hurried round of the rooms, and after having prompted the servants +to greater watchfulness, sat and looked long at Rouletabille, who +did not stir, but caught every word, every gesture of each one +there. Finally, sighing, she sat down by Feodor and asked how his +leg felt. Michael and Natacha, in a corner, were deep in +conversation, and Boris watched them with obvious impatience, still +strumming the guzla. But the thing that struck Rouletabille's +youthful imagination beyond all else was the mild face of the +general. He had not imagined the terrible Trebassof with so +paternal and sympathetic an expression. The Paris papers had +printed redoubtable pictures of him, more or less authentic, but +the arts of photography and engraving had cut vigorous, rough +features of an official - who knew no pity. Such pictures were in +perfect accord with the idea one naturally had of the dominating +figure of the government at Moscow, the man who, during eight +days - the Red Week - had made so many corpses of students and +workmen that the halls of the University and the factories had +opened their doors since in vain. The dead would have had to arise +for those places to be peopled! Days of terrible battle where in +one quarter or another of the city there was naught but massacre or +burnings, until Matrena Petrovna and her step-daughter, Natacha +(all the papers told of it), had fallen on their knees before the +general and begged terms for the last of the revolutionaries, at +bay in the Presnia quarter, and had been refused by him. "War is +war," had been his answer, with irrefutable logic. "How can you +ask mercy for these men who never give it?" Be it said for the +young men of the barricades that they never surrendered, and equally +be it said for Trebassof that he necessarily shot them. "If I had +only myself to consider," the general had said to a Paris +journalist, "I could have been gentle as a lamb with these +unfortunates, and so I should not now myself be condemned to death. +After all, I fail to see what they reproach me with. I have served +my master as a brave and loyal subject, no more, and, after the +fighting, I have let others ferret out the children that had hidden +under their mothers' skirts. Everybody talks of the repression of +Moscow, hut let us speak, my friend, of the Commune. There was a +piece of work I would not have done, to massacre within a court an +unresisting crowd of men, women and children. I am a rough and +faithful soldier of His Majesty, but I am not a monster, and I have +the feelings of a husband and father, my dear monsieur. Tell your +readers that, if you care to, and do not surmise further about +whether I appear to regret being condemned to death." + +Certainly what stupefied Rouletabille now was this staunch figure +of the condemned man who appeared so tranquilly to enjoy his life. +When the general was not furthering the gayety of his friends he +was talking with his wife and daughter, who adored him and +continually fondled him, and he seemed perfectly happy. With his +enormous grizzly mustache, his ruddy color, his keen, piercing +eyes, he looked the typical spoiled father. + +The reporter studied all these widely-different types and made his +observations while pretending to a ravenous appetite, which served, +moreover, to fix him in the good graces of his hosts of the datcha +des Iles. But, in reality, he passed the food to an enormous +bull-dog under the table, in whose good graces he was also thus +firmly planting himself. As Trebassof had prayed his companions to +let his young friend satisfy his ravening hunger in peace, they did +not concern themelves to entertain him. Then, too, the music +served to distract attention from him, and at a moment somewhat +later, when Matrena Petrovna turned to speak to the young man, she +was frightened at not seeing him. Where had he gone? She went out +into the veranda and looked. She did not dare to call. She walked +into the grand-salon and saw the reporter just as he came out of +the sitting-room. + +"Where were you?" she inquired. + +"The sitting-room is certainly charming, and decorated exquisitely," +complimented Rouletabille. "It seems almost a boudoir." + +"It does serve as a boudoir for my step-daughter, whose bedroom +opens directly from it; you see the door there. It is simply for +the present that the luncheon table is set there, because for some +time the police have pre-empted the veranda." + +"Is your dog a watch-dog, madame?" asked Rouletabille, caressing +the beast, which had followed him. + +"Khor is faithful and had guarded us well hitherto." + +"He sleeps now, then?" + +"Yes. Koupriane has him shut in the lodge to keep him from barking +nights. Koupriane fears that if he is out he will devour one of +the police who watch in the garden at night. I wanted him to sleep +in the house, or by his master's door, or even at the foot of the +bed, but Koupriane said, 'No, no; no dog. Don't rely on the dog. +Nothing is more dangerous than to rely on the dog. 'Since then he +has kept Khor locked up at night. But I do not understand +Koupriane's idea." + +"Monsieur Koupriane is right," said the reporter. "Dogs are useful +only against strangers." + +"Oh," gasped the poor woman, dropping her eyes. "Koupriane +certainly knows his business; he thinks of everything." + +"Come," she added rapidiy, as though to hide her disquiet, "do not +go out like that without letting me know. They want you in the +dining-room." + +"I must have you tell me right now about this attempt." + +"In the dining-room, in the dining-room. In spite of myself," she +said in a low voice, "it is stronger than I am. I am not able to +leave the general by himself while he is on the ground-floor." + +She drew Rouletabille into the dining-room, where the gentlemen were +now telling odd stories of street robberies amid loud laughter. +Natacha was still talking with Michael Korsakoff; Boris, whose eyes +never quitted them, was as pale as the wax on his guzla, which he +rattled violently from time to time. Matrena made Rouletabille sit +in a corner of the sofa, near her, and, counting on her fingers +like a careful housewife who does not wish to overlook anything in +her domestic calculations, she said: + +"There have been three attempts; the first two in Moscow. The first +happened very simply. The general knew he had been condemned to +death. They had delivered to him at the palace in the afternoon the +revoluntionary poster which proclaimed his intended fate to the +whole city and country. So Feodor, who was just about to ride into +the city, dismissed his escort. He ordered horses put to a sleigh. +I trembled and asked what he was going to do. He said he was going +to drive quietly through all parts of the city, in order to show the +Muscovites that a governor appointed according to law by the Little +Father and who had in his conscience only the sense that he had +done his full duty was not to be intimidated. It was nearly four +o'clock, toward the end of a winter day that had been clear and +bright, but very cold. I wrapped myself in my furs and took my +seat beside him, and he said, 'This is fine, Matrena; this will +have a great effect on these imbeciles.' So we started. At +first we drove along the Naberjnaia. The sleigh glided like +the wind. The general hit the driver a heavy blow in the back, +crying, 'Slower, fool; they will think we are afraid,' and so the +horses were almost walking when, passing behind the Church of +Protection and intercession, we reached the Place Rouge. Until +then the few passers-by had looked at us, and as they recognized +him, hurried along to keep him in view. At the Place Rouge there +was only a little knot of women kneeling before the Virgin. As +soon as these women saw us and recognized the equipage of the +Governor, they dispersed like a flock of crows, with frightened +cries. Feodor laughed so hard that as we passed under the vault +of the Virgin his laugh seemed to shake the stones. I felt +reassured, monsieur. Our promenade continued without any remarkable +incident. The city was almost deserted. Everything lay prostrated +under the awful blow of that battle in the street. Feodor said, +'Ah, they give me a wide berth; they do not know how much I love +them," and all through that promenade he said many more charming +and delicate things to me. + +"As we were talking pleasantly under our furs we came to la Place +Koudrinsky, la rue Koudrinsky, to be exact. It was just four +o'clock, and a light mist had commenced to mix with the sifting +snow, and the houses to right and left were visible only as masses +of shadow. We glided over the snow like a boat along the river in +foggy calm. Then, suddenly, we heard piercing cries and saw shadows +of soldiers rushing around, with movements that looked larger than +human through the mist; their short whips looked enormous as they +knocked some other shadows that we saw down like logs. The general +stopped the sleigh and got out to see what was going on. I got out +with him. They were soldiers of the famous Semenowsky regiment, +who had two prisoners, a young man and a child. The child was being +beaten on the nape of the neck. It writhed on the ground and cried +in torment. It couldn't have been more than nine years old. The +other, the young man, held himself up and marched along without a +single cry as the thongs fell brutally upon him. I was appalled. +I did not give my husband time to open his mouth before I called +to the subaltern who commanded the detachment, 'You should be +ashamed to strike a child and a Christian like that, which cannot +defend itself.' The general told him the same thing. Then the +subaltern told us that the little child had just killed a lieutenant +in the street by firing a revolver, which he showed us, and it was +the biggest one I ever have seen, and must have been as heavy for +that infant to lift as a small cannon. It was unbelievable. + +"'And the other,' demanded the general; 'what has he done?' + +"'He is a dangerous student,' replied the subaltern, 'who has +delivered himself up as a prisoner because he promised the landlord +of the house where he lives that he would do it to keep the house +from being battered down with cannon.' + +"'But that is right of him. Why do you beat him?' + +"'Because he has told us he is a dangerous student.' + +"'That is no reason,' Feodor told him. 'He will be shot if he +deserves it, and the child also, but I forbid you to beat him. You +have not been furnished with these whips in order to beat isolated +prisoners, but to charge the crowd when it does not obey the +governor's orders. In such a case you are ordered "Charge," and +you know what to do. You understand?' Feodor said roughly. 'I +am General Trebassof, your governor.' + +"Feodor was thoroughly human in saying this. Ah, well, he was badly +ecompensed for it, very badly, I tell you. The student was truly +dangerous, because he had no sooner heard my husband say, 'I am +General Trebassof, your governor,' than he cried, 'Ah, is it you, +Trebassoff' and drew a revolver from no one knows where and fired +straight at the general, almost against his breast. But the general +was not hit, happily, nor I either, who was by him and had thrown +myself onto the student to disarm him and then was tossed about at +the feet of the soldiers in the battle they waged around the student +while the revolver was going off. Three soldiers were killed. You +can understand that the others were furious. They raised me with +many excuses and, all together, set to kicking the student in the +loins and striking at him as he lay on the ground. The subaltern +struck his face a blow that might have blinded him. Feodor hit the +officer in the head with his fist and called, 'Didn't you hear what +I said?' The officer fell under the blow and Feodor himself carried +him to the sleigh and laid him with the dead men. Then he took +charge of the soldiers and led them to the barracks. I followed, +as a sort of after-guard. We returned to the palace an hour later. +It was quite dark by then, and almost at the entrance to the palace +we were shot at by a group of revolutionaries who passed swiftly in +two sleighs and disappeared in the darkness so fast that they could +not be overtaken. I had a ball in my toque. The general had not +been touched this time either, but our furs were ruined by the blood +of the dead soldiers which they had forgotten to clean out of the +sleigh. That was the first attempt, which meant little enough, +after all, because it was fighting in the open. It was some days +later that they commenced to try assassination." + +At this moment Ermolai brought in four bottles of champagne and +Thaddeus struck lightly on the piano. + +"Quickly, madame, the second attempt," said Rouletabille, who was +aking hasty notes on his cuff, never ceasing, meanwhile, to watch +the convivial group and listening with both ears wide open to +Matrena. + +"The second happened still in Moscow. We had had a jolly dinner +because we thought that at last the good old days were back and +good citizens could live in peace; and Boris had tried out the guzia +singing songs of the Orel country to please me; he is so fine and +sympathetic. Natacha had gone somewhere or other. The sleigh was +waiting at the door and we went out and got in. Almost instantly +there was a fearful noise, and we were thrown out into the snow, +both the general and me. There remained no trace of sleigh or +coachman; the two horses were disemboweled, two magnificent piebald +horses, my dear young monsieur, that the general was so attached to. +As to Feodor, he had that serious wound in his right leg; the calf +was shattered. I simply had my shoulder a little wrenched, +practically nothing. The bomb had been placed under the seat of the +unhappy coachman, whose hat alone we found, in a pool of blood. +>From that attack the general lay two months in bed. In the second +month they arrested two servants who were caught one night on the +landing leading to the upper floor, where they had no business, and +after that I sent at once for our old domestics in Orel to come and +serve us. It was discovered that these detected servants were in +touch with the revolutionaries, so they were hanged. The Emperor +appointed a provisional governor, and now that the general was +better we decided on a convalescence for him in the midi of France. +We took train for St. Petersburg, but the journey started high fever +in my husband and reopened the wound in his calf. The doctors +ordered absolute rest and so we settled here in the datcha des Iles. +Since then, not a day has passed without the general receiving an +anonymous letter telling him that nothing can save him from the +revenge of the revolutionaries. He is brave and only smiles over +them, but for me, I know well that so long as we are in Russia we +have not a moment's security. So I watch him every minute and let +no one approach him except his intimate friends and us of the family. +I have brought an old gniagnia who watched me grow up, Ermolai, and +the Orel servants. In the meantime, two months later, the third +attempt suddenly occurred. It is certainly of them all the most +frightening, because it is so mysterious, a mystery that has not +yet, alas, been solved." + +But Athanase Georgevitch had told a "good story" which raised so +much hubbub that nothing else could be heard. Feodor Feodorovitch +was so amused that he had tears in his eyes. Rouletabille said to +himself as Matrena talked, "I never have seen men so gay, and yet +they know perfectly they are apt to be blown up all together any +moment." + +General Trebassof, who had steadily watched Rouletabille, who, for +that matter, had been kept in eye by everyone there, said: + +"Eh, eh, monsieur le journaliste, you find us very gay?" + +"I find you very brave," said Rouletabille quietly. + +"How is that?" said Feodor Feodorovitch, smiling. + +"You must pardon me for thinking of the things that you seem to +have forgotten entirely." + +He indicated the general's wounded leg. + +"The chances of war! the chances of war!" said the general. "A leg +here, an arm there. But, as you see, I am still here. They will +end by growing tired and leaving me in peace. Your health, my +friend!" + +"Your health, general!" + +"You understand," continued Feodor Feodorovitch, "there is no +occasion to excite ourselves. It is our business to defend the +empire at the peril of our lives. We find that quite natural, and +there is no occasion to think of it. I have had terrors enough in +other directions, not to speak of the terrors of love, that are +more ferocious than you can yet imagine. Look at what they did to +my poor friend the Chief of the Surete, Boichlikoff. He was +commendable certainly. There was a brave man. Of an evening, when +his work was over, he always left the bureau of the prefecture and +went to join his wife and children in their apartment in the ruelle +des Loups. Not a soldier! No guard! The others had every chance. +One evening a score of revolutionaries, after having driven away +the terrorized servants, mounted to his apartments. He was dining +with his family. They knocked and he opened the door. He saw who +they were, and tried to speak. They gave him no time. Before his +wife and children, mad with terror and on their knees before the +revolutionaries, they read him his death-sentence. A fine end that +to a dinner!" + +As he listened Rouletabille paled and he kept his eyes on the door +as if he expected to see it open of itself, giving access to +ferocious Nihiists of whom one, with a paper in his hand, would +read the sentence of death to Feodor Feodorovitch. Rouletabille's +stomach was not yet seasoned to such stories. He almost regretted, +momentarily, having taken the terrible responsibility of dismissing +the police. After what Koupriane had confided to him of things that +had happened in this house, he had not hesitated to risk everything +on that audacious decision, but all the same, all the same - these +stories of Nihilists who appear at the end of a meal, death-sentence +in hand, they haunted him, they upset him. Certainly it had been +a piece of foolhardiness to dismiss the police! + +"Well," he asked, conquering his misgivings and resuming, as always, +his confidence in himself, "then, what did they do then, after +reading the sentence?" + +"The Chief of the Surete knew he had no time to spare. He did not +ask for it. The revolutionaries ordered him to bid his family +farewell. He raised his wife, his children, clasped them, bade +them be of good courage, then said he was ready. They took him +into the street. They stood him against a wall. His wife and +children watched from a window. A volley sounded. They descended +to secure the body, pierced with twenty-five bullets." + +"That was exactly the number of wounds that were made on the body +of little Jacques Zloriksky," came in the even tones of Natacha. + +"Oh, you, you always find an excuse," grumbled the general. "Poor +Boichlikoff did his duty, as I did mine. + +"Yes, papa, you acted like a soldier. That is what the +revolutionaries ought not to forget. But have no fears for us, +papa; because if they kill you we will all die with you." + +"And gayly too," declared Athanase Georgevitch. + +They should come this evening. We are in form!" + +Upon which Athanase filled the glasses again. + +"None the less, permit me to say," ventured the timber-merchant, +Thaddeus Tchnitchnikof, timidly, "permit me to say that this +Boichlikoff was very imprudent." + +"Yes, indeed, very gravely imprudent," agreed Rouletabille. "When +a man has had twenty-five good bullets shot into the body of a +child, he ought certainly to keep his home well guarded if he +wishes to dine in peace." + +He stammered a little toward the end of this, because it occurred +to him that it was a little inconsistent to express such opinions, +seeing what he had done with the guard over the general. + +"Ah," cried Athanase Georgevitch, in a stage-struck voice, "Ah, it +was not imprudence! It was contempt of death! Yes, it was contempt +of death that killed him! Even as the contempt of death keeps us, +at this moment, in perfect health. To you, ladies and gentlemen! +Do you know anything lovelier, grander, in the world than contempt +of death? Gaze on Feodor Feodorovitch and answer me. Superb! My +word, superb! To you all! The revolutionaries who are not of the +police are of the same mind regarding our heroes. They may curse +the tchinownicks who execute the terrible orders given them by +those higher up, but those who are not of the police (there are +some, I believe) - these surely recognize that men like the Chief +of the Surete our dead friend, are brave." + +"Certainly," endorsed the general. "Counting all things, they need +more heroism for a promenade in a salon than a soldier on a +battle-field." + +"I have met some of these men," continued Athanase in exalted vein. +"I have found in all their homes the same - imprudence, as our young +French friend calls it. A few days after the assassination of the +Chief of Police in Moscow I was received by his successor in the +same place where the assassination had occurred. He did not take +the slightest precaution with me, whom he did not know at all, nor +with men of the middle class who came to present their petitions, +in spite of the fact that it was under precisely identical +conditions that his predecessor had been slain. Before I left I +looked over to where on the floor there had so recently occurred +such agony. They had placed a rug there and on the rug a table, +and on that table there was a book. Guess what book. 'Women's +Stockings,' by Willy! And - and then - Your health, Matrena +Petrovna. What's the odds!" + +"You yourselves, my friends," declared the general, prove your great +courage by coming to share the hours that remain of my life with me." + +"Not at all, not at all! It is war." + +"Yes, it is war." + +"Oh, there's no occasion to pat us on the shoulder, Athanase," +insisted Thaddeus modestly. "What risk do we run? We are well +guarded." + +"We are protected by the finger of God," declared Athanase, "because +the police - well, I haven't any confidence in the police." + +Michael Korsakoff, who had heen for a turn in the garden, entered +during the remark. + +"Be happy, then, Athanase Georgevitch," said he, "for there are now +no police around the villa." + +"Where are they?" inquired the timher-merchant uneasily. + +"An order came from Koupriane to remove them," explained Matrena +Petrovna, who exerted herself to appear calm. + +"And are they not replaced?" asked Michael. + +"No. It is incomprehensible. There must have been some confusion +in the orders given." And Matrena reddened, for she loathed a lie +and it was in tribulation of spirit that she used this fable under +Rouletabille's directions. + +"Oh, well, all the better," said the general. "It will give me +pleasure to see my home ridded for a while of such people." + +Athanase was naturally of the same mind as the general, and when +Thaddeus and Ivan Petrovitch and the orderlies offered to pass the +night at the villa and take the place of the absent police, Feodor +Feodorovitch caught a gesture from Rouletabille which disapproved +the idea of this new guard. + +"No, no," cried the general emphatically. "You leave at the usual +time. I want now to get back into the ordinary run of things, my +word! To live as everyone else does. We shall be all right. +Koupriane and I have arranged the matter. Koupriane is less sure +of his men, after all, than I am of my servants. You understand +me. I do not need to explain further. You will go home to bed +- and we will all sleep. Those are the orders. Besides, you must +remember that the guard-post is only a step from here, at the corner +of the road, and we have only to give a signal to bring them all +here. But - more secret agents or special police - no, no! +Good-night. All of us to bed now!" + +They did not insist further. When Feodor had said, "Those are the +orders," there was room for nothing more, not even in the way of +polite insistence. + +But before going to their beds all went into the veranda, where +liqueurs were served by the brave Ermolai, as always. Matrena +pushed the wheel-chair of the general there, and he kept repeating, +"No, no. No more such people. No more police. They only bring +trouble." + +"Feodor! Feodor!" sighed Matrena, whose anxiety deepened in spite +of all she could do, "they watched over your dear life." + +"Life is dear to me only because of you, Matrena Petrovna." + +"And not at all because of me, papa?" said Natacha. + +"Oh, Natacha!" + +He took both her hands in his. It was an affecting glimpse of +family intimacy. + +>From time to time, while Ermolai poured the liqueurs, Feodor struck +his band on the coverings over his leg. + +"It gets better," said he. "It gets better." + +Then melancholy showed in his rugged face, and he watched night +deepen over the isles, the golden night of St. Petersburg. It was +not quite yet the time of year for what they call the golden nights +there, the "white nights," nights which never deepen to darkness, +but they were already beautiful in their soft clarity, caressed, +here by the Gulf of Finland, almost at the same time by the last +and the first rays of the sun, by twilight and dawn. + +>From the height of the veranda one of the most beautiful bits of +the isles lay in view, and the hour was so lovely that its charm +thrilled these people, of whom several, as Thaddeus, were still +close to nature. It was he, first, who called to Natacha: + +"Natacha! Natacha! Sing us your 'Soir des Iles.'" + +Natacha's voice floated out upon the peace of the islands under the +dim arched sky, light and clear as a night rose, and the guzia of +Boris accompanied it. Natacha sang: + +"This is the night of the Isles - at the north of the world. +The sky presses in its stainless arms the bosom of earth, +Night kisses the rose that dawn gave to the twilight. +And the night air is sweet and fresh from across the shivering gulf, +Like the breath of young girls from the world still farther north. +Beneath the two lighted horizons, sinking and rising at once, +The sun rolls rebounding from the gods at the north of the world. +In this moment, beloved, when in the clear shadows of this + rose-stained evening I am here alone with you, +Respond, respond with a heart less timid to the holy, accustomed + cry of 'Good-evening.'" + +Ah, how Boris Nikolaievitch and Michael Korsakoff watched her as +she sang! Truly, no one ever can guess the anger or the love that +broods in a Slavic heart under a soldier's tunic, whether the +soldier wisely plays at the guzla, as the correct Boris, or merely +lounges, twirling his mustache with his manicured and perfumed +fingers, like Michael, the indifferent. + +Natacha ceased singing, but all seemed to be listening to her still +- the convivial group on the terrace appeared to be held in charmed +attention, and the porcelain statuettes of men on the lawn, +according to the mode of the Iles, seemed to lift on their short +legs the better to hear pass the sighing harmony of Natacha in the +rose nights at the north of the world. + +Meanwhile Matrena wandered through the house from cellar to attic, +watching over her husband like a dog on guard, ready to bite, to +throw itself in the way of danger, to receive the blows, to die +for its master - and hunting for Rouletabille, who had disappeared +again. + + + + +III + +THE WATCH + +She went out to caution the servants to a strict watch, armed to +the teeth, before the gate all night long, and she crossed the +deserted garden. Under the veranda the schwitzar was spreading a +mattress for Ermolai. She asked him if he had seen the young +Frenchman anywhere, and after the answer, could only say to herself, +"Where is he, then?" Where had Rouletabille gone? The general, +whom she had carried up to his room on her back, without any help, +and had helped into bed without assistance, was disturbed by this +singular disappearance. Had someone already carried off "their" +Rouletabille? Their friends were gone and the orderlies had taken +leave without being able to say where this boy of a journalist had +gone. But it would be foolish to worry about the disappearance of +a Journalist, they had said. That kind of man - these journalists +- came, went, arrived when one least expected them, and quitted +their company - even the highest society - without formality. It +was what they called in France "leaving English fashion." However, +it appeared it was not meant to be impolite. Perhaps he had gone +to telegraph. A journalist had to keep in touch with the telegraph +at all hours. Poor Matrena Petrovna roamed the solitary garden in +tumult of heart. There was the light in the general's window on +the first floor. There were lights in the basement from the +kitchens. There was a light on the ground-floor near the +sitting-room, from Natacha's chamber window. Ah, the night was +hard to bear. And this night the shadows weighed heavier than ever +on the valiant breast of Matrena. As she breathed she felt as +though she lifted all the weight of the threatening night. She +examined everything - everything. All was shut tight, was perfectly +secure, and there was no one within excepting people she was +absolutely sure of - but whom, all the same, she did not allow to +go anywhere in the house excepting where their work called them. +Each in his place. That made things surer. She wished each one +could remain fixed like the porcelain statues of men out on the +lawn. Even as she thought it, here at her feet, right at her very +feet, a shadow of one of the porcelain men moved, stretched itself +out, rose to its knees, grasped her skirt and spoke in the voice +of Rouletabille. Ah, good! it was Rouletabille. "Himself, dear +madame; himself." + +"Why is Ermolai in the veranda? Send him back to the kitchens and +tell the schwitzar to go to bed. The servants are enough for an +ordinary guard outside. Then you go in at once, shut the door, +and don't concern yourself about me, dear madame. Good-night." + +Rouletabille had resumed, in the shadows, among the other porcelain +figures, his pose of a porcelain man. + +Matrena Petrovna did as she was told, returned to the house, spoke +to the schwitzar, who removed to the lodge with Ermolai, and their +mistress closed the outside door. She had closed long before the +door of the kitchen stair which allowed the domestics to enter the +villa from below. Down there each night the devoted gniagnia and +the faithful Ermolai watched in turn. + +Within the villa, now closed, there were on the ground-floor only +Matrena herself and her step-daughter Natacha, who slept in the +chamber off the sitting-room, and, above on the first floor, the +general asleep, or who ought to be asleep if he had taken his +potion. Matrena remained in the darkness of the drawing-room, +her dark-lantern in her hand. All her nights passed thus, gliding +from door to door, from chamber to chamber, watching over the watch +of the police, not daring to stop her stealthy promenade even to +throw herself on the mattress that she had placed across the +doorway of her husband's chamber. Did she ever sleep? She herself +could hardly say. Who else could, then? A tag of sleep here and +there, over the arm of a chair, or leaning against the wall, waked +always by some noise that she heard or dreamed, some warning, +perhaps, that she alone had heard. And to-night, to-night there is +Rouletabille's alert guard to help her, and she feels a little less +the aching terror of watchfulness, until there surges back into her +mind the recollection that the police are no longer there. Was he +right, this young man? Certainly she could not deny that some way +she feels more confidence now that the police are gone. She does +not have to spend her time watching their shadows in the shadows, +searching the darkness, the arm-chairs, the sofas, to rouse them, +to appeal in low tones to all they held binding, by their own name +and the name of their father, to promise them a bonus that would +amount to something if they watched well, to count them in order to +know where they all were, and, suddenly, to throw full in their +face the ray of light from her little dark-lantern in order to be +sure, absolutely sure, that she was face to face with them, one of +the police, and not with some other, some other with an infernal +machine under his arm. Yes, she surely had less work now that she +had no longer to watch the police. And she had less fear! + +She thanked the young reporter for that. Where was he? Did he +remain in the pose of a porcelain statue all this time out there +on the lawn? She peered through the lattice of the veranda shutters +and looked anxiously out into the darkened garden. Where could +he be? Was that he, down yonder, that crouching black heap with an +unlighted pipe in his mouth? No, no. That, she knew well, was the +dwarf she genuinely loved, her little domovoi-doukh, the familiar +spirit of the house, who watched with her over the general's life +and thanks to whom serious injury had not yet befallen Feodor +Feodorovitch - one could not regard a mangled leg that seriously. +Ordinarily in her own country (she was from the Orel district) one +did not care to see the domovoi-doukh appear in flesh and blood. +When she was little she was always afraid that she would come upon +him around a turn of the path in her father's garden. She always +thought of him as no higher than that, seated back on his haunches +and smoking his pipe. Then, after she was married, she had suddenly +run across him at a turning in the bazaar at Moscow. He was just +as she had imagined him, and she had immediately bought him, carried +him home herself and placed him, with many precautions, for he was +of very delicate porcelain, in the vestibule of the palace. And in +leaving Moscow she had been careful not to leave him there. She +had carried him herself in a case and had placed him herself on the +lawn of the datcha des Iles, that he might continue to watch over +her happiness and over the life of her Feodor. And in order that +he should not be bored, eternally smoking his pipe all alone, she +had surrounded him with a group of little porcelain genii, after +the fashion of the Jardins des Iles. Lord! how that young Frenchman +had frightened her, rising suddenly like that, without warning, on +the lawn. She had believed for a moment that it was the +domovoi-doukh himself rising to stretch his legs. Happily he had +spoken at once and she had recognized his voice. And besides, her +domovoi surely would not speak French. Ah! Matrena Petrovna +breathed freely now. It seemed to her, this night, that there were +two little familiar genii watching over the house. And that was +worth more than all the police in the world, surely. How wily that +little fellow was to order all those men away. There was something +it was necessary to know; it was necessary therefore that nothing +should be in the way of learning it. As things were now, the +mystery could operate without suspicion or interference. Only one +man watched it, and he had not the air of watching. Certainly +Rouletabille had not the air of constantly watching anything. He +had the manner, out in the night, of an easy little man in porcelain, +neither more nor less, yet he could see everything - if anything +were there to see - and he could hear everything - if there were +anything to hear. One passed beside him without suspecting him, +and men might talk to each other without an idea that he heard +them, and even talk to themselves according to the habit people +have sometimes when they think themselves quite alone. All the +guests had departed thus, passing close by him, almost brushing +him, had exchanged their "Adieus," their "Au revoirs," and all +their final, drawn-out farewells. That dear little living domovoi +certainly was a rogue! Oh, that dear little domovoi who had been +so affected by the tears of Matrena Petrovna! The good, fat, +sentimental, heroic woman longed to hear, just then, his +reassuring voice. + +"It is I. Here I am," said the voice of her little living familiar +spirit at that instant, and she felt her skirt grasped. She waited +for what he should say. She felt no fear. Yet she had supposed he +was outside the house. Still, after all, she was not too astonished +that he was within. He was so adroit! He had entered behind her, +in the shadow of her skirts, on all-fours, and had slipped away +without anyone noticing him, while she was speaking to her enormous, +majestic schwitzar. + +"So you were here?" she said, taking his hand and pressing it +nervously in hers. + +"Yes, yes. I have watched you closing the house. It is a task +well-done, certainly. You have not forgotten anything." + +"But where were you, dear little demon? I have been into all the +corners, and my hands did not touch you." + +"I was under the table set with hors-d'oeuvres in the sitting-room." + +"Ah, under the table of zakouskis! I have forbidden them before +now to spread a long hanging cloth there, which obliges me to kick +my foot underneath casually in order to be sure there is no one +beneath. It is imprudent, very imprudent, such table-cloths. And +under the table of zakouskis have you been able to see or hear +anything?" + +"Madame, do you think that anyone could possibly see or hear +anything in the villa when you are watching it alone, when the +general is asleep and your step-daughter is preparing for bed?" + +"No. no. I do not believe so. I do not. No, oh, Christ!" + +They talked thus very low in the dark, both seated in a corner of +the sofa, Rouletabille's hand held tightly in the burning hands of +Matrena Petrovna. + +She sighed anxiously. "And in the garden - have you heard anything?" + +"I heard the officer Boris say to the officer Michael, in French, +'Shall we return at once to the villa?' The other replied in +Russian in a way I could see was a refusal. Then they had a +discussion in Russian which I, naturally, could not understand. +But from the way they talked I gathered that they disagreed and +that no love was lost between them." + +"No, they do not love each other. They both love Natacha." + +"And she, which one of them does she love? It is necessary to tell +me." + +"She pretends that she loves Boris, and I believe she does, and yet +she is very friendly with Michael and often she goes into nooks and +corners to chat with him, which makes Boris mad with jealousy. She +has forbidden Boris to speak to her father about their marriage, on +the pretext that she does not wish to leave her father now, while +each day, each minute the general's life is in danger." + +"And you, madame - do you love your step-daughter?" brutally +inquired the reporter. + +"Yes - sincerely," replied Matrena Petrovna, withdrawing her hand +from those of Rouletabille. + +"And she - does she love you?" + +"I believe so, monsieur, I believe so sincerely. Yes, she loves me, +and there is not any reason why she should not love me. I believe +- understand me thoroughly, because it comes from my heart - that +we all here in this house love one another. Our friends are old +proved friends. Boris has been orderly to my husband for a very +long time. We do not share any of his too-modern ideas, and there +were many discussions on the duty of soldiers at the time of the +massacres. I reproached him with being as womanish as we were in +going down on his knees to the general behind Natacha and me, when +it became necessary to kill all those poor moujiks of Presnia. It +was not his role. A soldier is a soldier. My husband raised him +roughly and ordered him, for his pains, to march at the head of the +troops. It was right. What else could he do? The general already +had enough to fight against, with the whole revolution, with his +conscience, with the natural pity in his heart of a brave man, and +with the tears and insupportable moanings, at such a moment, of his +daughter and his wife. Boris understood and obeyed him, but, after +the death of the poor students, he behaved again like a woman in +composing those verses on the heroes of the barricades; don't you +think so? Verses that Natacha and he learned by heart, working +together, when they were surprised at it by the general. There +was a terrible scene. It was before the next-to-the-last attack. +The general then had the use of both legs. He stamped his feet and +fairly shook the house." + +"Madame," said Rouletabille, "a propos of the attacks, you must +tell me about the third." + +As he said this, leaning toward her, Matrena Petrovna ejaculated a +"Listen!" that made him rigid in the night with ear alert. What +had she heard? For him, he had heard nothing. + +"You hear nothing?" she whispered to him with an effort. "A +tick-tack?" + +"No, I hear nothing." + +"You know - like the tick-tack of a clock. Listen." + +"How can you hear the tick-tack? I've noticed that no clocks are +running here." + +"Don't you understand? It is so that we shall be able to hear the +tick-tack better." + +"Oh, yes, I understand. But I do not hear anything." + +"For myself, I think I hear the tick-tack all the time since the +last attempt. It haunts my ears, it is frightful, to say to one's +self: There is clockwork somewhere, just about to reach the +death-tick - and not to know where, not to know where! When the +police were here I made them all listen, and I was not sure even +when they had all listened and said there was no tick-tack. It is +terrible to hear it in my ear any moment when I least expect it. +Tick-tack! Tick-tack! It is the blood beating in my ear, for +instance, hard, as if it struck on a sounding-board. Why, here +are drops of perspiration on my hands! Listen!" + +"Ab, this time someone is talking - is crying," said the young man. + +"Sh-h-h!" And Rouletabille felt the rigid hand of Matrena Petrovna +on his arm. "It is the general. The general is dreaming!" + +She drew him into the dining-room, into a corner where they could +no longer hear the moanings. But all the doors that communicated +with the dining-room, the drawing-room and the sitting-room +remained open behind him, by the secret precaution of Rouletabille. + +He waited while Matrena, whose breath he heard come hard, was a +little behind. In a moment, quite talkative, and as though she +wished to distract Rouletabille's attention from the sounds above, +the broken words and sighs, she continued: + +"See, you speak of clocks. My husband has a watch which strikes. +Well, I have stopped his watch because more than once I have been +startled by hearing the tick-tack of his watch in his +waistcoat-pocket. Koupriane gave me that advice one day when he +was here and had pricked his ears at the noise of the pendulums, +to stop all my watches and clocks so that there would be no chance +of confusing them with the tick-tack that might come from an +infernal machine planted in some corner. He spoke from experience, +my dear little monsieur, and it was by his order that all the clocks +at the Ministry, on the Naberjnaia, were stopped, my dear little +friend. The Nihilists, he told me, often use clockworks to set off +their machines at the time they decide on. No one can guess all +the inventions that they have, those brigands. In the same way, +Koupriane advised me to take away all the draught-boards from the +fireplaces. By that precaution they were enabled to avoid a +terrible disaster at the Ministry near the Pont-des-chantres, you +know, petit demovoi? They saw a bomb just as it was being lowered +nto the fire-place of the minister's cabinet.* The Nihilists held +____________________________________________________________________ + +*Actual attack on Witte. +____________________________________________________________________ + +it by a cord and were up on the roof letting it down the chimney. +One of them was caught, taken to Schlusselbourg and hanged. Here +you can see that all the draught-boards of the fireplaces are +cleared away." + +"Madame," interrupted Rouletabille (Matrena Petrovna did not know +that no one ever succeeded in distracting Rouletabille's attention), +"madame, someone moans still, upstairs." + +"Oh, that is nothing, my little friend. It is the general, who has +bad nights. He cannot sleep without a narcotic, and that gives him +a fever. I am going to tell you now how the third attack came about. +And then you will understand, by the Virgin Mary, how it is I have +yet, always have, the tick-tack in my ears. + +"One evening when the general had got to sleep and I was in my own +room, I heard distinctly the tick-tack of clockwork operating. All +the clocks had been stopped, as Koupriane advised, and I had made +an excuse to send Feodor's great watch to the repairer. You can +understand how I felt when I heard that tick-tack. I was frenzied. +I turned my head in all directions, and decided that the sound came +from my husband's chamber. I ran there. He still slept, man that +he is! The tick-tack was there. But where? I turned here and +there like a fool. The chamber was in darkness and it seemed +absolutely impossible for me to light a lamp because I thought I +could not take the time for fear the infernal machine would go off +in those few seconds. I threw myself on the floor and listened +under the bed. The noise came from above. But where? I sprang to +the fireplace, hoping that, against my orders, someone had started +the mantel-clock. No, it was not that! It seemed to me now that +the tick-tack came from the hed itself, that the machine was in the +bed. The general awaked just then and cried to me, 'What is it, +Matrena? What are you doing?' And he raised himself in bed, while +I cried, 'Listen! Hear the tick-tack. Don't you hear the +tick-tack?' I threw myself upon him and gathered him up in my arms +to carry him, but I trembled too much, was too weak from fear, and +fell back with him onto the bed, crying, 'Help!' He thrust me away +and said roughly, 'Listen.' The frightful tick-tack was behind us +now, on the table. But there was nothing on the table, only the +night-light, the glass with the potion in it, and a gold vase where +I had placed with my own hands that morning a cluster of grasses +and wild flowers that Ermolai had brought that morning on his return +from the Orel country. With one bound I was on the table and at +the flowers. I struck my fingers among the grasses and the flowers, +and felt a resistance. The tick-tack was in the bouquet! I took +the bouquet in both hands, opened the window and threw it as far +as I could into the garden. At the same moment the bomb burst with +a terrible noise, giving me quite a deep wound in the hand. Truly, +my dear little domovoi, that day we had been very near death, but +God and the Little Father watched over us." + +And Matrena Petrovna made the sign of the cross. + +"All the windows of the house were broken. In all, we escaped with +the fright and a visit from the glazier, my little friend, but I +certainly believed that all was over." + +"And Mademoiselle Natacha?" inquired Rouletabille. "She must also +have been terribly frightened, because the whole house must have +rocked." + +"Surely. But Natacha was not here that night. It was a Saturday. +She had been invited to the soiree du 'Michel' by the parents of +Boris Nikolaievitch, and she slept at their house, after supper at +the Ours, as had been planned. The next day, when she learned the +danger the general had escaped, she trembled in every limb. She +threw herself in her father's arms, weeping, which was natural +enough, and declared that she never would go away from him again. +The general told her how I had managed. Then she pressed me to +her heart, saying that she never would forget such an action, and +that she loved me more than if I were truly her mother. It was all +in vain that during the days following we sought to understand how +the infernal machine had been placed in the bouquet of wild flowers. +Only the general's friends that you saw this evening, Natacha and +I had entered the general's chamber during the day or in the evening. +No servant, no chamber-maid, had been on that floor. In the +day-time as well as all night long that entire floor is closed and +I have the keys. The door of the servants' staircase which opens +onto that floor, directly into the general's chamber, is always +locked and barred on the inside with iron. Natacha and I do the +chamber work. There is no way of taking greater precautions. Three +police agents watched over us night and day. The night of the +bouquet two had spent their time watching around the house, and the +third lay on the sofa in the veranda. Then, too, we found all the +doors and windows of the villa shut tight. In such circumstances +you can judge whether my anguish was not deeper than any I had known +hitherto. Because to whom, henceforth, could we trust ourselves? +what and whom could we believe? what and whom could we watch? +>From that day, no other person but Natacha and me have the right to +go to the first floor. The general's chamber was forbidden to his +friends. Anyway, the general improved, and soon had the pleasure +of receiving them himself at his table. I carry the general down +and take him to his room again on my back. I do not wish anyone +to help. I am strong enough for that. I feel that I could carry +him to the end of the world if that would save him. Instead of +three police, we had ten; five outside, five inside. The days went +well enough, but the nights were frightful, because the shadows of +the police that I encountered always made me fear that I was face +to face with the Nihilists. One night I almost strangled one with +my hand. It was after that incident that we arranged with +Koupriane that the agents who watched at night, inside, should stay +placed in the veranda, after having, at the end of the evening, +made complete examination of everything. They were not to leave +the veranda unless they heard a suspicious noise or I called to +them. And it was after that arrangement that the incident of the +floor happened, that has puzzled so both Koupriane and me." + +"Pardon, madame," interrupted Rouletabille, "but the agents, during +the examination of everything, never went to the bedroom floor?" + +"No, my child, there is only myself and Natacha, I repeat, who, +since the bouquet, go there." + +"Well, madame, it is necessary to take me there at once." + +"At once!" + +"Yes, into the general's chamber." + +"But he is sleeping, my child. Let me tell you exactly how the +affair of the floor happened, and you will know as much of it as +I and as Koupriane." + +"To the general's chamber at once." + +She took both his hands and pressed them nervously. "Little friend! +Little friend! One hears there sometimes things which are the +secret of the night! You understand me?" + +"To the general's chamber, at once, madame." + +Abruptly she decided to take him there, agitated, upset as she was +by ideas and sentiments which held her without respite between the +wildest inquietude and the most imprudent audacity. + + + + +IV + +"THE YOUTH OF MOSCOW IS DEAD" + +Rouletabille let himself be led by Matrena through the night, but +he stumbled and his awkward hands struck against various things. +The ascent to the first floor was accomplished in profound silence. +Nothing broke it except that restless moaning which had so affected +the young man just before. + +The tepid warmth, the perfume of a woman's boudoir, then, beyond, +through two doors opening upon the dressing-room which lay between +Matrena's chamber and Feodor's, the dim luster of a night-lamp +showed the bed where was stretched the sleeping tyrant of Moscow. +Ah, he was frightening to see, with the play of faint yellow light +and diffused shadows upon him. Such heavy-arched eyebrows, such +an aspect of pain and menace, the massive jaw of a savage come from +the plains of Tartary to be the Scourge of God, the stiff, thick, +spreading beard. This was a form akin to the gallery of old nobles +at Kasan, and young Rouletabille imagined him as none other than +Ivan the Terrible himself. Thus appeared as he slept the excellent +Feodor Feodorovitch, the easy, spoiled father of the family table, +the friend of the advocate celebrated for his feats with knife and +fork and of the bantering timber-merchant and amiable bear-hunter, +the joyous Thaddeus and Athanase; Feodor, the faithful spouse of +Matrena Petrovna and the adored papa of Natacha, a brave man who +was so unfortunate as to have nights of cruel sleeplessness or +dreams more frightful still. + +At that moment a hoarse sigh heaved his huge chest in an uneven +rhythm, and Rouletabille, leaning in the doorway of the +dressing-room, watched - but it was no longer the general that he +watched, it was something else, lower down, beside the wall, near +the door, and it was that which set him tiptoeing so lightly across +the floor that it gave no sound. There was no slightest sound in +the chamber, except the heavy breathing lifting the rough chest. +Behind Rouletabille Matrena raised her arms, as though she wished +to hold him back, because she did not know where he was going. +What was he doing? Why did he stoop thus beside the door and why +did he press his thumb all along the floor at the doorway? He rose +again and returned. He passed again before the bed, where rumbled +now, like the bellows of a forge, the respiration of the sleeper. +Matrena grasped Rouletabille by the hand. And she had already +hurried him into the dressing-room when a moan stopped them. + +"The youth of Moscow is dead!" + +It was the sleeper speaking. The mouth which had given the +stringent orders moaned. And the lamentation was still a menace. +In the haunted sleep thrust upon that man by the inadequate narcotic +the words Feodor Feodorovitch spoke were words of mourning and pity. +This perfect fiend of a soldier, whom neither bullets nor bombs +could intimidate, had a way of saying words which transformed their +meaning as they came from his terrible mouth. The listeners could +not but feel absorbed in the tones of the brutal victor. + +Matrena Petrovna and Rouletabille had leant their two shadows, +blended one into the other, against the open doorway just beyond +the gleam of the night-lamp, and they heard with horror: + +"The youth of Moscow is dead! They have cleared +away the corpses. There is nothing but ruin left. The Kremlin +itself has shut its gates - that it may not see. The youth of +Moscow is dead!" + +Feodor Feodorovitch's fist shook above his bed; it seemed that he +was about to strike, to kill again, and Rouletabille felt Matrena +trembling against him, while he trembled as well before the +fearful vision of the killer in the Red Week! + +Feodor heaved an immense sigh and his breast descended under the +bed-clothes, the fist relaxed and fell, the great head lay over on +its ear. There was silence. Had he repose at last? No, no. He +sighed, he choked anew, he tossed on his couch like the damned in +torment, and the words written by his daughter - by his daughter +- blazed in his eyes, which now were wide open - words written on +the wall, that he read on the wall, written in blood. + + "The youth of Moscow is dead! They had gone so young into the + fields and into the mines, + And they had not found a single corner of the Russian land where + there were not moanings. + Now the youth of Moscow is dead and no more moanings are heard, + Because those for whom all youth died do not dare even to moan + any more. + +But - what? The voice of Feodor lost its threatening tone. His +breath came as from a weeping child. And it was with sobs in his +throat that he said the last verse, the verse written by his +daughter in the album, in red letters: + + "The last barricade had standing there the girl of eighteen + winters, the virgin of Moscow, flower of the snow. + Who gave her kisses to the workmen struck by the bullets + from the soldiers of the Czar; + "She aroused the admiration of the very soldiers who, weeping, + killed her: + "What killing! All the houses shuttered, the windows with heavy + eyelids of plank in order not to see! - + "And the Kremlin itself has closed its gates - that it may + not see. + "The youth of Moscow is dead!" + +"Feodor! Feodor!" + +She had caught him in her arms, holding him fast, comforting him +while still he raved, "The youth of Moscow is dead," and appeared +to thrust away with insensate gestures a crowd of phantoms. She +crushed him to her breast, she put her hands over his mouth to make +him stop, but he, saying, "Do you hear? Do you hear? What do they +say? They say nothing, now. What a tangle of bodies under the +sleigh, Matrena! Look at those frozen legs of those poor girls we +pass, sticking out in all directions, like logs, from under their +icy, blooded skirts. Look, Matrena!" + +And then came further delirium uttered in Russian, which was all the +more terrible to Rouletabille because he could not comprehend it. + +Then, suddenly, Feodor became silent and thrust away Matrena +Petrovna. + +"It is that abominable narcotic," he said with an immense sigh. +"I'll drink no more of it. I do not wish to drink it." + +With one hand he pointed to a large glass on the table beside him, +still half full of a soporific mixture with which he moistened his +lips each time he woke; with the other hand he wiped the perspiration +from his face. Matrena Petrovna stayed trembling near him, suddenly +overpowered by the idea that he might discover there was someone +there behind the door, who had seen and heard the sleep of General +Trebassof! Ah, if he learned that, everything was over. She might +say her prayers; she should die. + +But Rouletabille was careful to give no sign. He barely breathed. +What a nightmare! He understood now the emotion of the general's +friends when Natacha had sung in her low, sweet voice, "Good-night. +May your eyes have rest from tears and calm re-enter your heart +oppressed." The friends had certainly been made aware, by Matrena's +anxious talking, of the general's insomnia, and they could not +repress their tears as they listened to the poetic wish of charming +Natacha. "All the same," thought Rouletabille, "no one could +imagine what I have just seen. They are not dead for everyone in +the world, the youths of Moscow, and every night I know now a +chamber where in the glow of the night-lamp they rise - they rise +- they rise!" and the young man frankly, naively regretted to have +intruded where he was; to have penetrated, however unintentionally, +into an affair which, after all, concerned only the many dead and +the one living. Why had he come to put himself between the dead and +the living? It might be said to him: "The living has done his whole +heroic duty," but the dead, what else was it that they had done? + +Ah, Rouletabille cursed his curiosity, for - he saw it now - it was +the desire to approach the mystery revealed by Koupriane and to +penetrate once more, through all the besetting dangers, an astounding +and perhaps monstrous enigma, that had brought him to the threshold +of the datcha des Iles, which had placed him in the trembling hands +of Matrena Petrovna in promising her his help. He had shown pity, +certainly, pity for the delirious distress of that heroic woman. +But there had been more curiosity than pity in his motives. And +now he must pay, because it was too late now to withdraw, to say +casually, "I wash my hands of it." He had sent away the police and +he alone remained between the general and the vengeance of the dead! +He might desert, perhaps! That one idea brought him to himself, +roused all his spirit. Circumstances had brought him into a camp +that he must defend at any cost, unless he was afraid! + +The general slept now, or, at least, with eyelids closed simulated +sleep, doubtless in order to reassure poor Matrena who, on her knees +beside his pillow, had retained the hand of her terrible husband in +her own. Shortly she rose and rejoined Rouletabille in her chamber. +She took him then to a little guest-chamber where she urged him to +get some sleep. He replied that it was she who needed rest. But, +agitated still by what had just happened, she babbled: + +"No, no! after such a scene I would have nightmares myself as well. +Ah, it is dreadful! Appalling! Appalling! Dear little monsieur, +it is the secret of the night. The poor man! Poor unhappy man! +He cannot tear his thoughts away from it. It is his worst and +unmerited punishment, this translation that Natacha has made of +Boris's abominable verses. He knows them by heart, they are in his +brain and on his tongue all night long, in spite of narcotics, and +he says over and over again all the time, 'It is my daughter who +has written that! - my daughter! - my daughter!' It is enough +to wring all the tears from one's body - that an aide-de-camp of a +general, who himself has killed the youth of Moscow, is allowed to +write such verses and that Natacha should take it upon herself to +translate them into lovely poetic French for her album. It is hard +to account for what they do nowadays, to our misery." + +She ceased, for just then they heard the floor creak under a step +downstairs. Rouletabille stopped Matrena short and drew his +revolver. He wished to creep down alone, but he had not time. As +the floor creaked a second time, Matrena's anguished voice called +down the staircase in Russian, "Who is there?" and immediately the +calm voice of Natacha answered something in the same language. +Then Matrena, trembling more and more, and very much excited +keeping steadily to the same place as though she had been nailed +to the step of the stairway, said in French, "Yes, all is well; +your father is resting. Good-night, Natacha." They heard Natacha's +step cross the drawing-room and the sitting-room. Then the door of +her chamber closed. Matrena and Rouletabille descended, holding +their breath. They reached the dining-room and Matrena played her +dark-lantern on the sofa where the general always reclined. The +sofa was in its usual place on the carpet. She pushed it back and +raised the carpet, laying the floor bare. Then she got onto her +knees and examined the floor minutely. She rose, wiping the +perspiration from her brow, put the carpet hack in place, adjusted +the sofa and dropped upon it with a great sigh. + +"Well?" demanded Rouletabille. + +"Nothing at all," said she. + +"Why did you call so openly?" + +"Because there was no doubt that it could only be my step-daughter +on the ground-floor at that hour." + +"And why this anxiety to examine the floor again?" + +"I entreat you, my dear little child, do not see in my acts anything +mysterious, anything hard to explain. That anxiety you speak of +never leaves me. Whenever I have the chance I examine the flooring." + +"Madame," demanded the young man, "what was your daughter doing in +this room?" + +"She came for a glass of mineral water; the bottle is still on the +table." + +"Madame, it is necessary that you tell me precisely what Koupriane +has only hinted to me, unless I am entirely mistaken. The first +time that you thought to examine the floor, was it after you heard +a noise on the ground-floor such as has just happened?" + +"Yes. I will tell you all that is necessary. It was the night +after the attempt with the bouquet, my dear little monsieur, my +dear little domovoi; it seemed to me I heard a noise on the +ground-floor. I hurried downstairs and saw nothing suspicious at +first. Everything was shut tight. I opened the door of Natacha's +chamber softly. I wished to ask her if she had heard anything. +But she was so fast asleep that I had not the heart to awaken her. +I opened the door of the veranda, and all the police - all, you +understand - slept soundly. I took another turn around the +furniture, and, with my lantern in my hand, I was just going out +of the dining-room when I noticed that the carpet on the floor was +disarranged at one corner. I got down and my hand struck a great +fold of carpet near the general's sofa. You would have said that +the sofa had been rolled carelessly, trying to replace it in the +position it usually occupied. Prompted by a sinister presentiment, +I pushed away the sofa and I lifted the carpet. At first glance I +saw nothing, but when I examined things closer I saw that a strip +of wood did not lie well with the others on the floor. With a +knife I was able to lift that strip and I found that two nails +which had fastened it to the beam below had been freshly pulled out. +It was just so I could raise the end of the board a little without +being able to slip my hand under. To lift it any more it would be +necessary to pull at least half-a-dozen nails. What could it mean? +Was I on the point of discovering some new terrible and mysterious +plan? I let the board fall back into place. I spread the carpet +back again carefully, put the sofa in its place, and in the morning +sent for Koupriane." + +Rouletabille interrupted. + +"You had not, madame, spoken to anyone of this discovery?" + +" To no one." + +"Not even to your step-daughter?" + +"No," said the husky voice of Matrena, "not even to my step-daughter." + +"Why?" demanded Rouletabille. + +"Because," replied Matrena, after a moment's hesitation, "there were +already enough frightening things about the house. I would not have +spoken to my daughter any more than I would have said a word to the +general. Why add to the disquiet they already .suffered so much, +in case nothing developed?" + +"And what did Koupriane say?" + +"We examined the, floor together, secretly. Koupriane slipped his +hand under more easily than I had done, and ascertained that under +the board, that is to say between the beam and the ceiling of the +kitchen, there was a hollow where any number of things might be +placed. For the moment the board was still too little released for +any maneuver to be possible. Koupriane, when he rose, said to me, +'You have happened, madame, to interrupt the person in her +operations. But we are prepared henceforth. We know what she does +and she is unaware that we know. Act as though you had not noticed +anything; do not speak of it to anyone whatever - and watch. Let +the general continue to sit in his usual place and let no one +suspect that we have discovered the beginnings of this attempt. It +is the only way we can plan so that they will continue. All the +same,' he added, 'I will give my agents orders to patrol the +ground-floor anew during the night. I would be risking too much to +let the person continue her work each night. She might continue it +so well that she would be able to accomplish it - you understand +me? But by day you arrange that the rooms on the ground-floor be +free from time to time - not for long, but from time to time.' I +don't know why, but what he said and the way he said it frightened +me more than ever. However, I carried out his program. Then, three +days later, about eight o'clock, when the night watch was not yet +started, that is to say at the moment when the police were still +all out in the garden or walking around the house, outside, and when +I had left the the ground-floor perfectly free while I helped the +general to bed, I felt drawn even against myself suddenly to the +dining-room. I lifted the carpet and examined the floor. Three +more nails had been drawn from the board, which lifted more easily +now, and under it, I could see that the normal cavity had been made +wider still!" + +When she had said this, Matrena stopped, as if, overcome, she could +not tell more. + +"Well?" insisted Rouletabille. + +"Well, I replaced things as I found them and made rapid inquiries +of the police and their chief; no one had entered the ground-floor. +You understand me? - no one at all. Neither had anyone come out +from it." + +"How could anyone come out if no one had entered?" + +"I wish to say," said she with a sob, "that Natacha during this +space of time had been in her chamber, in her chamber on the +ground-floor." + +"You appear to be very disturbed, madame, at this recollection. +Can you tell me further, and precisely, why you are agitated?" + +"You understand me, surely," she said, shaking her head. + +"If I understand you correctly, I have to understand that from the +previous time you examined the floor until the time that you noted +three more nails drawn out, no other person could have entered the +dining-room but you and your step-daughter Natacha." + +Matrena took Rouletabille's hand as though she had reached an +important decision. + +"My little friend," moaned she, "there are things I am not able to +think about and which I can no longer entertain when Natacha embraces +me. It is a mystery more frightful than all else. Koupriane tells +me that he is sure, absolutely sure, of the agents he kept here; my +sole consolation, do you see, my little friend can tell you frankly, +now that you have sent away those men - my sole consolation since +that day has been that Koupriane is less sure of his men than I am +of Natacha." + +She broke down and sobbed. + +When she was calmed, she looked for Rouletabille, and could not +find him. Then she wiped her eyes, picked up her dark-lantern, +and, furtively, crept to her post beside the general. + +For that day these are the points in Rouletabille's notebook: + +"Topography: Villa surrounded by a large garden on three sides. +The fourth side gives directly onto a wooded field that stretches +to the river Neva. On this side the level of the ground is much +lower, so low that the sole window opening in that wall (the window +of Natacha's sitting-room on the ground-floor) is as high from the +ground as though it were on the next floor in any other part of the +house. This window is closed by iron shutters, fastened inside by +a bar of iron. + +"Friends: Atbanase Georgevitch, Ivan Petrovitch, Thaddeus the +timber-merchant (peat boots), Michael and Boris (fine shoes). +Matrena, sincere love, blundering heroism. Natacha unknown. Against +Natacha: Never there during the attacks. At Moscow at the time of +the bomb in the sleigh, no one knows where she was, and it is she +who should have accompanied the general (detail furnished by +Koupriane that Matrena generously kept back). The night of the +bouquet is the only night Natacha has slept away from the house. +Coincidence of the disappearance of the nails and the presence all +alone on the ground-floor of Natacha, in case, of course, Matrena +id not pull them out herself. For Natacha: Her eyes when she looks +at her father." + +And this bizarre phrase: + +"We mustn't be rash. This evening I have not yet spoken to Matrena +Petrovna about the little hat-pin. That little hat-pin is the +greatest relief of my life." + + + + +V + +BY ROULETABILLE'S 0RDER THE GENERAL PROMENADES + +"Good morning, my dear little familiar spirit. The general slept +splendidly the latter part of the night. He did not touch his +narcotic. I am sure it is that dreadful mixture that gives him +such frightful dreams. And you, my dear little friend, you have +not slept an instant. I know it. I felt you going everywhere +about the house like a little mouse. Ah, it seems good, so good. +I slept so peacefully, hearing the subdued movement of your little +steps. Thanks for the sleep you have given me, little friend." + +Matrena talked on to Rouletahille, whom she had found the morning +after the nightmare tranquilly smoking his pipe in the garden. + +"Ah, ah, you smoke a pipe. Now you do certainly look exactly like +a dear little domovoi-doukh. See how much you are alike. He +smokes just like you. Nothing new, eh? You do not look very bright +this morning. You are worn out. I have just arranged the little +guest-chamber for you, the only one we have, just behind mine. +Your bed is waiting for you. Is there anything you need? Tell me. +Everything here is at your service." + +"I'm not in need of anything, madame," said the young man smilingly, +after this outpouring of words from the good, heroic dame. + +"How can you say that, dear child? You will make yourself sick. +I want you to understand that I wish you to rest. I want to be a +mother to you, if you please, and you must obey me, my child. Have +you had breakfast yet this morning? If you do not have breakfast +promptly mornings, I will think you are annoyed. I am so annoyed +that you have heard the secret of the night. I have been afraid +that you would want to leave at once and for good, and that you +would have mistaken ideas about the general. There is not a +better man in the world that Feodor, and he must have a good, a +very good conscience to dare, without fail, to perform such terrible +duties as those at Moscow, when he is so good at heart. These +things are easy enough for wicked people, but for good men, for +good men who can reason it out, who know what they do and that they +are condemned to death into the bargain, it is terrible, it is +terrible! Why, I told him the moment things began to go wrong in +Moscow, 'You know what to expect, Feodor. Here is a dreadful time +to get through - make out you are sick.' I believed he was going +to strike me, to kill me on the spot. 'I! Betray the Emperor in +such a moment! His Majesty, to whom I owe everything! What are +you thinking of, Matrena Petrovna!' And he did not speak to me +after that for two days. It was only when he saw I was growing +very ill that he pardoned me, but he had to be plagued with my +jeremiads and the appealing looks of Natacha without end in his +own home each time we heard any shooting in the street. Natacha +attended the lectures of the Faculty, you know. And she knew many +of them, and even some of those who were being killed on the +barricades. Ah, life was not easy for him in his own home, the +poor general! Besides, there was also Boris, whom I love as well, +for that matter, as my own child, because I shall be very happy to +see him married to Natacha - there was poor Boris who always came +home from the attacks paler than a corpse and who could not keep +from moaning with us." + +"And Michael?" questioned Rouletabille. + +"Oh, Michael only came towards the last. He is a new orderly to +the general. The government at St. Petersburg sent him, because +of course they couldn't help learning that Boris rather lacked zeal +in repressing the students and did not encourage the general in +being as severe as was necessary for the safety of the Empire. But +Michael, he has a heart of stone; he knows nothing but the +countersign and massacres fathers and mothers, crying, 'Vive le +Tsar!' Truly, it seems his heart can only be touched by the sight +of Natacha. And that again has caused a good deal of anxiety to +Feodor and me. It has caught us in a useless complication that we +would have liked to end by the prompt marriage of Natacha and Boris. +But Natacha, to our great surprise, has not wished it to be so. No, +she has not wished it, saying that there is always time to think of +her wedding and that she is in no hurry to leave us. Meantime she +entertains herself with this Michael as if she did not fear his +passion, and neither has Michael the desperate air of a man who +knows the definite engagement of Natacha and Boris. And my +step-daughter is not a coquette. No, no. No one can say she is a +coquette. At least, no one had been able to say it up to the time +that Michael arrived. Can it be that she is a coquette? They are +mysterious, these young girls, very mysterious, above all when they +have that calm and tranquil look that Natacha always has; a face, +monsieur, as you have noticed perhaps, whose beauty is rather +passive whatever one says and does, excepting when the volleys in +the streets kill her young comrades of the schools. Then I have +seen her almost faint, which proves she has a great heart under +her tranquil beauty. Poor Natacha! I have seen her excited as I +over the life of her father. My little friend, I have seen her +searching in the middle of the night, with me, for infernal +machines under the furniture, and then she has expressed the +opinion that it is nervous, childish, unworthy of us to act like +that, like timid beasts under the sofas, and she has left me to +search by myself. True, she never quits the general. She is more +reassured, and is reassuring to him, at his side. It has an +excellent moral effect on him, while I walk about and search like +a beast. And she has become as fatalistic as he, and now she sings +verses to the guzla, like Boris, or talks in corners with Michael, +which makes the two enraged each with the other. They are curious, +the young women of St. Petersburg and Moscow, very curious. We +were not like that in our time, at Orel. We did not try to enrage +people. We would have received a box on the ears if we had." + +Natacha came in upon this conversation, happy, in white voile, +fresh and smiling like a girl who had passed an excellent night. +She asked after the health of the young man very prettily and +embraced Matrena, in truth as one embraces a much-beloved mother. +She complained again of Matrena's night-watch. + +"You have not stopped it, mamma; you have not stopped it, eh? You +are not going to be a little reasonable at last? I beg of you! +What has given me such a mother! Why don't you sleep? Night is +made for sleep. Koupriane has upset you. All the terrible things +are over in Moscow. There is no occasion to think of them any more. +That Koupriane makes himself important with his police-agents and +obsesses us all. I am convinced that the affair of the bouquet +was the work of his police." + +"Mademoiselle," said Rouletabille, "I have just had them all sent +away, all of them - because I think very much the same as you do." + +"Well, then, you will be my friend, Monsieur Rouletabille I promise +you, since you have done that. Now that the police are gone we +have nothing more to fear. Nothing. I tell you, mamma; you can +believe me and not weep any more, mamma dear." + +"Yes, yes; kiss me. Kiss me again!" repeated Matrena, drying her +eyes. "When you kiss me I forget everything. You love me like +your own mother, don't you?" + +"Like my mother. Like my own mother." + +"You have nothing to hide from me? - tell me, Natacha." + +"Nothing to hide." + +"Then why do you make Boris suffer so? Why don't you marry him?" + +"Because I don't wish to leave you, mamma dear." + +She escaped further parley by jumping up on the garden edge away +from Khor, who had just been set free for the day. + +"The dear child," said Matrena; "the dear little one, she little +knows how much pain she has caused us without being aware of it, +by her ideas, her extravagant ideas. Her father said to me one +day at Moscow, 'Matrena Petrovna, I'll tell you what I think +- Natacha is the victim of the wicked books that have turned the +brains of all these poor rebellious students. Yes, yes; it would +be better for her and for us if she did not know how to read, for +there are moments - my word! - when she talks very wildly, and +I have said to myself more than once that with such ideas her place +is not in our salon hut behind a barricade. All the same,' he +added after reflection, 'I prefer to find her in the salon where I +can embrace her than behind a barricade where I would kill her like +a mad dog.' But my husband, dear little monsieur, did not say what +he really thinks, for he loves his daughter more than all the rest +of the world put together, and there are things that even a general, +yes, even a governor-general, would not be able to do without +violating both divine and human laws. He suspects Boris also of +setting Natacha's wits awry. We really have to consider that when +they are married they will read everything they have a mind to. My +husband has much more real respect for Michael Korsakoff because of +his impregnable character and his granite conscience. More than +once he has said, 'Here is the aide I should have had in the worst +days of Moscow. He would have spared me much of the individual +pain.' I can understand how that would please the general, but how +such a tigerish nature succeeds in appealing to Natacha, how it +succeeds in not actually revolting her, these young girls of the +capital, one never can tell about them - they get away from all +your notions of them." + +Rouletabille inquired: + +"Why did Boris say to Michael, 'We will return together'? Do they +live together?" + +"Yes, in the small villa on the Krestowsky Ostrov, the isle across +from ours, that you can see from the window of the sitting-room. +Boris chose it because of that. The orderlies wished to have +camp-beds prepared for them right here in the general's house, by +a natural devotion to him; but I opposed it, in order to keep them +both from Natacha, in whom, of course, I have the most complete +confidence, but one cannot be sure about the extravagance of men +nowadays." + +Ermolai came to announce the petit-dejeuner. They found Natacha +already at table and she poured them coffee and milk, eating away +all the time at a sandwich of anchovies and caviare. + +"Tell me, mamma, do you know what gives me such an appetite? It +is the thought of the way poor Koupriane must have taken this +dismissal of his men. I should like to go to see him." + +"If you see him," said Rouletabille, "it is unnecessary to tell him +that the general will go for a long promenade among the isles this +afternoon, because without fail he would send us an escort of +gendarmes." + +"Papa! A promenade among the islands? Truly? Oh, that is going +to be lovely!" + +Matrena Petrovna sprang to her feet. + +"Are you mad, my dear little domovoi, actually mad?" + +"Why? Why? It is fine. I must run and tell papa." + +"Your father's room is locked," said Matrena brusquely. + +"Yes, yes; he is locked in. You have the key. Locked away until +death! You will kill him. It will be you who kills him." + +She left the table without waiting for a reply and went and shut +herself also in her chamber. + +Matrena looked at Rouletabille, who continued his breakfast as +though nothing had happened. + +"Is it possible that you speak seriously?" she demanded, coming +over and sitting down beside him. "A promenade! Without the +police, when we have received again this morning a letter saying +now that before forty-eight hours the general will be dead!" + +"Forty-eight hours," said Rouletabille, soaking his bread in his +chocolate, "forty-eight hours? It is possible. In any case, I +know they will try something very soon." + +"My God, how is it that you believe that? You speak with assurance." + +"Madame, it is necessary to do everything I tell you, to the letter." + +"But to have the general go out, unless he is guarded - how can you +take such a responsibility? When I think about it, when I really +think about it, I ask myself how you have dared send away the police. +But here, at least, I know what to do in order to feel a little safe, +I know that downstairs with Gniagnia and Ermolai we have nothing to +fear. No stranger can approach even the basement. The provisions +are brought from the lodge by our dvornicks whom we have had sent +from my mother's home in the Orel country and who are as devoted to +us as bull-dogs. Not a bottle of preserves is taken into the +kitchens without having been previously opened outside. No package +comes from any tradesman without being opened in the lodge. Here, +within, we are able to feel a little safe, even without the police +- but away from here - outside!" + +"Madame, they are going to try to kill your husband within +forty-eight hours. Do you desire me to save him perhaps for a long +time - for good, perhaps?" + +"Ah, listen to him! Listen to him, the dear little domovoi! But +what will Koupriane say? He will not permit any venturing beyond +the villa; none, at least for the moment. Ah, now, how he looks at +me, the dear little domovoi! Oh, well, yes. There, I will do as +you wish." + +"Very well, come into the garden with me." + +She accompanied him, leaning on his arm. + +"Here's the idea," said Rouletabille. "This afternoon you will go +with the general in his rolling-chair. Everybody will follow. +Everyone, you understand, Madame - understand me thoroughly, I mean +to say that everyone who wishes to come must be invited to. Only +those who wish to remain behind will do so. And do not insist. Ah, +now, I see, you understand me. Why do you tremble?" + +"But who will guard the house?" + +"No one. Simply tell the servant at the lodge to watch from the +lodge those who enter the villa, but simply from the lodge, without +interfering with them, and saying nothing to them, nothing." + +"I will do as you wish. Do you want me to announce our promenade +beforehand?" + +"Why, certainly. Don't be uneasy; let everybody have the good news." + +"Oh, I will tell only the general and his friends, you may be sure." + +"Now, dear Madame, just one more word. Do not wait for me at +luncheon." + +"What! You are going to leave us?" she cried instantly, breathless. +"No, no. I do not wish it. I am willing to do without the police, +but I am not willing to do without you. Everything might happen in +your absence. Everything! Everything!" she repeated with singular +energy. "Because, for me, I cannot feel sure as I should, perhaps. +Ah, you make me say these things. Such things! But do not go." + +"Do not be afraid; I am not going to leave you, madame." + +"Ah, you are good! You are kind, kind! Caracho! (Very well.)" + +"I will not leave you. But I must not be at luncheon. If anyone +asks where I am, say that I have my business to look after, and +have gone to interview political personages in the city." + +"There's only one political personage in Russia," replied Matrena +Petrovna bluntly; "that is the Tsar." + +"Very well; say I have gone to interview the Tsar." + +"But no one will believe that. And where will you be?" + +"I do not know myself. But I will be about the house." + +"Very well, very well, dear little domovoi." + +She left him, not knowing what she thought about it all, nor what +she should think - her head was all in a muddle. + +In the course of the morning Athanase Georgevitch and Thaddeus +Tchnitchnikof arrived. The general was already in the veranda. +Michael and Boris arrived shortly after, and inquired in their turn +how he had passed the night without the police. When they were told +that Feodor was going for a promenade that afternoon they applauded +his decision. "Bravo! A promenade a la strielka (to the head of +the island) at the hour when all St. Petersburg is driving there. +That is fine. We will all be there." The general made them stay +for luncheon. Natacha appeared for the meal, in rather melancholy +mood. A little before luncheon she had held a double conversation +in the garden with Michael and Boris. No one ever could have known +what these three young people had said if some stenographic notes in +Rouletabille's memorandum-book did not give us a notion; the reporter +had overheard, by accident surely, since all self-respecting +reporters are quite incapable of eavesdropping. + +The memorandum notes: + +Natacha went into the garden with a book, which she gave to Boris, +who pressed her hand lingeringly to his lips. "Here is your book; +I return it to you. I don't want any more of them, the ideas surge +so in my brain. It makes my head ache. It is true, you are right, +I don't love novelties. I can satisfy myself with Pouchkine +perfectly. The rest are all one to me. Did you pass a good night?" + +Boris (good-looking young man, about thirty years old, blonde, a +little effeminate, wistful. A curious appurtenance in the military +household of so vigorous a general). "Natacha, there is not an +hour that I can call truly good if I spend it away from you, dear, +dear Natacha." + +"I ask you seriously if you have passed a good night?" + +She touched his hand a moment and looked into his eyes, but he +shook his head. + +"What did you do last night after you reached home?" she demanded +insistently. "Did you stay up?" + +"I obeyed you; I only sat a half-hour by the window looking over +here at the villa, and then I went to bed." + +"Yes, it is necessary you should get your rest. I wish it for you +as for everyone else. This feverish life is impossible. Matrena +Petrovna is getting us all ill, and we shall be prostrated." + +"Yesterday," said Boris, "I looked at the villa for a half-hour +from my window. Dear, dear villa, dear night when I can feel you +breathing, living near me. As if you had been against my heart. I +could have wept because I could hear Michael snoring in his chamber. +He seemed happy. At last, I heard nothing more, there was nothing +more to hear but the double chorusof frogs in the pools of the +sland. Our pools, Natacha, are like the enchanted lakes of the +Caucasus which are silent by day and sing at evening; there are +innumerabel throngs of frogs which sing on the same chord, some of +them on a major and some on a minor. The chorus speaks from pool +to pool, lamenting and moaning across the fields and gardens, and +re-echoing like AEolian harps placed opposite one another." + +"Do AEolian harps make so much noise, Boris?" + +"You laugh? I don't find you yourself half the time. It is Michael +who has changed you, and I am out of it. (Here they spoke in +Russian.) I shall not be easy until I am your husband. I can't +understand your manner with Michael at all." + +(Here more Russian words which I do not understand.) + +"Speak French; here is the gardener," said Natacha. + +"I do not like the way you are managing our lives. Why do you +delay our marriage? Why? + +(Russian words from Natacha. Gesture of desperation from Boris.) + +"How long? You say a long time? But that says nothing - a long +time. How long? A year? Two years? Ten years? Tell me, or I +will kill myself at your feet. No, no; speak or I will kill +Michael. On my word! Like a dog!" + +"I swear to you, by the dear head of your mother, Boris, that the +date of our marriage does not depend on Michael." + +(Some words in Russian. Boris, a little consoled, holds her hand +lingeringly to his lips.) + +Conversation between Michael and Natacha in the garden: + +"Well? Have you told him?" + +"I ended at last by making him understand that there is not any +hope. None. It is necessary to have patience. I have to have it +myself." + +"He is stupid and provoking." + +"Stupid, no. Provoking, yes, if you wish. But you also, you are +provoking." + +"Natacha! Natacha!" + +(Here more Russian.) As Natacha started to leave, Michael placed +his hand on her shoulder, stopped her and said, looking her direct +in the eyes: + +"There will be a letter from Annouchka this evening, by a messenger +at five o'clock." He made each syllable explicit. "Very important +and requiring an immediate reply." + +These notes of Rouletabille's are not followed by any commentary. + +After luncheon the gentlemen played poker until half-past four, +which is the "chic" hour for the promenade to the head of the +island. Rouletabille had directed Matrena to start exactly at a +quarter to five. He appeared in the meantime, announcing that he +had just interviewed the mayor of St. Petersburg, which made Athanase +laugh, who could not understand that anyone would come clear from +Paris to talk with men like that. Natacha came from her chamber to +join them for the promenade. Her father told her she looked too +worried. + +They left the villa. Rouletabille noted that the dvornicks were +before the gate and that the schwitzar was at his post, from which +he could detect everyone who might enter or leave the villa. +Matrena pushed the rolling-chair herself. The general was radiant. +He had Natacha at his right and at his left Athanase and Thaddeus. +The two orderlies followed, talking with Rouletabille, who had +monopolized them. The conversation turned on the devotion of +Matrena Petrovna, which they placed above the finest heroic traits +in the women of antiquity, and also on Natacha's love for her father. +Rouletabille made them talk. + +Boris Mourazoff explained that this exceptional love was accounted +for by the fact that Natacha's own mother, the general's first wife, +died in giving birth to their daughter, and accordingly Feodor +Feodorovitch had been both father and mother to his daughter. He +had raised her with the most touching care, not permitting anyone +else, when she was sick, to have the care of passing the nights by +her bedside. + +Natacha was seven years old when Feodor Feodorovitch was appointed +governor of Orel. In the country near Orel, during the summer, the +general and his daughter lived on neighborly terms near the family +of old Petroff, one of the richest fur merchants in Russia. Old +Petroff had a daughter, Matrena, who was magnificent to see, like +a beautiful field-flower. She was always in excellent humor, never +spoke ill of anyone in the neighborhood, and not only had the fine +manners of a city dame but a great, simple heart, which she lavished +on the little Natacha. + +The child returned the affection of the beautiful Matrena, and it +was on seeing them always happy to find themselves together that +Trebassof dreamed of reestablishing his fireside. The nuptials +were quickly arranged, and the child, when she learned that her +good Matrena was to wed her papa, danced with joy. Then misfortune +came only a few weeks before the ceremony. Old Petroff, who +speculated on the Exchange for a long time without anyone knowing +anything about it, was ruined from top to bottom. Matrena came one +evening to apprise Feodor Feodorovitch of this sad news and return +his pledge to him. For all response Feodor placed Natacha in +Matrena's arms. "Embrace your mother," he said to the child, and +to Matrena, "From to-day I consider you my wife, Matrena Petrovna. +You should obey me in all things. Take that reply to your father +and tell him my purse is at his disposition." + +The general was already, at that time, even before he had inherited +the Cheremaieff, immensely rich. He had lands behind Nijni as vast +as a province, and it would have been difficult to count the number +of moujiks who worked for him on his property. Old Pretroff gave +his daughter and did not wish to accept anything in exchange. Feodor +wished to settle a large allowance on his wife; her father opposed +that, and Matrena sided with him in the matter against her husband, +because of Natacha. "It all belongs to the little one," she +insisted. "I accept the position of her mother, but on the condition +that she shall never lose a kopeck of her inheritance." + +"So that," concluded Boris, "if the general died tomorrow she would +be poorer than Job." + +"Then the general is Matrena's sole resource," reflected Rouletabille +aloud. + +"I can understand her hanging onto him," said Michael Korsakoff, +blowing the smoke of his yellow cigarette. "Look at her. She +watches him like a treasure." + +"What do you mean, Michael Nikolaievitch?" said Boris, curtly. +"You believe, do you, that the devotion of Matrena Petrovna is not +disinterested. You must know her very poorly to dare utter such +a thought." + +"I have never had that thought, Boris Alexandrovitch," replied the +other in a tone curter still. "To be able to imagine that anyone +who lives in the Trebassofs' home could have such a thought needs +an ass's head, surely." + +"We will speak of it again, Michael Nikolaievitch." + +"At your pleasure, Boris Alexandrovitch." + +They had exchanged these latter words tranquilly continuing their +walk and negligently smoking their yellow tobacco. Rouletabille was +between them. He did not regard them; he paid no attention even to +their quarrel; he had eyes only for Natacha, who just now quit her +place beside her father's wheel-chair and passed by them with a +little nod of the head, seeming in haste to retrace the way back to +the villa. + +"Are you leaving us?" Boris demanded of her. + +"Oh, I will rejoin you immediately. I have forgotten my umbrella." + +"But I will go and get it for you," proposed Michael." + +"No, no. I have to go to the villa; I will return right away." + +She was already past them. Rouletabille, during this, looked at +Matrena Petrovna, who looked at him also, turning toward the young +man a visage pale as wax. But no one else noted the emotion of the +good Matrena, who resumed pushing the general's wheel-chair. + +Rouletabille asked the officers, "Was this arrangement because the +first wife of the general, Natacha's mother, was rich?" + +"No. The general, who always had his heart in his hand," said +Boris, "married her for her great beauty. She was a beautiful girl +of the Caucasus, of excellent family besides, that Feodor +Feodorovitch had known when he was in garrison at Tiflis." + +"In short," said Rouletabille, "the day that General Trebassof dies +Madame Trebassof, who now possesses everything, will have nothing, +and the daughter, who now has nothing, will have everything." + +"Exactly that," said Michael. + +"That doesn't keep Matrena Petrovna and Natacha Feodorovna from +deeply loving each other," observed Boris. + +The little party drew near the "Point." So far the promenade had +been along pleasant open country, among the low meadows traversed +by fresh streams, across which tiny bridges had been built, among +bright gardens guarded by porcelain dwarfs, or in the shade of +small weeds from the feet of whose trees the newly-cut grass gave +a seasonal fragrance. All was reflected in the pools - which lay +like glass whereon a scene-painter had cut the green hearts of the +pond-lily leaves. An adorable country glimpse which seemed to have +been created centuries back for the amusement of a queen and +preserved, immaculately trimmed and cleaned, from generation to +generation, for the eternal charm of such an hour as this on the +banks of the Gulf of Finland. + +Now they had reached the bank of the Gulf, and the waves rippled to +the prows of the light ships, which dipped gracefully like huge and +rapid sea-gulls, under the pressure of their great white sails. + +Along the roadway, broader now, glided, silently and at walking +pace, the double file of luxurious equipages with impatient horses, +the open carriages in which the great personages of the court saw +the view and let themselves be seen. Enormous coachmen held the +reins high. Lively young women, negligently reclining against the +cushions, displayed their new Paris toilettes, and kept young +officers on horseback busy with salutes. There were all kinds of +uniforms. No talking was heard. Everyone was kept busy looking. +There rang in the pure, thin air only the noise of the champing bits +and the tintinnabulation of the bells attached to the hairy Finnish +ponies' collars. And all that, so beautiful, fresh, charming and +clear, and silent, it all seemed more a dream than even that which +hung in the pools, suspended between the crystal of the air and the +crystal of the water. The transparence of the sky and the +transparence of the gulf blended their two unrealities so that one +could not note where the horizons met. + +Rouletabille looked at the view and looked at the general, and in +all his young vibrating soul there was a sense of infinite sadness, +for he recalled those terrible words in the night: "They have gone +into all the corners of the Russian land, and they have not found +a single corner of that land where there are not moanings." "Well," +thought he, "they have not come into this corner, apparently. I +don't know anything lovelier or happier in the world." No, no, +Rouletabille, they have not come here. In every country there is +a corner of happy life, which the poor are ashamed to approach, +which they know nothing of, and of which merely the sight would +turn famished mothers enraged, with their thin bosoms, and, if it +is not more beautiful than that, certainly no part of the earth is +made so atrocious to live in for some, nor so happy for others as +in this Scythian country, the boreal country of the world. + +Meanwhile the little group about the general's rolling-chair had +attracted attention. Some passers-by saluted, and the news spread +quickly that General Trebassof had come for a promenade to "the +Point." Heads turned as carriages passed; the general, noticing +how much excitement his presence produced, begged Matrena Petrovna +to push his chair into an adjacent by-path, behind a shield of +trees where he would be able to enjoy the spectacle in peace. + +He was found, nevertheless, by Koupriane, the Chief of Police, who +was looking for him. He had gone to the datcha and been told +there that the general, accompanied by his friends and the young +Frenchman, had gone for a turn along the gulf. Koupriane had left +his carriage at the datcha, and taken the shortest route after them. + +He was a fine man, large, solid, clear-eyed. His uniform showed +his fine build to advantage. He was generally liked in St. +Petersburg, where his martial bearing and his well-known bravery +had given him a sort of popularity in society, which, on the other +hand, had great disdain for Gounsovski, the head of the Secret +Police, who was known to be capable of anything underhanded and +had been accused of sometimes play-ng into the hands of the +Nihilists, whom he disguised as agents-provocateurs, without +anybody really doubting it, and he had to fight against these +widespread political suspicions. + +Well-informed men declared that the death of the previous "prime +mnister," who had been blown up before Varsovie station when he was +on his way to the Tsar at Peterhof, was Gounsovski's work and that +in this he was the instrument of the party at court which had sworn +the death of the minister which inconvenienced it.* On the other +____________________________________________________________________ + +1Rumored cause of Plehve's assassination. +____________________________________________________________________ + +hand, everyone regarded Koupriane as incapable of participating in +any such horrors and that he contented himself with honest +performance of his obvious duties, confining himself to ridding the +streets of its troublesome elements, and sending to Siberia as many +as he could of the hot-heads, without lowering himself to the +compromises which, more than once, had given grounds for the enemies +of the empire to maintain that it was difilcult to say whether the +chiefs of the Russian police played the part of the law or that of +the revolutionary party, even that the police had been at the end +of a certain time of such mixed procedure hardly able to decide +themselves which they did. + +This afternoon Koupriane appeared very nervous. He paid his +compliments to the general, grumbled at his imprudence, praised him +for his bravery, and then at once picked out Rouletabille, whom he +took aside to talk to. + +"You have sent my men back to me," said he to the young reporter. +"You understand that I do not allow that. They are furious, and +quite rightly. You have given publicly as explanation of their +departure - a departure which has naturally astonished, stupefied +the general's friends - the suspicion of their possible participation +in the last attack. That is abominable, and I will not permit it. +My men have not been trained in the methods of Gounsovski, and it +does them a cruel injury, which I resent, for that matter, +personally, to treat them this way. But let that go, as a matter +of sentiment, and return to the simple fact itself, which proves +your excessive imprudence, not to say more, and which involves you, +you alone, in a responsibility of which you certainly have not +measured the importance. All in all, I consider that you have +strangely abused the complete authority that I gave you upon the +Emperor's orders. When I learned what you had done I went to find +the Tsar, as was my duty, and told him the whole thing. He was more +astonished than can be expressed. He directed me to go myself to +find out just how things were and to furnish the general the guard +you had removed. I arrive at the isles and not only find the villa +open like a mill where anyone may enter, but I am informed, and then +I see, that the general is promenading in the midst of the crowd, +at the mercy of the first miserable venturer. Monsieur Rouletabille, +I am not satisfied. The Tsar is not satisfied. And, within an hour, +my men will return to assume their guard at the datcha." + +Rouletabille listened to the end. No one ever had spoken to him in +that tone. He was red, and as ready to burst as a child's balloon +blown too hard. He said: + +"And I will take the train this evening." + +"You will go?" + +"Yes, and you can guard your general all alone. I have had enough +of it. Ah, you are not satisfied! Ah, the Tsar is not satisfied! +It is too bad. No more of it for me. Monsieur, I am not satisfied, +and I say Good-evening to you. Only do not forget to send me from +here every three or four days a letter which will keep me informed +of the health of the general, whom I love dearly. I will offer up +a little prayer for him." + +Thereupon he was silent, for he caught the glance of Matrena +Petrovna, a glance so desolated, so imploring, so desperate, that +the poor woman inspired him anew with great pity. Natacha had not +returned. What was the young girl doing at that moment? If Matrena +really loved Natacha she must be suffering atrociously. Koupriane +spoke; Rouletabille did not hear him, and he had already forgotten +his own anger. His spirit was wrapped in the mystery. + +"Monsieur," Koupriane finished by saying, tugging his sleeve, "do +you hear me? I pray you at least reply to me. I offer all possible +excuses for speaking to you in that tone. I reiterate them. I ask +your pardon. I pray you to explain your conduct, which appeared +imprudent to me but which, after all, should have some reason. I +have to explain to the Emperor. Will you tell me? What ought I to +say to the Emperor?" + +"Nothing at all," said Rouletabille. "I have no explanation to +give you or the Emperor, or to anyone. You can offer him my utmost +homage and do me the kindness to vise my passport for this evening." + +And he sighed: + +"It is too bad, for we were just about to see something interesting." + +Koupriane looked at him. Rouletabille had not quitted Matrena +Petrovna's eyes, and her pallor struck Koupriane. + +"Just a minute," continued the young man. "I'm sure there is +someone who will miss me - that brave woman there. Ask her which +she prefers, all your police, or her dear little domovoi. We are +good friends already. And - don't forget to present my condolences +to her when the terrible moment has come." + +It was Koupriane's turn to be troubled. + +He coughed and said: + +"You believe, then, that the general runs a great immediate danger?" + +"I do not only believe it, monsieur, I am sure of it. His death +is a matter of hours for the poor dear man. Before I go I shall +not fail to tell him, so that he can prepare himself comfortably +for the great journey and ask pardon of the Lord for the rather +heavy hand he has laid on these poor men of Presnia." + +"Monsieur Rouletabille, have you discovered something?" + +"Good Lord, yes, I have discovered something, Monsieur Koupriane. +You don't suppose I have come so far to waste my time, do you?" + +"Something no one else knows?" + +"Yes, Monsieur Koupriane, otherwise I shouldn't have troubled to +feel concerned. Something I have not confided to anyone, not even +to my note-hook, because a note-book, you know, a note-book can +always be lost. I just mention that in case you had any idea of +having me searched before my departure." + +"Oh, Monsieur Rouletabille!" + +"Eh, eh, like the way the police do in your country; in mine too, +for that matter. Yes, that's often enough seen. The police, +furious because they can't hit a clue in some case that interests +them, arrest a reporter who knows more than they do, in order to +make him talk. But - nothing of that sort with me, monsieur. You +might have me taken to your famous 'Terrible Section,' I'd not open +my mouth, not even in the famous rocking-chair, not even under the +blows of clenched fists." + +"Monsieur Rouletabille, what do you take us for? You are the guest +of the Tsar." + +"Ah, I have the word of an honest man. Very well, I will treat you +as an honest man. I will tell you what I have discovered. I don't +wish through any false pride to keep you in darkness about something +which may perhaps - I say perhaps - permit you to save the general." + +"Tell me. I am listening." + +"But it is perfectly understood that once I have told you this you +will give me my passport and allow me to depart?" + +"You feel that you couldn't possibly," inquired Koupriane, more and +more troubled, and after a moment of hesitation, "you couldn't +possibly tell me that and yet remain?" + +"No, monsieur. From the moment you place me under the necessity of +explaining each of my movements and each of my acts, I prefer to go +and leave to you that 'responsibility' of which you spoke just now, +my dear Monsieur Koupriane." + +Astonished and disquieted by this long conversation between +Rouletabille and the Head of Police, Matrena Petrovna continually +turned upon them her anguished glance, which always insensihly +softened as it rested on Rouletabille. Koupriane read there all +the hope that the brave woman had in the young reporter, and he +read also in Rouletabille's eye all the extraordinary confidence +that the mere boy had in himself. As a last consideration had he +not already something in hand in circumstances where all the +police of the world had admitted themselves vanquished? Koupriane +pressed Rouletabille's hand and said just one word to him: + +" Remain." + +Having saluted the general and Matrena affectionately, and a group +of friends in one courteous sweep, he departed, with thoughtful brow. + +During all this time the general, enchanted with the promenade, +told stories of the Caucasus to his friends, believing himself young +again and re-living his nights as sub-lieutenant at Tills. As to +Natacha, no one had seen her. They retraced the way to the villa +along deserted by-paths. Koupriane's call made occasion for Athanase +Georgevitch and Thaddeus, and the two officers also, to say that he +was the only honest man in all the Russian police, and that Matrena +Petrovna was a great woman to have dared rid herself of the entire +clique of agents, who are often more revolutionary than the +Nihilists themselves. Thus they arrived at the datcha. + +The general inquired for Natacha, not understanding why she had +left him thus during his first venture out. The schwitzar replied +that the young mistress had returned to the house and had left again +about a quarter of an hour later, taking the way that the party had +gone on their promenade, and he had not seen her since. + +Boris spoke up: + +"She must have passed on the other side of the carriages while we +were behind the trees, general, and not seeing us she has gone on +her way, making the round of the island, over as far as the Barque." + +The explanation seemed the most plausible one. + +"Has anyone else been here?" demanded Matrena, forcing her voice to +be calm. Rouletabille saw her hand tremble on the handle of the +rolling-chair, which she had not quitted for a second during all +the promenade, refusing aid from the officers, the friends, and +even from Rouletabille. + +"First there came the Head of Police, who told me he would go and +find you, Barinia, and right after, His Excellency the Marshal of +the Court. His Excellency will return, although he is very pressed +for time, before he takes the train at seven o'clock for +Krasnoie-Coelo." + +All this had been said in Russian, naturally, but Matrena translated +the words of the schwitzar into French in a low voice for +Rouletabille, who was near her. The general during this time had +taken Rouletabille's hand and pressed it affectionately, as if, in +that mute way, to thank him for all the young man bad done for +them. Feodor himself also had confidence, and he was grateful for +the freer air that he was being allowed to breathe. It seemed to +him that he was emerging from prison. Nevertheless, as the +promenade had been a little fatiguing, Matrena ordered him to go +and rest immediately. Athanase and Thaddeus took their leave. +The two officers were already at the end of the garden, talking +coldly, and almost confronting one another, like wooden soldiers. +Without doubt they were arranging the conditions of an encounter to +settle their little difference at once. + +The schwitzar gathered the general into his great arms and carried +him into the veranda. Feodor demanded five minutes' respite before +he was taken upstairs to his chamber. Matrena Petrovna had a light +luncheon brought at his request. In truth, the good woman trembled +with impatience and hardly dared move without consulting +Rouletabille's face. While the general talked with Ermolai, who +passed him his tea, Rouletabille made a sign to Matrena that she +understood at once. She joined the young man in the drawing-room. + +"Madame," he said rapidly, in a low voice, "you must go at once to +see what has happened there." + +He pointed to the dining-room. + +"Very well." + +It was pitiful to watch her. + +"Go, madame, with courage." + +"Why don't you come with me?" + +"Because, madame, I have something to do elsewhere. Give me the +keys of the next floor." + +"No, no. What for?" + +"Not a second's delay, for the love of Heaven. Do what I tell you +on your side, and let me do mine. The keys! Come, the keys!" + +He snatched them rather than took them, and pointed a last time to +the dining-room with a gesture so commanding that she did not +hesitate further. She entered the dining-room, shaking, while he +bounded to the upper floor. He was not long. He took only time +to open the doors, throw a glance into the general's chamber, a +single glance, and to return, letting a cry of joy escape him, +borrowed from his new and very limited accomplishment of Russian, +"Caracho!" + +How Rouletabille, who had not spent half a second examining the +general's chamber, was able to be certain that all went well on +that side, when it took Matrena - and that how many times a day! +- at least a quarter of an hour of ferreting in all the corners +each time she explored her house before she was even inadequately +reassured, was a question. If that dear heroic woman had been with +him during this "instant information" she would have received such +a shock that, with all confidence gone, she would have sent for +Koupriane immediately, and all his agents, reinforced by the +personnel of the Okrana (Secret Police). Rouletabille at once +rejoined the general, whistling. Feodor and Ermolai were deep in +conversation about the Orel country. The young man did not disturb +them. Then, soon, Matrena reappeared. He saw her come in quite +radiant. He handed back her keys, and she took them mechanically. +She was overjoyed and did not try to hide it. The general himself +noticed it, and asked what had made her so. + +"It is my happiness over our first promenade since we arrived at +the datcha des Iles," she explained. "And now you must go upstairs +to bed, Feodor. You will pass a good night, I am sure." + +"I can sleep only if you sleep, Matrena." + +"I promise you. It is quite possible now that we have our dear +little domovoi. You know, Feodor, that he smokes his pipe just +like the dear little porcelain domovoi." + +"He does resemble him, he certainly does," said Feodor. "That +makes us feel happy, but I wish him to sleep also." + +"Yes, yes," smiled Rouletabille, "everybody will sleep here. That +is the countersign. We have watched enough. Since the police are +gone we can all sleep, believe me, general." + +"Eh, eh, I believe you, on my word, easily enough. There were only +they in the house capable of attempting that affair of the bouquet. +I have thought that all out, and now I am at ease. And anyway, +whatever happens, it is necessary to get sleep, isn't it? The +chances of war! Nichevo!" He pressed Rouletabille's hand, and +Matrena Petrovna took, as was her habit, Feodor Feodorovitch on her +back and lugged him to his chamber. In that also she refused aid +from anyone. The general clung to his wife's neck during the ascent +and laughed like a child. Rouletabille remained in the hallway, +watching the garden attentively. Ermolai walked out of the villa +and crossed the garden, going to meet a personage in uniform whom +the young man recognized immediately as the grand-marshal of the +court, who had introduced him to the Tsar. Ermolai informed him +that Madame Matrena was engaged in helping her husband retire, and +the marshal remained at the end of the garden where he had found +Michael and Boris talking in the kiosque. All three remained there +for some time in conversation, standing by a table where General +and Madame Trebassof sometimes dined when they bad no guests. As +they talked the marshal played with a box of white cardboard tied +with a pink string. At this moment Matrena, who had not been able +to resist the desire to talk for a moment with Rouletabille and +tell him how happy she was, rejoined the young man. + +"Little domovoi," said she, laying her hand on his shoulder, "you +have not watched on this side?" + +She pointed in her turn to the dining-room. + +"No, no. You have seen it, madame, and I am sufficiently informed." + +"Perfectly. There is nothing. No one has worked there! No one +has touched the board. I knew it. I am sure of it. It is dreadful +what we have thought about it! Oh, you do not know how relieved and +happy I am. Ah, Natacha, Natacha, I have not loved you in vain. +(She pronounced these words in accents of great beauty and tragic +sincerity.) When I saw her leave us, my dear, ah, my legs sank +under me. When she said, 'I have forgotten something; I must hurry +back,' I felt I had not the strength to go a single step. But now +I certainly am happy, that weight at least is off my heart, off my +heart, dear little domovoi, because of you, because of you." + +She embraced him, and then ran away, like one possessed, to resume +her post near the general. + +Notes in Rouletabille's memorandum-book: The affair of the little +cavity under the floor not having been touched again proves nothing +for or against Natacha (even though that excellent Matrena Petrovna +thinks so). Natacha could very well have been warned by the too +great care with which Madame Matrena watched the floor. My opinion, +since I saw Matrena lift the carpet the first time without any real +precaution, is that they have definitely abandoned the preparation +of that attack and are trying to account for the secret becoming +known. What Matrena feels so sure of is that the trap I laid by +the promenade to the Point was against Natacha particularly. I +knew beforehand that Natacha would absent herself during the +promenade. I'm not looking for anything new from Natacha, but what +I did need was to be sure that Matrena didn't detest Natacha, and +that she had not faked the preparations for an attack under the +floor in such a way as to throw almost certain suspicion on her +step-daughter. I am sure about that now. Matrena is innocent of +such a thing, the poor dear soul. If Matrena had been a monster +the occasion was too good. Natacha's absence, her solitary +presence for a quarter of an hour in the empty villa, all would +have urged Matrena, whom I sent alone to search under the carpet +in the dining-room, to draw the last nails from the board if she +was really guilty of having drawn the others. Natacha would have +been lost then! Matrena returned sincerely, tragically happy at +not having found anything new, and now I have the material proof +that I needed. Morally and physically Matrena is removed from it. +So I am going to speak to her about the hat-pin. I believe that +the matter is urgent on that side rather than on the side of the +nails in the floor. + + + + + +VI + +THE MYSTERIOUS HAND + +After the departure of Matrena, Rouletabille turned his attention +to the garden. Neither the marshal of the court nor the officers +were there any longer. The three men had disappeared. Rouletabille +wished to know at once where they had gone. He went rapidly to the +gate, named the officers and the marshal to Ermolai, and Ermolai +made a sign that they had passed out. Even as he spoke he saw the +marshal's carriage disappear around a corner of the road. As to +the two officers, they were nowhere on the roadway. He was +surprised that the marshal should have gone without seeing Matrena +or the general or himself, and, above all, he was disquieted by the +disappearance of the orderlies. He gathered from the gestures of +Ermolai that they had passed before the lodge only a few minutes +after the marshal's departure. They had gone together. Rouletabille +set himself to follow them, traced their steps in the soft earth of +the roadway and soon they crossed onto the grass. At this point +the tracks through the massed ferns became very difficult to follow. +He hurried along, bending close to the ground over such traces as he +could see, which continually led him astray, but which conducted him +finally to the thing that he sought. A noise of voices made him +raise his head and then throw himself behind a tree. Not twenty +steps from him Natacha and Boris were having an animated +conversation. The young officer held himself erect directly in +front of her, frowning and impatient. Under the uniform cloak that +he had wrapped about him without having bothered to use the sleeves, +which were tossed up over his chest, Boris had his arms crossed. +His entire attitude indicated hauteur, coldness and disdain for +what he was hearing. Natacha never appeared calmer or more mistress +of herself. She talked to him rapidly and mostly in a low voice. +Sometimes a word in Russian sounded, and then she resumed her care +to speak low. Finally she ceased, and Boris, after a short silence, +in which he had seemed to reflect deeply, pronounced distinctly +these words in French, pronouncing them syllable by syllable, as +though to give them additional force: + +"You ask a frightful thing of me." + +"It is necessary to grant it to me," said the young girl with +singular energy. "You understand, Boris Alexandrovitch! It is +necessary." + +Her gaze, after she had glanced penetratingly all around her and +discovered nothing suspicious, rested tenderly on the young +officer, while she murmured, "My Boris!" The young man could not +resist either the sweetness of that voice, nor the captivating charm +of that glance. He took the hand she extended toward him and kissed +it passionately. His eyes, fixed on Natacha, proclaimed that he +granted everything that she wished and admitted himself vanquished. +Then she said, always with that adorable gaze upon him, "This +evening!" He replied, "Yes, yes. This evening! This evening!" +upon which Natacha withdrew her hand and made a sign to the officer +to leave, which he promptly obeyed. Natacha remained there still a +long time, plunged in thought. Rouletabille had already taken the +road back to the villa. Matrena Petrovna was watching for his +return, seated on the first step of the landing on the great +staircase which ran up from the veranda. When she saw him she ran +to him. He had already reached the dining-room. + +"Anyone in the house?" he asked. + +"No one. Natacha has not returned, and ..." + +"Your step-daughter is coming in now. Ask her where she has been, +if she has seen the orderlies, and if they said they would return +this evening, in case she answers that she has seen them." + +"Very well, little domovoi doukh. The orderlies left without my +seeing when they went." + +"Ab," interrupted Rouletabille, "before she arrives, give me all +her hat-pins." + +"What!" + +"I say, all her hat-pins. Quickly!" + +Matrena ran to Natacha's chamber and returned with three enormous +hat-pins with beautifully-cut stones in them. + +"These are all?" + + +"They are all I have found. I know she has two others. She has +one on her head, or two, perhaps; I can't find them." + +"Take these back where you found them," said the reporter, after +glancing at them. + +Matrena returned immediately, not understanding what he was doing. + +"And now, your hat-pins. Yes, your hat-pins." + +"Oh, I have only two, and here they are," said she, drawing them +from the toque she had been wearing and had thrown on the sofa when +she re-entered the house. + +Rouletabille gave hers the same inspection. + +"Thanks. Here is your step-daughter." + +Natacha entered, flushed and smiling. + +"Ah, well," said she, quite breathless, "you may boast that I had +to search for you. I made the entire round, clear past the Barque. +Has the promenade done papa good?" + +"Yes, he is asleep," replied Matrena. "Have you met Boris and +Michael?" + +She appeared to hesitate a second, then replied: + +"Yes, for an instant." + +"Did they say whether they would return this evening?" + +"No," she replied, slightly troubled. "Why all these questions? + +She flushed still more. + +"Because I thought it strange," parried Matrena, "that they went +away as they did, without saying goodby, without a word, without +inquiring if the general needed them. There is something stranger +yet. Did you see Kaltsof with them, the grand-marshal of the court?" + +"No." + +"Kaltsof came for a moment, entered the garden and went away again +without seeing us, without saying even a word to the general." + +"Ab," said Natacha. + +With apparent indifference, she raised her arms and drew out her +hat-pins. Rouletabille watched the pin without a word. The young +girl hardly seemed aware of their presence. Entirely absorbed in +strange thoughts, she replaced the pin in her hat and went to hang +it in the veranda, which served also as vestibule. Rouletabille +never quitted her eyes. Matrena watched the reporter with a stupid +glance. Natacha crossed the drawing-room and entered her chamber +by passing through her little sitting-room, through which all +entrance to her chamber had to be made. That little room, though, +had three doors. One opened into Natacha's chamber, one into the +drawing-room, and the third into the little passage in a corner of +the house where was the stairway by which the servants passed from +the kitchens to the ground-floor and the upper floor. This passage +had also a door giving directly upon the drawing-room. It was +certainly a poor arrangement for serving the dining-room, which was +on the other side of the drawing-room and behind the veranda, such +a chance laying-out of a house as one often sees in the off-hand +planning of many places in the country. + +Alone again with Rouletabille, Matrena noticed that he had not lost +sight of the corner of the veranda where Natacha had hung her hat. +Beside this hat there was a toque that Ermolai had brought in. The +old servant had found it in some corner of the garden or the +conservatory where he had been. A hat-pin stuck out of that toque +also. + +"Whose toque is that?" asked Rouletabille. "I haven't seen it on +the head of anyone here." + +"It is Natacha's," replied Matrena. + +She moved toward it, but the young man held her back, went into the +veranda himself, and, without touching it, standing on tiptoe, he +examined the pin. He sank back on his heels and turned toward +Matrena. She caught a glimpse of fleeting emotion on the face of +her little friend. + +"Explain to me," she said. + +But be gave her a glance that frightened her, and said low: + +"Go and give orders right away that dinner be served in the veranda. +All through dinner it is absolutely necessary that the door of +Natacha's sitting-room, and that of the stairway passage, and that +of the veranda giving on the drawing-room remain open all the time. +Do you understand me? As soon as you have given your orders go to +the general's chamber and do not quit the general's bedside, keep +it in view. Come down to dinner when it is announced, and do not +bother yourself about anything further." + +So saying, he filled his pipe, lighted it with a sort of sigh of +relief, and, after a final order to Matrena, " Go," he went into +the garden, puffing great clouds. Anyone would have said he hadn't +smoked in a week. He appeared not to be thinking but just idly +enjoying himself. In fact, he played like a child with Milinki, +Matrena's pet cat, which he pursued behind the shrubs, up into the +little kiosque which, raised on piles, lifted its steep thatched +roof above the panorama of the isles that Rouletabille settled down +to contemplate like an artist with ample leisure. + +The dinner, where Matrena, Natacha and Rouletabille were together +again, was lively. The young man having declared that he was more +and more convinced that the mystery of the bomb in the bouquet was +simply a play of the police, Natacha reinforced his opinion, and +following that they found themselves in agreement on about +everything else. For himself, the reporter during that conversation +hid a real horror which had seized him at the cynical and +inappropriate tranquillity with which the young lady received all +suggestions that accused the police or that assumed the general no +longer ran any immediate danger. In short, he worked, or at least +believed he worked, to clear Natacha as he had cleared Matrena, so +that there would develop the absolute necessity of assuming a third +person's intervention in the facts disclosed so clearly by Koupriane +where Matrena or Natacha seemed alone to be possible agents. As he +listened to Natacha Rouletabille commenced to doubt and quake just +as he had seen Matrena do. The more he looked into the nature of +Natacha the dizzier he grew. What abysmal obscurities were there +in her nature! + +Nothing interesting happened during dinner. Several times, in +spite of Rouletabille's obvious impatience with her for doing it, +Matrena went up to the general. She returned saying, "He is quiet. +He doesn't sleep. He doesn't wish anything. He has asked me to +prepare his narcotic. It is too bad. He has tried in vain, he +cannot get along without it." + +"You, too, mamma, ought to take something to make you sleep. They +say morphine is very good." + +"As for me," said Rouletabille, whose head for some few minutes +had been dropping now toward one shoulder and now toward another, +"I have no need of any narcotic to make me sleep. If you will +permit me, I will get to bed at once." + +"Eh, my little domovoi doukh, I am going to carry you there in my +arms." + +Matrena extended her large round arms ready to take Rouletabille +as though he had been a baby. + +"No, no. I will get up there all right alone," said Rouletabille, +rising stupidly and appearing ashamed of his excessive sleepiness. + +"Oh, well, let us both accompany him to his chamber," said Natacha, +"and I will wish papa good-night. I'm eager for bed myself. We will +all make a good night of it. Ermolai and Gniagnia will watch with +the schwitzar in the lodge. Things are reasonably arranged now." + +They all ascended the stairs. Rouletabille did not even go to see +the general, but threw himself on his bed. Natacha got onto the +bed beside her father, embraced him a dozen times, and went +downstairs again. Matrena followed behind her, closed doors and +windows, went upstairs again to close the door of the landing-place +and found Rouletabille seated on his bed, his arms crossed, not +appearing to have any desire for sleep at all. His face was so +strangely pensive also that the anxiety of Matrena, who had been +able to make nothing out of his acts and looks all day, came back +upon her instantly in greater force than ever. She touched his arm +in order to be sure that he knew she was there. + +"My little friend," she said, "will you tell me now?" + +"Yes, madame," he replied at once. "Sit in that chair and listen +to me. There are things you must know at once, because we have +reached a dangerous hour." + +"The hat-pins first. The hat-pins!" + +Rouletabille rose lightly from the bed and, facing her, but watching +something besides her, said: + +"It is necessary you should know that someone almost immediately +is going to renew the attempt of the bouquet." + +Matrena sprang to her feet as quickly as though she had been told +there was a bomb in the seat of her chair. She made herself sit +down again, however, in obedience to Rouletabile's urgent look +commanding absolute quiet. + +"Renew the attempt of the bouquet!" she murmured in a stifled voice. +"But there is not a flower in the general's chamber." + +"Be calm, madame. Understand me and answer me: You heard the +tick-tack from the bouquet while you were in your own chamber?" + +"Yes, with the doors open, natural1y." + +"You told me the persons who came to say good-night to the general. +At that time there was no noise of tick-tack?" + +"No, no." + +"Do you think that if there had been any tick-tack then you would +have heard it, with all those persons talking in the room?" + +"I hear everything. I hear everything." + +"Did you go downstairs at the same time those people did?" + +"No, no; I remained near the general for some time, until he was +sound asleep." + +"And you heard nothing?" + +"Nothing." + +"You closed the doors behind those persons?" + +"Yes, the door to the great staircase. The door of the servants' +stairway was condemned a long time ago; it has been locked by me, +I alone have the key and on the inside of the door opening into the +general's chamber there is also a bolt which is always shot. All +the other doors of the chambers have been condemned by me. In order +to enter any of the four rooms on this floor it is necessary now to +pass by the door of my chamber, which gives on the main staircase." + +"Perfect. Then, no one has been able to enter the apartment. No +one had been in the apartment for at least two hours excepting you +and the general, when you heard the clockwork. From that the only +conclusion is that only the general and you could have started it +going." + +"What are you trying to say?" Matrena demanded, astounded. + +"I wish to prove to you by this absurd conclusion, madame, that it +is necessary never - never, you understand? Never - to reason +solely upon even the most evident external evidence when those +seemingly-conclusive appearances are in conflict with certain moral +truths that also are clear as the light of day. The light of day +for me, madame, is that the general does not desire to commit +suicide and, above all, that he would not choose the strange method +of suicide by clockwork. The light of day for me is that you adore +your husband and that you are ready to sacrifice your life for his." + +"Now! exclaimed Matrena, whose tears, always ready in emotional +moments, flowed freely. "But, Holy Mary, why do you speak to me +without looking at me? What is it? What is it?" + +"Don't turn! Don't make a movement! You hear - not a move! And +speak low, very low. And don't cry, for the love of God!" + +"But you say at once ... the bouquet! Come to the general's room!" + +"Not a move. And continue listening to me without interrupting," +said he, still inclining his ear, and still without looking at her. +"It is because these things were as the light of day to me that I +say to myself, 'It is impossible that it should be impossible for +a third person not to have placed the bomb in the bouquet. Someone +is able to enter the general's chamber even when the general is +watching and all the doors are locked." + +"Oh, no. No one could possibly enter. I swear it to you." + +As she swore it a little too loudly, Rouletabille seized her arm +so that she almost cried out, but she understood instantly that it +was to keep her quiet. + +"I tell you not to interrupt me, once for all." + +"But, then, tell me what you are looking at like that." + +"I am watching the corner where someone is going to enter the +general's chamber when everything is locked, madame. Do not move!" + +Matrena, her teeth chattering, recalled that when she entered +Rouletabille's chamber she had found all the doors open that +communicated with the chain of rooms: the young man's chamber with +hers, the dressing-room and the general's chamber. She tried, under +Rouletabille's look, to keep calm, but in spite of all the reporter's +exhortations she could not hold her tongue. + +"But which way? Where will they enter?" + +"By the door." + +"Which door?" + +"That of the chamber giving on the servants' stair-way." + +"Why, how? The key! The bolt!" + +"They have made a key." + +"But the bolt is drawn this side." + +"They will draw it back from the other side." + +"What! That is impossible." + +Rouletabille laid his two hands on Matrena's strong shoulders and +repeated, detaching each syllable, "They will draw it back from the +other side." + +"It is impossible. I repeat it." + +"Madame, your Nihilists haven't invented anything. Iit is a trick +much in vogue with sneak thieves in hotels. All it needs is a +little hole the size of a pin bored in the panel of the door above +the bolt." + +"God!" quavered Matrena. "I don't understand what you mean by your +little hole. Explain to me, little domovoi." + +"Follow me carefully, then," continued Rouletabille, his eyes all +the time fixed elsewhere. "The person who wishes to enter sticks +through the hole a brass wire that he has already given the necessary +curve to and which is fitted on its end with a light point of steel +curved inward. With such an instrument it is child's play, if the +hole has been made where it ought to be, to touch the bolt on the +inside from the outside, pick the knob on it, withdraw it, and open +the door if the bolt is like this one, a small door-bolt." + +"Oh, oh, oh," moaned Matrena, who paled visibly. "And that hole?" + +"It exists." + +"You have discovered it?" + +"Yes, the first hour I was here." + +"Oh, domovoi! But how did you do that when you never entered the +general's chamber until to-night?" + +"Doubtless, but I went up that servants' staircase much earlier +than that. And I will tell you why. When I was brought into the +villa the first time, and you watched me, bidden behind the door, +do you know what I was watching myself, while I appeared to be +solely occupied digging out the caviare? The fresh print of +boot-nails which left the carpet near the table, where someone had +spilled beer (the beer was still running down the cloth). Someone +had stepped in the beer. The boot-print was not clearly visible +excepting there. But from there it went to the door of the servants' +stairway and mounted the stairs. That boot was too fine to be +mounting a stairway reserved to servants and that Koupriane told +me had been condemned, and it was that made me notice it in a +moment; but just then you entered." + +"You never told me anything about it. Of course if I had known +there was a boot-print..." + +"I didn't tell you anything about it because I had my reasons for +that, and, anyway, the trace dried while I was telling you about +my journey." + +"Ah, why not have told me later?" + +"Because I didn't know you yet." + +"Subtle devil! You will kill me. I can no longer... Let us go +into the general's chamber. We will wake him." + +"Remain here. Remain here. I have not told you anything. That +boot-print preoccupied me, and later, when I could get away from the +dining-room, I was not easy until I had climbed that stairway myself +and gone to see that door, where I discovered what I have just told +you and what I am going to tell you now." + +"What? What? In all you have said there has been nothing about +the hat-pins." + +"We have come to them now." + +"And the bouquet attack, which is going to happen again? Why? Why?" + +"This is it. When this evening you let me go to the general's +chamber, I examined the bolt of the door without your suspecting it. +My opinion was confirmed. It was that way that the bomb was brought, +and it is by that way that someone has prepared to return." + +"But how? You are sure the little hole is the way someone came? +But what makes you think that is how they mean to return? You know +well enough that, not having succeeded in the general's chamber, +they are at work in the dining-room." + +"Madame, it is probable, it is certain that they have given up the +work in the dining-room since they have commenced this very day +working again in the general's chamber. Yes, someone returned, +returned that way, and I was so sure of that, of the forthcoming +return, that I removed the police in order to be able to study +everything more at my ease. Do you understand now my confidence +and why I have been able to assume so heavy a responsibility? It +is because I knew I had only one thing to watch: one little hat-pin. +It is not difficult, madame, to watch a single little hat-pin." + +"A mistake," said Matrena, in a low voice. "Miserable little +domovoi who told me nothing, me whom you let go to sleep on my +mattress, in front of that door that might open any moment." + +"No, madame. For I was behind it!" + +"Ah, dear little holy angel! But what were you thinking of! That +door has not been watched this afternoon. In our absence it could +have been opened. If someone has placed a bomb during our absence!" + +"That is why I sent you at once in to the dining-room on that search +that I thought would be fruitless, dear madame. And that is why I +hurried upstairs to the bedroom. I went to the stairway door +instantly. I had prepared for proof positive if anyone had pushed +it open even half a millimeter. No, no one had touched the door in +our absence. + +"Ah, dear heroic little friend of Jesus! But listen to me. Listen +to me, my angel. Ah, I don't know where I am or what I say. My +brain is no more than a flabby balloon punctured with pins, with +little holes of hat-pins. Tell me about the hat-pins. Right off! +No, at first, what is it that makes you believe - good God! - that +someone will return by that door? How can you see that, all that, +in a poor little hat-pin?" + +"Madame, it is not a single hat-pin hole; there are two of them. + +"Two hat-pin holes?" + +"Yes, two. An old one and a new one. One quite new. Why this +second hole? Because the old one was judged a little too narrow +and they wished to enlarge it, and in enlarging it they broke off +the point of a hat-pin in it. Madame, the point is there yet, +filling up the little old hole and the piece of metal is very sharp +and very bright." + +now I understand the examination of the hat-pins. Then it is so +easy as that to get through a door with a hat-pin?" + +"Nothing easier, especially if the panel is of pine. Sometimes one +happens to break the point of a pin in the first hole. Then of +necessity one makes a second. In order to commence the second hole, +the point of the pin being broken, they have used the point of a +pen-knife, then have finished the hole with the hat-pin. The second +hole is still nearer the bolt than the first one. Don't move like +that, madame." + +"But they are going to come! They are going to come!" + +"I believe so." + +"But I can't understand how you can remain so quiet with such a +certainty. Great heavens! what proof have you that they have not +been there already?" + +"Just an ordinary pin, madame, not a hat-pin this time. Don't +confuse the pins. I will show you in a little while." + +"He will drive me distracted with his pins, dear light of my eyes! +Bounty of Heaven! God's envoy! Dear little happiness-bearer!" + +In her transport she tried to take him in her trembling arms, but +he waved her back. She caught her breath and resumed: + +"Did the examination of all the hat-pins tell you anything?" + +"Yes. The fifth hat-pin of Mademoiselle Natacha's, the one in the +toque out in the veranda, has the tip newly broken off." + +"0 misery!" cried Matrena, crumpling in her chair. + +Rouletabille raised her. + +"What would you have? I have examined your own hat-pins. Do you +think I would have suspected you if I had found one of them broken? +I would simply have thought that someone had used your property for +an abominable purpose, that is all." + +"Oh, that is true, that is true. Pardon me. Mother of Christ, this +boy crazes me! He consoles me and he horrifies me. He makes me +think of such dreadful things, and then he reassures me. He does +what he wishes with me. What should I become without him?" + +And this time she succeeded in taking his head in her two hands and +kissing him passionately. Rouletabille pushed her back roughly. + +"You keep me from seeing," he said. + +She was in tears over his rebuff. She understood now. Rouletabille +during all this conversation had not ceased to watch through the +open doors of Matrena's room and the dressing-room the farther fatal +door whose brass bolt shone in the yellow light of the night-lamp. + +At last he made her a sign and the reporter, followed by Matrena, +advanced on tip-toe to the threshold of the general's chamber, +keeping close to the wall. Feodor Feodorovitch slept. They heard +his heavy breath, but he appeared to be enjoying peaceful sleep. +The horrors of the night before had fled. Matrena was perhaps right +in attributing the nightmares to the narcotic prepared for him each +night, for the glass from which he drank it when he felt he could +not sleep was still full and obviously had not been touched. The +bed of the general was so placed that whoever occupied it, even if +they were wide awake, could not see the door giving on the servants' +stairway. The little table where the glass and various phials were +placed and which had borne the dangerous bouquet, was placed near +the bed, a little back of it, and nearer the door. Nothing would +have been easier than for someone who could open the door to +stretch an arm and place the infernal machine among the wild flowers, +above all, as could easily be believed, if he had waited for that +treachery until the heavy breathing of the general told them outside +that he was fast asleep, and if, looking through the key-hole, he +had made sure Matrena was occupied in her own chamber. Rouletabille, +at the threshold, glided to one side, out of the line of view from +the hole, and got down on all fours. He crawled toward the door. +With his head to the floor he made sure that the little ordinary +pin which he had placed on guard that evening, stuck in the floor +against the door, was still erect, having thus additional proof that +the door had not been moved. In any other case the pin would have +lain flat on the floor. He crept back, rose to his feet, passed +into the dressing-room and, in a corner, had a rapid conversation +in a low voice with Matrena. + +"You will go," said he, "and take your mattress into the corner of +the dressing-room where you can still see the door but no one can +see you by looking through the key-hole. Do that quite naturally, +and then go to your rest. I will pass the night on the mattress, +and I beg you to believe that I will be more comfortable there than +on a bed of staircase wood where I spent the night last night, +behind the door." + +"Yes, but you will fall asleep. I don't wish that." + +"What are you thinking, madame?" + +"I don't wish it. I don't wish it. I don't wish to quit the door +where the eye is. And since I'm not able to sleep, let me watch." + +He did not insist, and they crouched together on the mattress. +Rouletabille was squatted like a tailor at work; but Matrena +remained on all-fours, her jaw out, her eyes fixed, like a +bulldog ready to spring. The minutes passed by in profound silence, +broken only by the irregular breathing and puffing of the general. +His face stood out pallid and tragic on the pillow; his mouth was +open and, at times, the lips moved. There was fear at any moment +of nightmare or his awakening. Unconsciously he threw an arm over +toward the table where the glass of narcotic stood. Then he lay +still again and snored lightly. The night-lamp on the mantelpiece +caught queer yellow reflections from the corners of the furniture, +from the gilded frame of a picture on the wall and from the phials +and glasses on the table. But in all the chamber Matrena Petrovna +saw nothing, thought of nothing but the brass bolt which shone there +on the door. Tired of being on her knees, she shifted, her chin +in her hands, her gaze steadily fixed. As time passed and nothing +happened she heaved a sigh. She could not have said whether she +hoped for or dreaded the coming of that something new which +Rouletabille had indicated. Rouletabille felt her shiver with +anguish and impatience. + +As for him, he had not hoped that anything would come to pass until +toward dawn, the moment, as everyone knows, when deep sleep is most +apt to vanquish all watchfulness and all insomnia. And as he waited +for that moment he had not budged any more than a Chinese ape or the +dear little porcelain domovoi doukh in the garden. Of course it +might be that it was not to happen this night. + +Suddenly Matrena's hand fell on Rouletabille's. His imprisoned +hers so firmly that she understood she was forbidden to make the +least movement. And both, with necks extended, ears erect, watched +like beasts, like beasts on the scent. + +Yes, yes, there had been a slight noise in the lock. A key turned, +softly, softly, in the lock, and then - silence; and then another +little noise, a grinding sound, a slight grating of wire, above, +then on the bolt; upon the bolt which shone in the subdued glow of +the night-lamp. The bolt softly, very softly, slipped slowly. + +Then the door was pushed slowly, so slowly. It opened. + +Through the opening the shadow of an arm stretched, an arm which +held in its fingers something which shone. Rouletabille felt +Matrena ready to bound. He encircled her, he pressed her in his +arms, he restrained her in silence, and he had a horrible fear +of hearing her suddenly shout, while the arm stretched out, almost +touched the pillow on the bed where the general continued to sleep +a sleep of peace such as he had not known for a long time. + + + + + +VII + +ARSENATE OF SODA + +The mysterious hand held a phial and poured the entire contents +into the potion. Then the hand withdrew as it had come, slowly, +prudently, slyly, and the key turned in the lock and the bolt +slipped back into place. + +Like a wolf, Rouletabille, warning Matrena for a last time not to +budge, gained the landing-place, bounded towards the stairs, slid +down the banister right to the veranda, crossed the drawing-room +like a flash, and reached the little sitting-room without having +jostled a single piece of furniture. He noticed nothing, saw +nothing. All around was undisturbed and silent. + +The first light of dawn filtered through the blinds. He was able +to make out that the only closed door was the one to Natacha's +chamber. He stopped before that door, his heart beating, and +listened. But no sound came to his ear. He had glided so lightly +over the carpet that he was sure he had not been heard. Perhaps +that door would open. He waited. In vain. It seemed to him there +was nothing alive in that house except his heart. He was stifled +with the horror that he glimpsed, that he almost touched, although +that door remained closed. He felt along the wall in order to +reach the window, and pulled aside the curtain. Window and blinds +of the little room giving on the Neva were closed. The bar of iron +inside was in its place. Then he went to the passage, mounted and +descended the narrow servants' stairway, looked all about, in all +the rooms, feeling everywhere with silent hands, assuring himself +that no lock had been tampered with. On his return to the veranda, +as he raised his head, he saw at the top of the main staircase a +figure wan as death, a spectral apparition amid the shadows of the +passing night, who leaned toward him. It was Matrena Petrovna. +She came down, silent as a phantoms and he no longer recognized her +voice when she demanded of him, "Where? I require that you tell me. +Where?" + +"I have looked everywhere," he said, so low that Matrena had to +come nearer to understand his whisper. "Everything is shut tight. +And there is no one about." + +Matrena looked at Rouletabille with all the power of her eyes, as +though she would discover his inmost thoughts, but his clear glance +did not waver, and she saw there was nothing he wished to hide. +Then Matrena pointed her finger at Natacha's chamber. + +"You have not gone in there?" she inquired. + +He replied, "It is not necessary to enter there." + +"I will enter there, myself, nevertheless," said she, and she set +her teeth. + +He barred her way with his arms spread out. + +"If you hold the life of someone dear," said he, "don't go a step +farther." + +"But the person is in that chamber. The person is there! It is +there you will find out!" And she waved him aside with a gesture +as though she were sleepwalking. + +To recall her to the reality of what he had said to her and to make +her understand what he desired, he had to grip her wrist in the +vice of his nervous hand. + +"The person is not there, perfhaps," he said his head. +"Understand me now." + +But she did not understand him. She said: + +"Since the person is nowhere else, the person must be there." + +But Rouletabille continued obstinately: + +"No, no. Perhaps he is gone." + +"Gone! And everything locked on the inside!" + +"That is not a reason," he replied. + +But she could not follow his thoughts any further. She wished +absolutely to make her way into Natacha's chamber. The obsession +of that was upon her. + +"If you enter there," said he, "and if (as is most probable) you +don't find what you seek there, all is lost! And as to me, I give +up the whole thing." + +She sank in a heap onto a chair. + +"Don't despair," he murmured. "We don't know for sure yet." + +She shook her poor old head dejectedly. + +"We know that only she is here, since no one has been able to enter +and since no one has been able to leave." + +That, in truth, filled her brain, prevented her from discerning in +any corner of her mind the thought of Rouletabille. Then the +impossible dialogue resumed. + +"I repeat that we do not know but that the person has gone," repeated +the reporter, and demanded her keys. + +"Foolish," she said. "What do you want them for?" + +"To search outside as we have searched inside." + +"Why, everything is locked on the inside!" + +"Madame, once more, that is no reason that the person may not be +outside." + +He consumed five minutes opening the door of the veranda, so many +were his precautions. She watched him impatiently. + +He whispered to her: + +"I am going out, but don't you lose sight of the little sitting-room. +At the least movement call me; fire a revolver if you need to." + +He slipped into the garden with the same precautions for silence. +>From the corner that she kept to, through the doors left open, +Matrena could follow all the movements of the reporter and watch +Natacha's chamber at the same time. The attitude of Rouletabille +continued to confuse her beyond all expression. She watched what +he did as if she thought him besotted. The dyernick on guard out +in the roadway also watched the young man through the bars of the +gate in consternation, as though he thought him a fool. Along the +paths of beaten earth or cement which offered no chance for +footprints Rouletabille hurried silently. Around him he noted that +the grass of the lawn had not been trodden. And then he paid no +more attention to his steps. He seemed to study attentively the +rosy color in the east, breathing the delicacy of dawning morning +in the Isles, amid the silence of the earth, which still slumbered. + +Bare-headed, face thrown back, hands behind his back, eyes raised +and fixed, he made a few steps, then suddenly stopped as if he had +been given an electric shock. As soon as he seemed to have +recovered from that shock he turned around and went a few steps +back to another path, into which he advanced, straight ahead, his +face high, with the same fixed look that he had had up to the time +he so suddenly stopped, as if something or someone advised or warned +him not to go further. He continually worked back toward the house, +and thus he traversed all the paths that led from the villa, but in +all these excursions he took pains not to place himself in the field +of vision from Natacha's window, a restricted field because of its +location just around an abutment of the building. To ascertain +about this window he crept on all-fours up to the garden-edge that +ran along the foot of the wall and had sufficient proof that no one +had jumped out that way. Then he went to rejoin Matrena in the +veranda. + +" No one has come into the garden this morning," said he, "and no +one has gone out of the villa into the garden. Now I am going to +look outside the grounds. Wait here; I'll be back in five minutes." + +He went away, knocked discreetly on the window of the lodge and +waited some seconds. Ermolai came out and opened the gate for him. +Matrena moved to the threshold of the little sitting-room and +watched Natacha's door with horror. She felt her legs give under +her, she could not stand up under the diabolic thought of such a +crime. Ah, that arm, that arm! reaching out, making its way, with +a little shining phial in its hand. Pains of Christ! What could +there be in the damnable books over which Natacha and her companions +pored that could make such abominable crimes possible? Ah, Natacha, +Natacha! it was from her that she would have desired the answer, +straining her almost to stifling on her rough bosom and strangling +her with her own strong hand that she might not hear the response. +Ah, Natacha, Natacha, whom she had loved so much! She sank to the +floor, crept across the carpet to the door, and lay there, stretched +like a beast, and buried her bead in her arms while she wept over +her daughter. Natacha, Natacha, whom she had cherished as her own +child, and who did not hear her. Ah, what use that the little +fellow had gone to search outside when the whole truth lay behind +this door? Thinking of him, she was embarrassed lest he should +find her in that animalistic posture, and she rose to her knees and +worked her way over to the window that looked out upon the Neva. +The angle of the slanting blinds let her see well enough what +passed. outside, and what she saw made her spring to her feet. +Below her the reporter was going through the same incomprehensible +maneuvers that she had seen him do in the garden. Three pathways +led to the little road that ran along the wall of the villa by the +bank of the Neva. The young man, still with his hands behind his +back and with his face up, took them one after the other. In the +first he stopped at the first step. He didn't take more than two +steps in the second. In the third, which cut obliquely toward the +right and seemed to run to the bank nearest Krestowsky Ostrow, she +saw him advance slowly at first, then more quickly among the small +trees and hedges. Once only he stopped and looked closely at the +trunk of a tree against which he seemed to pick out something +invisible, and then he continued to the bank. There he sat down +on a stone and appeared to reflect, and then suddenly he cast off +his jacket and trousers, picked out a certain place on the bank +across from him, finished undressing and plunged into the stream. +She saw at once that he swam like a porpoise, keeping beneath and +showing his head from time to time, breathing, then diving below +the surface again. He reached Krestowsky Ostrow in a clump of reeds. +Then he disappeared. Below him, surrounded by trees, could be seen +the red tiles of the villa which sheltered Boris and Michael. From +that villa a person could see the window of the sitting-room in +General Trebassof's residence, but not what might occur along the +bank of the river just below its walls. An isvotchick drove along +the distant route of Krestowsky, conveying in his carriage a company +of young officers and young women who had been feasting and who sang +as they rode; then deep silence ensued. Matrena's eyes searched for +Rouletabille, but could not find him. How long was he going to stay +hidden like that? She pressed her face against the chill window. +What was she waiting for? She waited perhaps for someone to make a +move on this side, for the door near her to open and the traitorous +figure of The Other to appear. + +A hand touched her carefully. She turned. + +Rouletabille was there, his face all scarred by red scratches, +without collar or neck-tie, having hastily resumed his clothes. He +appeared furious as he surprised her in his disarray. She let him +lead her as though she were a child. He drew her to his room and +closed the door. + +"Madame," he commenced, "it is impossible to work with you. Why +in the world have you wept not two feet from your step-daughter's +door? You and your Koupriane, you commence to make me regret the +Faubourg Poissoniere, you know. Your step-daughter has certainly +heard you. It is lucky that she attaches no importance at all to +your nocturnal phantasmagorias, and that she has been used to them +a long time. She has more sense than you, Mademoiselle Natacha has. +She sleeps, or at least she pretends to sleep, which leaves +everybody in peace. What reply will you give her if it happens +that she asks you the reason to-day for your marching and +counter-marching up and down the sitting-room and complains that +you kept her from sleeping?" + +Matrena only shook her old, old head. + +"No, no, she has not heard me. I was there like a shadow, like a +shadow of myself. She will never hear me. No one hears a shadow." + +Rouletabille felt returning pity for her and spoke more gently. + +"In any case, it is necessary, you must understand, that she +should attach no more importance to what you have done to-night +than to the things she knows of your doing other nights. It is not +the first time, is it, that you have wandered in the sitting-room? +You understand me? And to-morrow, madame, embrace her as you +always have." + +"No, not that," she moaned. "Never that. I could not." + +"Why not?" + +Matrena did not reply. She wept. He took her in his arms like a +child consoling its mother. + +"Don't cry. Don't cry. All is not lost. Someone did leave the +villa this morning." + +"Oh, little domovoi! How is that? How is that? How did you find +that out?" + +"Since we didn't find anything inside, it was certainly necessary to +find something outside." + +"And you have found it?" + +"Certainly." + +"The Virgin protect you!" + +"SHE is with us. She will not desert us. I will even say that I +believe she has a special guardianship over the Isles. She watches +over them from evening to morning." + +"What are you saying?" + +"Certainly. You don't know what we call in France 'the watchers of +the Virgin'?" + +"Oh, yes, they are the webs that the dear little beasts of the good +God spin between the trees and that..." + +"Exactly. You understand me and you will understand further when +you know that in the garden the first thing that struck me across +the face as I went into it was these watchers of the Virgin spun by +the dear little spiders of the good God. At first when I felt them +on my face I said to myself, 'Hold on, no one has passed this way,' +and so I went to search other places. The webs stopped me +everywhere in the garden. But, outside the garden, they kept out +of the way and let me pass undisturbed down a pathway which led to +the Neva. So then I said to myself, 'Now, has the Virgin by accident +overlooked her work in this pathway? Surely not. Someone has +ruined it.' I found the shreds of them hanging to the bushes, and +so I reached the river." + +"And you threw yourself into the river, my dear angel. You swim +like a little god." + +"And I landed where the other landed. Yes, there were the reeds all +freshly broken. And I slipped in among the bushes." + +"Where to?" + +"Up to the Villa Krestowsky, madame - where they both live." + +"Ah, it was from there someone came?" + +There was a silence between them. + +She questioned: + +"Boris?" + +"Someone who came from the villa and who returned there. Boris or +Michael, or another. They went and returned through the reeds. +But in coming they used a boat; they returned by swimming." + +Her customary agitation reasserted itself. + +She demanded ardently: + +"And you are sure that he came here and that he left here?" + +"Yes, I am sure of it." + +"How?" + +"By the sitting-room window." + +"It is impossible, for we found it locked." + +"It is possible, if someone closed it behind him." + +"Ah!" + +She commenced to tremble again, and, falling back into her +nightmarish horror, she no longer wasted fond expletives on her +domovoi as on a dear little angel who had just rendered a service +ten times more precious to her than life. While he listened +patiently, she said brutally: + +"Why did you keep me from throwing myself on him, from rushing upon +him as he opened the door? Ah, I would have, I would have ... we +would know." + +"No. At the least noise he would have closed the door. A turn of +the key and he would have escaped forever. And he would have been +warned." + +"Careless boy! Why then, if you knew he was going to come, didn't +you leave me in the bedroom and you watch below yourself?" + +"Because so long as I was below he would not have come. He only +comes when there is no one downstairs." + +"Ah, Saints Peter and Paul pity a poor woman. Who do you think it +is, then? Who do you think it is? I can't think any more. Tell +me, tell me that. You ought to know - you know everything. Come +- who? I demand the truth. Who? Still some agent of the Committee, +of the Central Committee? Still the Nihilists?" + +"If it was only that!" said Rouletabille quietly. + +"You have sworn to drive me mad! What do you mean by your 'if it +was only that'?" + +Rouletabille, imperturbable, did not reply. + +"What have you done with the potion?" said he. + +"The potion? The glass of the crime! I have locked it in my room, +in the cupboard - safe, safe!" + +"Ah, but, madame, it is necessary to replace it where you took +it from." + +"What!" + +"Yes, after having poured the poison into a phial, to wash the glass +and fill it with another potion." + +"You are right. You think of everything. If the general wakes and +wants his potion, he must not be suspicious of anything, and he must +be able to have his drink." + +"It is not necessary that he should drink." + +"Well, then, why have the drink there?" + +"So that the person can be sure, madame, that if he has not drunk +it is simply because he has not wished to. A pure chance, madame, +that he is not poisoned. You understand me this time?" + +"Yes, yes. 0 Christ! But how now, if the general wakes and wishes +to drink his narcotic?" + +"Tell him I forbid it. And here is another thing you must do. +When - Someone - comes into the general's chamber, in the morning, +you must quite openly and naturally throw out the potion, useless +and vapid, you see, and so Someone will have no right to be +astonished that the general continues to enjoy excellent health." + +"Yes, yes, little one; you are wiser than King Solomon. And what +will I do with the phial of poison?" + +"Bring it to me." + +"Right away." + +She went for it and returned five minutes later. + +"He is still asleep. I have put the glass on the table, out of his +reach. He will have to call me." + +"Very good. Then push the door to, close it; we have to talk +things over." + +"But if someone goes back up the servants' staircase?" + +"Be easy about that. They think the general is poisoned already. +It is the first care-free moment I have been able to enjoy in this +house." + +"When will you stop making me shake with horror, little demon! You +keep your secret well, I must say. The general is sleeping better +than if he really were poisoned. But what shall we do about Natacha? +I dare ask you that - you and you alone." + +"Nothing at all." + +"How - nothing?" + +"We will watch her..." + +" Ah, yes, yes." + +"Still, Matrena, you let me watch her by myself." + +"Yes, yes, I promise you. I will not pay any attention to her. +That is promised. That is promised. Do as you please. Why, just +now, when I spoke of the Nihilists to you, did you say, 'If it were +only that!'? You believe, then, that she is not a Nihilist? She +reads such things - things like on the barricades..." + +"Madame, madame, you think of nothing but Natacha. You have +promised me not to watch her; promise me not to think about her." + +"Why, why did you say, 'If it was only that!'?" + +"Because, if there were only Nihilists in your affair, dear madame, +it would be too simple, or, rather, it would have been more simple. +Can you possibly believe, madame, that simply a Nihilist, a Nihilist +who was only a Nihilist, would take pains that his bomb exploded +from a vase of flowers? - that it would have mattered where, so +long as it overwhelmed the general? Do you imagine that the bomb +would have had less effect behind the door than in front of it? And +the little cavity under the floor, do you believe that a genuine +revolutionary, such as you have here in Russia, would amuse himself +by penetrating to the villa only to draw out two nails from a board, +when one happens to give him time between two visits to the +dining-room? Do you suppose that a revolutionary who wished to +avenge the dead of Moscow and who could succeed in getting so far +as the door behind which General Trebassof slept would amuse himself +by making a little hole with a pin in order to draw back the bolt +and amuse himself by pouring poison into a glass? Why, in such a +case, he would have thrown his bomb outright, whether it blew him +up along with the villa, or he was arrested on the spot, or had to +submit to the martyrdom of the dungeons in the Fortress of SS. Peter +and Paul, or be hung at Schlusselburg. Isn't that what always +happens? That is the way he would have done, and not have acted +like a hotel-rat! Now, there is someone in your home (or who comes +to your home) who acts like a hotel-rat because he does not wish to +be seen, because he does not wish to be discovered, because he does +not wish to be taken in the act. Now, the moment that he fears +nothing so much as to be taken in the act, so that he plays all +these tricks of legerdemain, it is certain that his object lies +beyond the act itself, beyond the bomb, beyond the poison. Why all +this necessity for bombs of deferred explosion, for clockwork placed +where it will be confused with other things, and not on a bare +staircase forbidden to everbody, though you visit it twenty times +a day?" + +"But this man comes in as he pleases by day and by night? You don't +answer. You know who he is, perhaps?" + +"I know him, perhaps, but I am not sure who it is yet." + +"You are not curious, little domovoi doukh! A friend of the house, +certainly, and who enters the house as he wishes, by night, because +someone opens the window for him. And who comes from the Krestowsky +Villa! Boris or Michael! Ah, poor miserable Matrena! Why don't +they kill poor Matrena? Their general! Their general! And they +are soldiers - soldiers who come at night to kill their general. +Aided by - by whom? Do you believe that? You? Light of my eyes! +you believe that! No, no, that is not possible! I want you to +understand, monsieur le domovoi, that I am not able to believe +anything so horrible. No, no, by Jesus Christ Who died on the +Cross, and Who searches our hearts, I do not believe that Boris +- who, however, has very advanced ideas, I admit - it is necessary +not to forget that; very advanced; and who composes very advanced +verses also, as I have always told him - I will not believe that +Boris is capable of such a fearful crime. As to Michael, he is an +honest man, and my daughter, my Natacha, is an honest girl. +Everything looks very bad, truly, but I do not suspect either Michael +or Boris or my pure and beloved Natacha (even though she has made +a translation into French of very advanced verses, certainly most +improper for the daughter of a general). That is what lies at the +bottom of my mind, the bottom of my heart - you have understood me +perfectly, little angel of paradise? Ah, it is you the general owes +his life to, that Matrena owes her life. Without you this house +would already be a coffin. How shall I ever reward you? You wish +for nothing! I annoy you! You don't even listen to me! A coffin +- we would all be in our coffins! Tell me what you desire. All +that I have belongs to you!" + +"I desire to smoke a pipe. + +"Ah, a pipe! Do you want some yellow perfumed tobacco that I +receive every month from Constantinople, a treat right from the +harem? I will get enough for you, if you like it, to smoke ten +thousand pipes full." + +"I prefer caporal," replied Rouletabille. "But you are right. It +is not wise to suspect anybody. See, watch, wait. There is always +time, once the game is caught, to say whether it is a hare or a +wild boar. Listen to me, then, my good mamma. We must know first +what is in the phial. Where is it?" + +" Here it is." + +She drew it from her sleeve. He stowed it in his pocket. + +"You wish the general a good appetite, for me. I am going out. +I will be back in two hours at the latest. And, above all, don't +let the general know anything. I am going to see one of my friends +who lives in the Aptiekarski pereolek."* +___________________________________________________________________ + +* The little street of the apothecaries. +___________________________________________________________________ + +"Depend on me, and get back quickly for love of me. My blood clogs +in my heart when you are not here, dear servant of God." + +She mounted to the general's room and came down at least ten times +to see if Rouletabille had not returned. Two hours later he was +around the villa,, as he had promised. She could not keep herself +from running to meet him, for which she was scolded. + +"Be calm. Be calm. Do you know what was in the phial?" + +"No." + +"Arsenate of soda, enough to kill ten people." + +"Holy Mary!" + +"Be quiet. Go upstairs to the general." + +Feodor Feodorovitch was in charming humor. It was his first good +night since the death of the youth of Moscow. He attributed it to +his not having touched the narcotic and resolved, once more, to +give up the narcotic, a resolve Rouletabille and Matrena encouraged. +During the conversation there was a knock at the door of Matrena's +chamber. She ran to see who was there, and returned with Natacha, +who wished to embrace her father. Her face showed traces of +fatigue. Certainly she had not passed as good a night as her +father, and the general reproached her for looking so downcast. + +"It is true. I had dreadful dreams. But you, papa, did you sleep +well? Did you take your narcotic?" + +"No, no, I have not touched a drop of my potion." + +"Yes, I see. Oh, well, that is all right; that is very good. +Natural sleep must be coming back..." + +Matrena, as though hypnotized by Rouletabille, had taken the glass +from the table and ostentatiously carried it to the dressing-room +to throw it out, and she delayed there to recover her +self-possession. + +Natacha continued: + +"You will see, papa, that you will be able to live just like +everyone else finally. The great thing was to clear away the +police, the atrocious police; wasn't it, Monsieur Rouletabille?" + +"I have always said, for myself, that I am entirely of Mademoiselle +Natacha's mind. You can be entirely reassured now, and I shall +leave you feeling reassured. Yes, I must think of getting my +interviews done quickly, and departing. Ah well, I can only say +what I think. Run things yourselves and you will not run any +danger. Besides, the general gets much better, and soon I shall +see you all in France, I hope. I must thank you now for your +friendly hospitality." + +"Ah, but you are not going? You are not going!" Matrena had +already set herself to protest with all the strenuous torrent of +words in her poor desolated heart, when a glance from the reporter +cut short her despairing utterances. + +"I shall have to remain a week still in the city. I have engaged a +chamber at the Hotel de France. It is necessary. I have so many +people to see and to receive. I will come to make you a little +visit from time to time." + +"You are then quite easy," demanded the general gravely, "at leaving +me all alone?" + +"Entirely easy. And, besides, I don't leave you all alone. I leave +you with Madame Trebassof and Mademoiselle. I repeat: All three of +you stay as I see you now. No more police, or, in any case, the +fewest possible." + +"He is right, he is right," repeated Natacha again. + +At this moment there were fresh knocks at the door of Matrena's +chamber. It was Ermolai, who announced that his Excellency the +Marshal of the Court, Count Keltzof, wished to see the general, +acting for His Majesty. + +"Go and receive the Count, Natacha, and tell him that your father +will be downstairs in a moment." + +Natacha and Rouletabille went down and found the Count in the +drawing-room. He was a magnificent specimen, handsome and big as +one of the Swiss papal guard. He seemed watchful in all directions +and all among the furniture, and was quite evidently disquieted. +He advanced immediately to meet the young lady, inquiring the news. + +"It is all good news," replied Natacha. "Everybody here is splendid. +The general is quite gay. But what news have you, monsieur le +marechal? You appear preoccupied." + +The marshal had pressed Rouletabille's hand. + +"And my grapes?" he demanded of Natacha. + +"How, your grapes? What grapes?" + +"If you have not touched them, so much the better. I arrived here +very anxious. I brought you yesterday, from Krasnoie-Coelo, some +of the Emperor's grapes that Feodor Feodorovitch enjoyed so much. +Now this morning I learned that the eldest son of Doucet, the French +head-gardener of the Imperial conservatories at Krasnoie, had died +from eating those grapes, which he had taken from those gathered +for me to bring here. Imagine my dismay. I knew, however, that at +the general's table, grapes would not be eaten without having been +washed, but I reproached myself for not having taken the precaution +of leaving word that Doucet recommend that they be washed thoroughly. +Still, I don't suppose it would matter. I couldn't see how my gift +could be dangerous, but when I learned of little Doucet's death +this morning, I jumped into the first train and came straight here." + +"But, your Excellency," interrupted Natacha, "we have not seen your +grapes." + +"Ah, they have not been served yet? All the better. Thank +goodness!" + +"The Emperor's grapes are diseased, then?" interrogated Rouletabille. +"Phylloxera pest has got into the conservatories?" + +"Nothing can stop it, Doucet told me. So he didn't want me to leave +last evening until he had washed the grapes. Unfortunately, I was +pressed for time and I took them as they were, without any idea that +the mixture they spray on the grapes to protect them was so deadly. +It appears that in the vineyard country they have such accidents +every year. They call it, I think, the ... the mixture ... " + +"The Bordeaux mixture," was heard in Rouletabille's trembling voice +"And do you know what it is, Your Excellency, this Bordeaux mixture?" + +"Why, no." + +At this moment the general came down the stairs, clinging to the +banister and supported by Matrena Petrovna. + +"Well," continued Rouletabille, watching Natacha, "the Bordeaux +mixture which covered the grapes you brought the general yesterday +was nothing more nor less than arsenate of soda." + +"Ah, God!" cried Natacha. + +As for Matrena Petrovna, she uttered a low exclamation and let go +the general, who almost fell down the staircase. Everybody rushed. +The general laughed. Matrena, under the stringent look of +Rouletabille, stammered that she had suddenly felt faint. At last +they were all together in the veranda. The general settled back on +his sofa and inquired: + +"Well, now, were you just saying something, my dear marshal, about +some grapes you have brought me?" + +"Yes, indeed," said Natacha, quite frightened, "and what he said +isn't pleasant at all. The son of Doucet, the court gardener, has +just been poisoned by the same grapes that monsieur le marschal, +it appears, brought you." + +"Where was this? Grapes? What grapes? I haven't seen any grapes!" +exclaimed Matrena. "I noticed you, yesterday, marshal, out in the +garden, but you went away almost immediately, and I certainly was +surprised that you did not come in. What is this story?" + +"Well, we must clear this matter up. It is absolutely necessary +that we know what happened to those grapes." + +"Certainly," said Rouletabille, "they could cause a catastrophe." + +"If it has not happened already," fretted the marshal. + +"But how? Where are they? Whom did you give them to?" + +"I carried them in a white cardboard box, the first one that came +to hand in Doucet's place. I came here the first time and didn't +find you. I returned again with the box, and the general was just +lying down. I was pressed for my train and Michael Nikolaievitch +and Boris Alexandrovitch were in the garden, so I asked them to +execute my commission, and I laid the box down near them on the +little garden table, telling them not to forget to tell you it was +necessary to wash the grapes as Doucet expressly recommended." + +"But it is unbelievable! It is terrible!" quavered Matrena. "Where +can the grapes be? We must know." + +"Absolutely," approved Rouletabille. + +"We must ask Boris and Michael," said Natacha. "Good God! surely +they have not eaten them! Perhaps they are sick." + +"Here they are," said the general. All turned. Michael and Boris +were coming up the steps. Rouletabille, who was in a shadowed +corner under the main staircase, did not lose a single play of +muscle on the two faces which for him were two problems to solve. +Both faces were smiling; too smiling, perhaps. + +"Michael! Boris! Come here," cried Feodor Feodorovitch. "What +have you done with the grapes from monsieur le marechal?" + +They both looked at him upon this brusque interrogation, seemed not +to understand, and then, suddenly recalling, they declared very +naturally that they had left them on the garden table and had not +thought about them. + +"You forgot my caution, then?" said Count Kaltzof severely. + +"What caution?" said Boris. "Oh, yes, the washing of the grapes. +Doucet's caution." + +"Do you know what has happened to Doucet with those grapes? His +eldest son is dead, poisoned. Do you understand now why we are +anxious to know what has become of my grapes?" + +"But they ought to be out there on the table," said Michael. + +"No one can find them anywhere," declared Matrena, who, no less than +Rouletabille, watched every change in the countenances of the two +officers. "How did it happen that you went away yesterday evening +without saying good-bye, without seeing us, without troubling +yourselves whether or not the general might need you?" + +"Madame," said Michael, coldly, in military fashion, as though he +replied to his superior officer himself, "we have ample excuse to +offer you and the general. It is necessary that we make an +admission, and the general will pardon us, I am sure. Boris and I, +daring the promenade, happened to quarrel. That quarrel was in full +swing when we reached here and we were discussing the way to end it +most promptly when monsieur le marechal entered the garden. We must +make that our excuse for giving divided attention to what he had to +say. As soon as he was gone we had only one thought, to get away +from here to settle our difference with arms in our hands." + +"Without speaking to me about it!" interrupted Trehassof. "I never +will pardon that." + +"You fight at such a time, when the general is threatened! It is +as though you fought between yourselves in the face of the enemy. +It is treason!" added Matrena. + +"Madame," said Boris, "we did not fight. Someone pointed out our +fault, and I offered my excuses to Michael Nikolaievitch, who +generously accepted them. Is that not so, Michael Nikolaievitch?" + +"And who is this that pointed out your fault?" demanded the marshal. + +"Natacha." + +"Bravo, Natacha. Come, embrace me, my daughter." + +The general pressed his daughter effusively to his broad chest. + +"And I hope you will not have further disputing," he cried, looking +over Natacha's shoulder. + +"We promise you that, General," declared Boris. "Our lives belong +to you." + +"You did well, my love. Let us all do as well. I have passed an +excellent night, messieurs. Real sleep! I have had just one long +sleep." + +"That is so," said Matrena slowly. "The general had no need of +narcotic. He slept like a child and did not touch his potion." + +"And my leg is almost well." + +"All the same, it is singular that those grapes should have +disappeared," insisted the marshal, following his fixed idea. + +"Ermolai," called Matrena. + +The old servant appeared. + +"Yesterday evening, after these gentlemen had left the house, did +you notice a small white box on the garden table?" + +"No, Barinia." + +"And the servants? Have any of them been sick? The dvornicks? +The schwitzar? In the kitchens? No one sick? No? Go and see; then +come and tell me." + +He returned, saying, "No one sick." + +Like the marshal, Matrena Petrovna and Feodor Feodorovitch looked +at one another, repeating in French, "No one sick! That is strange!" + +Rouletabille came forward and gave the only explanation that was +plausible - for the others. + +"But, General, that is not strange at all. The grapes have been +stolen and eaten by some domestic, and if the servant has not been +sick it is simply that the grapes monsieur le marecha1 brought +escaped the spraying of the Bordeaux mixture. That is the whole +mystery." + +"The little fellow must be right," cried the delighted marshal. + +"He is always right, this little fellow," beamed Matrena, as proudly +as though she had brought him into the world. + +But "the little fellow," taking advantage of the greetings as +Athanase Georgevitch and Ivan Petrovitch arrived, left the villa, +gripping in his pocket the phial which held what is required to make +grapes flourish or to kill a general who is in excellent health. +When he had gone a few hundred steps toward the bridges one must +cross to go into the city, he was overtaken by a panting dvornick, +who brought him a letter that had just come by courier. The writing +on the envelope was entirely unknown to him. He tore it open and +read, in excellent French: + +"Request to M. Joseph Rouletabille not to mix in matters that do +not concern him. The second warning will be the last." It was +signed: "The Central Revolutionary Committee." + +"So, ho!" said Rouletabille, slipping the paper into his pocket, +"that's the line it takes, is it! Happily I have nothing more to +occupy myself with at all. It is Koupriane's turn now! Now to go +to Koupriane's!" + +On this date, Rouletabille's note-book: "Natacha to her father: +'But you, papa, have you had a good night? Did you take your +narcotic?' + +"Fearful, and (lest I confuse heaven and hell) I have no right to +take any further notes."* +_____________________________________________________________________ +*As a matter of fact, after this day no more notes are found in +Rouletabille's memorandum-book. The last one is that above, bizarre +and romantic, and necessary, as Sainclair, the Paris advocate and +friend of Rouletabille, indicates opposite it in the papers from +which we have taken all the details of this story. +_____________________________________________________________________ + + + + + +VIII + +THE LITILE CHAPEL OF THE GUARDS + +Rouletabille took a long walk which led him to the Troitsky Bridge, +then, re-descending the Naberjnaia, he reached the Winter Palace. +He seemed to have chased away all preoccupation, and took a child's +pleasure in the different aspects of the life that characterizes +the city of the Great Peter. He stopped before the Winter Palace, +walked slowly across the square where the prodigious monolith of +the Alexander Column rises from its bronze socket, strolled between +the palace and the colonnades, passed under an immense arch: +everything seemed Cyclopean to him, and he never had felt so tiny, +so insignificant. None the less he was happy in his insignificance, +he was satisfied with himself in the presence of these colossal +things; everything pleased him this morning. The speed of the +isvos, the bickering humor of the osvotchicks, the elegance of the +women, the fine presences of the officers and their easy naturalness +under their uniforms, so opposed to the wooden posturing of the +Berlin military men whom he had noticed at the "Tilleuls" and in +the Friederichstrasse between two trains. Everything enchanted him +- the costume even of the moujiks, vivid blouses, the red shirts +over the trousers, the full legs and the boots up to the knees, +even the unfortunates who, in spite of the soft atmosphere, were +muffled up in sheepskin coats, all impressed him favorably, +everything appeared to him original and congenial. + +Order reigned in the city. The guards were polite, decorative and +superb in bearing. The passers-by in that quarter talked gayly +among themselves, often in French, and had manners as civilized as +anywhere in the world. Where, then, was the Bear of the North? He +never had seen bears so well licked. Was it this very city that +only yesterday was in revolution? This was certainly the Alexander +Park where troops a few weeks before had fired on children who had +sought refuge in the trees, like sparrows. Was this the very +pavement where the Cossacks had left so many bodies? Finally he +saw before him the Nevsky Prospect, where the bullets rained like +hail not long since upon a people dressed for festivities and very +joyous. Nichevo! Nichevo! All that was so soon forgotten. They +forgot yesterday as they forget to-morrow. The Nihilists? Poets, +who imagined that a bomb could accomplish anything in that Babylon +of the North more important than the noise of its explosion! Look +at these people who pass. They have no more thought for the old +attack than for those now preparing in the shadow of the "tracktirs." +Happy men, full of serenity in this bright quarter, who move about +their affairs and their pleasures in the purest air, the lightest, +the most transparent on earth. No, no; no one knows the joy of +mere breathing if he has not breathed the air there, the finest in +the north of the world, which gives food and drink of beautiful +white eau-de-vie and yellow pivo, and strikes the blood and makes +one a beast vigorous and joyful and fatalistic, and mocks at the +Nihilists and, as well, at the ten thousand eyes of the police +staring from under the porches of houses, from under the skulls of +dvornicks - all police, the dvornicks; all police, also the joyous +concierges with extended hands. Ah, ah, one mocks at it all in +such air, provided one has roubles in one's pockets, plenty of +roubles, and that one is not besotted by reading those extraordinary +books that preach the happiness of all humanity to students and to +poor girl-students too. Ah, ah, seed of the Nihilists, all that! +These poor little fellows and poor little girls who have their heads +turned by lectures that they cannot digest! That is all the trouble, +the digestion. The digestion is needed. Messieurs the commercial +travelers for champagne, who talk together importantly in the +lobbies of the Grand Morskaia Hotel and who have studied the Russian +people even in the most distant cities where champagne is sold, will +tell you that over any table of hors-d'oeuvres, and will regulate +the whole question of the Revolution between two little glasses of +vodka, swallowed properly, quickly, elbow up, at a single draught, +in the Russian manner. Simply an affair of digestion, they tell +you. Who is the fool that would dare compare a young gentleman who +has well digested a bottle of champagne or two, and another young +man who has poorly digested the lucubrations of, who shall we say? +- the lucubrations of the economists? The economists? The +economists! Fools who compete which can make the most violent +statements! Those who read them and don't understand them go off +like a bomb! Your health! Nichevo! The world goes round still, +doesn't it? + +Discussion political, economic, revolutionary, and other in the +room where they munch hors-d'oeuvres! You will hear it all as you +pass through the hotel to your chamber, young Rouletabille. Get +quickly now to the home of Koupriane, if you don't wish to arrive +there at luncheon-time; then you would have to put off these serious +affairs until evening. + +The Department of Police. Massive entrance, heavily guarded, a +great lobby, halls with swinging doors, many obsequious schwitzars +on the lookout for tips, many poor creatures sitting against the +walls on dirty benches, desks and clerks, brilliant boots and +epaulets of gay young officers who are telling tales of the Aquarium +with great relish. + +"Monsieur Rouletabille! Ah, yes. Please be seated. Delighted, +M. Koupriane will be very happy to receive you, but just at this +moment he is at inspection. Yes, the inspection of the police +dormitories in the barracks. We will take you there. His own idea! +He doesn't neglect anything, does he? A great Chief. Have you seen +the police-guards' dormitory? Admirable! The first dormitories of +the world. We say that without wishing to offend France. We love +France. A great nation! I will take you immediately to M. +Koupriane. I shall be delighted." + +"I also," said Rouletabille, who put a rouble into the honorable +functionary's hand. + +"Permit me to precede you." + +Bows and salutes. For two roubles he would have walked obsequiously +before him to the end of the world. + +"These functionaries are admirable," thought Rouletabille as he was +led to the barracks. He felt he had not paid too much for the +services of a personage whose uniform was completely covered with +lace. They tramped, they climbed, they descended. Stairways, +corridors. Ah, the barracks at last. He seemed to have entered a +convent. Beds very white, very narrow, and images of the Virgin +and saints everywhere, monastic neatness and the most absolute +silence. Suddenly an order sounded in the corridor outside, and +the police-guard, who sprang from no one could tell where, stood +to attention at the head of their beds. Koupriane and his aide +appeared. Koupriane looked at everything closely, spoke to each +man in turn, called them by their names, inquired about their +needs, and the men stammered replies, not knowing what to answer, +reddening like children. Koupriane observed Rouletabille. He +dismissed his aide with a gesture. The inspection was over. He +drew the young man into a little room just off the dormitory. +Rouletabille, frightened, looked about him. He found himself in a +chapel. This little chapel completed the effect of the guards' +dormitory. It was all gilded, decorated in marvelous colors, +thronged with little ikons that bring happiness, and, naturally, +with the portrait of the Tsar, the dear Little Father. + +"You see," said Koupriane, smiling at Rouletabille's amazement, +"we deny them nothing. We give them their saints right here in +their quarters." Closing the door, he drew a chair toward +Rouletabille and motioned him to sit down. They sat before the +little altar loaded with flowers, with colored paper and winged +saints. + +"We can talk here without being disturbed," he said. "Yonder there +is such a crowd of people waiting for me. I'm ready to listen." + +"Monsieur," said Rouletabille, "I have come to give you the report +of my mission here, and to terminate my connection with it. All +that is left for clearing this obscure affair is to arrest the +guilty person, with which I have nothing to do. That concerns you. +I simply inform you that someone tried to poison the general last +night by pouring arsenate of soda into his sleeping-potion, which +I bring you in this phial, arsenate which was secured most probably +by washing it from grapes brought to General Trebassof by the +marshal of the court, and which disappeared without anyone being +able to say how." + +"Ah, ah, a family affair, a plot within the family. I told you +so," murmured Koupriane. + +"The affair at least has happened within the family, as you think, +although the assassin came from outside. Contrary to what you may +be able to believe, he does not live in the house." + +"Then how does he get there?" demanded Koupriane. + +"By the window of the room overlooking the Neva. He has often come +that way. And that is the way he returns also, I am sure. It is +there you can take him if you act with prudence." + +"How do you know he often comes that way?" + +"You know the height of the window above the little roadway. To +reach it he uses a water-trough, whose iron rings are bent, and +also the marks of a grappling-iron that he carries with him and +uses to hoist himself to the window are distinctly visible on the +ironwork of the little balcony outside. The marks are quite +obviously of different dates" + +"But that window is closed." + +"Someone opens it for him." + +"Who, if you please?" + +"I have no desire to know." + +"Eh, yes. It necessarily is Natacha. I was sure that the Villa +des Iles had its viper. I tell you she doesn't dare leave her nest +because she knows she is watched. Not one of her movements outside +escapes us! She knows it. She has been warned. The last time she +ventured outside alone was to go into the old quarters of Derewnia. +What has she to do in such a rotten quarter? I ask you that. And +she turned in her tracks without seeing anyone, without knocking +at a single door, because she saw that she was followed. She isn't +able to get to see them outside, therefore she has to see them +inside." + +"They are only one, and always the same one." + +"Are you sure?" + +"An examination of the marks on the wall and on the pipe doesn't +leave any doubt of it, and it is always the same grappling-iron +that is used for the window." + +"The viper!" + +"Monsieur Koupriane, Mademoiselle Natacha seems to preoccupy you +exceedingly. I did not come here to talk about Mademoiselle +Natacha. I came to point out to you the route used by the man who +comes to do the murder." + +"Eh, yes, it is she who opens the way." + +"I can't deny that." + +"The little demon! Why does she take him into her room at night? +Do you think perhaps there is some love-affair...?" + +"I am sure of quite the opposite." + +"I too. Natacha is not a wanton. Natacha has no heart. She has +only a brain. And it doesn't take long for a brain touched by +Nihilism to get so it won't hesitate at anything." + +Koupriane reflected a minute, while Rouletabille watched him in +silence. + +"Have we solely to do with Nihilism?" resumed Koupriane. +"Everything you tell me inclines me more and more to my idea: a +family affair, purely in the family. You know, don't you, that +upon the general's death Natacha will be immensely rich?" + +"Yes, I know it," replied Rouletabille, in a voice that sounded +singular to the ear of the Chief of Police and which made him raise +his head. + +"What do you know?" + +"I? Nothing," replied the reporter, this time in a firmer tone. +"I ought, however, to say this to you: I am sure that we are dealing +with Nihilism..." + +"What makes you believe it?" + +"This." + +And Rouletabille handed Koupriane the message he had received that +same morning. + +"Oh, oh," cried Koupriane. "You are under watch! Look out." + +"I have nothing to fear; I'm not bothering myself about anything +further. Yes, we have an affair of the revolutionaries, but not of +the usual kind. The way they are going about it isn't like one of +their young men that the Central Committee arms with a bomb and who +is sacrificed in advance." + +"Where are the tracks that you have traced?" + +"Right up to the little Krestowsky Villa." + +Koupriane bounded from his chair. + +"Occupied by Boris. Parbleu! Now we have them. I see it all now. +Boris, another cracked brain! And he is engaged. If he plays the +part of the Revolutionaries, the affair would work out big for him." + +"That villa," said Rouletabille quietly, "is also occupied by Michael +Korosakoff." + +"He is the most loyal, the most reliable soldier of the Tsar." + +"No one is ever sure of anything, my dear Monsieur Koupriane." + +"Oh, I am sure of a man like that." + +"No man is ever sure of any man, my dear Monsieur Koupriane." + +"I am, in every case, for those I employ." + +"You are wrong." + +"What do you say?" + +"Sometbing that can serve you in the enterprise you are going to +undertake, because I trust you can catch the murderer right in his +nest. To do that, I'll not conceal from you that I think your +agents will have to be enormously clever. They will have to watch +the datcha des Iles at night, without anyone possibly suspecting it. +No more maroon coats with false astrakhan trimmings, eh? But +Apaches, Apaches on the wartrail, who blend themselves with the +ground, with the trees, with the stones in the roadway. But among +those Apaches don't send that agent of your Secret Service who +watched the window while the assassin climbed to it." + +"What?" + +"Why, these climbs that you can read the proofs of on the wall and +on the iron forgings of the balcony went on while your agents, night +and day, were watching the villa. Have you noticed, monsieur, that +it was always the same agent who took the post at night, behind the +villa, under the window? General Trebassof's book in which he kept +a statement of the exact disposal of each of your men during the +period of siege was most instructive on that point. The other posts +changed in turn, but the same agent, when he was among the guard, +demanded always that same post, which was not disputed by anybody, +since it is no fun to pass the hours of the night behind a wall, in +an empty field. The others much preferred to roll away the time +watching in the villa or in front of the lodge, where vodka and +Crimean wine, kwass and pivo, kirsch and tchi, never ran short. +That agent's name is Touman." + +"Touman! Impossible! He is one of the best agents from Kiew. He +was recommended by Gounsovski." + +Rouletabille chuckled. + +"Yes, yes, yes," grumbled the Chief of Police. "Someone always +laughs when his name is mentioned." + +Koupriane had turned red. He rose, opened the door, gave a long +direction in Russian, and returned to his chair. + +"Now," said he, "go ahead and tell me all the details of the poison +and the grapes the marshal of the court brought. I'm listening." + +Rouletabille told him very briefly and without drawing any deductions +all that we already know. He ended his account as a man dressed in +a maroon coat with false astrakhan was introduced. It was the same +man Rouletabille had met in General Trebassof's drawing-room and who +spoke French. Two gendarmes were behind him. The door had been +closed. Koupriane turned toward the man in the coat. + +"Touman," he said, "I want to talk to you. You are a traitor, and +I have proof. You can confess to me, and I will give you a thousand +roubles and you can take yourself off to be hanged somewhere else." + +The man's eyes shrank, but he recovered himself quickly. He replied +in Russian. + +"Speak French. I order it," commanded Koupriane. + +"I answer, Your Excellency," said Touman firmly, " that I don't +know what Your Excellency means." + +"I mean that you have helped a man get into the Trebassof villa by +night when you were on guard under the window of the little +sitting-room. You see that there is no use deceiving us any longer. +I play with you frankly, good play, good money. The name of that +man, and you have a thousand roubles." + +"I am ready to swear on the ikon of..." + +"Don't perjure yourself." + +"I have always loyally served..." + +"The name of that man." + +"I still don't know yet what Your Excellency means." + +"Oh, you understand me," replied Koupriane, who visibly held in an +anger that threatened to break forth any moment. "A man got into +the house while you were watching..." + +"I never saw anything. After all, it is possible. There were some +very dark nights. I went back and forth." + +"You are not a fool. The name of that man." + +"I assure you, Excellency..." + +"Strip him." + +"What are you going to do?" cried Rouletabille. + +But already the two guards had thrown themselves on Touman and had +drawn off his coat and shirt. The man was bare to the waist. + +"What are you going to do? What are you going to do?" + +"Leave them alone," said Koupriane, roughly pushing Rouletabille +back. + +Seizing a whip which hung at the waist of the guards he struck +Touman a blow across the shoulders that drew blood. Touman, mad +with the outrage and the pain, shouted, "Yes, it is true! I brag +of it!" + +Koupriane did not restrain his rage. He showered the unhappy man +with blows, having thrown Rouletabille to the end of the room when +he tried to interfere. And while he proceeded with the punishment +the Chief of Police hurled at the agent who had betrayed him an +accompaniment of fearful threats, promising him that before he was +hanged he should rot in the bottom-most dungeon of Peter and Paul, +in the slimy pits lying under the Neva. Touman, between the two +guards who held him, and who sometimes received blows on the rebound +that were not intended for them, never uttered a complaint. Outside +the invectives of Koupriane there was heard only the swish of the +cords and the cries of Rouletabille, who continued to protest that +it was abominable, and called the Chief of Police a savage. Finally +the savage stopped. Gouts of blood had spattered all about. + +"Monsieur," said Rouletabille, who supported himself against the +wall. "I shall complain to the Tsar." + +"You are right," Koupriane replied, "but I feel relieved now. You +can't imagine the harm this man can have done to us in the weeks +he has been here." + +Touman, across whose shoulders they had thrown his coat and who +lay now across a chair, found strength to look up and say: + +"It is true. You can't do me as much harm as I have done you, +whether you think so or not. All the harm that can be done me +by you and yours is already accomplished. My name is not Touman, +but Matiev. Listen. I had a son that was the light of my eyes. +Neither my son nor I had ever been concerned with politics. I was +employed in Moscow. My son was a student. During the Red Week we +went out, my son and I, to see a little of what was happening over +in the Presnia quarter. They said everybody had been killed over +there! We passed before the Presnia gate. Soldiers called to us +to stop because they wished to search us. We opened our coats. +The soldiers saw my son's student waistcoat and set up a cry. They +unbuttoned the vest, drew a note-book out of his pocket and they +found a workman's song in it that had been published in the Signal. +The soldiers didn't know how to read. They believed the paper was +a proclamation, and they arrested my son. I demanded to be arrested +with him. They pushed me away. I ran to the governor's house. +Trebassof had me thrust away from his door with blows from the +butt-ends of his Cossacks' guns. And, as I persisted, they kept me +locked up all that night and the morning of the next day. At noon +I was set free. I demanded my son and they replied they didn't know +what I was talking about. But a soldier that I recognized as having +arrested my son the evening before pointed out a van that was passing, +covered with a tarpaulin and surrounded by Cossacks. 'Your son is +there,' he said; 'they are taking him to the graves.' Mad with +despair, I ran after the van. It went to the outskirts of +Golountrine cemetery. There I saw in the white snow a huge grave, +wide, deep. I shall see it to my last minute. Two vans had already +stopped near the hole. Each van held thirteen corpses. The vans +were dumped into the trench and the soldiers commenced to sort the +bodies into rows of six. I watched for my son. At last I recognized +him in a body that half hung over the edge of the trench. Horrors +of suffering were stamped in the expression of his face. I threw +myself beside him. I said that I was his father. They let me +embrace him a last time and count his wounds. He had fourteen. +Someone had stolen the gold chain that had hung about his neck and +held the picture of his mother, who died the year before. I +whispered into his ear, I swore to avenge him. Forty-eight hours +later I had placed myself at the disposition of the Revolutionary +Committee. A week had not passed before Touman, whom, it seems, +I resemble and who was one of the Secret Service agents in Kiew, +was assassinated in the train that was taking him to St. Petersburg. +The assassination was kept a secret. I received all his papers and +I took his place with you. I was doomed beforehand and I asked +nothing better, so long as I might last until after the execution +of Trebassof. Ah, how I longed to kill him with my own hands! But +another had already been assigned the duty and my role was to help +him. And do you suppose I am going to tell you the name of that +other? Never! And if you discover that other, as you have +discovered me, another will come, and another, and another, until +Trebassof has paid for his crimes. That is all I have to say to +you, Koupriane. As for you, my little fellow," added he, turning +to Rouletabille, "I wouldn't give much for your bones. Neither of +you will last long. That is my consolation." + +Koupriane had not interrupted the man. He looked at him in silence, +sadly. + +"You know, my poor man, you will be hanged now?" he said. + +"No," growled Rouletabille. "Monsieur Koupriane, I'll bet you my +purse that he will not be hanged." + +"And why not?" demanded the Chief of rolice, while, upon a sign +from him, they took away the false Touman. + +"Because it is I who denounced him." + +"What a reason! And what would you like me to do?" + +"Guard him for me; for me alone, do you understand?" + +"In exchange for what?" + +"In exchange for the life of General Trebassof, if I must put it +that way." + +"Eh? The life of General Trebassof! You speak as if it belonged +to you, as if you could dispose of it." + +Rouletabille laid his hand on Koupriane's arm. + +"Perhaps that's so," said he. + +"Would you like me to tell you one thing, Monsieur Rouletabille? +It is that General Trebassof's life, after what has just escaped +the lips of this Touman, who is not Touman, isn't worth any more +than - than yours if you remain here. Since you are disposed not +to do anything more in this affair, take the train, monsieur, take +the train, and go." + +Rouletabille walked back and forth, very much worked up; then +suddenly he stopped short. + +"Impossible," he said. "It is impossible. I cannot; I am not able +to go yet." + +"Why?" + +"Good God, Monsieur Koupriane, because I have to interview the +President of the Duma yet, and complete my little inquiry into the +politics of the cadets." + +"Oh, indeed!" + +Koupriane looked at him with a sour grin. + +"What are you going to do with that man?" demanded Rouletabille. + +"Have him fixed up first." + +"And then?" + +"Then take him before the judges." + +"That is to say, to the gallows?" + +"Certainly." + +"Monsieur Koupriane, I offer it to you again. Life for life. Give +me the life of that poor devil and I promise you General Trebassof's." + +"Explain yourself." + +"Not at all. Do you promise me that you will maintain silence +about the case of that man and that you will not touch a hair of +his head?" + +Koupriane looked at Rouletabille as he had looked at him during the +altercation they had on the edge of the Gulf. He decided the same +way this time. + +"Very well," said he. "You have my word. The poor devil!" + +"You are a brave man, Monsieur Koupriane, but a little quick with +the whip..." + +"What would you expect? One's work teaches that." + +"Good morning. No, don't trouble to show me out. I am compromised +enough already," said Rouletabille, laughing. + +"Au revoir, and good luck! Get to work interviewing the President +of the Duma," added Koupriane knowingly, with a great laugh. + +But Rouletabille was already gone. + +"That lad," said the Chief of Police aloud to himself, "hasn't told +me a bit of what he knows." + + + + + +IX + +ANNOUCHKA + +"And now it's between us two, Natacha," murmured Rouletabille as +soon as he was outside. He hailed the first carriage that passed +and gave the address of the datcha des Iles. When he got in he +held his head between his hands; his face burned, his jaws were set. +But by a prodigious effort of his will he resumed almost instantly +his calm, his self-control. As he went back across the Neva, across +the bridge where he had felt so elated a little while before, and +saw the isles again he sighed heavily. "I thought I had got it all +over with, so far as I was concerned, and now I don't know where it +will stop." His eyes grew dark for a moment with somber thoughts +and the vision of the Lady in Black rose before him; then he shook +his head, filled his pipe, lighted it, dried a tear that had been +caused doubtless by a little smoke in his eye, and stopped +sentimentalizing. A quarter of an hour later he gave a true Russian +nobleman's fist-blow in the back to the coachman as an intimation +that they had reached the Trebassof villa. A charming picture was +before him. They were all lunching gayly in the garden, around the +table in the summer-house. He was astonished, however, at not +seeing Natacha with them. Boris Mourazoff and Michael Korsakoff +were there. Rouletabille did not wish to be seen. He made a sign +to Ermolai, who was passing through the garden and who hurried to +meet him at the gate. + +"The Barinia," said the reporter, in a low voice and with his finger +to his lips to warn the faithful attendant to caution. + +In two minutes Matrena Petrovna joined Rouletabille in the lodge. + +"Well, where is Natacha?" he demanded hurriedly as she kissed his +hands quite as though she had made an idol of him. + +"She has gone away. Yes, out. Oh, I did not keep her. I did not +try to hold her back. Her expression frightened me, you can +understand, my little angel. My, you are impatient! What is it +about? How do we stand? What have you decided? I am your slave. +Command me. Command me. The keys of the villa?" + +"Yes, give me a key to the veranda; you must have several. I must +be able to get into the house to-night if it becomes necessary." + +She drew a key from her gown, gave it to the young man and said a +few words in Russian to Ermolai, to enforce upon him that he must +obey the little domovoi-doukh in anything, day or night. + +"Now tell me where Natacha has gone." + +"Boris's parents came to see us a little while ago, to inquire after +the general. They have taken Natacha away with them, as they often +have done. Natacha went with them readily enough. Little domovoi, +listen to me, listen to Matrena Petrovna - Anyone would have said +she was expecting it!" + +"Then she has gone to lunch at their house?" + +"Doubtless, unless they have gone to a cafe. I don't know. Boris's +father likes to have the family lunch at the Barque when it is fine. +Calm yourself, little domovoi. What ails you? Bad news, eh? Any +bad news?" + +"No, no; everything is all right. Quick, the address of Boris's +family." + +"The house at the corner of La Place St. Isaac and la rue de la +Poste." + +"Good. Thank you. Adieu." + +He started for the Place St. Isaac, and picked up an interpreter at +the Grand Morskaia Hotel on the way. It might be useful to have him. +At the Place St. Isaac he learned the Morazoffs and Natacha Trebassof +had gone by train for luncheon at Bergalowe, one of the nearby +stations in Finland. + +"That is all," said he, and added apart to himself, "And perhaps that +is not true." + +He paid the coachman and the interpreter, and lunched at the +Brasserie de Vienne nearby. He left there a half-hour later, much +calmer. He took his way to the Grand Morskaia Hotel, went inside +and asked the schwitzar: + +"Can you give me the address of Mademoiselle Annouchka?" + +"The singer of the Krestowsky?" + +"That is who I mean." + +"She had luncheon here. She has just gone away with the prince." + +Without any curiosity as to which prince, Rouletabille cursed his +luck and again asked for her address. + +"Why, she lives in an apartment just across the way." + +Rouletabille, feeling better, crossed the street, followed by the +interpreter that he had engaged. Across the way he learned on the +landing of the first floor that Mademoiselle Annouchka was away for +the day. He descended, still followed by his interpreter, and +recalling how someone had told him that in Russia it was always +profitable to be generous, he gave five roubles to the interpreter +and asked him for some information about Mademoiselle Annouchka's +life in St. Petersburg. The interpreter whispered: + +"She arrived a week ago, but has not spent a single night in her +apartment over there. + +He pointed to the house they had just left, and added: + +"Merely her address for the police." + +"Yes, yes," said Rouletabille, "I understand. She sings this +evening, doesn't she?" + +"Monsieur, it will be a wonderful debut." + +"Yes, yes, I know. Thanks." + +All these frustrations in the things he had undertaken that day +instead of disheartening him plunged him deep into hard thinking. +He returned, his hands in his pockets, whistling softly, to the +Place St. Isaac, walked around the church, keeping an eye on the +house at the corner, investigated the monument, went inside, +examined all its details, came out marveling, and finally went once +again to the residence of the Mourazoffs, was told that they had +not yet returned from the Finland town, then went and shut himself +in his room at the hotel, where he smoked a dozen pipes of tobacco. +He emerged from his cloud of smoke at dinner-time. + +At ten that evening he stepped out of his carriage before the +Krestowsky. The establishment of Krestowsky, which looms among the +Isles much as the Aquarium does, is neither a theater, nor a +music-hall, nor a cafe-concert, nor a restaurant, nor a public +garden; it is all of these and some other things besides. Summer +theater, winter theater, open-air theater, hall for spectacles, +scenic mountain, exercise-ground, diversions of all sorts, garden +promenades, cafes, restaurants, private dining-rooms, everything is +combined here that can amuse, charm, lead to the wildest orgies, or +provide those who never think of sleep till toward three or four +o'clock of a morning the means to await the dawn with patience. The +most celebrated companies of the old and the new world play there +amid an enthusiasm that is steadily maintained by the foresight of +the managers: Russian and foreign dancers, and above all the French +chanteuses, the little dolls of the cafes-concerts, so long as they +are young, bright, and elegantly dressed, may meet their fortune +there. If there is no such luck, they are sure at least to find +every evening some old beau, and often some officer, who willingly +pays twenty-five roubles for the sole pleasure of having a demoiselle +born on the banks of the Seine for his companion at the supper-table. +After their turn at the singing, these women display their graces and +their eager smiles in the promenades of the garden or among the +tables where the champagne-drinkers sit. The head-liners, naturally, +are not driven to this wearying perambulation, but can go away to +their rest if they are so inclined. However, the management is +appreciative if they accept the invitation of some dignitary of the +army, of administration, or of finance, who seeks the honor of +hearing from the chanteuse, in a private room and with a company of +friends not disposed to melancholy, the Bohemian songs of the Vieux +Derevnia. They sing, they loll, they talk of Paris, and above all +they drink. If sometimes the little fete ends rather roughly, it +is the friendly and affectionate champagne that is to blame, but +usually the orgies remain quite innocent, of a character that +certainly might trouble the temperance societies but need not make +M. le Senateur Berenger feel involved. + +A war whose powder fumes reeked still, a revolution whose last +defeated growls had not died away at the period of these events, +had not at all diminished the nightly gayeties of Kretowsky. Many +of the young men who displayed their uniforms that evening and +called their "Nichevo" along the brilliantly lighted paths of the +public gardens, or filled the open-air tables, or drank vodka at +the buffets, or admired the figures of the wandering soubrettes, +had come here on the eve of their departure for the war and had +returned with the same child-like, enchanted smile, the same ideal +of futile joy, and kissed their passing comrades as gayly as ever. +Some of them had a sleeve lying limp now, or walked with a crutch, +or even on a wooden leg, but it was, all the same, "Nichevo!" + +The crowd this evening was denser than ordinarily, because there +was the chance to hear Annouchka again for the first time since the +somber days of Moscow. The students were ready to give her an +ovation, and no one opposed it, because, after all, if she sang now +it was because the police were willing at last. If the Tsar's +government had granted her her life, it was not in order to compel +her to die of hunger. Each earned a livelihood as was possible. +Annouchka only knew how to sing and dance, and so she must sing +and dance! + +When Rouletabille entered the Krestowsky Gardens, Annouchka had +commenced her number, which ended with a tremendous "Roussalka." +Surrounded by a chorus of male and female dancers in the national +dress and with red boots, striking tambourines with their fingers, +then suddenly taking a rigid pose to let the young woman's voice, +which was of rather ordinary register, come out, Annouchka had +centered the attention of the immense audience upon herself. All +the other parts of the establishment were deserted, the tables had +been removed, and a panting crowd pressed about the open-air theater. +Rouletabille stood up on his chair at the moment tumultuous "Bravos" +sounded from a group of students. Annouchka bowed toward them, +seeming to ignore the rest of the audience, which had not dared +declare itself yet. She sang the old peasant songs arranged to +present-day taste, and interspersed them with dances. They had an +enormous success, because she gave her whole soul to them and sang +with her voice sometimes caressing, sometimes menacing, and +sometimes magnificently desperate, giving much significance to +words which on paper had not aroused the suspicions of the censor. +The taste of the day was obviously still a taste for the revolution, +which retained its influence on the banks of the Neva. What she +was doing was certainly very bold, and apparently she realized how +audacious she was, because, with great adroitness, she would bring +out immediately after some dangerous phrase a patriotic couplet +which everybody was anxious to applaud. She succeeded by such means +in appealing to all the divergent groups of her audience and secured +a complete triumph for herself. The students, the revolutionaries, +the radicals and the cadets acclaimed the singer, glorifying not +only her art but also and beyond everything else the sister of the +engineer Volkousky, who had been doomed to perish with her brother +by the bullets of the Semenovsky regiment. The friends of the +Court on their side could not forget that it was she who, in front +of the Kremlin, had struck aside the arm of Constantin Kochkarof, +ordered by the Central Revolutionary Committee to assassinate the +Grand Duke Peter Alexandrovitch as he drove up to the governor's +house in his sleigh. The bomb burst ten feet away, killing +Constantin Kochkarof himself. It may be that before death came he +had time to hear Annouchka cry to him, "Wretch! You were told to +kill the prince, not to assassinate his children." As it happened, +Peter Alexandrovitch held on his knees the two little princesses, +seven and eight years old. The Court had wished to recompense her +for that heroic act. Annouchka had spit at the envoy of the Chief +of Police who called to speak to her of money. At the Hermitage in +Moscow, where she sang then, some of her admirers had warned her of +possible reprisals on the part of the revolutionaries. But the +revolutionaries gave her assurance at once that she had nothing to +fear. They approved her act and let her know that they now counted +on her to kill the Grand Duke some time when he was alone; which +had made Annouchka laugh. She was an enfant terrible, whose friends +no one knew, who passed for very wise, and whose lines of intrigue +were inscrutable. She enjoyed making her hosts in the private +supper-rooms quake over their meal. One day she had said bluntly +to one of the most powerful tchinovnicks of Moscow: "You, my old +friend, you are president of the Black Hundred. Your fate is sealed. +Yesterday you were condemned to death by the delegates of the Central +Committee at Presnia. Say your prayers." The man reached for +champagne. He never finished his glass. The dvornicks carried him +out stricken with apoplexy. Since the time she saved the little +grand-duchesses the police had orders to allow her to act and talk +as she pleased. She had been mixed up in the deepest plots against +the government. Those who lent the slightest countenance to such +plottings and were not of the police simply disappeared. Their +friends dared not even ask for news of them. The only thing not in +doubt about them was that they were at hard labor somewhere in the +mines of the Ural Mountains. At the moment of the revolution +Annouchka had a brother who was an engineer on the Kasan-Moscow line. +This Volkousky was one of the leaders on the Strike Committee. The +authorities had an eye on him. The revolution started. He, with +the help of his sister, accomplished one of those formidable acts +which will carry their memory as heroes to the farthest posterity. +Their work accomplished, they were taken by Trebassof's soldiers. +Both were condemned to death. Volkousky was executed first, and +the sister was taking her turn when an officer of the government +arrived on horseback to stop the firing. The Tsar, informed of her +intended fate, had sent a pardon by telegraph. After that she +disappeared. She was supposed to have gone on some tour across +Europe, as was her habit, for she spoke all the languages, like a +true Bohemian. Now she had reappeared in all her joyous glory at +Krestowsky. It was certain, however, that she had not forgotten her +brother. Gossips said that if the government and the police showed +themselves so long-enduring they found it to their interest to do +so. The open, apparent life Annouclika led was less troublesome to +them than her hidden activities would be. The lesser police who +surrounded the Chief of the St. retersburg Secret Service, the +famous Gounsovski, had meaning smiles when the matter was discussed. +Among them Annouchka had the ignoble nickname, "Stool-pigeon." + +Rouletabille must have been well aware of all these particulars +concerning Annoucbka, for he betrayed no astonishment at the great +interest and the strong emotion she aroused. From the corner +where he was he could see only a bit of the stage, and he was +standing on tiptoes to see the singer when he felt his coat pulled. +He turned. It was the jolly advocate, well known for his gastronomic +feats, Athanase Georgevitch, along with the jolly Imperial councilor, +Ivan Petrovitch, who motioned him to climb down. + +"Come with us; we have a box." + +Rouletabille did not need urging, and he was soon installed in the +front of a box where he could see the stage and the public both. +Just then the curtain fell on the first part of Annouchka's +performance. The friends were soon rejoined by Thaddeus +Tchitchnikoff, the great timber-merchant, who came from behind the +scenes. + +"I have been to see the beautiful Onoto," announced the Lithuanian +with a great satisfied laugh. "Tell me the news. All the girls +are sulking over Annouchka's success." + +"Who dragged you into the Onoto's dressing-room then? demanded +Athanase. + +"Oh, Gounsovski himself, my dear. He is very amateurish, you know." + +"What! do you knock around with Gounsovski?" + +"On my word, I tell you, dear friends, he isn't a bad acquaintance. +He did me a little service at Bakou last year. A good acquaintance +in these times of public trouble." + +"You are in the oil business now, are you?" + +"Oh, yes, a little of everything for a livelihood. I have a little +well down Bakou way, nothing big; and a little house, a very small +one for my small business." + +"What a monopolist Thaddeus is," declared Athanase Georgevitch, +hitting him a formidable slap on the thigh with his enormous hand. +"Gounsovski has come himself to keep an eye on Annouchka's debut, +eh? Only he goes into Onoto's dressing-room, the rogue." + +"Oh, he doesn't trouble himself. Do you know who he is to have +supper with? With Annouchka, my dears, and we are invited." + +"How's that?" inquired the jovial councilor. + +"It seems Gounsovski influenced the minister to permit Annouchka's +performance by declaring he would be responsible for it all. He +required from Annouchka solely that she have supper with him on the +evening of her debut." + +"And Annouchka consented?" + +"That was the condition, it seems. For that matter, they say that +Annouchka and Gounsovski don't. get along so badly together. +Gounsovski has done Annouchka many a good turn. They say he is in +love with her." + +"He has the air of an umbrella merchant," snorted Athanase +Georgevitch. + +"Have you seen him at close range?" inquired Ivan. + +"I have dined at his house, though it is nothing to boast of, on +my word." + +"That is what he said," replied Thaddeus. "When he knew we were +here together, he said to me: 'Bring him, he is a charming fellow +who plies a great fork; and bring that dear man Ivan Petrovitch, +and all your friends.'" + +"Oh, I only dined at his house," grumbled Athanase, "because there +was a favor he was going to do me." + +"He does services for everybody, that man," observed Ivan Petrovitch. + +"Of course, of course; he ought to," retorted Athanase. "What is +a chief of Secret Service for if not to do things for everybody? +For everybody, my dear friends, and a little for himself besides. +A chief of Secret Service has to be in with everybody, with +everybody and his father, as La Fontaine says (if you know that +author), if he wants to hold his place. You know what I mean." + +Athanase laughed loudly, glad of the chance to show how French he +could be in his allusions, and looked at Rouletabille to see if he +had been able to catch the tone of the conversation; but Rouletabille +was too much occupied in watching a profile wrapped in a mantilla +of black lace, in the Spanish fashion, to repay Athanase's +performance with a knowing smile. + +"You certainly have naive notions. You think a chief of Secret +Police should be an ogre," replied the advocate as he nodded here +and there to his friends. + +"Why, certainly not. He needs to be a sheep in a place like that, +a thorough sheep. Gounsovski is soft as a sheep. The time I dined +with him he had mutton streaked with fat. He is just like that. I +am sure he is mainly layers of fat. When you shake hands you feel +as though you had grabbed a piece of fat. My word! And when he +eats he wags his jaw fattishly. His head is like that, too; bald, +you know, with a cranium like fresh lard. He speaks softly and looks +at you like a kid looking to its mother for a juicy meal." + +"But - why - it is Natacha!" murmured the lips of the young man. + +"Certainly it is Natacha, Natacha herself," exclaimed Ivan +Petrovitch, who had used his glasses the better to see whom the +young French journalist was looking at. "Ah, the dear child! +she has wanted to see Annouchka for a long time." + +"What, Natacha! So it is. So it is. Natacha! Natacha!" said the +others. "And with Boris Mourazoff's parents." + +"But Boris is not there," sniggered Thaddeus Tehitchnikoff. + +"Oh, he can't be far away. If he was there we would see Michael +Korsakoff too. They keep close on each other's heels." + +"How has she happened to leave the general? She said she couldn't +bear to be away from him." + +"Except to see Annouchka," replied Ivan. "She wanted to see her, +and talked so about it when I was there that even Feodor Feodorovitch +was rather scandalized at her and Matrena Petrovna reproved her +downright rudely. But what a girl wishes the gods bring about. +That's the way." + +"That's so, I know," put in Athanase. "Ivan Petrovitch is right. +Natacha hasn't been able to hold herself in since she read that +Annouchka was going to make her debut at Krestowsky. She said +she wasn't going to die without having seen the great artist." + +"Her father had almost drawn her away from that crowd," affirmed +Ivan, "and that was as it should be. She must have fixed up this +affair with Boris and his parents." + +"Yes, Feodor certainly isn't aware that his daughter's idea was to +applaud the heroine of Kasan station. She is certainly made of +stern stuff, my word," said Athanase. + +"Natacha, you must remember, is a student," said Thaddeus, shaking +his head; "a true student. They have misfortunes like that now in +so many families. I recall, apropos of what Ivan said just now, +how today she asked Michael Korsakoff, before me, to let her know +where Annouchka would sing. More yet, she said she wished to speak +to that artist if it were possible. Michael frowned on that idea, +even before me. But Michael couldn't refuse her, any more than the +others. He can reach Annouchka easier than anyone else. You +remember it was he who rode hard and arrived in time with the pardon +for that beautiful witch; she ought not to forget him if she cared +for her life." + +"Anyone who knows Michael Nikolaievitch knows that he did his duty +promptly," announced Athanase Georgevitch crisply. "But he would +not have gone a step further to save Annouchka. Even now he won't +compromise his career by being seen at the home of a woman who is +never from under the eyes of Gounsovski's agents and who hasn't been +nicknamed 'Stool-pigeon' for nothing." + +"Then why do we go to supper tonight with Annouchka?" asked Ivan. + +"That's not the same thing. We are invited by Gounsovski himself. +Don't forget that, if stories concerning it drift about some day, +my friends," said Thaddeus. + +"For that matter, Thaddeus, I accept the invitation of the honorable +chief of our admirable Secret Service because I don't wish to slight +him. I have dined at his house already. By sitting opposite him at +a public table here I feel that I return that politeness. What do +you say to that?" + +"Since you have dined with him, tell us what kind of a man he is +aside from his fattish qualities," said the curious councilor. +"So many things are said about him. He certainly seems to be a man +it is better to stand in with than to fall out with, so I accept +his invitation. How could you manage to refuse it, anyway?" + +"When he first offered me hospitality," explained the advocate, "I +didn't even know him. I never had been near him. One day a police +agent came and invited me to dinner by command - or, at least, I +understood it wasn't wise to refuse the invitation, as you said, +Ivan Petrovitch. When I went to his house I thought I was entering +a fortress, and inside I thought it must be an umbrella shop. There +were umbrellas everywhere, and goloshes. True, it was a day of +pouring rain. I was struck by there being no guard with a big +revolver in the antechamber. He had a little, timid schwitzar +there, who took my umbrella, murmuring 'barine' and bowing over and +over again. He conducted me through very ordinary rooms quite +unguarded to an average sitting-room of a common kind. We dined +with Madame Gounsovski, who appeared fattish like her husband, and +three or four men whom I had never seen anywhere. One servant +waited on us. My word! + +"At dessert Gounsovski took me aside and told me I was unwise to +'argue that way.' I asked him what he meant by that. He took my +hands between his fat hands and repeated, 'No, no, it is not wise +to argue like that.' I couldn't draw anything else out of him. +For that matter, I understood him, and, you know, since that day +I have cut out certain side passages unnecessary in my general +law pleadings that had been giving me a reputation for rather too +free opinions in the papers. None of that at my age! Ah, the +great Gounsovski! Over our coffee I asked him if he didn't find +the country in pretty strenuous times. He replied that he looked +forward with impatience to the month of May, when he could go for +a rest to a little property with a small garden that he had bought +at Asnieres, near Paris. When he spoke of their house in the +country Madame Gounsovski heaved a sigh of longing for those simple +country joys. The month of May brought tears to her eyes. Husband +and wife looked at one another with real tenderness. They had not +the air of thinking for one second: to-morrow or the day after, +before our country happiness comes, we may find ourselves stripped +of everything. No! They were sure of their happy vacation and +nothing seemed able to disquiet them under their fat. Gounsovski +has done everybody so many services that no one really wishes him +ill, poor man. Besides, have you noticed, my dear old friends, that +no one ever tries to work harm to chiefs of Secret Police? One goes +after heads of police, prefects of police, ministers, grand-dukes, +and even higher, but the chiefs of Secret Police are never, never +attacked. They can promenade tranquilly in the streets or in the +gardens of Krestowsky or breathe the pure air of the Finland country +or even the country around Paris. They have done so many little +favors for this one and that, here and there, that no one wishes to +do them the least injury. Each person always thinks, too, that +others have been less well served than he. That is the secret of +the thing, my friends, that is the secret. What do you say?" + +The others said: "Ah, ah, the good Gounsovski. He knows. He knows. +Certainly, accept his supper. With Annouchka it will be fun." + +"Messieurs," asked Rouletabille, who continued to make discoveries +in the audience, "do you know that officer who is seated at the end +of a row down there in the orchestra seats? See, he is getting up." + +"He? Why, that is Prince Galitch, who was one of the richest lords +of the North Country. Now he is practically ruined." + +"Thanks, gentlemen; certainly it is he. I know him," said +Rouletabille, seating himself and mastering his emotion. + +"They say he is a great admirer of Annouchka," hazarded Thaddeus. +Then he walked away from the box. + +"The prince has been ruined by women," said Athanase Georgevitch, +who pretended to know the entire chronicle of gallantries in the +empire. + +"He also has been on good terms with Gounsovski," continued Thaddeus. + +"He passes at court, though, for an unreliable. He once made a +long visit to Tolstoi." + +"Bah! Gounsovski must have rendered some signal service to that +imprudent prince," concluded Athanase. "But for yourself, Thaddeus, +you haven't said what you did with Gounsovski at Bakou." + +(Rouletabille did not lose a word of what was being said around him, +although he never lost sight of the profile hidden in the black +mantle nor of Prince Galitch, his personal enemy,* who reappeared, +it seemed to him, at a very critical moment.) +____________________________________________________________________ + +* as told in "The Lady In Black." +____________________________________________________________________ + +"I was returning from Balakani in a drojki," said Thaddeus +Tchitchnikoff, "and I was drawing near Bakou after having seen the +debris of my oil shafts that had been burned by the Tartars, when +I met Gounsovski in the road, who, with two of his friends, found +themselves badly off with one of the wheels of their carriage broken. +I stopped. He explained to me that he had a Tartar coachman, and +that this coachman having seen an Armenian on the road before him, +could find nothing better to do than run full tilt into the +Armenian's equipage. He had reached over and taken the reins from +him, but a wheel of the carriage was broken." (Rouletabille quivered, +because he caught a glance of communication between Prince Galitch +and Natacha, who was leaning over the edge of her box.) "So I +offered to take Gounsovski and his friends into my carriage, and +we rode all together to Bakou after Gounsovski, who always wishes +to do a service, as Athanase Georgevitch says, had warned his Tartar +coachman not to finish the Armenian." (Prince Galitch, at the +moment the orchestra commenced the introductory music for +Annouchka's new number, took advantage of all eyes being turned +toward the rising curtain to pass near Natacha's seat. This time +he did not look at Natacha, but Rouletabille was sure that his lips +had moved as he went by her.) + +Thaddeus continued: "It is necessary to explain that at Bakou my +little house is one of the first before you reach the quay. I had +some Armenian employees there. When arrived, what do you suppose +I saw? A file of soldiers with cannon, yes, with a cannon, on my +word, turned against my house and an officer saying quietly, 'there +it is. Fire!'" (Rouletabille made yet another discovery - two, +three discoveries. Near by, standing back of Natacha's seat, was +a figure not unknown to the young reporter, and there, in one of +the orchestra chairs, were two other men whose faces he had seen +that same morning in Koupriane's barracks. Here was where a memory +for faces stood him in good stead. He saw that he was not the only +person keeping close watch on Natacha.) "When I heard what the +officer said," Thaddeus went on, "I nearly dropped out of the +drojki. I hurried to the police commissioner. He explained the +affair promptly, and I was quick to understand. During my absence +one of my Armenian employees had fired at a Tartar who was passing. +For that matter, he had killed him. The governor was informed and +had ordered the house to be bombarded, for an example, as had been +done with several others. I found Gounsovski and told him the +trouble in two words. He said it wasn't necessary for him to +interfere in the affair, that I had only to talk to the officer. +'Give him a good present, a hundred roubles, and he will leave your +house. I went back to the officer and took him aside; he said he +wanted to do anything that he could for me, but that the order was +positive to bombard the house. I reported his answer to Gounsovski, +who told me: 'Tell him then to turn the muzzle of the cannon the +other way and bombard the building of the chemist across the way, +then he can always say that he mistook which house was intended.' +I did that, and he had them turn the cannon. They bombarded the +chemist's place, and I got out of the whole thing for the hundred +roubles. Gounsovski, the good fellow, may be a great lump of fat +and be like an umbrella merchant, but I have always been grateful +to him from the bottom of my heart, you can understand, Athanase +Georgevitch." + +"What reputation has Prince Galitch at the court?" inquired +Rouletabille all at once. + +"Oh, oh!" laughed the others. "Since he went so openly to visit +Tolstoi he doesn't go to the court any more." + +"And - his opinions? What are his opinions?" + +"Oh, the opinions of everybody are so mixed nowadays, nobody knows." + +Ivan Petrovitch said, "He passes among some people as very advanced +and very much compromised." + +"Yet they don't bother him?" inquired Rouletabille. + +Pooh, pooh," replied the gay Councilor of Empire, "it is rather he +who tries to mix with them." + +Thaddeus stooped down and said, "They say that he can't be reached +because of the hold he has over a certain great personage in the +court, and it would be a scandal - a great scandal." + +"Be quiet, Thaddeus," interrupted Athanase Georgevitch, roughly. +"It is easy to see that you are lately from the provinces to speak +so recklessly, but if you go on this way I shall leave." + +"Athanase Georgevitch is right; hang onto your mouth, Thaddeus," +counseled Ivan Petrovitch. + +The talkers all grew silent, for the curtain was rising. In the +audience there were mysterious allusions being made to this second +number of Annouchka, but no one seemed able to say what it was to +be, and it was, as a matter of fact, very simple. After the +whirl-wind of dances and choruses and all the splendor with which +she had been accompanied the first time, Annouchka appeared as a +poor Russian peasant in a scene representing the barren steppes, +and very simply she sank to her knees and recited her evening prayers. +Annouchka was singularly beautiful. Her aquiline nose with sensitive +nostrils, the clean-cut outline of her eyebrows, her look that now +was almost tender, now menacing, always unusual, her pale rounded +cheeks and the entire expression of her face showed clearly the +strength of new ideas, spontaneity, deep resolution and, above all, +passion. The prayer was passionate. She had an admirable contralto +voice which affected the audience strangely from its very first +notes. She asked God for daily bread for everyone in the immense +Russian land, daily bread for the flesh and for the spirit, and she +stirred the tears of everyone there, to which-ever party they +belonged. And when, as her last note sped across the desolate +steppe and she rose and walked toward the miserable hut, frantic +bravos from a delirious audience told her the prodigious emotions +she had aroused. Little Rouletabille, who, not understanding the +words, nevertheless caught the spirit of that prayer, wept. +Everybody wept. Ivan Petrovitcb, Atbanase Georgevitch, Thaddeus +Tchitchnikoff were standing up, stamping their feet and clapping +their hands like enthusiastic boys. The students, who could be +easily distinguished by the uniform green edging they wore on their +coats, uttered insensate cries. And suddenly there rose the first +strains of the national hymn. There was hesitation at first, a +wavering. But not for long. Those who had been dreading some +counter-demonstration realized that no objection could possibly +be raised to a prayer for the Tsar. All heads uncovered and the +Bodje Taara Krari mounted, unanimously, toward the stars. + +Through his tears the young reporter never gave up his close watch +on Natacha. She had half risen, and, sinking back, leaned on the +edge of the box. She called, time and time again, a name that +Rouletabille could not hear in the uproar, but that he felt sure +was "Annouchka! Annouchka!" "The reckless girl," murmured +Rouletabille, and, profiting by the general excitement, he left the +box without being noticed. He made his way through the crowd toward +Natacha, whom he had sought futilely since morning. The audience, +after clamoring in vain for a repetition of the prayer by Annouchka, +commenced to disperse, and the reporter was swept along with them +for a few moments. When he reached the range of boxes he saw that +Natacha and the family she had been with were gone. He looked on +all sides without seeing the object of his search and like a madman +commenced to run through the passages, when a sudden idea struck his +blood cold. He inquired where the exit for the artists was and as +soon as it was pointed out, he hurried there. He was not mistaken. +In the front line of the crowd that waited to see Annouchka come +out he recognized Natacha, with her head enveloped in the black +mantle so that none should see her face. Besides, this corner of +the garden was in a half-gloom. The police barred the way; he could +not approach as near Natacha as he wished. He set himself to slip +like a serpent through the crowd. He was not separated from Natacha +by more than four or five persons when a great jostling commenced. +Annouchka was coming out. Cries rose: "Annouchka! Annouchka!" +Rouletabille threw himself on his knees and on all-fours succeeded +in sticking his head through into the way kept by the police for +Annouchka's passage. There, wrapped in a great red mantle, his hat +on his arm, was a man Rouletabille immediately recognized. It was +Prince Galitch. They were hurrying to escape the impending pressure +of the crowd. But Annouchka as she passed near Natacha stopped just +a second - a movement that did not escape Rouletabille - and, +turning toward her said just the one word, "Caracho." Then she +passed on. Rouletabille got up and forced his way back, having +once more lost Natacha. He searched for her. He ran to the +carriage-way and arrived just in time to see her seated in a +carriage with the Mourazoff family. The carriage started at once +in the direction of the datcha des Iles. The young man remained +standing there, thinking. He made a gesture as though he were +ready now to let luck take its course. "In the end," said he, "it +will be better so, perhaps," and then, to himself, "Now to supper, +my boy." + +He turned in his tracks and soon was established in the glaring +light of the restaurant. Officers standing, glass in hand, were +saluting from table to table and waving a thousand compliments with +grace that was almost feminine. + +He heard his name called joyously, and recognized the voice of Ivan +Petrovitch. The three boon companions were seated over a bottle of +champagne resting in its ice-bath and were being served with tiny +pates while they waited for the supper-hour, which was now near. + +Rouletabille yielded to their invitation readily enough, and +accompanied them when the head-waiter informed Thaddeus that the +gentlemen were desired in a private room. They went to the first +floor and were ushered into a large apartment whose balcony opened +on the hall of the winter-theater, empty now. But the apartment +was already occupied. Before a table covered with a shining service +Gounsovski did the honors. + +He received them like a servant, with his head down, an obsequious +smile, and his back bent, bowing several times as each of the guests +were presented to him. Athanase had described him accurately +enough, a mannikin in fat. Under the vast bent brow one could +hardly see his eyes, behind the blue glasses that seemed always +ready to fall as he inclined too far his fat head with its timid +and yet all-powerful glance. When he spoke in his falsetto voice, +his chin dropped in a fold over his collar, and he had a steady +gesture with the thumb and index finger of his right hand to retain +the glasses from sliding down his short, thick nose. + +Behind him there was the fine, haughty silhouette of Prince Galitch. +He had been invited by Annouchka, for she had consented to risk this +supper only in company with three or four of her friends, officers +who could not be further compromised by this affair, as they were +already under the eye of the Okrana (Secret Police) despite their +high birth. Gounsovski had seen them come with a sinister chuckle +and had lavished upon them his marks of devotion. + +He loved Annouchka. It would have sufficed to have surprised just +once the jealous glance he sent from beneath his great blue glasses +when he gazed at the singer to have understood the sentiments that +actuated him in the presence of the beautiful daughter of the Black +Land. + +Annouchka was seated, or, rather, she lounged, Oriental fashion, +on the sofa which ran along the wall behind the table. She paid +attention to no one. Her attitude was forbidding, even hostile. +She indifferently allowed her marvelous black hair that fell in two +tresses over her shoulder to be caressed by the perfumed hands of +the beautiful Onoto, who had heard her this evening for the first +time and had thrown herself with enthusiasm into her arms after the +last number. Onoto was an artist too, and the pique she felt at +first over Annouchka's success could not last after the emotion +aroused by the evening prayer before the hut. "Come to supper," +Annouchka had said to her. + +"With whom?" inquired the Spanish artist. + +"With Gounsovski." + +"Never." + +"Do come. You will help me pay my debt and perhaps he will be +useful to you as well. He is useful to everybody." + +Decidedly Onoto did not understand this country, where the worst +enemies supped together. + +Rouletabille had been monopolized at once by Prince Galitch, who +took him into a corner and said: + +"What are you doing here?" + +"Do I inconvenience you?" asked the boy. + +The other assumed the amused smile of the great lord. + +"While there is still time," he said, "believe me, you ought to +start, to quit this country. Haven't you had sufficient notice?" + +"Yes," replied the reporter. "And you can dispense with any further +notice from this time on." + +He turned his back. + +"Why, it is the little Frenchman from the Trebassof villa," commenced +the falsetto voice of Gounsovski as he pushed a seat towards the +young man and begged him to sit between him and Athanase Georgevitch, +who was already busy with the hors-doeuvres. + +"How do you do, monsieur?" said the beautiful, grave voice of Annouchka. + +Rouletabille saluted. + +"I see that I am in a country of acquaintances," he said, without +appearing disturbed. + +He addressed a lively compliment to Annouchka, who threw him a kiss. + +"Rouletabille!" cried la belle Onoto. "Why, then, he is the little +fellow who solved the mystery of the Yellow Room." + +"Himself." + +"What are you doing here?" + +"He came to save the life of General Trebassof," sniggered +Gounsovski. "He is certainly a brave little young man." + +"The police know everything," said Rouletabille coldly. And he +asked for champagne, which he never drank. + +The champagne commenced its work. While Thaddeus and the officers +told each other stories of Bakou or paid compliments to the women, +Gounsovski, who was through with raillery, leaned toward Rouletabille +and gave that young man fatherly counsel with great unction. + +"You have undertaken, young man, a noble task and one all the more +difficult because General Trebassof is condemned not only by his +enemies but still more by the ignorance of Koupriane. Understand +me thoroughly: Koupriane is my friend and a man whom I esteem very +highly. He is good, brave as a warrior, but I wouldn't give a +kopeck for his police. He has mixed in our affairs lately by +creating his own secret police, but I don't wish to meddle with that. +It amuses us. It's the new style, anyway; everybody wants his secret +police nowadays. And yourself, young man, what, after all, are you +doing here? Reporting? No. Police work? That is our business +and your business. I wish you good luck, but I don't expect it. +Remember that if you need any help I will give it you willingly. I +love to be of service. And I don't wish any harm to befall you." + +"You are very kind, monsieur," was all Rouletabille replied, and +he called again for champagne. + +Several times Gounsovski addressed remarks to Annouchka, who +concerned herself with her meal and had little answer for him. + +"Do you know who applauded you the most this evening?" + +"No," said Annouchka indifferently. + +"The daughter of General Trebassof." + +"Yes, that is true, on my word," cried Ivan Petrovitch. + +"Yes, yes, Natacba was there," joined in the other friends from the +datcha des Iles. + +"For me, I saw her weep," said Rouletabille, looking at Annouchka +fixedly. + +But Annouchka replied in an icy tone: + +"I do not know her." + +"She is unlucky in having a father..." Prince Galitch commenced. + +"Prince, no politics, or let me take my leave," clucked Gounsovski. +"Your health, dear Annouchka." + +"Your health, Gounsovski. But you have no worry about that." + +"Why?" demanded Thaddeus Tchitcbnikoff in equivocal fashion. + +"Because he is too useful to the government," cried Ivan Petrovitch. + +"No," replied Annouchka; "to the revolutionaries." + +All broke out laughing. Gounsovski recovered his slipping glasses +by his usual quick movement and sniggered softly, insinuatingly, +like fat boiling in the pot: + +"So they say. And it is my strength." + +"His system is excellent," said the prince. "As he is in with +everybody, everybody is in with the police, without knowing it." + +"They say ... ah,ah ... they say ..." (Athanase was choking over a +little piece of toast that he had soaked in his soup) "they say that +he has driven away all the hooligans and even all the beggars of the +church of Kasan." + +Thereupon they commenced to tell stories of the hooligans, +street-thieves who since the recent political troubles had infested +St. Petersburg and whom nobody, could get rid of without paying +for it. + +Athanase Georgevitch said: + +"There are hooligans that ought to have existed even if they never +have. One of them stopped a young girl before Varsovie station. +The girl, frightened, immediately held out her purse to him, with +two roubles and fifty kopecks in it. The hooligan took it all. +'Goodness,' cried she, 'I have nothing now to take my train with.' +'How much is it?' asked the hooligan. 'Sixty kopecks.' 'Sixty +kopecks! Why didn't you say so?' And the bandit, hanging onto the +two roules, returned the fifty-kopeck piece to the trembling child +and added a ten-kopeck piece out of his own pocket." + +"Something quite as funny happened to me two winters ago, at Moscow," +said la belle Onoto. "I had just stepped out of the door when I was +stopped by a hooligan. 'Give me twenty kopecks,' said the hooligan. +I was so frightened that I couldn't get my purse open. 'Quicker,' +said he. Finally I gave him twenty kopecks. 'Now,' said he then, +'kiss my hand.' And I had to kiss it, because he held his knife in +the other." + +"Oh, they are quick with their knives," said Thaddeus. "As I was +leaving Gastinidvor once I was stopped by a hooligan who stuck a +huge carving-knife under my nose. 'You can have it for a rouble +and a half,' he said. You can believe that I bought it without any +haggling. And it was a very good bargain. It was worth at least +three roubles. Your health, belle Onoto." + +"I always take my revolver when I go out," said Athanase. "It is +more prudent. I say this before the police. But I would rather be +arrested by the police than stabbed by the hooligans." + +"There's no place any more to buy revolvers," dedared Ivan +Petrovitch. "All such places are closed." + +Gounsovski settled his glasses, rubbed his fat hands and said: + +"There are some still at my locksmith's place. The proof is that +to-day in the little Kaniouche my locksmith, whose name is Smith, +when into the house of the grocer at the corner and wished to sell +him a revolver. It was a Browning. 'An arm of the greatest +reliability,' he said to him, 'which never misses fire and which +works very easily.' Having pronounced these words, the locksmith +tried his revolver and lodged a ball in the grocer's lung. The +grocer is dead, but before he died he bought the revolver. 'You +are right,' he said to the locksmith; 'it is a terrible weapon.' +And then he died." + +The others laughed heartily. They thought it very funny. Decidedly +this great Gounsovski always had a funny story. Who would not like +to be his friend? Annouchka had deigned to smile. Gounsovski, in +recognition, extended his hand to her like a mendicant. The young +woman touched it with the end of her fingers, as if she were placing +a twenty-kopeck piece in the hand of a hooligan, and withdrew from +it with disgust. Then the doors opened for the Bohemians. Their +swarthy troupe soon filled the room. Every evening men and women +in their native costumes came from old Derevnia, where they lived +all together in a sort of ancient patriarchal community, with customs +that had not changed for centuries; they scattered about in the +places of pleasure, in the fashionable restaurants, where they +gathered large sums, for it was a fashionable luxury to have them +sing at the end of suppers, and everyone showered money on them in +order not to be behind the others. They accompanied on guzlas, on +castanets, on tambourines, and sang the old airs, doleful and +languorous, or excitable and breathiess as the flight of the +earliest nomads in the beginnings of the world. + +When they had entered, those present made place for them, and +Rouletabille, who for some moments had been showing marks of fatigue +and of a giddiness natural enough in a young man who isn't in the +habit of drinking the finest champagnes, profited by the diversion +to get a corner of the sofa not far from Prince Galitch, who +occupied the place at Annouchka's right. + +"Look, Rouletabaille is asleep," remarked la belle Onoto. + +"Poor boy!" said Annouchka. + +And, turning toward Gounsovski: + +"Aren't you soon going to get him out of our way? I heard some of +our brethren the other day speaking in a way that would cause pain +to those who care about his health." + +"Oh, that," said Gounsovski, shaking his head, "is an affair I have +nothing to do with. Apply to Koupriane. Your health, belle +Annouchka." + +But the Bohemians swept some opening chords for their songs, and +the singers took everybody's attention, everybody excepting Prince +Galitch and Annouchka, who, half turned toward one another, +exchanged some words on the edge of all this musical uproar. As +for Rouletabille, he certainly must have been sleeping soundly not +to have been waked by all that noise, melodious as it was. It is +true that be had - apparently - drunk a good deal and, as everyone +knows, in Russia drink lays out those who can't stand it. When +the Bohemians had sung three times Gounsovski made a sign that they +might go to charm other ears, and slipped into the hands of the +chief of the band a twenty-five rouble note. But Onoto wished to +give her mite, and a regular collection commenced. Each one threw +roubles into the plate held out by a little swarthy Bohemian girl +with crow-black hair, carelessly combed, falling over her forehead, +her eyes and her face, in so droll a fashion that one would have +said the little thing was a weeping-willow soaked in ink. The +plate reached Prince Galitch, who futilely searched his pockets. + +"Bah!" said he, with a lordly air, "I have no money. But here is +my pocket-book; I will give it to you for a souvenir of me, +Katharina." + +Thaddeus and Athanase exclaimed at the generosity of the prince, +but Annouchka said: + +"The prince does as he should, for my friends can never sufficiently +repay the hospitality that that little thing gave me in her dirty +hut when I was in hiding, while your famous department was deciding +what to do about me, my dear Gounsovski." + +"Eh," replied Gounsovski, "I let you know that all you had to do +was to take a fine apartment in the city." + +Annouchka spat on the ground like a teamster, and Gounsoyski from +yellow turned green. + +"But why did you hide yourself that way, Annouchka?" asked Onoto as +she caressed the beautiful tresses of the singer. + +"You know I had been condemned to death, and then pardoned. I had +been able to leave Moscow, and I hadn't any desire to be re-taken +here and sent to taste the joys of Siberia." + +"But why were you condemned to death?" + +"Why, she doesn't know anything! " exclaimed the others. + +"Good Lord, I'm just back from London and Paris - how should I know +anything! But to have been condemned to death! That must have +been amusing." + +"Very amusing," said Annouchka icily. "And if you have a brother +whom you love, Onoto, think how mnch more amusing it must be to +have him shot before you." + +"Oh, my love, forgive me!" + +"So you may know and not give any pain to your Annouchka in the +future, I will tell you, madame, what happened to our dear friend," +said Prince Galitch. + +"We would do better to drive away such terrible memories," ventured +Gounsovski, lifting his eyelashes behind his glasses, but he bent +his head as Annouchka sent him a blazing glance. + +"Speak, Galitch." + +The Prince did as she said. + +"Annouchka had a brother, Vlassof, an engineer on the Kasan line, +whom the Strike Committee had ordered to take out a train as the +only means of escape for the leaders of the revolutionary troops +when Trebassof's soldiers, aided by the Semenowsky regiment, had +become masters of the city. The last resistance took place at the +station. It was necessary to get started. All the ways were +guarded by the military. There were soldiers everywhere! Vlassof +said to his comrades, 'I will save you;' and his comrades saw him +mount the engine with a woman. That woman was - well, there she +sits. Viassof's fireman had been killed the evening before, on a +barricade; it was Annouchka who took his place. They busied +themselves and the train started like a shot. On that curved line, +discovered at once, easy to attack, under a shower of bullets, +Vlassof developed a speed of ninety versts an hour. He ran the +indicator up to the explosion point. The lady over there continued +to pile coal into the furnace. The danger came to be less from the +military and more from an explosion at any moment. In the midst of +the balls Vlassof kept his usual coolness. He sped not only with +the firebox open but with the forced draught. It was a miracle +that the engine was not smashed against the curve of the embankment. +But they got past. Not a man was hurt. Only a woman was wounded. +She got a ball in the chest." + +"There!" cried Annouchka. + +With a magnificent gesture she flung open her white and heaving +chest, and put her finger on a scar that Gounsovski, whose fat began +to melt in heavy drops of sweat about his temples, dared not look at. + +"Fifteen days later," continued the prince, "Viassof entered an inn +at Lubetszy. He didn't know it was full of soldiers. His face +never altered. They searched him. They found a revolver and papers +on him. They knew whom they had to do with. He was a good prize. +Viassof was taken to Moscow and condemned to be shot. His sister, +wounded as she was, learned of his arrest and joined him. 'I do +not wish,' she said to him, 'to leave you to die alone.' She also +was condemned. Before the execution the soldiers offered to bandage +their eyes, but both refused, saying they preferred to meet death +face to face. The orders were to shoot all the other condemned +revolutionaries first, then Vlassof, then his sister. It was in +vain that Vlassof asked to die last. Their comrades in execution +sank to their knees, bleeding from their death wounds. Vlassof +embraced his sister and walked to the place of death. There he +addressed the soldiers: 'Now you have to carry out your duty +according to the oath you have taken. Fulfill it honestly as I +have fulfilled mine. Captain, give the order.' The volley +sounded. Vlassof remained erect, his arms crossed on his breast, +safe and sound. Not a ball had touched him. The soldiers did not +wish to fire at him. He had to summon them again to fulfill their +duty, and obey their chief. Then they fired again, and he fell. +He looked at his sister with his eyes full of horrible suffering. +Seeing that he lived, and wishing to appear charitable, the captain, +upon Annouchka's prayers, approached and cut short his sufferings +by firing a revolver into his ear. Now it was Annouchka's turn. +She knelt by the body of her brother, kissed his bloody lips, rose +and said, 'I am ready.' As the guns were raised, an officer came +running, bearing the pardon of the Tsar. She did not wish it, and +she whom they had not bound when she was to die had to be restrained +when she learned she was to live." + +Prince Galitch, amid the anguished silence of all there, started to +add some words of comment to his sinister recital, but Annouchka +interrupted: + +"The story is ended," said she. "Not a word, Prince. If I asked +you to tell it in all its horror, if I wished you to bring back to +us the atrocious moment of my brother's death, it is so that +monsieur" (her fingers pointed to Gounsovski) "shall know well, +once for all, that if I have submitted for some hours now to this +promiscuous company that has been imposed upon me, now that I have +paid the debt by accepting this abominable supper, I have nothing +more to do with this purveyor of bagnios and of hangman's ropes who +is here." + +"She is mad," he muttered. "She is mad. What has come over her? +What has happened? Only to-day she was so, so amiable." + +And he stuttered, desolately, with an embarrassed laugh: + +"Ah, the women, the women! Now what have I done to her?" + +"What have you done to me, wretch? Where are Belachof, Bartowsky +and Strassof? And Pierre Slutch? All the comrades who swore with +me to revenge my brother? Where are they? On what gallows did you +have them hung? What mine have you buried them in? And still you +follow your slavish task. And my friends, my other friends, the +poor comrades of my artist life, the inoffensive young men who have +not committed any other crime than to come to see me too often when +I was lively, and who believed they could talk freely in my +dressing-room - where are they? Why have they left me, one by one? +Why have they disappeared? It is you, wretch, who watched them, +who spied on them, making me, I haven't any doubt, your horrible +accomplice, mixing me up in your beastly work, you dog! You knew +what they call me. You have known it for a long time, and you may +well laugh over it. But I, I never knew until this evening; I +never learned until this evening all I owe to you. 'Stool pigeon! +Stool pigeon!' I! Horror! Ah, you dog, you dog! Your mother, +when you were brought into the world, your mother ..." Here she +hurled at him the most offensive insult that a Russian can offer a +man of that race. + +She trembled and sobbed with rage, spat in fury, and stood up ready +to go, wrapped in her mantle like a great red flag. She was the +statue of hate and vengeance. She was horrible and terrible. She +was beautiful. At the final supreme insult, Gounsovski started +and rose to his feet as though he had received an actual blow in +the face. He did not look at Annouchka, but fixed his eyes on +Prince Galitch. His finger pointed him out: + +"There is the man," he hissed, "who has told you all these fine +things." + +"Yes, it is I," said the Prince, tranquilly. + +"Caracho!" barked Gounsovski, instantaneously regaining his coolness. + +"Ah, yes, but you'll not touch him," clamored the spirited girl of +the Black Land; "you are not strong enough for that." + +"I know that monsieur has many friends at court," agreed the chief +of the Secret Service with an ominous calm. "I 'don't wish ill to +monsieur. You speak, madame, of the way some of your friends have +had to be sacrificed. I hope that some day you will be better +informed, and that you will understand I saved all of them I could." + +"Let us go," muttered Annouchka. "I shall spit in his face." + +"Yes, all I could," replied the other, with his habitual gesture of +hanging on to his glasses. "And I shall continue to do so. I +promise you not to say anything more disagreeable to the prince +than as regards his little friend the Bohemian Katharina, whom he +has treated so generously just now, doubtless because Boris +Mourazoff pays her too little for the errands she runs each morning +to the villa of Krestowsky Ostrow." + +At these words the Prince and Annouchka both changed countenance. +Their anger rose. Annouchka turned her head as though to arrange +the folds of her cloak. Galitch contented himself with shrugging +his shoulders impatiently and murmuring: + +"Still some other abomination that you are concocting, monsieur, +and that we don't know how to reply to." + +After which he bowed to the supper-party, took Annouchka's arm and +had her move before him. Gounsovski bowed, almost bent in two. +When he rose he saw before him the three astounded and horrified +figures of Thaddeus Tchitchnikoff, Ivan Petrovitch and Athanase +Georgevitch. + +"Messieurs," he said to them, in a colorless voice which seemed not +to belong to him, "the time has come for us to part. I need not +say that we have supped as friends and that, if you wish it to be +so, we can forget everything that has been said here. + +The three others, frightened, at once protested their discretion. +He added, roughly this time, "Service of the Tsar," and the three +stammered, "God save the Tsar!" After which he saw them to the +door. When the door had closed after them, he said, "My little +Annouchka, you mustn't reckon without me." He hurried toward the +sofa, where Rouletabille was lying forgotten, and gave him a tap +on the shoulder. + +"Come, get up. Don't act as though you were asleep. Not an instant +to lose. They are going to carry through the Trebassof affair this +evening. + +Rouletabille was already on his legs. + +"Oh, monsieur," said he, "I didn't want you to tell me that. Thanks +all the same, and good evening." + +He went out. + +Gounsovski rang. A servant appeared. + +"Tell them they may now open all the rooms on this corridor; I'll +not hold them any longer." Thus had Gounsovski kept himself +protected. + +Left alone, the head of the Secret Service wiped his brow and drank +a great glass of iced water which he emptied at a draught. Then he +said: + +"Koupriane will have his work cut out for him this evening; I wish +him good luck. As to them, whatever happens, I wash my hands of +them." + +And he rubbed his hands. + + + + + +X + +A DRAMA IN THE NIGHT + +At the door of the Krestowsky Rouletabille, who was in a hurry for +a conveyance, jumped into an open carriage where la belle Onoto was +already seated. The dancer caught him on her knees. + +"To Eliaguine, fast as you can," cried the reporter for all +explanation. + +"Scan! Scan! (Quickly, quickly)" repeated Onoto. + +She was accompanied by a vague sort of person to whom neither of +them paid the least attention. + +"What a supper! You waked up at last, did you?" quizzed the actress. +But Rouletabille, standing up behind the enormous coachman, urged +the horses and directed the route of the carriage. They bolted +along through the night at a dizzy pace. At the corner of a bridge +he ordered the horses stopped, thanked his companions and +disappeared. + +"What a country! What a country! Caramba!" said the Spanish artist. + +The carriage waited a few minutes, then turned back toward the city. + +Rouletabille got down the embankment and slowly, taking infinite +precautions not to reveal his presence by making the least noise, +made his way to where the river is widest. Seen through the +blackness of the night the blacker mass of the Trebassof villa +loomed like an enormous blot, he stopped. Then he glided like a +snake through the reeds, the grass, the ferns. He was at the back +of the villa, near the river, not far from the little path where +he had discovered the passage of the assassin, thanks to the broken +cobwebs. At that moment the moon rose and the birch-trees, which +just before had been like great black staffs, now became white +tapers which seemed to brighten that sinister solitude. + +The reporter wished to profit at once by the sudden luminance to +learn if his movements had been noticed and if the approaches to +the villa on that side were guarded. He picked up a small pebble +and threw it some distance from him along the path. At the +unexpected noise three or four shadowy heads were outlined suddenly +in the white light of the moon, but disappeared at once, lost again +in the dark tufts of grass. + +He had gained his information. + +The reporter's acute ear caught a gliding in his direction, a slight +swish of twigs; then all at once a shadow grew by his side and he +felt the cold of a revolver barrel on his temple. He said +"Koupriane," and at once a hand seized his and pressed it. + +The night had become black again. He murmured: "How is it you are +here in person?" + +The Prefect of Police whispered in his ear: + +"I have been informed that something will happen to-night. Natacha +went to Krestowsky and exchanged some words with Annouchka there. +Prince Galitch is involved, and it is an affair of State." + +"Natacha has returned?" inquired Rouletabille. + +"Yes, a long time ago. She ought to be in bed. In any case she is +pretending to be abed. The light from her chamber, in the window +over the garden, has been put out." + +"Have you warned Matrena Petrovna?" + +"Yes, I have let her know that she must keep on the sharp look-out +to-night." + +"That's a mistake. I shouldn't have told her anything. She will +take such extra precautions that the others will be instantly +warned." + +"I have told her she should not go to the ground-floor at all this +night, and that she must not leave the general's chamber." + +"That is perfect, if she will obey you." + +"You see I have profited by all your information. I have followed +your instructions. The road from the Krestowsky is under +surveillance." + +"Perhaps too much. How are you planning?" + +"We will let them enter. I don't know whom I have to deal with. +I want to strike a sure blow. I shall take him in the act. No more +doubt after this, you trust me." + +"Adieu." + +"Where are you going?" + +"To bed. I have paid my debt to my host. I have the right to some +repose now. Good luck!" + +But Koupriane had seized his hand. + +"Listen." + +With a little attention they detected a light stroke on the water. +If a boat was moving at this time for this bank of the Neva and +wished to remain hidden, the right moment had certainly been chosen. +A great black cloud covered the moon; the wind was light. The boat +would have time to get from one bank to the other without being +discovered. Rouletabille waited no longer. On all-fours he ran +like a beast, rapidly and silently, and rose behind the wall of the +villa, where he made a turn, reached the gate, aroused the dvornicks +and demanded Ermolai, who opened the gate for him. + +"The Barinia?" he said. + +Ermolai pointed his finger to the bedroom floor. + +"Caracho!" + +Rouletabille was already across the garden and had hoisted himself +by his fingers to the window of Natacha's chamber, where he listened. +He plainly heard Natacha walking about in the dark chamber. He fell +back lightly onto his feet, mounted the veranda steps and opened the +door, then closed it so lightly that Ermolai, who watched him from +outside not two feet away, did not hear the slightest grinding of +the hinges. Inside the villa Rouletabille advanced on tiptoe. He +found the door of the drawing-room open. The door of the +sitting-room had not been closed, or else had been reopened. He +turned in his tracks, felt in the dark for a chair and sat down, +with his hand on his revolver in his pocket, waiting for the events +that would not delay long now. Above he heard distinctly from time +to time the movements of Matrena Petrovna. And this would evidently +give a sense of security to those who needed to have the ground-floor +free this night. Rouletabille imagined that the doors of the rooms +on the ground-floor had been left open so that it would be easier +for those who would be below to hear what was happening upstairs. +And perhaps he was not wrong. + +Suddenly there was a vertical bar of pale light from the sitting-room +that overlooked the Neva. He deduced two things: first, that the +window was already slightly open, then that the moon was out from +the clouds again. The bar of light died almost instantly, but +Rouletabille's eyes, now used to the obscurity, still distinguished +the open line of the window. There the shade was less deep. +Suddenly he felt the blood pound at his temples, for the line of the +open window grew larger, increased, and the shadow of a man gradually +rose on the balcony. Rouletabille drew his revolver. + +The man stood up immediately behind one of the shutters and struck +a light blow on the glass. Placed as he was now he could be seen +no more. His shadow mixed with the shadow of the shutter. At the +noise on the glass Natacha's door had opened cautiously, and she +entered the sitting-room. On tiptoe she went quickly to the window +and opened it. The man entered. The little light that by now was +commencing to dawn was enough to show Rouletabille that Natacha +still wore the toilette in which he had seen her that same evening +at Krestowsky. As for the man, he tried in vain to identify him; +he was only a dark mass wrapped in a mantle. He leaned over and +kissed Natacha's hand. She said only one word: "Scan!" (Quickly). + +But she had no more than said it before, under a vigorous attack, +the shutters and the two halves of the window were thrown wide, and +silent shadows jumped rapidly onto the balcony and sprang into the +villa. Natacha uttered a shrill cry in which Rouletabille believed +still he heard more of despair than terror, and the shadows threw +themselves on the man; but he, at the first alarm, had thrown +himself upon the carpet and had slipped from them between their +legs. He regained the balcony and jumped from it as the others +turned toward him. At least, it was so that Rouletabille believed +he saw the mysterious struggle go in the half-light, amid most +impressive silence, after that frightened cry of Natacha's. The +whole affair had lasted only a few seconds, and the man was still +hanging over the balcony, when from the bottom of the hall a new +person sprang. It was Matrena Petrovna. + +Warned by Koupriane that something would happen that night, and +foreseeing that it would happen on the ground-floor where she was +forbidden to be, she had found nothing better to do than to make +her faithful maid go secretly to the bedroom floor, with orders to +walk about there all night, to make all think she herself was near +the general, while she remained below, hidden in the dining-room. + +Matrena Petrovna now threw herself out onto the balcony, crying in +Russian, "Shoot! Shoot!" In just that moment the man was hesitating +whether to risk the jump and perhaps break his neck, or descend less +rapidly by the gutter-pipe. A policeman fired and missed him, and +the man, after firing back and wounding the policeman, disappeared. +It was still too far from dawn for them to see clearly what happened +below, where the barking of Brownings alone was heard. And there +could be nothing more sinister than the revolver-shots unaccompanied +by cries in the mists of the morning. The man, before he +disappeared, had had only time by a quick kick to throw down one of +the two ladders which had been used by the police in climbing; down +the other one all the police in a bunch, even to the wounded one, +went sliding, falling, rising, running after the shadow which fled +still, discharging the Browning steadily; other shadows rose from +the river-bank, hovering in the mist. Suddenly Koupniane's voice +was heard shouting orders, calling upon his agents to take the +quarry alive or dead. From the balcony Matrena Petrovna cried out +also, like a savage, and Rouletabille tried in vain to keep her +quiet. She was delirious at the thought "The Other" might escape +yet. She fired a revolver, she also, into the group, not knowing +whom she might wound. Rouletabille grabbed her arm and as she +turned on him angrily she observed Natacha, who, leaning until she +almost fell over the balcony, her lips trembling with delirious +utterance, followed as well as she could the progress of the +struggle, trying to understand what happened below, under the trees, +near the Neva, where the tumult by now extended. Matrena Petrovna +pulled her back by the arms. Then she took her by the neck and +threw her into the drawing-room in a heap. When she had almost +strangled her step-daughter, Matrena Petrovna saw that the general +was there. He appeared in the pale glimmerings of dawn like a +specter. By what miracle had Feodor Feodorovitch been able to +descend the stairs and reach there? How had it been brought about? +She saw him tremble with anger or with wretchedness under the folds +of the soldier's cape that floated about him. He demanded in a +hoarse voice, "What is it?" + +Matrena Petrovna threw herself at his feet, made the orthodox sign +of the Cross, as if she wished to summon God to witness, and then, +pointing to Natacha, she denounced his daughter to her husband as +she would have pointed her out to a judge. + +"The one, Feodor Feodorovitch, who has wished more than once to +assassinate you, and who this night has opened the datcha to your +assassin is your daughter." + +The general held himself up by his two hands against the wall, and, +looking at Matrena and Natacha, who now were both upon the floor +before him like suppliants, he said to Matrena: + +"It is you who assassinate me." + +"Me! By the living God!" babbled Matrena Petrovna desperately. +"If I had been able to keep this from you, Jesus would have been +good! But I say no more to crucify you. Feodor Feodorovitch, +question your daughter, and if what I have said is not true, kill +me, kill me as a lying, evil beast. I will say thank you, thank +you, and I will die happier than if what I have said was true. Ah, +I long to be dead! I Kill me!" + +Feodor Feodorovitch pushed her back with his stick as one would +push a worm in his path. Without saying anything further, she rose +from her knees and looked with her haggard eyes, with her crazed +face, at Rouletabille, who grasped her arm. If she had had her +hands still free she would not have hesitated a second in wreaking +justice upon herself under this bitter fate of alienating Feodor. +And it seemed frightful to Rouletabille that he should be present +at one of those horrible family dramas the issue of which in the +wild times of Peter the Great would have sent the general to the +hangman either as a father or as a husband. + +The general did not deign even to consider for any length of time +Matrena's delirium. He said to his daughter, who shook with sobs +on the floor, "Rise, Natacha Feodorovna." And Feodor's daughter +understood that her father never would believe in her guilt. She +drew herself up towards him and kissed his hands like a happy slave. + +At this moment repeated blows shook the veranda door. Matrena, the +watch-dog, anxious to die after Feodor's reproach, but still at her +post, ran toward what she believed to be a new danger. But she +recognized Koupriane's voice, which called on her to open. She let +him in herself. + +"What is it?" she implored. + +"Well, he is dead." + +A cry answered him. Natacha had heard. + +"But who - who - who?" questioned Matrena breathlessly. + +Koupriane went over to Feodor and grasped his hands. + +"General," he said, "there was a man who had sworn your ruin and +who was made an instrument by your enemies. We have just killed +that man." + +"Do I know him?" demanded Feodor. + +"He is one of your friends, you have treated him like a son." + +"His name?" + +"Ask your daughter, General." + +Feodor turned toward Natacha, who burned Koupriane with her gaze, +trying to learn what this news was he brought - the truth or a ruse. + +"You know the man who wished to kill me, Natacha?" + +"No," she replied to her father, in accents of perfect fury. "No, +I don't know any such man." + +"Mademoiselle," said Koupriane, in a firm, terribly hostile voice, +"you have yourself, with your own hands, opened that window to-night; +and you have opened it to him many other times besides. While +everyone else here does his duty and watches that no person shall be +able to enter at night the house where sleeps General Trebassof, +governor of Moscow, condemned to death by the Central Revolutionary +Committee now reunited at Presnia, this is what you do; it is you +who introduce the enemy into this place." + +"Answer, Natacha; tell me, yes or no, whether you have let anybody +into this house by night." + +"Father, it is true." + +Feodor roared like a lion: + +"His name!" + +"Monsieur will tell you himself," said Natacha, in a voice thick +with terror, and she pointed to Koupriane. "Why does he not tell +you himself the name of that person? He must know it, if the man +is dead." + +"And if the man is not dead," replied Feodor, who visibly held onto +himself, "if that man, whom you helped to enter my house this night, +has succeeded in escaping, as you seem to hope, will you tell us his +name?" + +"I could not tell it, Father." + +"And if I prayed you to do so?" + +Natacha desperately shook her head. + +"And if I order you?" + +"You can kill me, Father, but I will not pronounce that name." + +"Wretch!" + +He raised his stick toward her. Thus Ivan the Terrible had killed +his son with a blow of his boar-spear. + +But Natacha, instead of bowing her head beneath the blow that +menaced her, turned toward Koupriane and threw at him in accents of +triumph: + +"He is not dead. If you bad succeeded in taking him, dead or alive, +you would already have his name." + +Koupriane took two steps toward her, put his hand on her shoulder +and said: + +"Michael Nikolajevitch." + +"Michael Korsakoff!" cried the general. + +Matrena Petrovna, as if revolted by that suggestion, stood upright +to repeat: + +"Michael Korsakoff!" + +The general could not believe his ears, and was about to protest +when he noticed that his daughter had turned away and was trying to +flee to her room. He stopped her with a terrible gesture. + +"Natacha, you are going to tell us what Michael Korsakoff came here +to do to-night." + +"Feodor Feodorovitch, he came to poison you." + +It was Matrena who spoke now and whom nothing could have kept silent, +for she saw in Natacha's attempt at flight the most sinister +confession. Like a vengeful fury she told over with cries and +terrible gestures what she had experienced, as if once more stretched +before her the hand armed with the poison, the mysterious hand above +the pillow of her poor invalid, her dear, rigorous tyrant; she told +them about the preceding night and all her terrors, and from her +lips, by her voluble staccato utterance that ominous recital had +grotesque emphasis. Finally she told all that she had done, she +and the little Frenchman, in order not to betray their suspicions +to The Other, in order to take finally in their own trap all those +who for so many days and nights schemed for the death of Feodor +Feodorovitch. As she ended she pointed out Rouletabille to Feodor +and cried, "There is the one who has saved you." + +Natacha, as she listened to this tragic recital, restrained herself +several times in order not to interrupt, and Rouletabille, who was +watching her closely, saw that she had to use almost superhuman +efforts in order to achieve that. All the horror of what seemed to +be to her as well as to Feodor a revelation of Michael's crime did +not subdue her, but seemed, on the contrary, to restore to her in +full force all the life that a few seconds earlier had fled from her. +Matrena had hardly finished her cry, " There is the one who has +saved you," before Natacha cried in her turn, facing the reporter +with a look full of the most frightful hate, "There is the one who +has heen the death of an innocent man!" She turned to her father. +"Ah, papa, let me, let me say that Michael Nikolaievitch, who came +here this evening, I admit, and whom, it is true, I let into the +house, tbat Michael Nikolaievitch did not come here yesterday, and +that the man who has tried to poison you is certainly someone else." + +At these words Rouletabille turned pale, but he did not let himself +lose self-control. He replied simply: + +"No, mademoiselle, it was the same man." + +And Koupriane felt compelled to add: + +"Anyway, we have found the proof of Michael Nikolaievitch's relations +with the revolutionaries." + +"Where have you found that?" questioned the young girl, turning +toward the Chief of Police a face ravished with anguish. + +"At Krestowsky, mademoiselle." + +She looked a long time at him as though she would penetrate to the +bottom of his thoughts. + +"What proofs?" she implored. + +"A correspondence which we have placed under seal." + +"Was it addressed to him? What kind of correspondence?" + +"If it interests you, we will open it before you." + +"My God! My God!" she gasped. "Where have you found this +correspondence? Where? Tell me where!" + +"I will tell you. `At the villa, in his chamber. We forced the +lock of his bureau." + +She seemed to breathe again, but her father took her brutally by +the arm. + +"Come, Natacha, you are going to tell us what that man was doing +here to-night." + +"In her chamber!" cried Matrena Petrovna. + +Natacha turned toward Matrena: + +"What do you believe, then? Tell me now." + +"And I, what ought I to believe?" muttered Feodor. "You have not +told me yet. You did not know that man had relations with my +enemies. You are innocent of that, perhaps. I wish to think so. +I wish it, in the name of Heaven I wish it. But why did you +receive him? Why? Why did you bring him in here, as a robber +or as a..." + +"Oh, papa, you know that I love Boris, that I love him with all my +heart, and that I would never belong to anyone but him." + +"Then, then, then. - speak!" + +The young girl had reached the crisis. + +"Ah, Father, Father, do not question me! You, you above all, do +not question me now. I can say nothing! There is nothing I can +tell you. Excepting that I am sure - sure, you understand - that +Michael Nikolaievitch did not come here last night." + +"He did come," insisted Rouletabille in a slightly troubled voice. + +"He came here with poison. He came here to poison your father, +Natacha," moaned Matrena Petrovna, who twined her hands in gestures +of sincere and naive tragedy. + +"And I," replied the daughter of Feodor ardently, with an accent of +conviction which made everyone there vibrate, and particularly +Rouletabille, "and I, I tell you it was not he, that it was not he, +that it could not possibly be he. I swear to you it was another, +another." + +"But then, this other, did you let him in as well?" said Koupriane. + +"Ah, yes, yes. It was I. It was I. It was I who left the window +and blinds open. Yes, it is I who did that. But I did not wait for +the other, the other who came to assassinate. As to Michael +Nikolaievitch, I swear to you, my father, by all that is most sacred +in heaven and on earth, that he could not have committed the crime +that you say. And now - kill me, for there is nothing more I can +say." + +"The poison," replied Koupriane coldly, "the poison that he poured +into the general's potion was that arsenate of soda which was on +the grapes the Marshal of the Court brought here. Those grapes +were left by the Marshal, who warned Michael Nikolaievitch and +Boris Alexandrovitch to wash them. The grapes disappeared. If +Michael is innocent, do you accuse Boris?" + +Natacha, who seemed to have suddenly lost all power for defending +herself, moaned, begged, railed, seemed dying. + +"No, no. Don't accuse Boris. He has nothing to do with it. Don't +accuse Michael. Don't accuse anyone so long as you don't know. But +these two are innocent. Believe me. Believe me. Ah, how shall I +say it, how shall I persuade you! I am not able to say anything to +you. And you have killed Michael. Ah, what have you done, what +have you done!" + +"We have suppressed a man," said the icy voice of Koupriane, "who +was merely the agent for the base deeds of Nihilism." + +She succeeded in recovering a new energy that in her depths of +despair they would have supposed impossible. She shook her fists +at Koupriane: + +"It is not true, it is not true. These are slanders, infamies! The +inventions of the police! Papers devised to incriminate him. There +is nothing at all of what you said you found at his house. It is +not possible. It is not true." + +"Where are those papers?" demanded the curt voice of Feodor. "Bring +them here at once, Koupriane; I wish to see them." + +Koupriane was slightly troubled, and this did not escape Natacha, +who cried: + +"Yes, yes, let him give us them, let him bring them if he has them. +But he hasn't," she clamored with a savage joy. "He has nothing. +You can see, papa, that he has nothing. He would already have +brought them out. He has nothing. I tell you he has nothing. Ah, +he has nothing! He has nothing!" + +And she threw herself on the floor, weeping, sobbing, "He has +nothing, he has nothing!" She seemed to weep for joy. + +"Is that true?" demanded Feodor Feodorovitch, with his most somber +manner. "Is it true, Koupriane, that you have nothing?" + +"It is true, General, that we have found nothing. Everything had +already been carried away." + +But Natacha uttered a veritable torrent of glee: + +"He has found nothing! Yet he accuses him of being allied with the +revolutionaries. Why? Why? Because I let him in? But I, am I a +revolutionary? Tell me. Have I sworn to kill papa? I? I? Ah, he +doesn't know what to say. You see for yourself, papa, he is silent. +He has lied. He has lied." + +"Why have you made this false statement, Koupriane?" + +"Oh, we have suspected Michael for some time, and truly, after what +has just happened, we cannot have any doubt." + +"Yes, but you declared you had papers, and you have not. That is +abominable procedure, Koupriane," replied Feodor sternly. "I have +heard you condemn such expedients many times." + +"General! We are sure, you hear, we are absolutely sure that the +man who tried to poison you yesterday and the man to-day who is +dead are one and the same." + +"And what reason have you for being so sure? It is necessary to +tell it," insisted the general, who trembled with distress and +impatience. + +"Yes, let him tell now." + +"Ask monsieur," said Koupriane. + +They all turned to Rouletabille. + +The reporter replied, affecting a coolness that perhaps he did not +entirely feel: + +"I am able to state to you, as I already have before Monsieur the +Prefect of Police, that one, and only one, person has left the +traces of his various climbings on the wall and on the balcony." + +"Idiot!" interrupted Natacha, with a passionate disdain for the +young man. "And that satisfies you?" + +The general roughly seized the reporter's wrist: + +"Listen to me, monsieur. A man came here this night. That concerns +only me. No one has any right to be astonished excepting myself. I +make it my own affair, an affair between my daughter and me. But +you, you have just told us that you are sure that man is an assassin. +Then, you see, that calls for something else. Proofs are necessary, +and I want the proofs at once. You speak of traces; very well, we +will go and examine those traces together. And I wish for your sake, +monsieur, that I shall be as convinced by them as you are." + +Rouletabille quietly disengaged his wrist and replied with perfect +calm: + +"Now, monsieur, I am no longer able to prove anything to you." + +"Why?" + +"Because the ladders of the police agents have wiped out all my +proofs, monsieur. + +"So now there remains for us only your word, only your belief in +yourself. And if you are mistaken?" + +"He would never admit it, papa," cried Natacha. "Ah, it is he who +deserves the fate Michael Nikolaievitch has met just now. Isn't it +so? Don't you know it? And that will be your eternal remorse! Isn't +there something that always keeps you from admitting that you are +mistaken? You have had an innocent man killed. Now, you know well +enough, you know well that I would not have admitted Michael +Nikolaievitch here if I had believed he was capable of wishing to +poison my father." + +"Mademoiselle," replied Rouletabille, not lowering his eyes under +Natacha's thunderous regard, "I am sure of that." + +He said it in such a tone that Natacha continued to look at him +with incomprehensible anguish in her eyes. Ah, the baffling of +those two regards, the mute scene between those two young people, +one of whom wished to make himself understood and the other afraid +beyond all other things of being thoroughly understood. Natacha +murmured: + +"How he looks at me! See, he is the demon; yes, yes, the little +domovoi, the little domovoi. But look out, poor wretch; you don't +know what you have done." + +She turned brusquely toward Koupriane: + +"Where is the body of Michael Nikolaievitch?" said she. "I wish to +see it. I must see it." + +Feodor Feodorovitch had fallen, as though asleep, upon a chair. +Matrena Petrovna dared not approach him. The giant appeared hurt +to the death, disheartened forever. What neither bombs, nor bullets, +nor poison had been able to do, the single idea of his daughter's +co-operation in the work of horror plotted about him - or rather +the impossibility he faced of understanding Natacha's attitude, her +mysterious conduct, the chaos of her explanations, her insensate +cries, her protestations of innocence, her accusations, her menaces, +her prayers and all her disorder, the avowed fact of her share in +that tragic nocturnal adventure where Michael Nikolaievitch found +his death, had knocked over Feodor Feodorovitch like a straw. One +instant he sought refuge in some vague hope that Koupriane was less +assured than he pretended of the orderly's guilt. But that, after +all, was only a detail of no importance in his eyes. What alone +mattered was the significance of Natacha's act, and the unhappy +girl seemed not to be concerned over what he would think of it. +She was there to fight against Koupriane, Rouletabille and Matrena +Petrovna, defending her Michael Nikolajevitch, while he, the father, +after having failed to overawe her just now, was there in a corner +suffering agonizedly. + +Koupriane walked over to him and said: + +"Listen to me carefully, Feodor Feodorovitch. He who speaks to you +is Head of the Police by the will of the Tsar, and your friend by +the grace of God. If you do not demand before us, who are acquainted +with all that has happened and who know how to keep any necessary +secret, if you do not demand of your daughter the reason for her +conduct with Michael Nikolaievitch, and if she does not tell you +in all sincerity, there is nothing more for me to do here. My men +have already been ordered away from this house as unworthy to guard +the most loyal subject of His Majesty; I have not protested, but +now I in my turn ask you to prove to me that the most dangerous +enemy you have had in your house is not your daughter." + +These words, which summed up the horrible situation, came as a +relief for Feodor. Yes, they must know. Koupriane was right. She +must speak. He ordered his daughter to tell everything, everything. + +Natacha fixed Koupriane again with her look of hatred to the death, +turned from him and repeated in a firm voice: + +"I have nothing to say." + +"There is the accomplice of your assassins," growled Koupriane then, +his arm extended. + +Natacha uttered a cry like a wounded beast and fell at her father's +feet. She gathered them within her supplicating arms. She pressed +them to her breasts. She sobbed from the bottom of her heart. And +he, not comprehending, let her lie there, distant, hostile, somber. +Then she moaned, distractedly, and wept bitterly, and the dramatic +atmosphere in which she thus suddenly enveloped Feodor made it all +sound like those cries of an earlier time when the all-powerful, +punishing father appeared in the women's apartments to punish the +culpable ones. + +"My father! Dear Father! Look at me! Look at me! Have pity on +me, and do not require me to speak when I must be silent forever. +And believe me! Do not believe these men! Do not believe Matrena +Petrovna. And am I not your daughter? Your very own daughter! Your +Natacha Feodorovna! I cannot make things dear to you. No, no, by +the Holy Virgin Mother of Jesus I cannot explain. By the holy ikons, +it is because I must not. By my mother, whom I have not known and +whose place you have taken, oh, my father, ask me nothing more! +Ask me nothing more! But take me in your arms as you did when I +was little; embrace me, dear father; love me. I never have had such +need to be loved. Love me! I am miserable. Unfortunate me, who +cannot even kill myself before your eyes to prove my innocence and +my love. Papa, Papa! What will your arms be for in the days left +you to live, if you no longer wish to press me to your heart? Papa! +Papa!" + +She laid her head on Feodor's knees. Her hair had come down and +hung about her in a magnificent disorderly mass of black. + +"Look in my eyes! Look in my eyes! See how they love you, +Batouchka! Batouchka! My dear Batouchka!" + +Then Feodor wept. His great tears fell upon Natacha's tears. He +raised her head and demanded simply in a broken voice: + +"You can tell me nothing now? But when will you tell me?" + +Natacha lifted her eyes to his, then her look went past him toward +heaven, and from her lips came just one word, in a sob: + +"Never." + +Matrena Petrovna, Koupriane and the reporter shuddered before the +high and terrible thing that happened then. Feodor had taken his +daughter's face between his hands. He looked long at those eyes +raised toward heaven, the mouth which had just uttered the word +"Never," then, slowly, his rude lips went to the tortured, quivering +lips of the girl. He held her close. She raised her head wildly, +triumphantly, and cried, with arm extended toward Matrena Petrovna: + +"He believes me! He believes me! And you would have believed me +also if you had been my real mother." + +Her head fell back and she dropped unconscious to the floor. Feodor +fell to his knees, tending her, deploring her, motioning the others +out of the room. + +"Go away! All of you, go! All! You, too, Matrena Petrovna. Go +away!" + +They disappeared, terrified by his savage gesture. + +In the little datcha across the river at Krestowsky there was a +body. Secret Service agents guarded it while they waited for their +chief. Michael Nikolaievitch had come there to die, and the police +had reached him just at his last breath. They were behind him as, +with the death-rattle in his throat, he pulled himself into his +chamber and fell in a heap. Katharina the Bohemian was there. She +bent her quick-witted, puzzled head over his death agony. The +police swarmed everywhere, ransacking, forcing locks, pulling +drawers from the bureau and tables, emptying the cupboards. Their +search took in everything, even to ripping the mattresses, and not +respecting the rooms of Boris Mourazoff, who was away this night. +They searched thoroughly, but they found absolutely nothing they +were looking for in Michael's rooms. But they accumulated a +multitude of publications that belonged to Boris: Western books, +essays on political economy, a history of the French Revolution, +and verses that a man ought to hang for. They put them all under +seal. During the search Michael died in Katharina's arms. She +had held him close, after opening his clothes over the chest, +doubtless to make his last breaths easier. The unfortunate officer +had received a bullet at the back of the head just after he had +plunged into the Neva from the rear of the Trebassof datcha and +started to swim across. It was a miracle that he had managed to +keep going. Doubtless he hoped to die in peace if only he could +reach his own house. He apparently had believed he could manage +that once he had broken through his human bloodhounds. He did not +know he was recognized and his place of retreat therefore known. + +Now the police had gone from cellar to garret. Koupriane came from +the Trebassof villa and joined them, Rouletabille followed him. +The reporter could not stand the sight of that body, that still had +a lingering warmth, of the great open eyes that seemed to stare at +him, reproaching him for this violent death. He turned away in +distaste, and perhaps a little in fright. Koupriane caught the +movement. + +"Regrets?" he queried. + +"Yes," said Rouletabille. "A death always must be regretted. None +the less, he was a criminal. But I'm sincerely sorry he died before +he had been driven to confess, even though we are sure of it." + +"Being in the pay of the Nihilists, you mean? That is still your +opinion?" asked Koupriane. + +"Yes." + +"You know that nothing has been found here in his rooms. The only +compromising papers that have been found belong to Boris Mourazoff." + +"Why do you say that?" + +"Oh - nothing." + +Koupriane questioned his men further. They replied categorically. +No, nothing had been found that directly incriminated anybody; and +suddenly Rouletabille noted that the conversation of the police and +their chief had grown more animated. Koupriane had become angry +and was violently reproaching them. They excused themselves with +vivid gesture and rapid speech. + +Koupriane started away. Rouletabille followed him. What had +happened? + +As he came up behind Koupriane, he asked the question. In a few +curt words, still hurrying on, Koupriane told the reporter he had +just learned that the police had left the little Bohemian Katharina +alone for a moment with the expiring officer. Katharina acted as +housekeeper for Michael and Boris. She knew the secrets of them +both. The first thing any novice should have known was to keep a +constant eye upon her, and now no one knew where she was. She must +be searched for and found at once, for she had opened Michael's +shirt, and therein probably lay the reason that no papers were found +on the corpse when the police searched it. The absence of papers, +of a portfolio, was not natural. + +The chase commenced in the rosy dawn of the isles. Already +blood-like tints were on the horizon. Some of the police cried +that they had the trail. They ran under the trees, because it was +almost certain she had taken the narrow path leading to the bridge +that joins Krestowsky to Kameny-Ostrow. Some indications discovered +by the police who swarmed to right and left of the path confirmed +this hypothesis. And no carriage in sight! They all ran on, +Koupriane among the first. Rouletabille kept at his heels, but he +did not pass him. Suddenly there were cries and calls among the +police. One pointed out something below gliding upon the sloping +descent. It was little Kathanna. She flew like the wind, but in +a distracted course. She had reached Kameny-Ostrow on the west +bank. "Oh, for a carriage, a horse!" clamored Koupriane, who had +left his turn-out at Eliaguine. "The proof is there. It is the +final proof of everything that is escaping us!" + +Dawn was enough advanced now to show the ground clearly. Katharina +was easily discernible as she reached the Eliaguine bridge. There +she was in Eliaguine-Ostrow. What was she doing there? Was she +going to the Trebassof villa? What would she have to say to them? +No, she swerved to the right. The police raced behind her. She +was still far ahead, and seemed untiring. Then she disappeared +among the trees, in the thicket, keeping still to the right. +Koupriane gave a cry of joy. Going that way she must be taken. He +gave some breathless orders for the island to be barred. She could +not escape now! She could not escape! But where was she going? +Koupriane knew that island better than anybody. He took a short +cut to reach the other side, toward which Katharina seemed to be +heading, and all at once he nearly fell over the girl, who gave a +squawk of surprise and rushed away, seeming all arms and legs. + +"Stop, or I fire!" cried Koupriane, and he drew his revolver. But +a hand grabbed it from him. + +"Not that!" said Rouletabille, as be threw the revolver far from +them. Koupriane swore at him and resumed the chase. His fury +multiplied his strength, his agility; he almost reached Katharina, +who was almost out of breath, but Rouletabille threw himself into +the Chief's arms and they rolled together upon the grass. When +Koupriane rose, it was to see Katharina mounting in mad haste the +stairs that led to the Barque, the floating restaurant of the +Strielka. Cursing Rouletabille, but believing his prey easily +captured now, the Chief in his turn hurried to the Barque, into +which Katharina had disappeared. He reached the bottom of the +stairs. On the top step, about to descend from the festive place, +the form of Prince Galltch appeared. Koupriane received the sight +like a blow stopping him short in his ascent. Galitch had an +exultant air which Koupriane did not mistake. Evidently he had +arrived too late. He felt the certainty of it in profound +discouragement. And this appearance of the prince on the Barque +explained convincingly enough the reason for Katharina's flight +here. + +If the Bohemian had filched the papers or the portfolio from the +dead, it was the prince now who had them in his pocket. + +Koupriane, as he saw the prince about to pass him, trembled. The +prince saluted him and ironically amused himself by inquiring: + +"Well, well, how do you do, my dear Monsieur Koupriane. Your +Excellency has risen in good time this morning, it seems to me. +Or else it is I who start for bed too late." + +"Prince," said Koupriane, "my men are in pursuit of a little Bohemian +named Katharina, well known in the restaurants where she sings. We +have seen her go into the Barque. Have you met her by any chance?" + +"Good Lord, Monsieur Koupriane, I am not the concierge of the Barque, +and I have not noticed anything at all, and nobody. Besides, I am +naturally a little sleepy. Pardon me." + +"Prince, it is not possible that you have not seen Katharina." + +"Oh, Monsieur the Prefect of Police, if I had seen her I would not +tell you about it, since you are pursuing her. Do you take me for +one of your bloodhounds? They say you have them in all classes, +but I insist that I haven't enlisted yet. You have made a mistake, +Monsieur Koupriane." + +The prince saluted again. But Koupriane still stood in his way. + +"Prince, consider that this matter is very serious. Michael +Nikolaievitch, General Trebassof's orderly, is dead, and this +little girl has stolen his papers from his body. All persons who +have spoken with Katharina will be under suspicion. This is an +affair of State, monsieur, which may reach very far. Can you +swear to me that you have not seen, that you have not spoken to +Katharina?" + +The prince looked at Koupriane so insolently that the Prefect turned +pale with rage. Ah, if he were able - if he only dared! - but such +men as this were beyond him. Galitch walked past him without a word +of answer, and ordered the schwitzar to call him a carriage. + +"Very well," said Koupriane, "I will make my report to the Tsar." + +Galitch turned. He was as pale as Koupriane. + +"In that case, monsieur," said he, "don't forget to add that I am +His Majesty's most humble servant." + +The carriage drew up. The prince stepped in. Koupriane watched +him roll away, raging at heart and with his fists doubled. Just +then his men came up. + +"Go. Search," he said roughiy, pointing into the Barque. + +They scattered through the establishment, entering all the rooms. +Cries of irritation and of protest arose. Those lingering after +the latest of late suppers were not pleased at this invasion of the +police. Everybody had to rise while the police looked under the +tables, the benches, the long table-cloths. They went into the +pantries and down into the bold. No sign of Katharina. Suddenly +Koupriane, who leaned against a netting and looked vaguely out upon +the horizon, waiting for the outcome of the search, got a start. +Yonder, far away on the other side of the river, between a little +wood and the Staria Derevnia, a light boat drew to the shore, and a +little black spot jumped from it like a flea. Koupriane recognized +the little black spot as Kathanna. She was safe. Now he could not +reach her. It would be useless to search the maze of the Bohemian +quarter, where her country-people lived in full control, with +customs and privileges that had never been infringed. The entire +Bohemian population of the capital would have risen against him. +It was Prince Galitch who had made him fail. One of his men came +to him: + +"No luck," said he. "We have not found Katharina, but she has been +here nevertheless. She met Prince Galitch for just a minute, and +gave him something, then went over the other side into a canoe." + +"Very well," and the Prefect shrugged his shoulders. "I was sure of +it." + +He felt more and more, exasperated. He went down along the river +edge and the first person he saw was Rouletabille, who waited for +him without any impatience, seated philosophically on a bench. + +"I was looking for you," cried the Prefect. "We have failed. By +your fault! If you had not thrown yourself into my arms -" + +"I did it on purpose," declared the reporter. + +"What! What is that you say? You did it on purpose?" + +Koupriane choked with rage. + +"Your Excellency," said Rouletabille, taking him by the arm, "calm +yourself. They are watching us. Come along and have a cup of tea +at Cubat's place. Easy now, as though we were out for a walk." + +"Will you explain to me?" + +"No, no, Your Excellency. Remember that I have promised you General +Trebassof's life in exchange for your prisoner's. Very well; by +throwing myself in your arms and keeping you from reaching Katharina, +I saved the general's life. It is very simple." + +"Are you laughing at me? Do you think you can mock me?" + +But the prefect saw quickly that Rouletabille was not fooling and +had no mockery in his manner. + +"Monsieur," he insisted, "since you speak seriously, I certainly +wish to understand -" + +"It is useless," said Rouletabille. "It is very necessary that you +should not understand." + +"But at least..." + +"No, no, I can't tell you anything." + +"When, then, will you tell me something to explain your unbelievable +conduct?" + +Rouletabille stopped in his tracks and declared solemnly: + +"Monsieur Koupriane, recall what Natacha Feodorovna as she raised her +lovely eyes to heaven, replied to her father, when he, also, wished +to understand: 'Never.'" + + + + + +XI + +THE POISON CONTINUE5 + +At ten o'clock that morning Rouletabille went to the Trebassof +villa, which had its guard of secret agents again, a double guard, +because Koupriane was sure the Nihilists would not delay in avenging +Michael's death. Rouletabille was met by Ermolai, who would not +allow him to enter. The faithful servant uttered some explanation +in Russian, which the young man did not understand, or, rather, +Rouletabille understood perfectly from his manner that henceforth +the door of the villa was closed to him. In vain he insisted on +seeing the general, Matrena Petrovna and Mademoiselle Natacha. +Ermolai made no reply but "Niet, niet, niet." The reporter turned +away without having seen anyone, and walked away deeply depressed. +He went afoot clear into the city, a long promenade, during which +his brain surged with the darkest forebodings. As he passed by the +Department of Police he resolved to see Koupriane again. He went +in, gave his name, and was ushered at once to the Chief of Police, +whom he found bent over a long report that he was reading through +with noticeable agitation. + +"Gounsovski has sent me this," he said in a rough voice, pointing +to the report. "Gounsovski, 'to do me a service,' desires me to +know that he is fully aware of all that happened at the Trebassof +datcha last night. He warns me that the revolutionaries have +decided to get through with the general at once, and that two of +them have been given the mission to enter the datcha in any way +possible. They will have bombs upon their bodies and will blow +the bombs and themselves up together as soon as they are beside the +general. Who are the two victims designated for this horrible +vengeance, and who have light-heartedly accepted such a death for +themselves as well as for the general? That is what we don't know. +That is what we would have known, perhaps, if you had not prevented +me from seizing the papers that Prince Galitch has now," Koupriane +finished, turning hostilely toward Rouletabille. + +Rouletabille had turned pale. + +"Don't regret what happened to the papers," he said. "It is I who +tell you not to. But what you say doesn't surprise me. They must +believe that Natacha has betrayed them." + +"Ah, then you admit at last that she really is their accomplice?" + +"I haven't said that and I don't admit it. But I know what I mean, +and you, you can't. Only, know this one thing, that at the present +moment I am the only person able to save you in this horrible +situation. To do that I must see Natacha at once. Make her +understand this, while I wait at my hotel for word. I'll not leave +it." + +Rouletabille saluted Koupriane and went out. + +Two days passed, during which Rouletabille did not receive any word +from either Natacha or Koupriane, and tried in vain to see them. +He made a trip for a few hours to Finland, going as far as Pergalovo, +an isolated town said to be frequented by the revolutionaries, then +returned, much disturbed, to his hotel, after having written a last +letter to Natacha imploring an interview. The minutes passed very +slowly for him in the hotel's vestibule, where he had seemed to have +taken up a definite residence. + +Installed on a bench, he seemed to have become part of the hotel +staff, and more than one traveler took him for an interpreter. +Others thought he was an agent of the Secret Police appointed to +study the faces of those arriving and departing. What was he +waiting for, then? Was it for Annouchka to return for a luncheon +or dinner in that place that she sometimes frequented? And did he +at the same time keep watch upon Annouchka's apartments just across +the way? If that was so, he could only bewail his luck, for +Annouchka did not appear either at her apartments or the hotel, or +at the Krestowsky establishment, which had been obliged to suppress +her performance. Rouletabille naturally thought, in the latter +connection, that some vengeance by Gounsovski lay back of this, +since the head of the Secret Service could hardly forget the way he + +had been treated. The reporter could see already the poor singer, +in spite of all her safeguards and the favor of the Imperial family, +on the road to the Siberian steppes or the dungeons of Schlusselbourg. + +"My, what a country!" he murmured. + +But his thoughts soon quit Annouchka and returned to the object of +his main preoccupation. He waited for only one thing, and for that +as soon as possible - to have a private interview with Natacha. He +had written her ten letters in two days, but they all remained +unanswered. It was an answer that he waited for so patiently in +the vestibule of the hotel - so patiently, but so nervously, so +feverishly. + +When the postman entered, poor Rouletabille's heart beat rapidly. +On that answer he waited for depended the formidable part he meant +to play before quitting Russia. He had accomplished nothing up to +now, unless he could play his part in this later development. + +But the letter did not come. The postman left, and the schwitzar, +after examining all the mail, made him a negative sign. Ah, the +servants who entered, and the errand-boys, how he looked at them! +But they never came for him. Finally, at six o'clock in the evening +of the second day, a man in a frock-coat, with a false astrakhan +collar, came in and handed the concierge a letter for Joseph +Rouletabille. The reporter jumped up. Before the man was out the +door he had torn open the letter and read it. The letter was not +from Natacha. It was from Gounsovski. This is what it said: + +"My dear Monsieur Joseph Rouletabille, if it will not inconvenience +you, I wish you would oome and dine with me to-day. I will look +for you within two hours. Madame Gounsovski will be pleased to make +your acquaintance. Believe me your devoted Gounsovski." + +Rouletabille considered, and decided: + +"I will go. He ought to have wind of what is being plotted, and as +for me, I don't know where Annoucbka has gone. I have more to learn +from him than he has from me. Besides, as Athanase Georgevitch said, +one may regret not accepting the Head of the Okrana's pleasant +invitation." + +>From six o'clock to seven he still waited vainly for Natacha's +response. At seven o'clock, he decided to dress for the dinner. +Just as he rose, a messenger arrived. There was still another +letter for Joseph Rouletabille. This time it was from Natacha, who +wrote him: + +"General Trebassof and my step-mother will be very happy to have +you come to dinner to-day. As for myself, monsieur, you will pardon +me the order which has closed to you for a number of days a dwelling +where you have rendered services which I shall not forget all my +life." + +The letter ended with a vague polite formula. With the letter in +his hand the reporter sat in thought. He seemed to be asking +himself, "Is it fish or flesh?" Was it a letter of thanks or of +menace? That was what he could not decide. Well, he would soon +know, for he had decided to accept that invitation. Anything that +brought him and Natacha into communication at the moment was a thing +of capital importance to him. Half-an-hour later he gave the +address of the villa to an isvotchick, and soon he stepped out +before the gate where Ermolai seemed to be waiting for him. + +Rouletabille was so occupied by thought of the conversation he was +going to have with Natacha that he had completely forgotten the +excellent Monsieur Gounsovski and his invitation. + +The reporter found Koupriane's agents making a close-linked chain +around the grounds and each watching the other. Matrena had not +wished any agent to be in house. He showed Koupriane's pass and +entered. + +Ermolai ushered Rouletabille in with shining face. He seemed glad +to have him there again. He bowed low before him and uttered many +compliments, of which the reporter did not understand a word. +Rouletablle passed on, entered the garden and saw Matrena Petrovna +there walking with her step-daughter. They seemed on the best of +terms with each other. The grounds wore an air of tranquillity and +the residents seemed to have totally forgotten the somber tragedy +of the other night. Matrena and Natacha came smilingly up to the +young man, who inquired after the general. They both turned and +pointed out Feodor Feodorovitch, who waved to him from the height +of the kiosk, where it seemed the table had been spread. They were +going to dine out of doors this fine night. + +"Everything goes very well, very well indeed, dear little domovoi," +said Matrena. "How glad it is to see you and thank you. If you +only knew how I suffered in your absence, I who know how unjust my +daughter was to you. But dear Natacha knows now what she owes you. +She doesn't doubt your word now, nor your clear intelligence, little +angel. Michael Nikolaievitch was a monster and he was punished as +he deserved. You know the police have proof now that he was one of +the Central Revolutionary Committee's most dangerous agents. And +he an officer! Whom can we trust now!" + +"And Monsieur Boris Mourazoff, have you seen him since?" inquired +Rouletabille. + +"Boris called to see us to-day, to say good-by, but we did not +receive him, under the orders of the police. Natacha has written +to tell him of Koupriane's orders. We have received letters from +him; he is quitting St. Petersburg. + +"What for?" + +"Well, after the frightful bloody scene in his little house, when +he learned how Michael Nikolaievitch had found his death, and after +he himself had undergone a severe grilling from the police, and +when he learned the police had sacked his library and gone through +his papers, he resigned, and has resolved to live from now on out +in the country, without seeing anyone, like the philosopher and +poet he is. So far as I am concerned, I think he is doing absolutely +right. When a young man is a poet, it is useless to live like a +soldier. Someone has said that, I don't know the name now, and +when one has ideas that may upset other people, surely they ought +to live in solitude." + +Rouletabille looked at Natacha, who was as pale as her white gown, +and who added no word to her mother's outburst. They had drawn near +the kiosk. Rouletabille saluted the general, who called to him to +come up and, when the young man extended his hand, he drew him +abruptly nearer and embraced him. To show Rouletabille how active +he was getting again, Feodor Feodorovitch marched up and down the +kiosk with only the aid of a stick. He went and came with a sort +of wild, furious gayety. + +"They haven't got me yet, the dogs. They haven't got me! And one +(he was thinking of Michael) who saw me every day was here just for +that. Very well. I ask you where he is now. And yet here I am! +An attack! I'm always here! But with a good eye; and I begin to +have a good leg. We shall see. Why, I recollect how, when I was +at Tiflis, there was an insurrection in the Caucasus. We fought. +Several times I could feel the swish of bullets past my hair. My +comrades fell around me like flies. But nothing happened to me, +not a thing. And here now! They will not get me, they will not +get me. You know how they plan now to come to me, as living bombs. +Yes, they have decided on that. I can't press a friend's hand any +more without the fear of seeing him explode. What do you think of +that? But they won't get me. Come, drink my health. A small +glass of vodka for an appetizer. You see, young man, we are going +to have zakouskis here. What a marvelous panorama! You can see +everything from here. If the enemy comes," he added with a singular +loud laugh, "we can't fail to detect him." + +Certainly the kiosk did rise high above the garden and was +completely detached, no wall being near. They had a clear view. +No branches of trees hung over the roof and no tree hid the view. +The rustic table of rough wood was covered with a short cloth and +was spread with zakouskis. It was a meal under the open sky, a +seat and a glass in the clear azure. The evening could not have +been softer and clearer. And, as the general felt so gay, the +repast would have promised to be most agreeable, if Rouletabille +had not noticed that Matrena Petrovna and Natacha were uneasy and +downcast. The reporter soon saw, too, that all the general's +joviality was a little excessive. Anyone would have said that +Feodor Feodorovitch spoke to distract himself, to keep himself from +thinking. There was sufilcient excuse for him after the outrageous +drama of the other night. Rouletabille noticed further that the +general never looked at his daughter, even when he spoke to her. +There was too formidable a mystery lying between them for restraint +not to increase day by day. Rouletabille involuntarily shook his +head, saddened by all he saw. His movemerit was surprised by +Matrena Petrovna, who pressed his hand in silence. + +"Well, now," said the general, "well, now my children, where is the +vodka?" + +Among all the bottles which graced the table the general looked in +vain for his flask of vodka. How in the world could he dine if he +did not prepare for that important act by the rapid absorption of +two or three little glasses of white wine, between two or three +sandwiches of caviare! + +"Ermolai must have left it in the wine-chest," said Matrena. + +The wine-closet was in the dining-room. She rose to go there, but +Natacha hurried before her down the little flight of steps, crying, +"Stay there, mamma. I will go." + +"Don't you bother, either. I know where it is," cried Rouletabille, +and hurried after Natacha. + +She did not stop. The two young people arrived in the dining-room at +the same time. They were there alone, as Rouletabille had foreseen. +He stopped Natacha and planted himself in front of her. + +"Why, mademoiselle, did you not answer me earlier?" + +"Because I don't wish to have any conversation with you." + +"If that was so, you would not have come here, where you were sure +I would follow." + +She hesitated, with an emotion that would have been incomprehensible +to all others perhaps, but was not to Rouletabille. + +"Well, yes, I wished to say this to you: Don't write to me any more. +Don't speak to me. Don't see me. Go away from here, monsieur; go +away. They will have your life. And if you have found out anything, +forget it. Ah, on the head of your mother, forget it, or you are +lost. That is what I wished to tell you. And now, you go." + +She grasped his hand in a quick sympathetic movement that she seemed +instantly to regret. + +"You go away," she repeated. + +Rouletabille still held his place before her. She turned from him; +she did not wish to hear anything further. + +"Mademoiselle," said he, "you are watched closer than ever. Who +will take Michael Nikolaievitch's place?" + +"Madman, be silent! Hush!" + +"I am here." + +He said this with such simple bravery that tears sprang to her eyes. + +"Dear man! Poor man! Dear brave man!" She did not know what to +say. Her emotion checked all utterance. But it was necessary for +her to enable him to understand that there was nothing he could do +to help her in her sad straits. + +"No. If they knew what you have just said, what you have proposed +now, you would be dead to-morrow. Don't let them suspect. And +above all, don't try to see me anywhere. Go back to papa at once. +We have been here too long. What if they learn of it? - and they +learn everything! They are everywhere, and have ears everywhere." + +"Mademoiselle, just one word more, a single word. Do you doubt now +that Michael tried to poison your father?" + +"Ah, I wish to believe it. I wish to. I wish to believe it for +your sake, my poor boy." + +Rouletabille desired something besides "I wish to believe it for +your sake, my poor boy." He was far from being satisfied. She saw +him turn pale. She tried to reassure him while her trembling hands +raised the lid of the wine-chest. + +"What makes me think you are right is that I have decided myself +that only one and the same person, as you said, climbed to the +window of the little balcony. Yes, no one can doubt that, and you +have reasoned well." + +But he persisted still. + +"And yet, in spite of that, you are not entirely sure, since you +say, 'I wish to believe it, my poor boy.'" + +"Monsieur Rouletabille, someone might have tried to poison my father, +and not have come by way of the window." + +"No, that is impossible." + +"Nothing is impossible to them." + +And she turned her head away again. + +"Why, why," she said, with her voice entirely changed and quite +indifferent, as if she wished to be merely 'the daughter of the +house' in conversation with the young man, "the vodka is not in +the wine chest, after all. What has Ermolai done with it, then?" + +She ran over to the buffet and found the flask. + +"Oh, here it is. Papa shan't be without it, after all." + +Rouletabille was already into the garden again. + +"If that is the only doubt she has," he said to himself, "I can +reassure her. No one could come, excepting by the window. And +only one came that way." + +The young girl had rejoined him, bringing the flask. They crossed +the garden together to the general, who was whiling away the time +as he waited for his vodka explaining to Matrena Petrovna the nature +of "the constitution." He had spilt a box of matches on the table +and arranged them carefully. + +"Here," he cried to Natacha and Rouletabille. "Come here and I will +explain to you as well what this Constitution amounts to." + +The young people leaned over his demonstration curiously and all +eyes in the kiosk were intent on the matches. + +"You see that match," said Feodor Feodorovitch. "It is the Emperor. +And this other match is the Empress; this one is the Tsarevitch; +and that one is the Grand-duke Alexander; and these are the other +granddukes. Now, here are the ministers and there the principal +governors, and then the generals; these here are the bishops." + +The whole box of matches was used up, and each match was in its +place, as is the way in an empire where proper etiquette prevails +in government and the social order. + +"Well," continued the general, "do you want to know, Matrena +Petrovna, what a constitution is? There! That is the Constitution." + +The general, with a swoop of his hand, mixed all the matches. +Rouletabille laughed, but the good Matrena said: + +"I don't understand, Feodor." + +"Find the Emperor now." + +Then Matrena understood. She laughed heartily, she laughed +violently, and Natacha laughed also. Delighted with his success, +Feodor Feodorovitch took up one of the little glasses that Natacha +had filled with the vodka she brought. + +"Listen, my children," said he. "We are going to commence the +zakouskis. Koupriane ought to have been here before this." + +Saying this, holding still the little glass in his hand, he felt in +his pocket with the other for his watch, and drew out a magnificent +large watch whose ticking was easily heard. + +" Ah, the watch has come back from the repairer," Rouletabille +remarked smilingly to Matrena Petrovna. "It looks like a splendid +one." + +"1t has very fine works," said the general. "It was bequeathed to +me by my grandfather. It marks the seconds, and the phases of the +moon, and sounds the hours and half-hours." + +Rouletabille bent over the watch, admiring it. + +"You expect M. Koupriane for dinner?" inquired the young man, still +examining the watch. + +"Yes, but since he is so late, we'll not delay any longer. Your +healths, my children," said the general as Rouletabille handed him +back the watch and he put it in his pocket. + +"Your health, Feodor Feodorovitch," replied Matrena Petrovna, with +her usual tenderness. + +Rouletabille and Natacha only touched their lips to the vodka, but +Feodor Feodorovitch and Matrena drank theirs in the Russian fashion, +head back and all at a draught, draining it to the bottom and +flinging the contents to the back of the throat. They had no more +than performed this gesture when the general uttered an oath and +tried to expel what he had drained so heartily. Matrena Petrovna +spat violently also, looking with horror at her husband. + +"What is it? What has someone put in the vodka?" cried Feodor. + +"What has someone put in the vodka?" repeated Matrena Petrovna in +a thick voice, her eyes almost starting from her head. + +The two young people threw themselves upon the unfortunates. +Feodor's face had an expression of atrocious suffering. + +"We are poisoned," cried the general, in the midst of his chokings. +"I am burning inside." + +Almost mad, Natacha took her father's head in her hands. She cried +to him: + +"Vomit, papa; vomit!" + +"We must find an emetic," cried Rauletabille, holding on to the +general, who had almost slipped from his arms. + +Matrena Petrovna, whose gagging noises were violent, hurried down +the steps of the kiosk, crossed the garden as though wild-fire were +behind her, and bounded into the veranda. During this time the +general succeeded in easing himself, thanks to Rouletabille, who +had thrust a spoon to the root of his tongue. Natacha could do +nothing but cry, "My God, my God, my God!" Feodor held onto his +stomach, still crying, "I'm burning, I'm burning!" The scene was +frightfully tragic and funny at the same time. To add to the +burlesque, the general's watch in his pocket struck eight o'clock. +Feodor Feodorovitch stood up in a final supreme effort. "Oh, it is +horrible!" Matrena Petrovna showed a red, almost violet face as she +came back; she distorted it, she choked, her mouth twitched, but +she brought something, a little packet that she waved, and from +which, trembling frightenedly, she shook a powder into the first +two empty glasses, which were on her side of the table and were +those she and the general had drained. She still had strength to +fill them with water, while Rouletabille was almost overcome by the +general, whom he still had in his arms, and Natacha concerned +herself with nothing but her father, leaning over him as though +to follow the progress of the terrible poison, to read in his eyes +if it was to be life or death. "Ipecac," cried Matrena Petrovna, +and she made the general drink it. She did not drink until after +him. The heroic woman must have exerted superhuman force to go +herself to find the saving antidote in her medicine-chest, even +while the agony pervaded her vitals. + +Some minutes later both could be considered saved. The servants, +Ermolai at their head, were clustered about. Most of them had been +at the lodge and they had not, it appeared, heard the beginning of +the affair, the cries of Natacha and Rouletabille. Koupriane +arrived just then. It was he who worked with Natacha in getting +the two to bed. Then he directed one of his agents to go for the +nearest doctors they could find. + +This done, the Prefect of Police went toward the kiosk where he had +left Rouletabille. But Rouletabille was not to be found, and the +flask of vodka and the glasses from which they had drunk were gone +also. Ermolai was near-by, and he inquired of the servant for the +young Frenchman. Ermolai replied that he had just gone away, +carrying the flask and the glasses. Koupriane swore. He shook +Ermolai and even started to give him a blow with the fist for +permitting such a thing to happen before his eyes without making a +protest. + +Ermolai, who had his own haughtiness, dodged Koupriane's fist and +replied that he had wished to prevent the young Frenchman, hut the +reporter had shown him a police-paper on which Koupriane himself +had declared in advance that the young Frenchman was to do anything +he pleased. + + + + + +XII + +PERE ALEXIS + +Koupriane jumped into his carriage and hurried toward St. Petersburg. +On the way he spoke to three agents who only he knew were posted in +the neighborhood of Eliaguine. They told him the route Rouletabille +had taken. The reporter had certainly returned into the city. He +hurried toward Troitski Bridge. There, at the corner of the +Naberjnaia, Koupriane saw the reporter in a hired conveyance. +Rouletabille was pounding his coachman in the back, Russian fashion, +to make him go faster, and was calling with all his strength one of +the few words he had had time to learn, "Naleva, naleva" (to the +left). The driver was forced to understand at last, for there was +no other way to turn than to the left. If he had turned to the +right (naprava) he would have driven into the river. The +conveyance clattered over the pointed flints of a neighborhood that +led to a little street, Aptiekarski-Pereoulok, at the corner of the +Katharine canal. This "alley of the pharmacists" as a matter of +fact contained no pharmacists, but there was a curious sign of a +herbarium, where Rouletabille made the driver stop. As the carriage +rolled under the arch Rouletabille recognized Koupriane. He did +not wait, but cried to him, "Ah, here you are. All right; follow +me." He still had the flask and the glasses in his hands. Koupriane +couldn't help noticing how strange he looked. He passed through a +court with him, and into a squalid shop. + +"What," said Koupriane, "do you know Pere Alexis?" + +They were in the midst of a curious litter. Clusters of dried herbs +hung from the ceiling, and all among them were clumps of old boots, +shriveled skins, battered pans, scrap-iron, sheep-skins, useless +touloupes, and on the floor musty old clothes, moth-eaten furs, and +sheep-skin coats that even a moujik of the swamps would not have +deigned to wear. Here and there were old teeth, ragged finery, +dilapidated hats, and jars of strange herbs ranged upon some rickety +shelving. Between the set of scales on the counter and a heap of +little blocks of wood used for figuring the accounts of this singular +business were ungilded ikons, oxidized silver crosses, and Byzantine +pictures representing scenes from the Old and New Testaments. Jars +of alcohol with what seemed to be the skeletons of frogs swimming +in them filled what space was left. In a corner of this large, +murky room, under the vault of mossed stone, a small altar stood +and the light burned in a hanging glass of oil before the holy +images. A man was praying before the altar. He wore the costume +of old Russia, the caftan of green cloth, buttoned at the shoulder +and tucked in at the waist by a narrow belt. He had a bushy beard +and his hair fell to his shoulders. When he had finished his prayer +he rose, perceived Rouletabille and came over to take his hand. He +spoke French to the reporter: + +"Well, here you are again, lad. Do you bring poison again to-day? +This will end by being found out, and the police..." + +Just then he discerned Koupriane's form in the shadow, drew close +to make out who it was, and fell to his knees as he saw who it was. +Rouletabille tried to raise him, but he insisted on prostrating +himself. He was sure the Prefect of Police had come to his house +to hang him. Finally he was reassured by Rouletabile's positive +assertions and the great chief's robust laugh. The Prefect wished +to know how the young man came to be acquainted with the "alchemist" +of the police. Rouletabille told him in a few words. + +Maitre Alexis, in his youth, went to France afoot, to study pharmacy, +because of his enthusiasm for chemistry. But he always remained +countrified, very much a Russian peasant, a semi-Oriental bear, and +did not achieve his degree. He took some certificates, but the +examinations were too much for him. For fifty years he lived +miserably as a pharmacist's assistant in the back of a disreputable +shop in the Notre Dame quarter. The proprietor of the place was +implicated in the famous affair of the gold ingots, which started +Rouletabille's reputation, and was arrested along with his assistant, +Alexis. It was Rouletabille who proved, clear as day, that poor +Alexis was innocent, and that he had never been cognizant of his +master's evil ways, being absorbed in the depths of his laboratory +in trying to work out a naive alchemy which fascinated him, though +the world of chemistry had passed it by centuries ago. At the +trial Alexis was acquitted, but found himself in the street. He +shed what tears remained in his body upon the neck of the reporter, +assuring him of paradise if he got him back to his own country, +because he desired only the one thing more of life, that he might +see his birth-land before he died. Rouletabille advanced the +necessary means and sent him to St. Petersburg. There he was picked +up at the end of two days by the police, in a petty gambling-game, +and thrown into prison, where he promptly had a chance to show his +talents. He cured some of his companions in misery, and even some +of the guards. A guard who had an injured leg, whose healing he +had despaired of, was cured by Alexis. Then there was found to be +no actual charge against him. They set him free and, moreover, +they interested themselves in him. They found meager employment +for him in the Stchoukine-dvor, an immense popular bazaar. He +accumulated a few roubles and installed himself on his own account +at the back of a court in the Aptiekarski-Pereoulok, where he +gradually piled up a heap of old odds and ends that no one wanted +even in the Stchoukine-dvor. But he was happy, because behind his +shop he had installed a little laboratory where he continued for +his pleasure his experiments in alchemy and his study of plants. +He still proposed to write a book that he had already spoken of in +France to Rouletabille, to prove the truth of "Empiric Treatment +of Medicinal Herbs, the Science of Alchemy, and the Ancient +Experiments in Sorcery." Between times he continued to cure anyone +who applied to him, and the police in particular. The police guards +protected him and used him. He had splendid plasters for them after +"the scandal," as they called the October riots. So when the +doctors of the quarter tried to prosecute him for illegal practice, +a deputation of police-guards went to Koupriane, who took the +responsibility and discontinued proceedings against him. They +regarded him as under protection of the saints, and Alexis soon +came to be regarded himself as something of a holy man. He never +failed every Christmas and Easter to send his finest images to +Rouletabille, wishing him all prosperity and saying that if ever +he came to St. Petersburg he should be happy to receive him at +Aptiekarski-Pereoulok, where he was established in honest labor. +Pere Alexis, like all the true saints, was a modest man. + +When Alexis had recovered a little from his emotion Rouletabille +said to him: + +"Pere Alexis, I do bring you poison again, but you have nothing to +fear, for His Excellency the Chief of Police is with me. Here is +what we want you to do. You must tell us what poison these four +glasses have held, and what poison is still in this flask and this +little phial." + +"What is that little phial?" demanded Koupriane, as he saw +Rouletabille pull a small, stoppered bottle out of his pocket. + +The reporter replied, "I have put into this bottle the vodka that +was poured into Natacha's glass and mine and that we barely touched." + +"Someone has tried to poison you!" exclaimed Pere Alexis. + +"No, not me," replied Rouletabille, in bored fashion. "Don't think +about that. Simply do what I tell you. Then analyze these two +napkins, as well." + +And he drew from his coat two soiled napkins. + +"Well," said Koupriane, "you have thought of everything." + +"They are the napkins the general and his wife used." + +"Yes, yes, I understand that," said the Chief of Police. + +"And you, Alexis, do you understand?" asked the reporter. "When +can we have the result of your analysis? + +"In an hour, at the latest." + +"Very well," said Koupriane. "Now I need not tell you to hold your +tongue. I am going to leave one of my men here. You will write us +a note that you will seal, and he will bring it to head-quarters. +Sure you understand? In an hour?" + +"In an hour, Excellency." + +They went out, and Alexis followed them, bowing to the floor. +Koupriane had Rouletabille get into his carriage. The young man +did as he was told. One would have said he did not know where he +was or what he did. He made no reply to the chief's questions. + +"This Pere Alexander," resumed Koupriane, "is a character, really +quite a figure. And a bit of a schemer, I should say. He has seen +how Father John of Cronstadt succeeded, and he says to himself, +'Since the sailors had their Father John of Cronstadt, why shouldn't +the police-guard have their Father Alexis of Aptiekarski-Pereoulok?'" + +But Rouletabille did not reply at all, and Koupriane wound up by +demanding what was the matter with him. + +"The matter is," replied Rouletabille, unable longer to conceal his +anguish, "that the poison continues." + +"Does that astonish you?" returned Koupriane. "It doesn't me." + +Rouletabille looked at him and shook his head. His lips trembled +as he said, "I know what you think. It is abominable. But the +thing I have done certainly is more abominable still." + +"What have you done, then, Monsieur Rouletabille?" + +"Perhaps I have caused the death of an innocent man." + +"So long as you aren't sure of it, you would better not fret about +it, my dear friend." + +"It is enough that the doubt has arisen," said the reporter, "almost +to kill me;" and he heaved so gloomy a sigh that the excellent +Monsieur Koupriane felt pity for the lad. He tapped him on the knee. + +"Come, come, young man, you ought to know one thing by this time +- 'you can't make omelettes without breaking eggs,' as they say, I +think, in Paris." + +Rouletabille turned away from him with horror in his heart. If +there should be another, someone besides Michael! If it was another +hand than his that appeared to Matrena and him in the mysterious +night! If Michael Nikolaievitch had been innocent! Well, he +would kill himself, that was all. And those horrible words that he +had exchanged with Natacha rose in his memory, singing in his ears +as though they would deafen him. + +"Do you doubt still?" he had asked her, "that Michael tried to +poison your father?" + +And Natacha had replied, "I wish to believe it! I wish to believe +it, for your sake, my poor boy." And then he recalled her other +words, still more frightful now! "Couldn't someone have tried to +poison my father and not have come by the window?" He had faced +such a hypothesis with assurance then - but now, now that the poison +continued, continued within the house, where he believed himself +so fully aware of all people and things - continued now that Michael +Nikolaievitch was dead - ah, where did it come from, this poison? +- and what was it? Pere Alexis would hurry hiss analysis if he had +any regard for poor Rouletabille. + +For Rouletabille to doubt, and in an affair where already there was +one man dead through his agency, was torment worse than death. + +When they arrived at police-headquarters, Rouletabille jumped from +Koupriane's carriage and without saying a word hailed an empty +isvotchick that was passing. He had himself driven back to Pere +Alexis. His doubt mastered his will; he could not bear to wait +away. Under the arch of Aptiekarski-Pereoulok he saw once more +the man Koupriane had placed there with the order to bring him +Alexis's message. The man looked at him in astonishment. +Rouletabille crossed the court and entered the dingy old room once +more. Pere Alexis was not there, naturally, engaged as he was +in his laboratory. But a person whom he did not recognize at first +sight attracted the reporter's attention. In the half-light of the +shop a melancholy shadow leaned over the ikons on the counter. It +was only when he straightened up, with a deep sigh, and a little +light, deflected and yellow from passing through window-panes that +had known no touch of cleaning since they were placed there, fell +faintly on the face, that Rouletabille ascertained he was face to +face with Boris Mourazoff. It was indeed he, the erstwhile +brilliant officer whose elegance and charm the reporter had admired +as he saw him at beautiful Natacha's feet in the datcha at Eliaguine. +Now, no more in uniform, he had thrown over his bowed shoulders a +wretched coat, whose sleeves swayed listlessly at his sides, in +accord with his mood of languid desperation, a felt hat with the +rim turned down hid a little the misery in his face in tnese few +days, these not-many hours, how he was changed! But, even as he +was, he still concerned Rouletabille. What was he doing there? +Was he not going to go away, perhaps? He had picked up an ikon +from the counter and carried it over to the window to examine its +oxidized silver, giving such close attention to it that the reporter +hoped he might reach the door of the laboratory without being +noticed. He already had his hand on the knob of that door, which +was behind the counter, when he heard his name called. + +"It is you, Monsieur Rouletabille," said the low, sad voice of +Boris. "What has brought you here, then?" + +"Well, well, Monsieur Boris Mourazoff, unless I'm mistaken? I +certainly didn't expect to find you here in Pere Alexis's place." + +"Why not, Monsieur Rouletabille? One can find anything here in +Pere Alexis's stock. See; here are two old ikons in wood, carved +with sculptures, which came direct from Athos, and can't be equaled, +I assure you, either at Gastini-Dvor nor even at Stchoukine-Dvor" + +"Yes, yes, that is possible," said Rouletabille, impatiently. "Are +you an amateur of such things?" he added, in order to say something. + +"Oh, like anybody else. But I was going to tell you, Monsieur +Rouletabille, I have resigned my commission. I have resolved to +retire from the world; I am going on a long voyage." (Rouletabille +thought: 'Why not have gone at once?') "And before going, I have +come here to supply myself with some little gifts to send those of +my friends I particularly care for, although now, my dear Monsieur +Rouletabille, I don't care much for anything." + +"You look desolate enough, monsieur." + +Boris sighed like a child. + +"How could it be otherwise?" he said. "I loved and believed myself +beloved. But it proved to be - nothing, alas!" + +"Sometimes one only imagines things," said Rouletabille, keeping +his hand on the door. + +"Oh, yes," said the other, growing more and more melancholy. "So +a man suffers. He is his own tormentor; he himself makes the wheel +on which, like his own executioner, he binds himself." + +"It is not necessary, monsieur; it is not necessary," counseled the +reporter. + +"Listen," implored Boris in a voice that showed tears were not far +away. "You are still a child, but still you can see things. Do +you believe Natacha loves me?" + +"I am sure of it, Monsieur Boris; I am sure of it." + +"I am sure of it, too. But I don't know what to think now. She +has let me go, without trying to detain me, without a word of hope." + +"And where are you going like that?" + +"I am returning to the Orel country, where I first saw her." + +"That is good, very good, Monsieur Boris. At least there you are +sure to see her again. She goes there every year with her parents +for a few weeks. It is a detail you haven't overlooked, doubtless." + +"Certainly I haven't. I will tell you that that prospect decided +my place of retreat." + +" See!" + +"God gives me nothing, but He opens His treasures, and each takes +what he can." + +"Yes, yes; and Mademoiselle Natacha, does she know it is to Orel +you have decided to retire?" + +"I have no reason for concealing it from her, Monsieur Rouletabille." + +"So far so good. You needn't feel so desolate, my dear Monsieur +Boris. All is not lost. I will say even that I see a future for +you full of hope." + +"Ah, if you are able to say that truthfully, I am happy indeed to +have met you. I will never forget this rope you have flung me when +all the waters seemed closing over my head. 'What do you advise, +then?" + +"I advise you to go to Orel, monsieur, and as quickly as possible." + +"Very well. You must have reasons for saying that. I obey you, +monsieur, and go." + +As Boris started towards the entrance-arch, Rouletabille slipped +into the laboratory. Old Alexis was bent over his retorts. A +wretched lamp barely lighted his obscure work. He turned at the +noise the reporter made. + +"Ah!-you, lad!" + +"'Well?" + +"Oh, nothing so quick. Still, I have already analyzed the two +napkins, you know." + +"Yes? The stains? Tell me, for the love of God!" + +"Well, my boy, it is arsenate of soda again." + +Rouletabille, stricken to the heart, uttered a low cry and everything +seemed to dance around him. Pere Alexis in the midst of all the +strange laboratory instruments seemed Satan himself, and he repulsed +the kindly arms stretched forth to sustain him; in the gloom, where +danced here and there the little blue flames from the crucibles, +lively as flickering tongues, he believed he saw Michael +Nikolaievitch's ghost come to cry, "The arsenate of soda continues, +and I am dead." He fell against the door, which swung open, and he +rolled as far as the counter, and struck his face against it. The +shock, that might well have been fatal, brought him out of his +intense nightmare and made him instantly himself again. He rose, +jumped over the heap of boots and fol-de-rols, and leaped to the +court. There Boris grabbed him by his coat. Rouletabille turned, +furious: + +"What do you want? You haven't started for the Orel yet?" + +"Monsieur, I am going, but I will be very grateful if you will take +these things yourself to - to Natacha." He showed him, still with +despairing mien, the two ikons from Mount Athos, and Rouletabille +took them from him, thrust them in his pocket, and hurried on, +crying, "I understand." + +Outside, Rouletabille tried to get hold of himself, to recover his +coolness a little. Was it possible that he had made a mortal error? +Alas, alas, how could he doubt it now! The arsenate of soda +continued. He made, a superhuman effort to ward off the horror of +that, even momentarily - the death of innocent Michael Nikolaievitch +- and to think of nothing except the immediate consequences, which +must be carefully considered if he wished to avoid some new +catastrophe. Ah, the assassin was not discouraged. And that time, +what a piece of work he had tried! What a hecatomb if he had +succeeded! The general, Matrena Petrovna, Natacha and Rouletabille +himself (who almost regretted, so far as he was concerned, that it +had not succeeded) - and Koupriane! Koupriane, who should have +been there for luncheon. What a bag for the Nihilists! That was +it, that was it. Rouletabille understood now why they had not +hesitated to poison everybody at once: Koupriane was among them. + +Michael Nikolaievitch would have been avenged! + +The attempt had failed this time, but what might they not expect +now! From the moment he believed Michael Nikolaievitch no longer +guilty, as he had imagined, Rouletabille fell into a bottomless +abyss. + +Where should he go? After a few moments he made the circuit of the +Rotunda, which serves as the market for this quarter and is the +finest ornament of Aptiekarski-Pereoulok. He made the circuit +without knowing it, without stopping for anything, without seeing +or understanding anything. As a broken-winded horse makes its way +in the treadmill, so he walked around with the thought that he +also was lost in a treadmill that led him nowhere. Rouletabille +was no longer Rouletabille. + + + + + +XIII + +THE LIVING BOMBS + +At random - because now he could only act at random - he returned +to the datcha. Great disorder reigned there. The guard had been +doubled. The general's friends, summoned by Trebassof, surrounded +the two poisoned sufferers and filled the house with their bustling +devotion and their protestations of affection. However, an +insignificant doctor from the common quarter of the Vasili-Ostrow, +brought by the police, reassured everybody. The police had not +found the general's household physician at home, but promised the +immediate arrival of two specialists, whom they had found instead. +In the meantime they had picked up on the way this little doctor, +who was gay and talkative as a magpie. He had enough to do looking +after Matrena Petrovna, who had been so sick that her husband, +Feodor Feodorovitch, still trembled, "for the first time in his +life," as the excellent Ivan Petrovitch said. + +The reporter was astonished at not finding Natacha either in +Matrena's apartment or Feodor's. He asked Matrena where her +step-daughter was. Matrena turned a frightened face toward him. +When they were alone, she said: + +"We do not know where she is. Almost as soon as you left she +disappeared, and no one has seen her since. The general has asked +for her several times. I have had to tell him Koupriane took her +with him to learn the details from her of what happened." + +"She is not with Koupriane," said Rouletabille. + +"Where is she? This disappearance is more than strange at the +moment we were dying, when her father - O God! Leave me, my child; +I am stifling; I am stifling." + +Rouletabille called the temporary doctor and withdrew from the +chamber. He had come with the idea of inspecting the house room by +room, corner by corner, to make sure whether or not any possibility +of entrance existed that he had not noticed before, an entrance +would-be poisoners were continuing to use. But now a new fact +confronted him and overshadowed everything: the disappearance of +Natacha. How he lamented his ignorance of the Russian language +- and not one of Koupriane's men knew French. He might draw +something out of Ermolai. + +Ermolai said he had seen Natacha just outside the gate for a moment, +looking up and down the road. Then he had been called to the +general, and so knew nothing further. + +That was all the reporter could gather from the gestures rather than +the words of the old servant. + +An additional difficulty now was that twilight drew on, and it was +impossible for the reporter to discern Natacha's foot-prints. Was +it true that the young girl had fled at such a moment, immediately +after the poisoning, before she knew whether her father and mother +were entirely out of danger? If Natacha were innocent, as +Rouletabille still wished to believe, such an attitude was simply +incomprehensible. And the girl could not but be aware she would +increase Koupriane's suspicions. The reporter had a vital reason +for seeing her immediately, a vital reason for all concerned, above +all in this moment when the Nihilists were culminating their plans, +a vital reason for her and for him, equally menaced with death, to +talk with her and to renew the propositions he had made a few +minutes before the poisoning and which she had not wished to hear +him talk about, in fearful pity for him or in defiance of him. +Where was Natacha? He thought maybe she was trying to rejoin +Annouchka, and there were reasons for that, both if she were innocent +and if she were guilty. But where was Annouchka? Who could say! +Gounsovski perhaps. Rouletabille jumped into an isvo, returning +from the Point empty, and gave Gounsovski's address. He deigned +then to recall that he had been invited that same day to dine with +the Gounsovskis. They would no longer be expecting him. He blamed +himself. + +They received him, but they had long since finished dinner. + +Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski were playing a game of draughts +under the lamp. Rouletabille as he entered the drawing-room +recognized the shining, fattish bald head of the terrible man. +Gounsovski came to him, bowing, obsequious, his fat hands held out. +He was presented to Madame Gounsovski, who was besprinkled with +jewels over her black silk gown. She had a muddy skin and +magnificent eyes. She also was tentatively effusive. "We waited +for you, monsieur," she said, smirking timidly, with the careful +charm of a woman a little along in years who relies still on +infantine graces. As the recreant young man offered his apologies, +"Oh, we know you are much occupied, Monsieur Rouletabille. My +husband said that to me only a moment ago. But he knew you would +come finally. In the end one always accepts my husband's +invitation." She said this with a fat smile of importance. + +Rouletabille turned cold at this last phrase. He felt actual fear +in the presence of these two figures, so actrociously commonplace, +in their horrible, decent little drawing-room. + +Madame continued: + +"But you have had rather a bad dinner already, through that dreadful +affair at General Trebassof's. Come into the dining-room." +"Ah, so someone has told you?" said Rouletabille. "No, no, thanks; +I don't need anything more. You know what has happened?" + +"If you had come to dinner, perhaps nothing would have happened at +all, you know," said Gounsovski tranquilly, seating himself again +on the cushions and considering his game of draughts through his +glasses. "Anyway, congratulations to Koupriane for being away from +there through his fear." + +For Gounsovski there was only Koupriane! The life or death of +Trebassof did not occupy his mind. Only the acts and movements of +the Prefect of Police had power to move him. He ordered a +waiting-maid who glided into the apartment without making more noise +than a shadow to bring a small stand loaded with zakouskis and +bottles of champagne close to the game-table, and he moved one of +his pawns, saying, "You will permit me? This move is mine. I don't +wish to lose it." + +Rouletabille ventured to lay his hand on the oily, hairy fist which +extended from a dubious cuff. + +"What is this you tell me? How could you have foreseen it?" + +"It was easy to foresee everything," replied Gounsovski, offering +cigars, "to foresee everything from the moment Matiew's place was +filled by Priemkof." + +"Well?" questioned Rouletabille, recalling with some inquietude the +sight of the whipping in the guards' chapel. + +"Well, this Priemkof, between ourselves," (and he bent close to the +reporter's ear) "is no better, as a police-guard for Koupriane than +Matiew himself. Very dangerous. So when I learned that he took +Matiew's place at the datcha des Iles, I thought there was sure to +be some unfortunate happening. But it was no affair of mine, was +it? Koupriane would have been able to say to me, 'Mind your own +business.' I had gone far enough in warning him of the 'living +bombs.' They had been denounced to us by the same agency that +enabled us to seize the two living bombs (women, if you please!) +who were going to the military tribunal at Cronstadt after the +rebellion in the fleet. Let him recall that. That ought to make +him reflect. I am a brave man. I know he speaks ill of me; but I +don't wish him any harm. The interests of the Empire before all +else between us! I wouldn't talk to you as I do if I didn't know +the Tsar honors you with his favor. Then I invited you to dinner. +As one dines one talks. But you did not come. And, while you were +dining down there and while Priemkof was on guard at the datcha, +that annoying affair Madame Gounsovski has spoken about happened." + +Rouletabille had not sat down, in spite of Madame Gounsovski's +insistences. He took the box of cigars brusquely out of the hand +of the Chief of the Secret Service, who had continued tendering +them, for this detail of hospitality only annoyed his mood, which +had been dark enough for hours and was now deepened by what the +other had just said. He comprehended only one thing, that a man +named Priemkof, whom he had never heard spoken of, as determined as +Matiew to destroy the general, had been entrusted by Koupriane +with the guard of the datcha des Iles. It was necessary to warn +Koupriane instantly. + +"How is it that you have not done so already, yourself, Monsieur +Gounsovski? Why wait to speak about it to me? It is unimaginable." + +"Pardon, pardon," said Gounsovski, smiling softly behind his +goggles; "it is not the same thing." + +"No, no, it is not the same thing," seconded the lady with the +black silk, brilliant jewels and flabby chin. "We speak here to a +friend in the course of dinner-talk, to a friend who is not of the +police. We never denounce anybody." + +"We must tell you. But sit down now," Gounsovski still insisted, +lighting his cigar. "Be reasonable. They have just tried to +poison him, so they will take time to breathe before they try +something else. Then, too, this poison makes me think they may +have given up the idea of living bombs. Then, after all, what is +to be will be." + +"Yes, yes," approved the ample dame. "The police never have been +able to prevent what was bound to happen. But, speaking of this +Priemkof, it remains between us, eh? Between just us?" + +"Yes, we must tell you now," Gounsovski slipped in softly, "that it +will be much better not to let Koupriane know that you got the +information from me. Because then, you understand, he would not +believe you; or, rather, he would not believe me. That is why we +take these precautions of dining and smoking a cigar. We speak of +one thing and another and you do as you please with what we say. +But, to make them useful, it is absolutely necessary, I repeat, to +be silent about their source." (As he said that, Gounsovski gave +Rouletabille a piercing glance through his goggles, the first time +Rouletabille had seen such a look in his eyes. He never would have +suspected him capable of such fire.) "Priemkof," continued Gounsovski +in a low voice, using his handkerchief vigorously, "was employed +here in my home and we separated on bad terms, through his fault, +it is necessary to say. Then he got into Koupriane's confidence +by saying the worst he could of us, my dear little monsieur." + +"But what could he say? - servants' stories! my dear little +monsieur," repeated the fat dame, and rolled her great magnificent +black eyes furiously. "Stories that have been treated as they +deserved at Court, certainly. Madame Daquin, the wife of His +Majesty's head-cook, whom you certainly know, and the nephew of the +second Maid of Honor to the Empress, who stands very well with his +aunt, have told us so; servants' stories that might have ruined us +but have not produced any effect on His Majesty, for whom we would +give our lives, Christ knows. Well, you understand now that if you +were to say to Koupriane, 'Gaspadine Gounsovski has spoken ill to +me of Priemkof,' he would not care to hear a word further. Still, +Priemkof is in the scheme for the living bombs, that is all I can +tell you; at least, he was before the affair of the poisoning. That +poisoning is certainly very astonishing, between us. It does not +appear to have come from without, whereas the living bombs will have +to come from without. And Priemkof is mixed up in it." + +"Yes, yes," approved Madame Gounsovski again, "he is committed to +it. There have been stories about him, too. Other people as well +as he can tell tales; it isn't hard to do. He has got to make some +showing now if he is to keep in with Annouchka's clique." + +"Koupriane, our dear Koupriane," interrupted Gounsovski, slightly +troubled at hearing his wife pronounce Annouchka's name, "Koupriane +ought to be able to understand that this time Priemkof must bring +things off, or he is definitely ruined." + +"Priemkof knows it well enough," replied Madame as she re-filled +the glasses, "but Koupriane doesn't know it; that is all we can tell +you. Is it enough? All the rest is mere gossip. + +It certainly was enough for Rouletabille; he had had enough of it! +This idle gossip and these living bombs! These pinchbecks, these +whispering tale-tellers in their bourgeois, countrified setting; +these politico-police comhinations whose grotesque side was always +uppermost; while the terrible side, the Siberian aspect, prisons, +black holes, hangings, disappearances, exiles and deaths and +martyrdoms remained so jealously hidden that no one ever spoke of +them! All that weight of horror, between a good cigar and "a little +glass of anisette, monsieur, if you won't take champagne." Still, +he had to drink before he left, touch glasses in a health, promise +to come again, whenever he wished - the house was open to him. +Rouletabille knew it was open to anybody - anybody who had a tale +to tell, something that would send some other person to prison or +to death and oblivion. No guard at the entrance to check a visitor +- men entered Gounsovski's house as the house of a friend, and he +was always ready to do you a service, certainly! + +He accompanied the reporter to the stairs. Rouletabille was just +about to risk speaking of Annouchka to him, in order to approach +the subject of Natacha, when Gounsovski said suddenly, with a +singular smile: + +"By the way, do you still believe in Natacha Trebassof?" + +"I shall believe in her until my death," Rouletabille thrust back; +"but I admit to you that at this moment I don't know where she +has gone." + +"Watch the Bay of Lachtka, and come to tell me to-morrow if you +will believe in her always," replied Gounsovski, confidentially, +with a horrid sort of laugh that made the reporter hurry down +the stairs. + +And now here was Priemkof to look after! Priemkof after Matiew! +It seemed to the young man that he had to contend against all the +revolutionaries not only, but all the Russian police as well - and +Gounsovski himself, and Koupriane! Everybody, everybody! But most +urgent was Priemkof and his living bombs. What a strange and almost +incomprehensible and harassing adventure this was between Nihilism +and the Russian police. Koupriane and Gounsovski both employed a +man they knew to be a revolutionary and the friend of revolutionaries. +Nihilism, on its side, considered this man of the police force as one +of its own agents. In his turn, this man, in order to maintain his +perilous equilibrium, had to do work for both the police and the +revolutionaries, and accept whatever either gave him to do as it +came, because it was necessary he should give them assurances of +his fidelity. Only imbeciles, like Gapone, let themselves be hanged +or ended by being executed, like Azef, because of their awkward +slips. But a Priemkof, playing both branches of the police, had a +good chance of living a long time, and a Gounsovski would die +tranquilly in his bed with all the solaces of religion. + +However, the young hearts hot with sincerity, sheathed with dynamite, +are mysteriously moved in the atrocious darkness of Holy Russia, and +they do not know where they will be sent, and it is all one to them, +because all they ask is to die in a mad spiritual delirium of hate +and love - living bombs!* +____________________________________________________________________ + + *In the trial after the revolt at Cronstadt two young women were + charged with wearing bombs as false bosoms. +____________________________________________________________________ + +At the corner of Aptiekarski-Pereoulok Rouletabille came in the way +of Koupriane, who was leaving for Pere Alexis's place and, seeing +the reporter, stopped his carriage and called that he was going +immediately to the datcha. + +"You have seen Pere Alexis?" + +"Yes," said Koupriane. "And this time I have it on you. What I +told you, what I foresaw, has happened. But have you any news of +the sufferers? Apropos, rather a curious thing has happened. I +met Kister on the Newsky just now." + +"The physician?" + +"Yes, one of Trebassof's physicians whom I had sent an inspector to +his house to fetch to the datcha, as well as his usual associate, +Doctor Litchkof. Well, neither Litchkof nor he had been summoned. +They didn't know anything had happened at the datcha. They had not +seen my inspector. I hope he has met some other doctor on the way +and, in view of the urgency, has taken him to the datcha." + +"That is what has happened," replied Rouletabille, who had turned +very pale. " Still, it is strange these gentlemen had not been +notified, because at the datcha the Trebassofs were told that the +general's usual doctors were not at home and so the police had +summoned two others who would arrive at once." + +Koupriane jumped up in the carriage. + +"But Kister and Litchkof had not left their houses. Kister, who +had just met Litchkof, said so. What does this mean?" + +"Can you tell me," asked Rouletabille, ready now for the thunder-clap +that his question invited, "the name of the inspector you ordered to +bring them?" + +"Priemkof, a man with my entire confidence." + +Koupriane's carriage rushed toward the Isles. Late evening had +come. Alone on the deserted route the horses seemed headed for the +stars; the carriage behind seemed no drag upon them. The coachman +bent above them, arms out, as though he would spring into the ether. +Ah, the beautiful night, the lovely, peaceful night beside the Neva, +marred by the wild gallop of these maddened horses! + +"Priemkof! Priemkof! One of Gounsovski's men! I should have +suspected him," railed Koupriane after Rouletabille's explanations. +"But now, shall we arrive in time?" + +They stood up in the carriage, urging the coachman, exciting the +horses: " Scan! Scan! Faster, douriak!" Could they arrive before +the "living bombs"? Could they hear them before they arrived? Ah, +there was Eliaguine! + +They rushed from the one bank to the other as though there were no +bridges in their insensate course. And their ears were strained +for the explosion, for the abomination now to come, preparing slyly +in the night so hypocritically soft under the cold glance of the +stars. Suddenly, "Stop, stop!" Rouletabille cried to the coachman. + +"Are you mad!" shouted Koupriane. + +"We are mad if we arrive like madmen. That would make the +catastrophe sure. There is still a chance. If we wish not to lose +it, then we must arrive easily and calmly, like friends who know +the general is out of danger." + +"Our only chance is to arrive before the bogus doctors. Either they +aren't there, or it already is all over. Priemkof must have been +surprised at the affair of the poisoning, but he has seized the +opportunity; fortunately he couldn't find his accomplices immediately." + +"Here is the datcha, anyway. In the name of heaven, tell your driver +to stop the horses here. If the 'doctors' are already there it is we +who shall have killed the general." + +"You are right." + +Koupriane moderated his excitement and that of his driver and horses, +and the carriage stopped noiselessly, not far from the datcha. Ermolai +came toward them. + +"Priemkof?" faltered Koupriane. + +"He has gone again, Excellency." + +"How - gone again?" + +"Yes,, but he has brought the doctors." + +Koupriane crushed Rouletabille's wrist. The doctors were there! + +"Madame Trebassof is better," continued Ermolal, who understood +nothing of their emotion. "The general is going to meet them and +take them to his wife himself." + +"Where are they?" + +"They are waiting in the drawing-room." + +"Oh, Excellency, keep cool, keep cool, and all is not lost," +implored the reporter. + +Rouletabille and Koupriane slipped carefully into the garden. +Ermolai followed them. + +"There?" inquired Koupriane. + +"There," Ermolai replied. + +>From the corner where they were, and looking through the veranda, +they could see the "doctors" as they waited. + +They were seated in chairs side by side, in a corner of the +drawing-room from where they could see every-thing in the room and +a part of the garden, which they faced, and could hear everything. +A window of the first-floor was open above their heads, so that +they could hear any noise from there. They could not be surprised +from any side, and they held every door in view. They were talking +softly and tranquilly, looking straight before them. They appeared +young. One had a pleasant face, pale but smiling, with rather long, +curly hair; the other was more angular, with haughty bearing and +grave face, an eagle nose and glasses. Both wore long black coats +buttoned over their calm chests. + +Koupriane and the reporter, followed by Ermolai, advanced with the +greatest precaution across the lawn. Screened by the wooden steps +leading to the veranda and by the vine-clad balustrade, they got +near enough to hear them. Koupriane gave eager ear to the words +of these two young men, who might have been so rich in the many +years of life that naturally belonged to them, and who were about +to die so horrible a death in destroying all about them. They +spoke of what time it was, of the softness of the night and the +beauty of the sky; they spoke of the shadows under the birch-trees, +of the gulf shining in the late evening's fading golden light, of +the river's freshness and the sweetness of springtime in the North. +That is what they talked about. Koupriane murmured, "The assassins!" + +Now it was necessary to decide on action, and that necessity was +horrible. A false movement, an awkwardness, and the "doctors" +would be warned, and everything lost. They must have the bombs +under their coats; there were certainly at least two "living bombs." +Their chests, as they breathed, must heave to and fro and their +hearts beat against an impending explosion. + +Above on the bedroom floor, they heard the rapid arranging of the +room, steps on the floor and a confusion of voices; shadows passed +across the window-space. Koupriane rapidly interrogated Ermolai +and learned that all the general's friends were there. The two +doctors had arrived only a couple of minutes before the Prefect of +Police and the reporter. The little doctor of Vassili-Ostrow had +already gone, saying there was nothing more for him to do when two +such celebrated specialists had arrived. However, in spite of their +celebrity, no one had ever heard the names they gave. Koupriane +believed the little doctor was an accomplice. The most necessary +thing was to warn those in the room above. There was immediate +danger that someone would come downstairs to find the doctors and +take them to the general, or that the general would come down +himself to meet them. Evidently that was what they were waiting +for. They wished to die in his arms, to make sure that this time +he did not escape them! Koupriane directed Ermolai to go into the +veranda and speak in a commonplace way to them at the threshold of +the drawing-room door, saying that he would go upstairs and see if +he might now escort them to Madame Trebassof's room. Once in the +room above, he could warn the others not to do anything but wait +for Koupriane; then Ermolai was to come down and say to the men, +"In just a moment, if you please." + +Erinolai crept back as far as the lodge, and then came quite +normally up the path, letting the gravel crunch under his +countrified footsteps. He was an intelligent man, and grasped with +extraordinary coolness the importance of the plan of campaign. +Easily and naturally he mounted the veranda steps, paused at the +threshold of the drawing-room, made the remark he had been told to +make, and went upstairs. Koupriane and Rouletabille now watched +the bedroom windows. The flitting shadows there suddenly became +motionless. All moving about ceased; no more steps were heard, +nothing. And that sudden silence made the two "doctors" raise +their faces toward the ceiling. Then they exchanged an aroused +glance. This change in the manner of things above was dangerous. +Koupriane muttered, "The idiots!" It was such a blow for those +upstairs to learn they walked over a mine ready to explode that +it evidently had paralyzed their limbs. Happily Ermolai came +down almost immediately and said to the "doctors" in his very best +domestic manner: + +"Just a second, messieurs, if you please." + +He did it still with utter naturalness. And he returned to the +ledge before he rejoined Koupriane and Rouletabille by way of the +lawn. Rouletabille, entirely cool, quite master of himself, as calm +now as Koupriane was nervous, said to the Prefect of Police: + +"We must act now, and quickly. They are commencing to be suspicious. +Have you a plan?" + +"Here is all I can see," said Koupriane. "Have the general come +down by the narrow servants' stairway, and slip out of the house +from the window of Natacha's sitting-room, with the aid of a twisted +sheet. Matrena Petrovna will come to speak to them during this +time; that will keep them patient until the general is out of danger. +As soon as Matrena has withdrawn into the garden, I will call my men, +who will shoot them from a distance." + +"And the house itself? And the general's friends?" + +"Let them try to get away, too, by the servants' stairway and jump +from the window after the general. We must try something. Say that +I have them at the muzzle of my revolver." + +"Your plan won't work," said Rouletabille, "unless the door of +Natacha's sitting-room that opens on the drawing-room is closed." + +"It is. I can see from here." + +"And unless the door of the little passage-way before that staircase +that opens into the drawing-room is closed also, and you cannot see +it from here." + +"That door is open," said Ermolai. + +Koupriane swore. But he recovered himself promptly. + +"Madame Trebassof will close the door when she speaks to them." + +"It's impracticable," said the reporter. "That will arouse their +suspicions more than ever. Leave it to me; I have a plan." + +"What?" + +"I have time to execute it, but not to tell you about it. They +have already waited too long. I shall have to go upstairs, though. +Ermolai will need to go with me, as with a friend of the family." + +"I'll go too." + +"That would give the whole show away, if they saw you, the Prefect +of Police." + +"Why, no. If they see me - and they know I ought to be there - as +soon as I show myself to them they will conclude I don't know +anything about it." + +" You are wrong." + +"It is my duty. I should be near the general to defend him until +the last." + +Rouletabille shrugged his shoulders before this dangerous heroism, +but he did not stop to argue. He knew that his plan must succeed +at once, or in five minutes at the latest there would be only ruins, +the dead and the dying in the datcha des Iles. + +Still he remained astonishingly calm. In principle he had admitted +that he was going to die. The only hope of being saved which +remained to them rested entirely upon their keeping perfectly cool +and upon the patience of the living bombs. Would they still have +three minutes' patience? + +Ermolai went ahead of Koupriane and Rouletabille. At the moment +they reached the foot of the veranda steps the servant said loudly, +repeating his lesson: + +"Oh, the general is waiting for you, Excellency. He told me to +have you come to him at once. He is entirely well and Madame +Trebassof also." + +When they were in the veranda, he added: + +"She is to see also, at once, these gentlemen, who will be able to +tell her there is no more danger." + +And all three passed while Koupriane and Rodetabille vaguely saluted +the two conspirators in the drawing-room. It was a decisive moment. +Recognizing Koupriane, the two Nihilists might well believe +themselves discovered, as the reporter had said, and precipitate +the catastrophe. However, Ermolai, Koupriane and Rouletabille +climbed the stairs to the bedroom like automatons, not daring to +look behind them, and expecting the end each instant. But neither +stirred. Ermolai went down again, by Rouletabille's order, +normally, naturally, tranquilly. They went into Matrena Petrovna's +chamber. Everybody was there. It was a gathering of ghosts. + +Here was what had happened above. That the "doctors" still remained +below, that they had not been received instantly, in brief, that the +catastrophe had been delayed up to now was due to Matrena Petrovna, +whose watchful love, like a watch-dog, was always ready to scent +danger. These two "doctors" whose names she did not know, who +arrived so late, and the precipitate departure of the little doctor +of Vassili-Ostrow aroused her watchfulness. Before allowing them +to come upstairs to the general she resolved to have a look at them +herself downstairs. She arose from her bed for that; and now her +presentiment was justified. When she saw Ermolai, sober and +mysterious, enter with Koupriane's message, she knew instinctively, +before he spoke, that there were bombs in the house. When Ermolai +did speak it was a blow for everybody. At first she, Matrena +Perovna, had been a frightened, foolish figure in the big flowered +dressing-gown belonging to Feodor that she had wrapped about her in +her haste. When Ermolai left, the general, who knew she only +trembled for him, tried to reassure her, and, in the midst of the +frightened silence of all of them, said a few words recalling the +failure of all the previous attempts. But she shook her head and +trembled, shaking with fear for him, in agony at the thought that +she could do nothing there above those living bombs but wait for +them to burst. As to the friends, already their limbs were ruined, +absolutely ruined, in very truth. For a moment they were quite +incapable of moving. The jolly Councilor of Empire, Ivan Petrovitch, +had no longer a lively tale to tell, and the abominable prospect of +" this horrible mix-up" right at hand rendered him much less gay +than in his best hours at Cubat's place. And poor Thaddeus +Tchitchnikoff was whiter than the snow that covers old Lithuania's +fields when the winter's chase is on. Athanase Georgevitch himself +was not brilliant, and his sanguine face had quite changed, as +though he had difficulty in digesting his last masterpiece with +knife and fork. But, in justice to them, that was the first +instantaneous effect. No one could learn like tnat, all af a +sudden, that they were about to die in an indiscriminate slaughter +without the heart being stopped for a little. Ermolai's words had +turned these amiable loafers into waxen statues, but, little by +little, their hearts commenced to beat again and each suggested +some way of preventing the disaster - all of them sufficiently +incoherent - while Matrena Petrovna invoked the Virgin and at the +same time helped Feodor Feodorovitch adjust his sword and buckle +his belt; for the general wished to die in uniform. + +Athanase Georgevitch, his eyes sticking out of his head and his body +bent as though he feared the Nihlists just below him might perceive +his tall form - through the floor, no doubt - proposed that they +should throw themselves out of the window, even at the cost of +broken legs. The saddened Councilor of Empire declared that project +simply idiotic, for as they fell they would be absolutely at the +disposal of the Nihilists, who would be attracted by the noise and +would make a handful of dust of them with a single gesture through +the window. Thaddeus Tchitchnikoff, who couldn't think of anything +at all, blamed Koupriane and the rest of the police for not having +devised something. Why hadn't they already got rid of these +Nihilists? After the frightened silence they had kept at first, +now they all spoke at once, in low voices, hoarse and rapid, with +shortened breath, making wild movements of the arms and head, and +walked here and there in the chamber quite without motive, but very +softly on tiptoe, going to the windows, returning, listening at the +doors, peering through the key-holes, exchanging absurd suggestions, +full of the wildest imaginings. "If we should ... if ... if," +- everybody speaking and everybody making signs for the others to +be quiet. "Lower! If they hear us, we are lost." And Koupriane, +who did not come, and his police, who themselves had brought two +assassins into the house, and were not able now to make them leave +without having everybody jump! They were certainly lost. There +was nothing left but to say their prayers. They turned to the +general and Matrena Petrovna, who were wrapped in a close embrace. +Feodor had taken the poor disheveled head of the good Matrena +between his hands and pressed it upon his shoulders as he embraced +her. He said, "Rest quietly against my heart, Matrena Petrovna. +Nothing can happen to us except what God wills." + +At that sight and that remark the others grew ashamed of their +confusion. The harmony of that couple embracing in the presence +of death restored them to themselves, to their courage, and their +"Nitchevo." Athanase Georgevitch, Ivan Petrovitch and Thaddeus +Tchitchnikoff repeated after Matrena Petrovna, "As God wills." +And then they said "Nitchevo! Nitchevo!* We will all die with +you, Feodor Feodorovitch." And they all kissed one another and +clasped one another in their arms, their eyes dim with love one for +another, as at the end of a great banquet when they had eaten and +drunk heavily in honor of one another. +___________________________________________________________________ + + *"What does it matter!" +___________________________________________________________________ + +"Listen. Someone is coming up the stairs," whispered Matrena, with +her keen ear, and she slipped from the restraint of her husband. + +Breathless, they all hurried to the door opening on the landing, +but with steps as light "as though they walked on eggs." All four +of them were leaning over there close by the door, hardly daring +to breathe. They heard two men on the stairs. Were they Koupriane +and Rouletabille, or were they the others? They had revolvers in +their hands and drew back a little when the footsteps sounded near +the door. Behind them Trebassof was quietly seated in his chair. +The door was opened and Koupriane and Rouletabille perceived these +death-like figures, motionless and mute. No one dared to speak or +make a movement until the door had been closed. But then: + +"Well? Well? Save us! Where are they? Ah, my dear little +domovoi-doukh, save the general, for the love of the Virgin!" + +" Tsst! tsst! Silence." + +Rouletabille, very pale, but calm, spoke: + +"The plan is simple. They are between the two staircases, watching +the one and the other. I will go and find them and make them mount +the one while you descend by the other." + +"Caracho! That is simple enough. Why didn't we think of it sooner? +Because everybody lost his head except the dear little domovoi-doukh!" + +But here something happened Rouletabille had not counted on. The +general rose and said, "You have forgotten one thing, my young +friend; that is that General Trebassof will not descend by the +servants' stairway." + +His friends looked at him in stupefaction, and asked if he had gone +mad. + +"What is this you say, Feodor?" implored Matrena. + +"I say," insisted the general, "that I have had enough of this +comedy, and that since Monsieur Koupriane has not been able to +arrest these men, and since, on their side, they don't seem to +decide to do their duty, I shall go myself and put them out of my +house." + +He started a few steps, but had not his cane and suddenly he +tottered. Matrena Petrovna jumped to him and lifted him in her +arms as though he were a feather. + +"Not by the servants' stairway, not by the servants' stairway," +growled the obstinate general. + +"You will go," Matrena replied to him, "by the way I take you." + +And she carried him back into the apartment while she said quickly +to Rouletabille: + +"Go, little domovoi! And God protect us!" + +Rouletabille disappeared at once through the door to the main +staircase, and the group attended by Koupriane, passed through the +dressing-room and the general's chamber, Matrena Petrovna in the +lead with her precious burden. Ivan Petrovitch had his hand +already on the famous bolt which locked the door to the servants' +staircase when they all turned at the sound of a quick step behind +them. Rouletabille had returned. + +"They are no longer in the drawing-room." + +"Not in the drawing-room! Where are they, then?" + +Rouletabille pointed to the door they were about to open. + +"Perhaps behind that door. Take care!" + +All drew back. + +"But Ermolai ought to know where they are," exclaimed Koupriane. +"Perhaps they have gone, finding out they were discovered." + +"They have assassinated Ermolai." + +"Assassinated Ermolai!" + +"I have seen his body lying in the middle of the drawing-room as I +leaned over the top of the banister. But they were not in the room, +and I was afraid you would run into them, for they may well be hidden +in the servants' stairway." + +"Then open the window, Koupriane, and call your men to deliver us." + +"I am quite willing," replied Koupriane coldly, "but it is the +signal for our deaths." + +"Well, why do they wait so to make us die?" muttered Feodor +Feodorovitch. "I find them very tedious about it, for myself. +What are you doing, Ivan Petrovitch?" + +The spectral figure of Ivan Petrovitch, bent beside the door of the +stairway, seemed to be hearing things the others could not catch, +but which frightened them so that they fled from the general's +chamber in disorder. Ivan Petrovitch was close on them, his eyes +almost sticking from his head, his mouth babbling: + +"They are there! They are there!" + +Athanase Georgevitch open a window wildly and said: + +"I am going to jump." + +But Thaddeus Tchitchnikofl' stopped him with a word. "For me, I +shall not leave Feodor Feodorovitch." + +Athanase and Ivan both felt ashamed, and trembling, but brave, they +gathered round the general and said, "We will die together, we will +die together. We have lived with Feodor Feodorovitch, and we will +die with him." + +"What are they waiting for? What are they waiting for?" grumbled +the general. + +Matrena Petrovna's teeth chattered. "They are waiting for us to +go down," said Koupraine. + +"Very well, let us do it. This thing must end," said Feodor. + +"Yes, yes," they all said, for the situation was becoming +intolerable; "enough of this. Go on down. Go on down. God, the +Virgin and Saints Peter and Paul protect us. Let us go." + +The whole group, therefore, went to the main staircase, with the +movements of drunken men, fantastic waving of the arms, mouths +speaking all together, saying things no one but themselves +understood. Rouletabille had already hurriedly preceded them, was +down the staircase, had time to throw a glance into the drawing-room, +stepped over Ermolai's huge corpse, entered Natacha's sitting-room +and her chamber, found all these places deserted and bounded back +into the veranda at the moment the others commenced to descend +the steps around Feodor Feodorovitch. The reporter's eyes searched +all the dark corners and had perceived nothing suspicious when, in +the veranda, he moved a chair. A shadow detached itself from it +and glided under the staircase. Rouletabille cried to the group +on the stairs. + +"They are under the staircase!" + +Then Rouletabille confronted a sight that he could never forget all +his life. + +At this cry, they all stopped, after an instinctive move to go back. +Feodor Feodorovitch, who was still in Matrena Petrovna's arms, cried: + +"Vive le Tsar!" + +And then, those whom the reporter half expected to see flee, +distracted, one way and another, or to throw themselves madly from +the height of the steps, abandoning Feodor and Matrena, gathered +themselves instead by a spontaneous movement around the general, +like a guard of honor, in battle, around the flag. Koupriane +marched ahead. And they insisted also upon descending the terrible +steps slowly, and sang the Bodje tsara Krani, the national anthem! + +With an overwhelming roar, which shocked earth and sky and the ears +of Rouletabille, the entire house seemed lifted in the air; the +staircase rose amid flame and smoke, and the group which sang the +Bodje tsara Krani disappeared in a horrible apotheosis. + + + + + +XIV + +THE MARSHES + +They ascertained the next day that there had been two explosions, +almost simultaneous, one under each staircase. The two Nihilists, +when they felt themselves discovered, and watched by Ermolai, had +thrown themselves silently on him as he turned his back in passing +them, and strangled him with a piece of twine. Then they separated +each to watch one of the staircases, reasoning that Koupriane and +General Trebassof would have to decide to descend. + +The datcha des Iles was nothing now but a smoking ruin. But from +the fact that the living bombs had exploded separately the +destructive effect was diffused, and although there were numerous +wounded, as in the case of the attack on the Stolypine datcha, at +least no one was killed outright; that is, excepting the two +Nihilists, of whom no trace could be found save a few rags. + +Rouletabille had been hurled into the garden and he was glad enough +to escape so, a little shaken, but without a scratch. The group +composed of Feodor and his friends were strangely protected by the +lightness of the datcha's construction. The iron staircase, which, +so to speak, almost hung to the two floors, being barely attached +at top and bottom, raised under them and then threw them off as it +broke into a thousand pieces, but only after, by its very yielding, +it had protected them from the first force of the bomb. They had +risen from the ruins without mortal wounds. Koupriane had a hand +badly burned, Athanase Georgevitch had his nose and cheeks seriously +hurt, Ivan Petrovitch lost an ear; the most seriously injured was +Thaddeus Tchitchnikoff, both of whose legs were broken. +Extraordinarily enough, the first person who appeared, rising from +the midst of the wreckage, was Matrena Petrovna, still holding +Feodor in her arms. She had escaped with a few burns and the +general, saved again by the luck of the soldier whom Death does not +want, was absolutely uninjured. Feodor gave shouts of joy. They +strove to quiet him, because, after all, around him some poor +wretches had been badly hurt, as well as poor Ermolai, who lay +there dead. The domestics in the basement had been more seriously +wounded and burned because the main force of the explosion had gone +downwards; which had probably saved the personages above. + +Rouletabille had been taken with the other victims to a neighboring +datcha; but as soon as he had shaken himself free of that terrible +nightmare he escaped from the place. He really regretted that he +was not dead. These successive waves of events had swamped him; +and he accused himself alone of all this disaster. With acutest +anxiety he had inquired about the condition of each of "his victims." +Feodor had not been wounded, but now he was almost delirious, asking +every other minute as the hours crept on for Natacha, who had not +reappeared. That unhappy girl Rouletabille had steadily believed +innocent. Was she a culprit? "Ah, if she had only chosen to! If +she had had confidence," he cried, raising anguished hands towards +heaven, 'none of all this need have happened. No one would have +attacked and no one would ever again attack the life of Trebassof. +For I was not wrong in claiming before Koupriane that the general's +life was in my hand, and I had the right to say to him, 'Life for +life! Give me Matiew's and I will give you the general's.' And now +there has been one more fruitless attempt to kill Feodor +Feodorovitch and it is Natacha's fault - that I swear, because she +would not listen to me. And is Natacha implicated in it? 0 my God" +Rouletabille asked this vain question of the Divinity, for he +expected no more help in answering it on earth. + +Natacha! Innocent or guilty, where was she? What was she doing? +to know that! To know if one were right or wrong - and if one were +wrong, to disappear, to die! + +Thus the unhappy Rouletabille muttered as he walked along the bank +of the Neva, not far from the ruins of the poor datcha, where the +joyous friends of Feodor Feodorovitch would have no more good +dinners, never; so he soliloquized, his head on fire. + +And, all at once, he recovered trace of the young girl, that trace +lost earlier, a trace left at her moment of flight, after the +poisoning and before the explosion. And had he not in that a +terrible coincidence? Because the poison might well have been only +in preparation for the final attack, the pretext for the tragic +arrival of the two false doctors. Natacha, Natacha, the living +mystery surrounded already by so many dead! + +Not far from the ruins of the datcha Rouletabille soon made sure +that a group of people had been there the night before, coming +from the woods near-by, and returning to them. He was able to be +sure of this because the boundaries of the datcha had been guarded +by troops and police as soon as the explosion took place, under +orders to keep back the crowd that hurried to Eliaguine. He looked +attentively at the grass, the ferns, the broken and trampled twigs. +Certainly a struggle had occurred there. He could distinguish +clearly in the soft earth of a narrow glade the prints of Natacha's +two little boots among all the large footprints. + +He continued his search with his heart heavier and heavier, he had +a presentiment that he was on the point of discovering a new +misfortune. The footprints passed steadily under the branches along +the side of the Neva. From a bush he picked a shred of white cloth, +and it seemed to him a veritable battle had taken place there. +Torn branches strewed the grass. He went on. Very close to the +bank he saw by examination of the soil, where there was no more +trace of tiny heels and little soles, that the woman who had been +found there was carried, and carried, into a boat, of which the +place of fastening to the bank was still visible. + +"They have carried off Natacha," he cried in a surge of anguish. +" bungler that I am, that is my fault too - all my fault - all my +fault! They wished to avenge Michael Nikolaievitch's death, for +which they hold Natacha responsible, and they have kidnapped her." + +His eyes searched the great arm of the river for a boat. The river +was deserted. Not a sail, nothing visible on the dead waters! +"What shall I do? What shall I do? I must save her." + +He resumed his course along the river. Who could give him any +useful information? He drew near a little shelter occupied by a +guard. The guard was speaking to an officer. Perhaps he had +noticed something during his watch that evening along the river. +That branch of the river was almost always deserted after the day +was over. A boat plying between these shores in the twilight would +certainly attract attention. Rouletabille showed the guard the +paper Koupriane had given him in the beginning, and with the officer +(who turned out to be a police officer) as interpreter, he asked his +questions. As a matter of fact the guard had been sufficiently +puzzled by the doings and comings of a light boat which, after +disappearing for an instant, around the bend of the river, had +suddenly rowed swiftly out again and accosted a sailing-yacht which +appeared at the opening of the gulf. It was one of those small but +rapid and elegant sailing craft such as are seen in the Lachtka +regattas. + +Lachtka! "The Bay of Lachtka!" + +The word was a ray of light for the reporter, who recalled now the +counsel Gounsovski had given him. "Watch the Bay of Lachtka, and +tell me then if you still believe Natacha is innocent!" Gounsovski +must have known when he said this that Natacha had embarked in +company with the Nihilists, but evidently he was ignorant that she +had gone with them under compulsion, as their prisoner. + +Was it too late to save Natacha? In any case, before he died, he +would try in every way possible, so as at least to have kept her +as much as he could from the disaster for which he held himself +responsible. He ran to the Barque, near the Point. + +His voice was firm as he hailed the canoe of the floating restaurant +where, thanks to him, Koupriane had been thwarted in impotent anger. +He had himself taken to just below Staria-Derevnia and jumped out +at the spot where he saw little Katharina disappear a few days +before. He landed in the mud and climbed on hands and knees up the +slope of a roadway which followed the bank. This bank led to the +Bay of Lachtka, not far from the frontier of Finland. + +On Rouletabille's left lay the sea, the immense gulf with slight +waves; to his right was the decaying stretch of the marsh. Stagnant +water stretching to the horizon, coarse grass and reeds, an +extraordinary tangle of water-plants, small ponds whose greenish +scum did not stir under the stiff breeze, water that was heavy and +dirty. Along this narrow strip of land thrust thus between the +marsh, the sky and the sea, he hurried, with many stumblings, his +eyes fixed on the deserted gulf. Suddenly he turned his head at +a singular noise. At first he didn't see anything, but heard in +the distance a vague clamoring while a sort of vapor commenced to +rise from the marsh. And then he noticed, nearer him, the high +marsh grasses undulating. Finally he saw a countless flock rising +from the bed of the marshes. Beasts, groups of beasts, whose horns +one saw like bayonets, jostled each other trying to keep to the firm +land. Many of them swam and on the backs of some were naked men, +stark naked, with hair falling to their shoulders and streaming +behind them like manes. They shouted war-cries and waved their +clubs. Rouletabille stopped short before this prehistoric invasion. +He would never have imagined that a few miles from the Newsky +Prospect he could have found himself in the midst of such a +spectacle. These savages had not even a loin-cloth. Where did they +come from with their herd? From what remote place in the world or +in old and gone history had they emerged? What was this new +invasion? What prodigious slaughter-house awaited these unruly +herds? They made a noise like thunder in the marsh. Here were a +thousand unkempt haunches undulating in the marsh like the ocean as +a storm approaches. The stark-naked men jumped along the route, +waving their clubs, crying gutturally in a way the beasts seemed +to understand. They worked their way out from the marsh and turned +toward the city, leaving behind, to swathe the view of them a while +and then fade away, a pestilential haze that hung like an aura about +the naked, long-haired men. It was terrible and magnificent. In +order not to be shoved into the water, Rouletabille had climbed a +small rock that stood beside the route, and had waited there as +though petrified himself. When the barbarians had finally passed +by he climbed down again, but the route had become a bog of +trampled filth. + +Happily, he heard the noise of a primitive conveyance behind him. +It was a telega. Curiously primitive, the telega is four-wheeled, +with two planks thrown crudely across the axle-trees. Rouletabille +gave the man who was seated in it thee roubles, and jumped into +the planks beside him, and the two little Finnish horses, whose +manes hung clear to the mud, went like the wind. Such crude +conveyances are necessary on such crude roads, but it requires a +strong constitution to make a journey on them. Still, the reporter +felt none of the jolting, he was so intent on the sea and the coast +of Lachtka Bay. The vehicle finally reached a wooden bridge, across +a murky creek. As the day commenced to fade colorlessly, +Rouletabille jumped off onto the shore and his rustic equipage +crossed to the Sestroriesk side. It was a corner of land black and +somber as his thoughts that he surveyed now. "Watch the Bay of +Lachtka!" The reporter knew that this desolate plain, this +impenetrable marsh, this sea which offered the fugitive refuge in +innumerable fords, had always been a useful retreat for Nihilistic +adventurers. A hundred legends circulated in St. Petersburg about +the mysteries of Lachtka marshes. And that gave him his last hope. +Maybe he would be able to run across some revolutionaries to whom +he could explain about Natacha, as prudently as possible; he might +even see Natacha herself. Gounsovski could not have spoken vain +words to him. + +Between the Lachtkrinsky marsh and the strand he perceived on the +edge of the forests which run as far as Sestroriesk a little wooden +house whose walls were painted a reddish-brown, and its roof green. +It was not the Russian isba, but the Finnish touba. However, a +Russian sign announced it to be a restaurant. The young man had to +take only a few steps to enter it. He was the only customer there. +An old man, with glasses and a long gray beard, evidently the +proprietor of the establishment, stood behind the counter, presiding +over the zakouskis. Rouletabille chose some little sandwiches which +he placed on a plate. He took a bottle of pivo and made the man +understand that later, if it were possible, he would like a good hot +supper. The other made a sign that he understood and showed him +into an adjoining room which was used for diners. Rouletabille was +quite ready enough to die in the face of his failures, but he did +not wish to perish from hunger. + +A table was placed beside a window looking out over the sea and +over the entrance to the bay. It could not have been better and, +with his eye now on the horizon, now on the estuary near-by, he +commenced to eat with gloomy avidity. He was inclined to feel sorry +for himself, to indulge in self-pity. "Just the same, two and two +always make four," he said to himself; "but in my calculations +perhaps I have forgotten the surd. "Ah, there was a time when I +would not have overlooked anything. And even now I haven't +overlooked anything, if Natacha is innocent!" Having literally +scoured the plate, he struck the table a great blow with his fist +and said: "She is!" + +Just then the door opened. Rouletabille supposed the proprietor of +the place was entering. + +It was Koupriane. + +He rose, startled. He could not imagine by what mystery the Prefect +of Police had made his way there, but he rejoiced from the bottom +of his heart, for if he was trying to rescue Natacha from the hands +of the revolutionaries Koupriane would be a valuable ally. He +clapped the Prefect on the shoulder. + +"Well, well!" he said, almost joyfully. "I certainly did not expect +you here. How is your wound?" + +"Nitchevo! Not worth speaking about; it's nothing." + +"And the general and -! Ah, that frightful night! And those two +unfortunates who -?" + +"Nitchevo! Nitchevo!" + +"And poor Ermolai!" + +"Nitchevo! Nitchevo! It is nothing." + +Rouletabille looked him over. The Prefect of Police had an arm in +a sling, but he was bright and shining as a new ten-rouble piece, +while he, poor Rouletabille, was so abominably soiled and depressed. +Where did he come from? Koupriane understood his look and smiled. + +"Well, I have just come from the Finland train; it is the best way." + +"But what can you have come here to do, Excellency?" + +"The same thing as you." + +"Bah!" exclaimed Rouletabille, "do you mean to say that you have +come here to save Natacha?" + +"How - to save her! I come to capture her." + +"To capture her?" + +"Monsieur Rouletabille, I have a very fine little dungeon in Saints +Peter and Paul fortress that is all ready for her." + +"You are going to throw Natacha into a dungeon!" + +"The Emperor's order, Monsieur Rouletabille. And if you see me +here in person it is simply because His Majesty requires that the +thing be done as respectfully and discreetly as possible." + +"Natacha in prison!" cried the reporter, who saw in horror all +obstacles rising before him at one and the same time. "For what +reasons, pray?" + +"The reason is simple enough. Natacha Feodorovna is the last word +in wickedness and doesn't deserve anybody's pity. She is the +accomplice of tbe revolutionaries and the instigator of all the +crimes against her father." + +"I am sure that you are mistaken, Excellency. But how have you +been guided to her?" + +"Simply by you." + +"By me?" + +"Yes, we lost all trace of Natacha. But, as you had disappeared +also, I made up my mind that you could only be occupied in searching +for her, and that by finding you I might have the chance to lay my +hands on her." + +"But I haven't seen any of your men?" + +"Why, one of them brought you here." + +"Me?" + +"Yes, you. Didn't you climb onto a telega?" + +"Ah, the driver." + +"Exactly. I had arranged to have him meet me at the Sestroriesk +station. He pointed out the place where you dropped off, and here +I am." + +The reporter bent his head, red with chagrin. Decidedly the +sinister idea that he was responsible for the death of an innocent +man and all the ills which had followed out of it had paralyzed his +detective talents. He recognized it now. What was the use of +struggling! If anyone had told him that he would be played with +that way sometime, he, Rouletabille! he would have laughed heartily +enough - then. But now, well, he wasn't capable of anything further. +He was his own most cruel enemy. Not only was Natacha in the hands +of the revolutionaries through his fault, by his abominable error, +but worse yet, in the very moment when he wished to save her, he +foolishly, naively, had conducted the police to the very spot where +they should have been kept away. It was the depth of his +humiliation; Koupriane really pitied the reporter. + +"Come, don't blame yourself too much," said he. "We would have +found Natacha without you; Gounsovski notified us that she was going +to embark in the Bay of Lachtka this evening with Priemkof." + +"Natacha with Priemkof!" exclaimed Rouletabille. "Natacha with the +man who introduced the two living bombs into her father's house! If +she is with him, Excellency, it is because she is his prisoner, and +that alone will be sufficient to prove her innocence. I thank the +Heaven that has sent you here." + +Koupriane swallowed a glass of vodka, poured another after it, and +finally deigned to translate his thought: + +"Natacha is the friend of these precious men and we will see them +disembark hand in hand." + +"Your men, then, haven't studied the traces of the struggle that +'these precious men' have had on the banks of the Neva before they +carried away Natacha?" + +"Oh, they haven't been hoodwinked. As a matter of fact, the struggle +was quite too visible not to have been done for appearances' sake. +What a child you are! Can't you see that Natacha's presence in the +datcha had become quite too dangerous for that charming young girl +after the poisoning of her father and step-mother failed and at the +moment when her comrades were preparing to send General Trebassof a +pleasant little gift of dynamite? She arranged to get away and yet +to appear kidnapped. It is too simple." + +Rouletabille raised his head. + +"There is something simpler still to imagine than the culpability +of Natacha. It is that Priemkof schemed to pour the poison into +the flask of vodka, saying to himself that if the poison didn't +succeed at least it would make the occasion for introducing his +dynamite into the house in the pockets of the 'doctors' that they +would go to find." + +Koupriane seized Rouletabille's wrist and threw some terrible words +at him, looking into the depths of his eyes: + +"It was not Priemkof who poured the poison, because there was no +poison in the flask." + +Rouletabille, as he heard this extraordinary declaration, rose, +more startled than he had ever been in the course of this startling +campaign. + +If there was no poison in the flask, the poison must have been +poured directly into the glasses by a person who was in the kiosk! +Now, there were only four persons in the kiosk: the two who were +poisoned and Natacha and himself, Rouletabille. And that kiosk +was so perfectly isolated that it was impossible for any other +persons than the four who were there to pour poison upon the table. + +"But it is not possible!" he cried. + +"It is so possible that it is so. Pere Alexis dedared that there +is no poison in the flask, and I ought to tell you that an analysis +I had made after his bears him out. There was no poison, either, +in the small bottle you took to Pere Alexis and into which you +yourself had poured the contents of Natacha's glass and yours; no +trace of poison excepting in two of the four glasses, arsenate of +soda was found only on the soiled napkins of Trebassof and his wife +and in the two glasses they drank from." + +"Oh, that is horrible," muttered the stupefied reporter; "that is +horrible, for then the poisoner must be either Natacha or me." + +"I have every confidence in you," declared Koupriane with a great +laugh of satisfaction, striking him on the shoulder. "And I arrest +Natacha, and you who love logic ought to be satisfied now." + +Rouletabille hadn't a word more to say. He sat down again and let +his head fall into his hands, like one sleep has seized. + +"Ah, our young girls; you don't know them. They are terrible, +terrible!" said Koupriane, lighting a big cigar. "Much more +terrible than the boys. In good families the boys still enjoy +themselves; but the girls - they read! It goes to their heads. +They are ready for anything; they know neither father nor mother. +Ah, you are a child, you cannot comprehend. Two lovely eyes, a +melancholy air, a soft, low voice, and you are captured - you +believe you have before you simply an inoffensive, good little +girl. Well, Rouletabille, here is what I will tell you for your +instruction. There was the time of the Tchipoff attack; the +revolutionaries who were assigned to kill Tchipoff were disguised +as coachmen and footmen. Everthing had been carefully prepared +and it would seem that no one could have discovered the bombs in +the place they had been stored. Well, do you know the place where +those bombs were found? In the rooms of the governor, of Wladmir's +daughter! Exactly, my little friend, just there! The rooms of +the governor's daughter, Mademoiselle Alexeieiv. Ah, these young +girls! Besides, it was this same Mademoiselle Alexeieiv who, so +prettily, pierced the brain of an honest Swiss merchant who had the +misfortune to resemble one of our ministers. If we had hanged that +charming young girl earlier, my dear Monsieur Rouletabille, that +last catastrophe might have been avoided. A good rope around the +neck of all these little females - it is the only way, the only +way!" + +A man entered. Rouletabille recognized the driver of the telega. +There were some rapid words between the Chief and the agent. The +man closed the shutters of the room, but through the interstices +they would be able to see what went on outside. Then the agent left; +Koupriane, as he pushed aside the table that was near the window, +said to the reporter: + +"You had better come to the window; my man has just told me the boat +is drawing near. You can watch an interesting sight. We are sure +that Natacha is still aboard. The yacht, after the explosion at +the datcha, took up two men who put off to it in a canoe, and since +then it has simply sailed back and forth in the gulf. We have taken +our precautions in Finland the same as here and it is here they are +going to try to disembark. Keep an eye on them." + +Koupriane was at his post of observation. Evening slowly fell. +The sky was growing grayish-black, a tint that blended with the +slate-colored sea. To those on the bank, the sound of the men +about to die came softly across the water. There was a sail far +out. Between the strand and the touba where Koupriane watched, was +a ridge, a window, which, however, did not hide the shore or the bay +from the prefect of police, because at the height where he was his +glance passed at an angle above it. But from the sea this ridge +entirely hid anyone who lay in ambush behind it. The reporter +watched fifty moujiks flat on their stomachs crawling up the ridge, +behind two of their number whose heads alone topped the ridge. In +the line of gaze taken by those two heads was the white sail, +looming much larger now. The yacht was heeled in the water and +glided with real elegance, heading straight on. Suddenly, just +when they supposed she was coming straight to shore, the sails fell +and a canoe was dropped over the side. Four men got into it; then +a woman jumped lightly down a little gangway into the canoe. It +was Natacha. Koupriane had no difficulty in recognizing her through +the gathering darkness. + +"Ah, my dear Monsieur Rouletabille," said he, "see your prisoner of +the Nihilists. Notice how she is bound. Her thongs certainly are +causing her great pain. These revolutionaries surely are brutes!" + +The truth was that Natacha had gone quite readily to the rudder and +while the others rowed she steered the light boat to the place on +the beach that had been pointed out to her. Soon the prow of the +canoe touched the sands. There did not seem to be a soul about, +and that was the conclusion the men in the canoe who stood up +looking around, seemed to reach. They jumped out, and then it was +Natacha's turn. She accepted the hand held out to her, talking +pleasantly with the men all the time. She even turned to press the +hand of one of them. The group came up across the beach. All this +time the watchers in the little eating-house could see the false +moujiks, who had wriggled on their stomachs to the very edge of the +ridge, hold ing themselves ready to spring. + +Behind his shutter, Koupriane could not restrain an exclamation of +triumph; he gradually identified some of the figures in the group, +and muttered: + +"Eh! eh! There is Priemkof himself and the others. Gounsovski is +right and he certainly is well-informed; his system is decidedly a +good one. What a net-full!" + +He hardly breathed as he watched the outcome. He could discern +elsewhere, beside the bay, flat on the ground, concealed by the +slightest elevation of the soil, other false moujiks. The wood of +Sestroriesk was watched in the same way. The group of +revolutionaries who strolled behind Natacha stopped to confer. In +three - maybe two - minutes, they would be surrounded - cut off, +taken in the trap. Suddenly a gunshot sounded in the night, and +the group, with startled speed, turned in their tracks and made +silently for the sea, while from all directions poured the concealed +agents and threw themselves into the pursuit, jostling each other +and crying after the fugitives. But the cries became cries of rage, +for the group of revolutionaries gained the beach. They saw Natacha, +who was held up by Priemkof himself, reject the aid of the Nihilist, +who did not wish to abandon her, in order that he might save himself. +She made him go and seeing that she was going to be taken, stopped +short and waited for the enemy stoically, with folded arms. +Meanwhile, her three companions succeeded in throwing themselves +into the canoe and plied the oars hard while Koupriane's men, in +the water up to their chests, discharged their revolvers at the +fugitives. The men in the canoe, fearing to wound Natacha, made +no reply to the firing. The yacht had sails up by the time they +drew alongside, and made off like a bird toward the mysterious +fords of Finland, audaciously hoisting the black flag of the +Revolution. + +Meantime, Koupriane's agents, trembling before his anger, gathered +at the eating-house. The Prefect of Police let his fury loose on +them and treated them like the most infamous of animals. The +capture of Natacha was little comfort. He had planned for the whole +bag, and his men's stupidity took away all his self-control. If he +had had a whip at hand he would have found prompt solace for his +mined hopes. Natacha, standing in a corner, with her face singularly +calm, watched this extraordinary scene that was like a menagerie in +which the tamer himself had become a wild beast. From another +corner, Rouletabille kept his eyes fixed on Natacha who ignored him. +Ah, that girl, sphinx to them all! Even to him who thought a while +ago that he could read things invisible to other vulgar men in her +features, in her eyes! The impassive face of that girl whose father +they had tried to assassinate only a few hours before and who had +just pressed the hand of Priemkof, the assassin! Once she turned +her head slightly toward Rouletabille. The reporter then looked +towards her with increased eagerness, his eyes burning, as though +he would say: "Surely, Natacha, you are not the accomplice of your +father's assassins; surely it was not you who poured the poison!" + +But Natacha's glance passed the reporter coldly over. Ah, that +mysterious, cold mask, the mouth with its bitter, impudent smile, +an atrocious smile which seemed to say to the reporter: "If it is +not I who poured the poison, then it is you!" + +It was the visage common enough to the daughters whom Koupriane had +spoken of a little while before, "the young girls who read" and, +their reading done, set themselves to accomplish some terrible +thing, some thing because of which, from time to time, they place +stiff ropes around the necks of these young females. + +Finally, Koupriane's frenzy wore itself out and he made a sign. +The men filed out in dismal silence. Two of them remained to +guard Natacha. From outside came the sounds of a carriage from +Sestroriesk ready to convey the girl to the Dungeons of Sts. Peter +and Paul. A final gesture from the Prefect of Police and the +rough bands of the two guards seized the prisoner's frail wrists. +They hustled her along, thrust her outside, jamming her against +the doorway, venting thus their anger at the reproaches of their +chief. A few seconds later the carriage departed, not to stop +until the fortress was reached with the trickling tombs under the +bed of theriver where young girls about to die are confined - who +have read too much, without entirely understanding, as Monsieur +Kropotkine says. + +Koupriane prepared to leave in turn. Rouletabille stopped him. + +"Excellency, I wish you to tell me why you have shown such anger +to your men just now." + +"They are brute beasts," cried the Chief of Police, quite beside +himself again. "They have made me miss the biggest catch of my +life. They threw themselves on the group two minutes too early. +Some of them fired a gun that they took for the signal and that +served to warn the Nihilists. But I will let them all rot in prison +until I learn which one fired that shot." + +"You needn't look far for that," said Rouletabille. "I did it." + +"You! Then you must have gone outside the touba?" + +"Yes, in order to warn them. But still I was a little late, since +you did take Natacha." + +Koupriane's eyes blazed. + +"You are their accomplice in all this," he hurled at the reporter, +"and I am going to the Tsar for permission to arrest you." + +"Hurry, then, Excellency," replied the reporter coldly, "because +the Nihilists, who also think they have a little account to settle +with me, may reach me before you." + +And he saluted. + + + + + +XV + +"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU" + +At the hotel a note from Gounsovski: "Don't forget this time to come +to-morrow to have luncheon with me. Warmest regards from Madame +Gounsovski." Then a horrible, sleepless night, shaken with echoes +of explosions and the clamor of the wounded; and the solemn shade +of Pere Alexis, stretching out toward Rouletabille a phial of poison +and saying, "Either Natacha or you!" Then, rising among the shades +the bloody form of Michael Nikolaievitch the Innocent! + +In the morning a note from the Marshal of the Court. + +Monsieur le Marechal had no particular good news, evidently, for in +terms quite without enthusiasm he invited the young man to luncheon +for that same day, rather early, at midday, as he wished to see him +once more before he left for France. "I see," said Rouletabille to +himself; "Monsieur le Marechal pronounces my expulsion from the +country "- and he forgot once more the Gounsovski luncheon. The +meeting-place named was the great restaurant called the Bear. +Rouletabille entered it promptly at noon. He asked the schwitzar if +the Grand Marshal of the Court had arrived, and was told no one had +seen him yet. They conducted him to the huge main hall, where, +however, there was only one person. This man, standing before the +table spread with zakouskis, was stuffing himself. At the sound of +Rouletabille's step on the floor this sole famished patron turned +and lifted his hands to heaven as he recognized the reporter. The +atter would have given all the roubles in his pocket to have avoided +the recognition. But he was already face to face with the advocate +so celebrated for his table-feats, the amiable Athanase Georgevitch, +his head swathed in bandages and dressings from the midst of which +one could perceive distinctly only the eyes and, above all, the +mouth. + +"How goes it, little friend?" + +"How are you?" + +"Oh, I! There is nothing the matter. In a week we shall have +forgotten it." + +"What a terrible affair," said the reporter, "I certainly believed +we were all dead men." + +"No, no. It was nothing. Nitchevo!" + +"And poor Thaddeus Tchitchnikoff with his two poor legs broken!" + +"Eh! Nitchevo! He has plenty of good solid splints that will make +him two good legs again. Nitchevo! Don't you think anything more +about that! It is nothing. You have come here to dine? A very +celebrated house this. Caracho!" He busied himself to do the +honors. One would have said the restaurant belonged to him. He +boasted of its architecture and the cuisine "a la Francaise." + +"Do you know," he inquired confidently, "a finer restaurant room +anywhere in the world?" + +In fact, it seemed to Rouletabille as he looked up into the high +glass arch that he was in a railway station decorated for some +illustrious traveler, for there were flowers and plants everywhere. +But the visitor whom the ball awaited was the Russian eater, the +ogre who never failed to come to eat at The Bear. Pointing out the +lines of tables shining with their white cloths and bright silver, +Athanase Georgevitch, with his mouth full, said: + +"Ah, my dear little French monsieur, you should see it at +supper-time, with the women, and the jewels, and the music. There +is nothing in France that can give you any idea of it, nothing! The +gayety - the champagne - and the jewels, monsieur, worth millions +and millions of roubles! Our women wear them all - everything they +have. They are decked like sacred shrines! All the family jewels +- from the very bottom of the caskets! it is magnificent, +thoroughly Russian - Muscovite! What am I saying? It is Asiatic. +Monsieur, in the evening, at a fete, we are Asiatic. Let me tell +you something on the quiet. You notice that this enormous dining +ail is surrounded by those windowed balconies. Each of those +windows belongs to a separate private room. Well, you see that +window there? - yes, there - that is the room of a grand duke - yes, +he's the one I mean - a very gay grand duke. Do you know, one +evening when there was a great crowd here - families, monsieur, +family parties, high-born families - the window of that particular +balcony was thrown open, and a woman stark naked, as naked as my +hand, monsieur, was dropped into the dining-hall and ran across it +full-speed. It was a wager, monsieur, a wager of the jolly grand +duke's, and the demoiselle won it. But what a scandal! Ah, don't +speak of it; that would be very bad form. But - sufficiently +Asiatic, eh? Truly Asiatic. And - something much more unfortunate +- you see that table? It happened the Russian New Year Eve, at +supper. All the beauty, the whole capital, was here. Just at +midnight the orchestra struck up the Bodje tsara krani* to +inaugurate the joyful Russian New Year, and everybody stood up, +according to custom, and listened in silence, as loyal subjects +should. Well, at that table, accompanying his family, there was a +young student, a fine fellow, very correct, and in uniform. This +unhappy young student, who had risen like everybody else, to listen +to the Bodje tsara krani, inadvertently placed his knee on a chair. +Truly that is not a correct attitude, monsieur, but really it was +no reason for killing him, was it now? Certainly not. Well, a brute +in uniform, an officer quite immaculately gotten-up, drew a revolver +from his pocket and discharged it at the student point-blank. You +can imagine the scandal, for the student was dead! There were Paris +journalists there, besides, who had never been there before, you see! +Monsieur Gaston Leroux was at that very table. What a scandal! +They had a regular battle. They broke carafes over the head of the +assassin - for he was neither more nor less than an assassin, a +drinker of blood - an Asiatic. They picked up the assassin, who was +bleeding all over, and carried him off to look after him. As to the +dead man, he lay stretched out there under a table-cloth, waiting +for the police - and those at the tables went on with their drinking. +Isn't that Asiatic enough for you? Here, a naked woman; there, a +corpse! And the jewels - and the champagne! What do you say to +that?" +___________________________________________________________________ + + *The Russian national anthem. +___________________________________________________________________ + +"His Excellency the Grand Marshal of the Court is waiting for you, +Monsieur." + +Rouletabille shook hands with Athanase Georgevitch, who returned to +his zakouskis, and followed the interpreter to the door of one of +the private rooms. The high dignitary was there. With a charm in +his politeness of which the high-born Russian possesses the secret +over almost everybody else in the world, the Marshal intimated to +Rouletabille that he had incurred imperial displeasure. + +"You have been denounced by Koupriane, who holds you responsible +for the checks he has suffered in this affair." + +"Monsieur Koupriane is right," replied Rouletabille, "and His +Majesty should believe him, since it is the truth. But don't fear +anything from me, Monsieur le Grand Marechal, for I shall not +inconvenience Monsieur Koupriane any further, nor anybody else. I +shall disappear." + +"I believe Koupriane is already directed to vise your passport." + +"He is very good, and he does himself much harm." + +"All that is a little your fault, Monsieur Rouletabille. We +believed we could consider you as a friend, and you have never +failed, it appears, on each occasion to give your help to our +enemies. + +"Who says that?" + +"Koupriane. Oh, it is necessary to be one with us. And you are +not one with us. And if you are not for us you are against us. +You understand that, I think. That is the way it has to be. The +Terrorists have returned to the methods of the Nihilists, who +succeeded altogether too well against Alexander II. When I tell +you that they succeeded in placing their messages even in the +imperial palace..." + +"Yes, yes," said Rouletabille, vaguely, as though he were already +far removed from the contingencies of this world. "I know that +Czar Alexander II sometimes found under his napkin a letter +announcing his condemnation to death." + +"Monsieur, at the Chateau yesterday morning something happened that +is perhaps more alarming than the letter found by Alexander II +under his napkin." + +"What can it be? Have bombs been discovered?" + +"No. It is a bizarre occurrence and almost unbelievable. The +eider downs, all the eider down coverings belonging to the imperial +family disappeared yesterday morning."* +___________________________________________________________________ + + * Historically authentic. +___________________________________________________________________ + +"Surely not!" + +"It is just as I say. And it was impossible to learn what had +become of them - until yesterday evening, when they were found again +in their proper places in the chambers. That is the new mystery!" + +"Certainly. But how were they taken out?" + +"Shall we ever know? All we found was two feathers, this morning, +in the boudoir of the Empress, which leads us to think that the +eider downs were taken out that way. I am taking the two feathers +to Koupriane." + +"Let me see them," asked the reporter. + +Rouletabille looked them over and handed them back. + +"And what do you think the whole affair means?" + +"We are inclined to regard it as a threat by the revolutionaries. +If they can carry away the eider downs, it would be quite as easy +for them to carry away..." + +"The Imperial family? No, I don't think it is that." + +"What do you mean, then?" + +"I? Nothing any more. Not only do I not think any more, but I +don't wish to. Tell me, Monsieur le Grand Marechal, it is useless, +I suppose, to try to see His Majesty before I go?" + +"What good would it do, monsieur? We know everything now. This +Natacha that you defended against Koupriane is proved the culprit. +The last affair does not leave that in any reasonable doubt. And +she is taken care of from this time on. His Majesty wishes never +to hear Natacba spoken of again under any pretext." + +"And what are you going to do with that young girl?" + +"The Tsar has decided that there shall not be any trial and that +the daughter of General Trebassof shall be sent, by administrative +order, to Siberia. The Tsar, monsieur, is very good, for he might +have had her hanged. She deserved it." + +"Yes, yes, the Tsar is very good." + +"You are very absorbed, Monsieur Rouletabille, and you are not +eating." + +"I have no appetite, Monsieur le Marechal. Tell me,- the Emperor +must be rather bored at Tsarskoie-Coelo?" + +"Oh, he has plenty of work. He rises at seven o'clock and has a +light English luncheon - tea and toast. At eight o'clock he starts +and works till ten. From ten to eleven he promenades." + +"In the jail-yard?" asked Rouletabille innocently. + +"What's that you say? "Ah, you are an enfant terrible! Certainly +we do well to send you away. Until eleven he promenades in a +pathway of the park. From eleven to one he holds audience; luncheon +at one; then he spends the time until half-past two with his family." + +"What does he eat?" + +"Soup. His Majesty is wonderfully fond of soup. He takes it at +every meal. After luncheon he smokes, but never a cigar - always +cigarettes, gifts of the Sultan; and he only drinks one liqueur, +Maraschino. At half-past two he goes out again for a little air +- always in his park; then he sets himself to work until eight +o'clock. It is simply frightful work, with heaps of useless +papers and numberless signatures. No secretary can spare him that +ungrateful bureaucratic duty. He must sign, sign, sign, and read, +read, read the reports. And it is work without any beginning or +end; as soon as some reports go, others arrive. At eight o'clock, +dinner, and then more signatures, working right up to eleven o'clock. +At eleven o'clock he goes to bed." + +"And he sleeps to the rhythmical tramp of the guards on patrol," +added Rouletabille, bluntly. + +"0 young man, young man!" + +"Pardon me, Monsieur le Grand Marechal," said the reporter, rising; +"I am, indeed, a disturbing spirit and I know that I have nothing +more to do in this country. You will not see me any more, Monsieur +le Grand Marechal; but before leaving I ought to tell you how much +I have been touched by the hospitality of your great nation. That +hospitality is sometimes a little dangerous, but it is always +magnificent. No other nation in the world knows like the Russians +how to receive a man, Your Excellency. I speak as I feel; and that +isn't affected by my manner of quitting you, for you know also how +to put a man to the door. Adieu, then; without any rancor. My +most respectful homage to His Majesty. Ah, just one word more! +You will recall that Natacha Feodorovna was engaged to poor Boris +Mourazoff, still another young man who has disappeared and who, +before disappearing, charged me to deliver to General Trebassof's +daughter this last token - these two little ikons. I entrust you +with this mission, Monsieur le Grand Marechal. Your servant, +Excellency." + +Rouletabille re-descended the great Kaniouche. "Now," said he to +himself, "it is my turn to buy farewell presents." And he made his +way slowly across la Place des Grandes-Ecuries and the bridge of +the Katharine canal. He entered Aptiekarski-Pereoulok and pushed +open Pere Alexis's door, under the arch, at the back of the obscure +court. + +"Health and prosperity, Alexis Hutch!" + +"Ah, you again, little man! Well? Koupriane has let you know the +result of my analyses?" + +"Yes, yes. Tell me, Alexis Hutch, you are sure you are not +mistaken? You don't think you might be mistaken? Think carefully +before you answer. It is a question of life or death." + +"For whom?" + +"For me." + +"For you, good little friend! You want to make your old Pere +lexis laugh - or weep!" + +"Answer me." + +"No, I couldn't be mistaken. The thing is as certain as that we +two are here - arsenate of soda in the stains on the two napkins +and traces of arsenate of soda in two of the four glasses; none +in the carafe, none in the little bottle, none in the two glasses. +I say it before you and before God." + +"So it is really true. Thank you, Alexis Hutch. Koupriane has not +tried to deceive me. There has been nothing of that sort. Well, +do you know, Alexis Hutch, who has poured the poison? It is she +or I. And as it is not I, it is she. And since it is she, well, +I am going to die!" + +"You love her, then?" inquired Pere Alexis. + +"No," replied Rouletahille, with a self-mocking smile. "No, I don't +love her. But if it is she who poured the poison, then it was not +Michael Nikolaievitch, and it is I who had Michael Nikolaievitch +killed. You can see now that therefore I must die. Show me your +finest images. + +"Ah, my little one, if you will permit your old Alexis to make you +a gift, I would offer you these two poor ikons that are certainly +from the convent of Troitza at its best period. See how beautiful +they are, and old. Have you ever seen so beautiful a Mother of +God? And this St. Luke, would you believe that the hand had been +mended, eh? Two little masterpieces, little friend! If the old +masters of Salonika returned to the world they would be satisfied +with their pupils at Troitza. But you mustn't kill yourself at +your age!" + +"Come, bat ouclzka (little father), I accept your gift, and, if I +meet the old Salonican masters on the road I am going to travel, +I shan't fail to tell them there is no person here below who +appreciates them like a certain pere of Aptiekarski-Pereoulok, +Alexis Hutch." + +So saying Rouletabille wrapped up the two little ikons and put them +in his pocket. The Saint Luke would be sure to appeal to his +friend Sainclair. As to the Mother of God, that would be his dying +gift to the Dame en noir. + +"Ah, you are sad, little son; and your voice, as it sounds now, +hurts me." + +Rouletabille turned his head at the sound of two moujiks who entered, +carrying a long basket. + +"What do you want?" demanded Pere Alexis in Russian, "and what is +that you are bringing in? Do you intend to fill that huge basket +with my goods? In that case you are very welcome and I am your +humble servant." + +But the two chuckled. + +"Yes, yes, we have come to rid your shop of a wretched piece of +goods that litters it." + +"What is this you say?" inquired the old man, anxiously, and +drawing near Rouletabille. "Little friend, watch these men; I +don't recognize their faces and I can't understand why they have +come here." + +Rouletabille looked at the new-comers, who drew near the counter, +after depositing their long basket close to the door. There was +a sarcastic and malicious mocking way about them that struck him +from the first. But while they kept up their jabbering with Pere +Alexis he filled his pipe and proceeded to light it. Just then the +door was pushed open again and three men entered, simply dressed, +like respectable small merchants. They also acted curiously and +looked all around the shop. Pere Alexis grew more and more alarmed +and the others pulled rudely at his beard. + +"I believe these men here have come to rob me," he cried in French. +"What do you say, my son? - Shall I call the police?" + +"Hold on," replied Rouletabille impassively. "They are all armed; +they have revolvers in their pockets." + +Pere Alexis's teeth commenced to chatter. As he tried to get near +the door he was roughly pushed back and a final personage entered, +apparently a gentleman, and dressed as such, save that he wore a +visored leather cap. + +"Ah," said he at once in French, "why, it is the young French +journalist of the Grand-Morskaia Hotel. Salutations and your good +health! I see with pleasure that you also appreciate the counsels +of our dear Pere Alexis." + +"Don't listen to him, little friend; I don't know him," cried +Alexis Hutch. + +But the gentlenman of the Neva went on: + +"He is a man close to the first principles of science, and therefore +not far from divine; he is a holy man, whom it is good to consult at +moments when the future appears difficult. He knows how to read as +no one else can - Father John of Cronstadt excepted, to be strictly +accurate - on the sheets of bull-hide where the dark angels have +traced mysterious signs of destiny." + +Here the gentleman picked up an old pair of boots, which he threw +on the counter in the midst of the ikons. + +"Pere Alexis, perhaps these are not bull-hide, but good enough +cow-hide. Don't you want to read on this cow-hide the future of +this young man?" + +But here Rouletabille advanced to the gentleman, and blew an +enormous cloud of smoke full in his face. + +"It is useless, monsieur, said Rouletabille, "to waste your time +and your breath. I have been waiting for you." + + + + + +XVI + +BEFORE THE REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL + +Only, Rouletabille refused to be put into the basket. He would not +let them disarm him until they promised to call a carriage. The +Vehicle rolled into the court, and while Pere Alexis was kept back +in his shop at the point of a revolver, Rouletabille quietly got +in, smoking his pipe. The man who appeared to be the chief of the +band (the gentleman of the Neva) got in too and sat down beside him. +The carriage windows were shuttered, preventing all communication +with the outside, and only a tiny lantern lighted the interior. +They started. The carriage was driven by two men in brown coats +trimmed with false astrakhan. The dvornicks saluted, believing it +a police affair. The concierge made the sign of the cross. + +The journey lasted several hours without other incidents than those +brought about by the tremendous jolts, which threw the two +passengers inside one on top of the other. This might have made +an opening for conversation; and the "gentleman of the Neva" tried +it; but in vain. Rouletabille would not respond. At one moment, +indeed, the gentleman, who was growing bored, became so pressing +that the reporter finally said in the curt tone he always used when +he was irritated: + +"I pray you, monsieur, let me smoke my pipe in peace." + +Upon which the gentleman prudently occupied himself in lowering one +of the windows, for it grew stifling. + +Finally, after much jolting, there was a stop while the horses were +changed and the gentleman asked Rouletabille to let himself be +blindfolded. "The moment has come; they are going to hang me +without any form of trial," thought the reporter, and when, blinded +with the bandage, he felt himself lifted under the arms, there was +revolt of his whole being, that being which, now that it was on the +point of dying, did not wish to cease. Rouletabille would have +believed himself stronger, more courageous, more stoical at least. +But blind instinct swept all of this away, that instinct of +conservation which had no concern with the minor bravadoes of the +reporter, no concern with the fine heroic manner, of the determined +pose to die finely, because the instinct of conservation, which is, +as its rigid name indicates, essentially materialistic, demands +only, thinks of nothing but, to live. And it was that instinct +which made Rouletabille's last pipe die out unpuffed. + +The young man was furious with himself, and he grew pale with the +fear that he might not succeed in mastering this emotion, he took +fierce hold of himself and his members, which had stiffened at +the contact of seizure by rough hands, relaxed, and he allowed +himself to be led. Truly, he was disgusted with his faintness and +weakness. He had seen men die who knew they were going to die. +His task as reporter had led him more than once to the foot of the +guillotine. And the wretches he had seen there had died bravely. +Extraordinarily enough, the most criminal had ordinarily met death +most bravely. Of course, they had had leisure to prepare themselves, +thinking a long time in advance of that supreme moment. But they +affronted death, came to it almost negligently, found strength even +to say banal or taunting things to those around them. He recalled +above all a boy of eighteen years old who had cowardly murdered an +old woman and two children in a back-country farm, and had walked +to his death without a tremor, talking reassuringly to the priest +and the police official, who walked almost sick with horror on +either side of him. Could he, then, not be as brave as that child? + +They made him mount some steps and he felt that he had entered the +stuffy atmosphere of a closed room. Then someone removed the +bandage. He was in a room of sinister aspect and in the midst of +a rather large company. + +Within these naked, neglected walls there were about thirty young +men, some of them apparently quite as young as Rouletabille, with +candid blue eyes and pale complexions. The others, older men, were +of the physical type of Christs, not the animated Christs of +Occidental painters, but those that are seen on the panels of the +Byzantine school or fastened on the ikons, sculptures of silver or +gold. Their long hair, deeply parted in the middle, fell upon +their shoulders in curl-tipped golden masses. Some leant against +the wall, erect, and motionless. Others were seated on the floor, +their legs crossed. Most of them were in winter coats, bought in +the bazaars. But there were also men from the country, with their +skins of beasts, their sayons, their touloupes. One of them had his +legs laced about with cords and was shod with twined willow twigs. +The contrast afforded by various ones of these grave and attentive +figures showed that representatives from the entire revolutionary +party were present. At the back of the room, behind a table, three +young men were seated, and the oldest of them was not more than +twenty-five and had the benign beauty of Jesus on feast-days, +canopied by consecrated palms. + +In the center of the room a small table stood, quite bare and +without any apparent purpose. + +On the right was another table with paper, pens and ink-stands. It +was there that Rouletabille was conducted and asked to be seated. +Then he saw that another man was at his side, who was required to +keep standing. His face was pale and desperate, very drawn. His +eyes burned somberly, in spite of the panic that deformed his +features Rouletabille recognized one of the unintroduced friends +whom Gounsovski had brought with him to the supper at Krestowsky. +Evidently since then the always-threatening misfortune had fallen +upon him. They were proceeding with his trial. The one who seemed +to preside over these strange sessions pronounced a name: + +"Annouchka!" + +A door opened, and Annouchka appeared. + +Rouletabille hardly recognized her, she was so strangely dressed, +like the Russian poor, with her under-jacket of red-flannel and +the handkerchief which, knotted under her chin, covered all her +beautiful hair. + +She immediately testified in Russian against the man, who protested +until they compelled him to be silent. She drew from her pocket +papers which were read aloud, and which appeared to crush the +accused. He fell back onto his seat. He shivered. He hid his +head in his hands, and Rouletabille saw the hands tremble. The +man kept that position while the other witnesses were heard, their +testimony arousing murmurs of indignation that were quickly checked. +Annouchka had gone to take her place with the others against the +wall, in the shadows which more and more invaded the room, at this +ending of a lugubrious day. Two windows reaching to the floor let +a wan light creep with difficulty through their dirty panes, making +a vague twilight in the room. Soon nothing could be seen of the +motionless figures against the wall, much as the faces fade in the +frescoes from which the centuries have effaced the colors in the +depths of orthodox convents. + +Now someone from the depths of the shadow and the appalling silence +read something; the verdict, doubtless. + +The voice ceased. + +Then some of the figures detached themselves from the wall and +advanced. + +The man who crouched near Rouletabille rose in a savage bound and +cried out rapidly, wild words, supplicating words, menacing words. + +And then - nothing more but strangling gasps. The figures that had +moved out from the wall had clutched his throat. + +The reporter said, "It is cowardly." + +Annouchka's voice, low, from the depths of shadow, replied, "It is +just." + +But Rouletabille was satisfied with having said that, for he had +proved to himself that he could still speak. His emotion had been +such, since they had pushed him into the center of this sinister +and expeditious revolutionary assembly of justice, that he thought +of nothing but the terror of not being able to speak to them, to +say something to them, no matter what, which would prove to them +that he had no fear. Well, that was over. He had not failed to +say, "That is cowardly." + +And he crossed his arms. But he soon bad to turn away his head in +order not to see the use the table was put to that stood in the +center of the room, where it had seemed to serve no purpose. + +They had lifted the man, still struggling, up onto the little table. +They placed a rope about his neck. Then one of the "judges," one +of the blond young men, who seemed no older than Rouletabille, +climbed on the table and slipped the other end of the rope through +a great ring-bolt that projected from a beam of the ceiling. During +this time the man struggled futilely, and his death-rattle rose at +last though the continued noise of his resistance and its overcoming. +But his last breath came with so violent a shake of the body that +the whole death-apparatus, rope and ring-bolt, separated from the +ceiling, and rolled to the ground with the dead man. + +Rouletabille uttered a cry of horror. "You are assassins!" he +cried. But was the man surely dead? It was this that the pale +figures with the yellow hair set themselves to make sure of. He +was. Then they brought two sacks and the dead man was slipped +into one of them. + +Rouletabille said to them: + +"You are braver when you kill by an explosion, you know." + +He regretted bitterly that he had not died the night before in the +explosion. He did not feel very brave. He talked to them bravely +enough, but he trembled as his time approached. That death +horrified him. He tried to keep from looking at the other sack. He +took the two ikons, of Saint Luke and of the Virgin, from his pocket +and prayed to them. He thought of the Lady in Black and wept. + +A voice in the shadows said: + +"He is crying, the poor little fellow." + +It was Annouclika's voice. + +Rouletabille dried his tears and said: + +"Messieurs, one of you must have a mother." + +But all the voices cried: + +"No, no, we have mothers no more!" + +"They have killed them," cried some. "They have sent them to +Siberia," cried others. + +"Well, I have a mother still," said the poor lad. "I will not have +the opportunity to embrace her. It is a mother that I lost the day +of my birth and that I have found again, but - I suppose it is to +be said - on the day of my death. I shall not see her again. I +have a friend; I shall not see him again either. I have two little +ikons here for them, and I am going to write a letter to each of +them, if you will permit it. Swear to me that you will see these +reach them." + +"I swear it," said, in French, the voice of Annouchka. + +"Thanks, madame, you are kind. And now, messieurs, that is all I +ask of you. I know I am here to reply to very grave accusations. +Permit me to say to you at once that I admit them all to he well +founded. Consequently, there need be no discussion between us. +I have deserved death and I accept it. So permit me not to concern +myself with what will be going on here. I ask of you simply, as a +last favor, not to hasten your preparations too much, so that I may +be able to finish my letters>" + +Upon which, satisfied with himself this time, he sat down again +and commenced to write rapidly. They left him in peace, as he +desired. He did not raise his head once, even at the moment when +a murmur louder than usual showed that the hearers regarded +Rouletabille's crimes with especial detestation. He had the +happiness of having entirely completed his correspond once when +they asked him to rise to hear judgment pronounced upon him. The +supreme communion that he had just had with his friend Sainclair +and with the dear Lady in Black restored all his spirit to him. He +listened respectfully to the sentence which condcmned him to death, +though he was busy sliding his tongue along the gummed edge of his +envelope. + +These were the counts on which he was to be hanged: + +1. Because he had come to Russia and mixed in affairs that did not + concern his nationality, and had done this in spite of warning + to remain in France. + +2. Because he had not kept the promises of neutrality he freely + made to a representative of the Central Revolutionary Committee. + +3. For trying to penetrate the mystery of the Trebassof datcha. + +4. For having Comrade Matiew whipped and imprisoned by Koupriane. + +5. For having denounced to Koupriane the identity of the two + "doctors" who had been assigned to kill General Trebassof. + +6. For having caused the arrest of Natacha Feodorovna. + +It was a list longer than was needed for his doom. Rouletabille +kissed his ikons and handed them to Annouchka along with the letters. +Then he declared, with his lips trembling slightly, and a cold sweat +on his forehead, that he was ready to submit to his fate. + + + + + +XVII + +THE LAST CRAVAT + +The gentleman of the Neva said to him: "If you have nothing further +to say, we will go into the courtyard." + +Rouletabille understood at last that hanging him in the room where +judgment had been pronounced was rendered impossible by the violence +of the prisoner just executed. Not only the rope and the ring-bolt +had been torn away, but part of the beam had splintered. + +"There is nothing more," replied Rouletabille. + +He was mistaken. Something occurred to him, an idea flashed so +suddenly that he became white as his shirt, and had to lean on the +arm of the gentleman of the Neva in order to accompany him. + +The door was open. All the men who had voted his death filed out +in gloomy silence. The gentleman of the Neva, who seemed charged +with the last offices for the prisoner, pushed him gently out into +the court. + +It was vast, and surrounded by a high board wall; some small +buildings, with closed doors, stood to right and left. A high +chimney, partially demolished, rose from one corner. Rouletabille +decided the whole place was part of some old abandoned mill. Above +his head the sky was pale as a winding sheet. A thunderous, +intermittent, rhythmical noise appraised him that he could not be +far from the sea. + +He had plenty of time to note all these things, for they had stopped +the march to execution a moment and had made him sit down in the +open courtyard on an old box. A few steps away from him under the +shed where he certainly was going to be hanged, a man got upon a +stool (the stool that would serve Rouletabille a few moments later) +with his arm raised, and drove with a few blows of a mallet a great +ring-bolt into a beam above his head. + +The reporter's eyes, which had not lost their habit of taking +everything in, rested again on a coarse canvas sack that lay on the +ground. The young man felt a slight tremor, for he saw quickly +that the sack swathed a human form. He turned his head away, but +only to confront another empty sack that was intended for him. +Then he closed his eyes. The sound of music came from somewhere +outside, notes of the balalaika. He said to himself, "Well, we +certainly are in Finland"; for he knew that, if the guzla is +Russian the balalaika certainly is Finnish. It is a kind of +accordeon that the peasants pick plaintively in the doorways of +their toubas. He had seen and heard them the afternoon that he +went to Pergalovo, and also a little further away, on the Viborg +line. He pictured to himself the ruined structure where he now +found himself shut in with the revolutionary tribunal, as it must +appear from the outside to passers-by; unsinister, like many others +near it, sheltering under its decaying roof a few homes of humble +workers, resting now as they played the balalaika at their +thresholds, with the day's labor over. + +And suddenly from the ineffable peace of his last evening, while +the balalaika mourned and the man overhead tested the solidity of +his ring-bolt, a voice outside, the grave, deep voice of Annouchka, +sang for the little Frenchman: + + "For whom weave we now the crown + Of lilac, rose and thyme? + When my hand falls lingering down + Who then will bring your crown + Of lilac, rose and thyme? + + O that someone among you would hear, + And come, and my lonely hand + Would press, and shed the friendly tear - + For alone at the end I stand. + + Who now will bring the crown + Of lilac, rose and thyme?" + +Rouletabille listened to the voice dying away with the last sob of +the balalaika. "It is too sad," he said, rising. "Let us go," +and he wavered a little. + +They came to search him. All was ready above. They pushed him +gently towards the shed. When he was under the ring-bolt, near +the stool, they made him turn round and they read him something +in Russian, doubtless less for him than for those there who did +not understand French. Rouletabille had hard work to hold himself +erect. + +The gentleman of the Neva said to him further: + +"Monsieur, we now read you the final formula. It asks you to say +whether, before you die, you have anything you wish to add to what +we know concerning the sentence which has been passed upon you." + +Rouletabille thought that his saliva, which at that moment he had +the greatest difficulty in swallowing, would not permit him to utter +a word. But disdain of such a weakness, when he recalled the +coolness of so many illustrious condemned people in their last +moments, brought him the last strength needed to maintain his +reputation. + +"Why," said he, "this sentence is not wrongly drawn up. I blame +it only for being too short. Why has there been no mention of the +crime I committed in contriving the tragic death of poor Michael +Korsakoff?" + +"Michael Korsakoff was a wretch," pronounced the vindictive voice +of the young man who had presided at the trial and who, at this +upreme moment, happened to be face to face with Rouletabille. +"Koupriane's police, by killing that man, ridded us of a traitor." + +Rouletabille uttered a cry, a cry of joy, and while lie had some +reason for believing that at the point he had reached now of his +too-short career only misfortune could befall him, yet here +Providence, in his infinite grace, sent him before he died this +ineffable consolation: the certainty that he had not been mistaken. + +"Pardon, pardon," he murmured, in an excess of joy which stifled +him almost as much as the wretched rope would shortly do that they +were getting ready behind him. "Pardon. One second yet, one little +second. Then, messieurs, then, we are agreed in that, are we? +This Michael, Michael Nikolaievitch was the the last of traitors." + +"The first," said the heavy voice. + +"It is the same thing, my dear monsieur. A traitor, a wretched +traitor," continued Rouletabille. + +"A poisoner," replied the voice. + +"A vulgar poisoner! Is that not so? But, tell me how - a vulgar +poisoner who, under cover of Nihilism, worked for his own petty +ends, worked for himself and betrayed you all!" + +Now Rouletabille's voice rose like a fanfare. Someone said: + +"He did not deceive us long; our enemies themselves undertook his +punishment." + +"It was I," cried Rouletabille, radiant again. "It was I who wound +up that career. I tell you that was managed right. It was I who +rid you of him. Ah, I knew well enough, messieurs, in the bottom +of my heart I knew that I could not be mistaken. Two and two make +four always, don't they? And Rouletabille is always Rouletabille. +Messieurs, it is all right, after all." + +But it was probable that it was also all wrong, for the gentleman +of the Neva came up to him hat in hand and said: + +"Monsieur, you know now why the witnesses at your trial did not +raise a fact against you that, on the contrary, was entirely in +your favor. Now it only remains for us to execute the sentence +which is entirely justified on other grounds." + +"Ah, but - wait a little. What the devil! Now that I am sure I +have not been mistaken and that I have been myself, Rouletabille, +all the time I cling to life a little - oh, very much!" + +A hostile murmur showed the condemned man that the patience of his +judges was getting near its limit. + +"Monsieur," interposed the president, "we know that you do not +belong to the orthodox religion; nevertheless, we will bring a +priest if you wish it." + +"Yes, yes, that is it, go for the priest," cried Rouletabille. + +And he said to himself, "It is so much time gained." + +One of the revolutionaries started over to a little cabin that had +been transformed into a chapel, while the rest of them looked at +the reporter with a good deal less sympathy than they had been +showing. If his bravado had impressed them agreeably in the trial +room, they were beginning to be rather disgusted by his cries, his +protestations and all the maneuvers by which he so apparently was +trying to hold off the hour of his death. + +But all at once Rouletabille jumped up onto the fatal stool. They +believed he had decided finally to make an end of the comedy and +die with dignity; but he had mounted there only to give them a +discourse. + +"Messieurs, understand me now. If it is true that you are not +suppressing me in order to avenge Michael Nikolaievitch., then why +do you hang me? Why do you inflict this odious punishment on me? +Because you accuse me of causing Natacha Feodorovna's arrest? Truly +I have been awkward. Of that, and that alone, I accuse myself." + +"It was you, with your revolver, who gave the signal to Koupriane's +agents! You have done the dirty work for the police." + +Rouletabille tried vainly to protest, to explain, to say that his +revolver shot, on the contrary, had saved the revolutionaries. But +no one cared to listen and no one believed him. + +"Here is the priest, monsieur," said the gentleman of the Neva. + +"One second! These are my last words, and I swear to you that +after this I will pass the rope about my neck myself! But listen +to me! Listen to me closely! Natacha Feodorovna was the most +precious recruit you had, was she not?" + +"A veritable treasure," declared the president, his voice more and +more impatient. + +"It was a terrible blow, then," continued the reporter, "a terrible +blow for you, this arrest?" + +"Terrible," some of them ejaculated. + +"Do not interrupt me! Very well, then, I am going to say this to +you: 'If I ward off this blow - if, after having been the +unintentional cause of Natacha's arrest, I have the daughter of +General Trebassof set at liberty, and that within twenty-four +hours, - what do you say? Would you still hang me?'" + +The president, he who had the Christ-like countenance, said: + +"Messieurs, Natacha Feodorovna has fallen the victim of terrible +machinations whose mystery we so far have not been able to penetrate. +She is accused of trying to poison her father and her step-mother, +and under such conditions that it seems impossible for human reason +to demonstrate the contrary. Natacha Feodorovna herself, crushed +by the tragic occurrence, was not able to answer her accusers at +all, and her silence has been taken for a confession of guilt. +Messieurs, Natacha Feodorovna will be started for Siberia to-morrow. +We can do nothing for her. Natacha Feodorovna is lost to us." + +Then, with a gesture to those who surrounded Rouletabille: + +"Do your duty, messieurs." + +"Pardon, pardon. But if I do prove the innocence of Natacha? +Just wait, messieurs. There is only I who can prove that innocence! +You lose Natacha by killing me!" + +"If you had been able to prove that innocence, monsicur, the thing +would already be done. You would not have waited." + +"Pardon, pardon. It is only at this moment that I have become able +to do it." + +"How is that?" + +"It is because I was sick, you see - very seriously sick. That +affair of Michael Nikolaievitch and the poison that still continued +after he was dead simply robbed me of all my powers. Now that I +am sure I have not been the means of killing an innocent man - I am +Rouletabille again! It is not possible that I shall not find the +way, that I shall not see through this mystery." + +The terrible voice of the Christ-like figure said monotonously: + +"Do your duty, messieurs." + +"Pardon, pardon. This is of great importance to you - and the +proof is that you have not yet hanged me. You were not so +procrastinating with my predecessor, were you? You have listened +to me because you have hoped! Very well, let me think, let me +consider. Oh, the devil! I was there myself at the fatal luncheon, +and I know better than anyone else all that happened there. Five +minutes! I demand five minutes of you; it is not much. Five +little minutes!" + +These last words of the condemned man seemed to singularly influence +the revolutionaries. They looked at one another in silence. + +Then the president took out his watch and said: + +"Five minutes. We grant them to you." + +"Put your watch here. Here on this nail. It is five minutes to +seven, eh? You will give me until the hour?" + +"Yes, until the hour. The watch itself will strike when the hour +has come." + +"Ah, it strikes! Like the general's watch, then. Very well, here +we are." + +Then there was the curious spectacle of Rouletabille standing on +the hangman's stool, the fatal rope hanging above his head, his +legs crossed, his elbow on his knees in that eternal attitude which +Art has always given to human thought, his fists under his jaws, +his eyes fixed - all around him, all those young men intent on his +silence, not moving a muscle, turned into statues themselves that +they might not disturb the statue which thought and thought. + + + + + +XVIII + +A SINGULAR EXPERIENCE + +The five minutes ticked away and the watch commenced to strike the +hour's seven strokes. Did it sound the death of Rouletabille? +Perhaps not! For at the first silver tinkle they saw Rouletabille +shake himself, and raise his head, with his face alight and his +eyes shining. They saw him stand up, spread out his arms and cry: + +"I have found it!" + +Such joy shone in his countenance that there seemed to be an aureole +around him, and none of those there doubted that he had the solution +of the impossible problem. + +"I have found it! I have found it!" + +They gathered around him. He waved them away as in a waking dream. + +"Give me room. I have found it, if my experiment works out. One, +two, three, four, five..." + +What was he doing? He counted his steps now, in long paces, as in +dueling preliminaries. And the others, all of them, followed him +in silence, puzzled, but without protest, as if they, too, were +caught in the same strange day-dream. Steadily counting his steps +he crossed thus the court, which was vast. "Forty, forty-one, +forty-two," he cried excitedly. "This is certainly strange, and +very promising." + +The others, although they did not understand, reframed from +questioning him, for they saw there was nothing to do but let him +go ahead without interruption, just as care is taken not to wake +a somnambulist abruptly. They had no mistrust of his motives, for +the idea was simply untenable that Rouletabille was fool enough to +hope to save himself from them by an imbecile subterfuge. No, +they yielded to the impression his inspired countenance gave them, +and several were so affected that they unconsciously repeated his +gestures. Thus Rouletabille reached the edge of the court where +judgment had been pronounced against him. There he had to mount +a rickety flight of stairs, whose steps he counted. He reached +a corridor, but moving away from the side where the door was +opening to the exterior he turned toward a staircase leading to the +upper floor, and still counted the steps as be climbed them. Some +of the company followed him, others hurried ahead of him. But he +did not seem aware of either the one or the other, as he walked +along living only in his thoughts. He reached the landing-place, +hesitated, pushed open a door, and found himself in a room furnished +with a table, two chairs, a mattress and a huge cupboard. He went +to the cupboard, turned the key and opened it. The cupboard was +empty. He closed it again and put the key in his pocket. Then he +went out onto the landing-place again. There he asked for the key +of the chamber-door he had just left. They gave it to him and he +locked that door and put that key also in his pocket. Now he +returned into the court. He asked for a chair. It was brought +him. Immediately he placed his head in his hands, thinking hard, +took the chair and carried it over a little behind the shed. The +Nihilists watched everything he did and they did not smile, because +men do not smile when death waits at the end of things, however +foolish. + +Finally, Rouletabille spoke: + +"Messieurs," said he, his voice low and shaken, because he knew +that now he touched the decisive minute, after which there could +only be an irrevocable fate. "Messieurs, in order to continue +my experiment I am obliged to go through movements that might +suggest to you the idea of an attempt at escape, or evasion. I +hope you don't regard me as fool enough to have any such thought." + +"Oh, monsieur," said the chief, "you are free to go through all +the maneuvers you wish. No one escapee us. Outside we should +have you within arm's reach quite as well as here. And, besides, +it is entirely impossible to escape from here." + +"Very well. Then that is understood. In such a case, I ask you +now to remain just where you are and not to budge, whatever I do, +if you don't wish to inconvenience me. Only please send someone +now up to the next floor, where I am going to go again, and let +him watch what happens from there, but without interfering. And +don't speak a word to me during the experiment." + +Two of the revolutionaries went to the upper floor, and opened a +window in order to keep track of what went on in the court. All +now showed their intense interest in the acts and gestures of +Rouletabille. + +The reporter placed himself in the shed, between his death-stool +and his hanging-rope. + +"Ready," said he; "I am going to begin" + +And suddenly he jumped like a wild man, crossed the court in a +straight line like a flash, disappeared in the touba, bounded up +the staircase, felt in his pocket and drew out the keys, opened +the door of the chamber he had locked, closed it and locked it +again, turned right-about-face, came down again in the same haste, +reached the court, and this time swerved to the chair, went round +it, still running, and returned at the same speed to the shed. He +no sooner reached there than he uttered a cry of triumph as he +glanced at the watch banging from a post. "I have won," he said, +and threw himself with a happy thrill upon the fatal scaffold. +They surrounded him, and he read the liveliest curiosity in all +their faces. Panting still from his mad rush, he asked for two +words apart with the chief of the Secret committee. + +The man who had pronounced judgment and who had the bearing of +Jesus advanced, and there was a brief exchange of words between +the two young men. The others drew back and waited at a distance, +in impressive silence, the outcome of this mysterious colloquy, +which certainly would settle Rouletabille's fate. + +"Messieurs," said the chief, "the young Frenchman is going to be +allowed to leave. We give him twenty-four hours to set Natacha +Feodorovna free. In twenty-four hours, if he has not succeeded, +he will return here to give himself up." + +A happy murmur greeted these words. The moment their chief spoke +thus, they felt sure of Natacha's fate. + +The chief added: + +"As the liberation of Natacha Feodorovna will be followed, the +young Frenchman says, by that of our companion Matiew, we decide +that, if these two conditions are fulfilled, M. Joseph Rouletabille +is allowed to return in entire security to France, which he ought +never to have left." + +Two or three only of the group said, "That lad is playing with us; +it is not possible." + +But the chief declared: + +"Let the lad try. He accomplishes miracles." + + + + + +XIX + +THE TSAR + +"I have escaped by remarkable luck," cried Rouletabille, as he +found himself, in the middle of the night, at the corner of the +Katharine and the Aptiekarski Pereoulok Canals, while the mysterious +carriage which had brought him there returned rapidly toward the +Grande Ecurie. "What a country! What a country!" + +He ran a little way to the Grand Morskaia, which was near, entered +the hotel like a bomb, dragged the interpreter from his bed, +demanded that his bill be made out and that he be told the time of +the next train for Tsarskoie-Coelo. The interpreter told him that +he could not have his bill at such an hour, that he could not leave +town without his passport and that there was no train for +Tsarskoie-Coelo, and Rouletabille made an outcry that woke the +whole hotel. The guests, fearing always "une scandale," kept close +to their rooms. But Monsieur le directeur came down, trembling. +When he found all that it was about he was inclined to be peremptory, +but Rouletabille, who had seen "Michael Strogoff" played, cried, +"Service of the Tsar!" which turned him submissive as a sheep. He +made out the young man's bill and gave him his passport, which had +been brought back by the police during the afternoon. Rouletabille +rapidly wrote a message to Koupriane's address, which the messenger +was directed to have delivered without a moment's delay, under the +pain of death! The manager humbly promised and the reporter did +not explain that by "pain of death" he referred to his own. Then, +having ascertained that as a matter of fact the last train had left +for Tsarskoie-Coelo, he ordered a carriage and hurried to his room +to pack. + +And he, ordinarily so detailed, so particular in his affairs, threw +things every which way, linen, garments, with kicks and shoves. It +was a relief after the emotions he had gone through. "What a +country!" he never ceased to ejaculate. "What a country!" + +Then the carriage was ready, with two little Finnish horses, whose +gait he knew well, an evil-looking driver, who none the less would +get him there; the trunk; roubles to the domestics. "Spacibo, +barine. Spacibo." (Thank you, monsieur. Thank you.) + +The interpreter asked what address he should give the driver. + +"The home of the Tsar." + +The interpreter hesitated, believing it to be an unbecoming +pleasantry, then waved vaguely to the driver, and the horses started. + +"What a curious trot! We have no idea of that in France," thought +Rouletabille. "France! France! Paris! Is it possible that soon +I shall be back! And that dear Lady in Black! Ah, at the first +opportunity I must send her a dispatch of my return - before she +receives those ikons, and the letters announcing my death. Scan! +Scari! Scan! (Hurry!)" + +The isvotchick pounded his horses, crowding past the dvornicks who +watched at the corners of the houses during the St. Petersburg night. +"Dirigi! dirigi! dirigi! (Look out!)" + +The country, somber in the somber night. The vast open country. +What monotonous desolation! Rapidly, through the vast silent spaces, +the little car glided over the lonely route into the black arms of +the pines. + +Rouletabille, holding on to his seat, looked about him. + +"God! this is as sad as a funeral display." + +Little frozen huts, no larger than tombs, occasionally indicated +the road, but there was no mark of life in that country except the +noise of the journey and the two beasts with steaming coats. + +Crack! One of the shafts broken. "What a country!" To hear +Rouletabille one would suppose that only in Russia could the shaft +of a carriage break. + +The repair was difficult and crude, with bits of rope. And from +then on the journey was slow and cautious after the frenzied speed. +In vain Rouletabille reasoned with himself. "You will arrive +anyway before morning. You cannot wake the Emperor in the dead of +night." His impatience knew no reason. "What a country! What a +country!" + +After some other petty adventures (they ran into a ravine and had +tremendous difficulty rescuing the trunk) they arrived at +Tsarskoie-Coelo at a quarter of seven. + +Even here the country was not pleasant. Rouletabille recalled the +bright awakening of French country. Here it seemed there was +something more dead than death: it was this little city with its +streets where no one passed, not a soul, not a phantom, with its +houses so impenetrable, the windows even of glazed glass and further +blinded by the morning hoar-frost shutting out light more thoroughly +than closed eyelids. Behind them he pictured to himself a world +unknown, a world which neither spoke nor wept, nor laughed, a world +in which no living chord resounded. "What a country! 'Where is +the chateau? I do not know; I have been here only once, in the +marshal's carriage. I do not know the way. Not the great palace! +The idiot of a driver has brought me to this great palace in order +to see it, I haven't a doubt. Does Rouletabille look like a tourist? +Dourak! The home of the Tsar, I tell you. The Tsar's residence. +The place where the Little Father lives. Chez Batouchka!" + +The driver lashed his ponies. He drove past all the streets. +"Stoi! (Stop!)" cried Rouletabille. A gate, a soldier, musket at +shoulder, bayonet in play; another gate, another soldier, another +bayonet; a park with walls around it, and around the walls more +soldiers. + +"No mistake; here is the place," thought Rouletabille. There was +only one prisoner for whom such pains would be taken. He advanced +towards the gate. Ah! They crossed bayonets under his nose. Halt! +No fooling, Joseph Rouletabille, of "L'Epoque. "A subaltern came +from a guard-house and advanced toward him. Explanation evidently +was going to be difficult. The young man saw that if he demanded +to see the Tsar, they would think him crazed and that would further +complicate matters. He asked for the Grand-Marshal of the Court. +They replied that he could get the Marshal's address in Tsarskoie. +But the subaltern turned his head. He saw someone ad'vancing. It +was the Grand-Marshal himself. Some exceptional service called him, +without doubt, very early to the Court. + +"Why, what are you doing here? You are not yet gone then, Monsieur +Roidetabille?" + +"Politeness before everything, Monsieur le Grand-Marechal! I would +not go before saying 'Au revoir' to the Emperor. Be so good, since +you are going to him and he has risen (you yourself have told me he +rises at seven), be so good as to say to him that I wish to pay my +respects before leaving." + +"Your scheme, doubtless, is to speak to him once more regarding +Natacha Feodorovna?" + +"Not at all. Tell him, Excellency, that I am come to explain the +mystery of the eider downs." + +"Ah, ah, the eider downs! You know something?" + +"I know all." + +The Grand Marshal saw that the young man did not pretend. He asked +him to wait a few minutes, and vanished into the park. + +A quarter of an hour later, Joseph Rouletabille, of the journal +"L'Epoque," was admitted into the cabinet that he knew well from +the first interview he had had there with His Majesty. The simple +work-room of a country-house: a few pictures on the walls, portraits +of the Tsarina and the imperial children on the table; Oriental +cigarettes in the tiny gold cups. Rouletabille was far from feeling +any assurance, for the Grand-Marshal had said to him: + +"Be cautious. The Emperor is in a terrible humor about you." + +A door opened and closed. The Tsar made a sign to the Marshal, who +disappeared. Rouletabille bowed low, then watched the Emperor +closely. + +Quite apparently His Majesty was displeased. The face of the Tsar, +ordinarily so calm, so pleasant, and smiling, was severe, and his +eyes had an angry light. He seated himself and lighted a cigarette. + +"Monsieur," he commenced, "I am not otherwise sorry to see you +before your departure in order to say to you myself that I am not +at all pleased with you. If you were one of my subjects I would +have already started you on the road to the Ural Mountains." + +"I remove myself farther, Sire." + +"Monsieur, I pray you not to interrupt me and not to speak unless +I ask you a question." + +"Oh, pardon, Sire, pardon." + +"I am not duped by the pretext you have offered Monsieur le +Grand-Marechal in order to penetrate here." + +"It is not a pretext, Sire." + +"Again!" + +"Oh, pardon, Sire, pardon." + +"I say to you that, called here to aid me against my enemies, they +themselves have not found a stronger or more criminal support than +in you." + +"Of what am I accused, Sire?" + +"Koupriane - " + +"Ah! Ah! .. . Pardon!" + +"My Chief of Police justly complains that you have traversed all +his designs and that you have taken it upon yourself to ruin them. +First, you removed his agents, who inconvenienced you, it seems; +then, the moment that he had the proof in hand of the abominable +alliance of Natacha Feodorovna with the Nihilists who attempt the +assassination of her father your intervention has permitted that +proof to escape him. And you have boasted of the feat, monsieur, +so that we can only consider you responsible for the attempts +that followed. + +Without you, Natacha would not have attempted to poison her father. +Without you, they would not have sent to find physicians who could +blow up the datcha des Iles. Finally, no later than yesterday, +when this faithful servant of mine had set a trap they could not +have escaped from, you have had the audacity, you, to warn them of +it. They owe their escape to you. Monsieur, those are attempts +against the security of the State which deserves the heaviest +punishment. Why, you went out one day from here promising me to +save General Trebassof from all the plotting assassins who lurked +about him. And then you play the game of the assassins! Your +conduct is as miserable as that of Natacha Feodorovna is monstrous!" + +The Emperor ceased, and looked at Rouletabille, who had not lowered +his eyes. + +"What can you say for yourself? Speak - now." + +"I can only say to Your Majesty that I come to take leave of you +because my task here is finished. I have promised you the life of +General Trebassof, and I bring it to you. He runs no danger any +more! I say further to Your Majesty that there exists nowhere in +the world a daughter more devoted to her father, even to the death, +a daughter more sublime than Natacha Feodorovna, nor more innocent." + +"Be careful, monsieur. I inform you that I have studied this affair +personally and very closely. You have the proofs of these +statements you advance?" + +Yes, Sire." + +"And I, I have the proofs that Natacha Feodorovna is a renegade." + +At this contradiction, uttered in a firm voice, the Emperor stirred, +a flush of anger and of outraged majesty in his face. But, after +this first movement, he succeeded in controlling himself, opened a +drawer brusquely, took out some papers and threw them on the table. + +"Here they are." + +Rouletabille reached for the papers. + +"You do not read Russian, monsieur. I will translate their purport +for you. Know, then, that there has been a mysterious exchange of +letters between Natacha Feodorovna and the Central Revolutionary +Committee, and that these letters show the daughter of General +Trebassof to be in perfect accord with the assassins of her father +for the execution of their abominable project." + +"The death of the general?" + +"I declare to Your Majesty that that is not possible." + +"Obstinate man! I will read -" + +"Useless, Sire. It is impossible. There may be in them the +question of a project, but I am greatly surprised if these +conspirators have been sufficiently imprudent to write in those +letters that they count on Natacha to poison her father." + +"That, as a matter of fact, is not written, and you yourself are +responsible for it not being there. It does not follow any the +less that Natacha Feodorovna had an understanding with the Nihiists." + +"That is correct, Sire." + +"Ah, you confess that?" + +"I do not confess; I simply affirm that Natacha had an understanding +with the Nihilists." + +"Who plotted their abominable attacks against the ex-Governor of +Moscow." + +"Sire, since Natacha had an understanding with the Nihilists, it +was not to kill her father, but to save him. And the project of +which you hold here the proofs, but of whose character you are +unaware, is to end the attacks of which you speak, instantly." + +"You say that." + +"I speak the truth, Sire." + +"Where are the proofs? Show me your papers." + +"I have none. I have only my word." + +"That is not sufficient." + +"It will be sufficient, once you have heard me." + +"I listen." + +"Sire, before revealing to you a secret on which depends the life +of General Trebassof, you must permit me some questions. Your +Majesty holds the life of the general very dear?" + +"What has that to do with it?" + +"Pardon. I desire that Your Majesty assure me on that point." + +"The general has protected my throne. He has saved the Empire from +one of the greatest dangers that it has ever run. If the servant +who has done such a service should he rewarded by death, by the +punishment that the enemies of my people prepare for him in the +darkness, I should never forgive myself. There have been too many +martyrs already!" + +"You have replied to me, Sire, in such a way that you make me +understand there is no sacrifice - even to the sacrifice of your +a'mour-propre the greatest a ruler can suffer - no sacrifice too +dear to ransom from death one of these martyrs." + +"Ah, ah! These gentlemen lay down conditions to me! Money. Money. +They need money. And at how much do they rate the head of the +general?" + +"Sire, that does not touch Your Majesty, and I never will come to +offer you such a bargain. That matter concerns only Natacha +Feodorovna, who has offered her fortune!" + +"Her fortune! But she has nothing." + +"She will have one at the death of the general. Now she engages to +give it all to the Revolutionary Committee the day the general dies +- if he dies a natural death!" + +The Emperor rose, greatly agitated. + +"To the Revolutionary Party! What do you tell me! The fortune of +the general! Eh, but these are great riches." + +"Sire, I have told you the sercet. You alone should know it and +guard it forever, and I have your sacred word that, when the hour +comes, you will let the prize go where it is promised. If the +general ever learns of such a thing, such a treaty, he would easily +arrange that nothing should remain, and he would denounce his +daughter who has saved him, and then he would promptly he the prey +of his enemies and yours, from whom you wish to save him. I have +told the secret not to the Emperor, but to the representative of +God on the Russian earth. I have confessed it to the priest, who +is bound to forget the words uttered only before God. Allow Natacha +Feodorovna her own way, Sire! And her father, your servant, whose +life is so dear to you, is saved. At the natural death of the +general his fortune will go to his daughter, who has disposed of +it." + +Rouletabille stopped a moment to judge of the effect produced. It +was not good. The face of his august listener was more and more +in a frown. + +The silence continued, and now the reporter did not dare to break +it. He waited. + +Finally, the Emperor rose and walked forward and backward across +the room, deep in thought. For a moment he stopped at the window +and waved paternally to the little Tsarevitch, who played in the +park with the grand-duchesses. + +Then he returned to Rouletabille and pinched his ear. + +"But, tell me, how have you learned all this? And who then has +poisoned the general and his wife, in the kiosk, if not Natacha?" + +"Natacha is a saint. It is nothing, Sire, that she has been raised +in luxury, and vows' herself to misery; but it is sublime that she +guards in her heart the secret of her sacrifice from everyone, and, +in spite of all, because secrecy is necessary and has been required +of her. See her guarding it before her father, who has been brought +to believe in the dishonor of his daughter, and still to be silent +when a word would have proved her innocent; guarding it face to face +with her fiance, whom she loves, and repulses because marriage is +forbidden to the girl who is supposed to be rich and who will be +poor; guarding it, above all - and guarding it still - in the depths +of the dungeon, and ready to take the road to Siberia under the +accusation of assassination, because that ignominy is necessary for +the safety of her father. That, Sire - oh, Sire, do you see!" + +"But you, how have you been able to penetrate into this guarded +secret?" + +"By watching her eyes. By observing, when she believed herself +alone, the look of terror and the gleams of love. And, beyond all, +by looking at her when she was looking at her father. Ah, Sire, +there were moments when on her mystic face one could read the wild +joy and devotion of the martyr. Then, by listening and by piecing +together scraps of phrases inconsistent with the idea of treachery, +but which immediately acquired meaning if one thought of the +opposite, of sacrifice. Ah, that is it, Sire! Consider always the +alternative motive. What I finally could see myself, the others, +who had a fixed opinion about Natacha, could not see. And why had +they their fixed opinion? Simply because the idea of compromise +with the Nihilists aroused at once the idea of complicity! For +such people it is always the same thing - they never can see but +the one side of the situation. But, nevertheless, the situation +had two sides, as all situations have. The question was simple. +The compromise was certain. But why had Natacha compromised +herself with the Nihilists? Was it necessarily in order to lose +her father? Might it not be, on the contrary, in order to save +him? When one has rendezvous with an enemy it is not necessarily +to enter into his game, sometimes it is to disarm him with an +offer. Between these two hypotheses, which I alone took the +trouble to examine, I did not hesitate long, because Natacha's +every attitude proclaimed her innocence: and her eyes, Sire, in +which one read purity and love, prevailed always with me against +all the passing appearances of disgrace and crime. + +"I saw that Natacha negotiated with them. But what had she to +place in the scales against the life of her father? Nothing +- except the fortune that she would have one day. + +"Some words she spoke about the impossibility of immediate marriage, +about poverty which could always knock at the door of any mansion, +remarks that I was able to overhear between Natacha and Boris +Mourazoff, which to him meant nothing, put me definitely on the +right road. And I was not long in ascertaining that the negotiations +in this formidable affair were taking place in the very house of +Trebassof! Pursued without by the incessant spying of Koupriane, +who sought to surprise her in company with the Nihilists, watched +closely, too, by the jealous supervision of Boris, who was jealous +of Michael Nikolaievitch, she had to seize the only opportunities +possible for such negotiations, at night, in her own home, the sole +place where, by the very audacity of it, she was able to play her +part in any security. + +"Michael Nikolaievitch knew Annouchka. There was certainly the +point of departure for the negotiations which that felon-officer, +traitor to all sides, worked at will toward the realization of his +own infamous project. I do not think that Michael ever confided to +Natacha that he was, from the very first, the instrument of the +revolutionaries. Natacha, who sought to get in touch with the +revolutionary party, had to entrust him with a correspondence for +Annouchka, following which he assumed direction of the affair, +deceiving the Nihilists, who, in their absolute penury, following +the revolt, had been seduced by the proposition of General +Trebassof's daughter, and deceiving Natacha, whom he pretended to +love and by whom he believed himself loved. At this point in the +affair Natacha came to understand that it was necessary to propitiate +Michael Nikolaievitch, her indispensable intermediary, and she +managed to do it so well that Boris Mourazoff felt the blackest +jealousy. On his side, Michael came to believe that Natacha would +have no other husband than himself, but he did not propose to marry +a penniIess girl! And, fatally, it followed that Natacha, in that +infernal intrigue, negotiated for the life of her father through +the agency of a man who, underhandedly, sought to strike at the +general himself, because the immediate death of her father before +the negotiation was completed would enrich Natacha, who had given +Michael so much to hope. That frightful tragedy, Sire, in which +we have lived our most painful hours, appeared to me, confident of +Natacha's innocence, as absolutely simple as for the others it +seemed complicated. Natacha believed she had in Michael +Nikolaievitch a man who worked for her, but he worked only for +himself. The day that I was convinced of it, Sire, by my examination +of the approach to the balcony, I had a mind to warn Natacha, to go +to her and say, 'Get rid of that man. He will betray you. If you +need an agent, I am at your service.' But that day, at Krestowsky, +destiny prevented my rejoining Natacha; and I must attribute it to +destiny, which would not permit the loss of that man. Michael +Nikolaievitch, who was a traitor, was too much in the 'combination,' +and if he had been rejected he would have ruined everything. I +caused him to disappear! The great misfortune then was that +Natacha, holding me responsible for the death of a man she believed +innocent, never wished to see me again, and, when she did see me, +refused to have any conversation with me because I proposed that I +take Michael's place for her with the revolutionaries. She would +have nothing to do with me in order to protect her secret. Meantime, +the Nihilists believed they were betrayed by Natacha when they +learned of the death of Michael, and they undertook to avenge him. +They seized Natacha, and bore her off by force. The unhappy girl +learned then, that same evening, of the attack which destroyed the +datcha and, happily, still spared her father. This time she reached +a definite understanding with the revolutionary party. Her bargain +was made. I offer you for proof of it only her attitude when she +was arrested, and, even in that moment, her sublime silence." + +While Rouletabille urged his view, the Emperor let him talk on and +on, and now his eyes were dim. + +"Is it possible that Natacha has not been the accomplice, in all, +of Michael Nikolaievitch?" he demanded. "It was she who opened her +father's house to him that night. If she was not his accomplice +she would have mistrusted him, she would have watched him." + +"Sire, Michael Nikolaievitch was a very clever man. He knew so +well how to play upon Natacha, and Annouchia, in whom she placed +all her hope. It was from Annouchka that she wished to hold the +life of her father. It was the word, the signature of Annouchka +that she demanded before giving her own. The evening Michael +Nikolaievitch died, he was charged to bring her that signature. I +know it, myself, because, pretending drunkenness, I was able to +overhear enough of a conversation between Annoucbika and a man whose +name I must conceal. Yes, that last evening, Michael Nikolaievitch, +when he entered the datcha, had the signature in his pocket, but +also he carried the weapon or the poison with which he already had +attempted and was resolved to reach the father of her whom he +believed was assuredly to be his wife." + +"You speak now of a paper, very precious, that I regret not to +possess, monsieur," said the Tsar coldly, "because that paper alone +would have proved to me the innocence of your protegee." + +"If you have not it, Sire, you know well that it is because I have +wished you to have it. The corpse had been searched by Katharina, +the little Bohemian, and I, Sire, prevented Koupriane from finding +that signature in Katharina's possession. In saving the secret I +have saved General Trebassof's life, who would have preferred to +die rather than accept such an arrangement." + +The Tsar stopped Rouletabille in his enthusiastic outburst. + +"All that would be very beautiful and perhaps admirable," said he, +more and more coldly, because he had entirely recovered himself," +if Natacha had not, herself, with her own hand, poisoned her father +and her step-mother! - always with arsenate of soda." + +"Oh, some of that had been left in the house," replied Rouletabille. +"They had not given me all of it for the analysis after the first +attempt. But Natacha is innocent of that, Sire. I swear it to you. +As true as that I have certainly escaped being hanged." + +"How, hanged?" + +"Oh, it has not amounted to much now, Your Majesty." + +And Rouletabille recounted his sinister adventure, up to the moment +of his death, or, rather, up to the moment when he had believed he +was going to die. + +The Emperor listened to the young reporter with complete +stupefaction. He murmured, "Poor lad!" then, suddenly: + +"But how have you managed to escape them?" + +"Sire they have given me twenty-four hours for you to set Natacha +at liberty, that is to say, that you restore her to her rights, all +her rights, and she be always the recognized heiress of Trebassof. +Do you understand me, Sire? + +"I will understand you, perhaps, when you have explained to me how +Natacha has not poisoned her father and step-mother." + +"There are some things so simple, Sire, that one is able to think +of them only with a rope around one's neck. But let us reason it +out. We have here four persons, two of whom have been poisoned +and the other two with them have not been. Now, it is certain that, +of the four persons, the general has not wished to poison himself, +that his wife has not wished to poison the general, and that, as +for me, I have not wished to poison anybody. That, if we are +absolutely sure of it, leaves as the poisoner only Natacha. That +is so certain, so inevitable, that there is only one case, one +alone, where, in such conditions, Natacha would not be regarded as +the poisoner." + +"I confess that, logically, I do not see," said the Tsar, "anything +beyond that but more and more of a tangle. What is it?" + +"Logically, the only case would be that where no one had been +poisoned, that is to say, where no one had taken any poison." + +"But the presence of the poison has been established!" cried the +Emperor. + +"Still, the presence of the poison proves only its presence, not +the crime. Both poison and ipecac were found in the stomach +expulsions. From which a crime has been concluded. What state +of affairs was necessary for there to have been no crime? Simply +that the poison should have appeared in the expulsions after the +ipecac. Then there would have been no poisoning, but everyone +would believe there had been. And, for that, someone would have +poured the poison into the expulsions." + +The Tsar never quitted Rouletabille's eyes. + +"That is extraordinary," said he. "But of course it is possible. +In any case, it is still only an hypothesis. + +"And so long as it could be an hypothesis that no one thought of, +it could be just that, Sire. But if I am here, it is because I +have the proof that that hypothesis corresponds to the reality. +That necessary proof of Natacha's innocence, Your Majesty, I have +found with the rope around my neck. Ah, I tell you it was time! +What has hindered us hitherto, I do not say to realize, but even +to think, of that hypothesis? Simply that we thought the illness +of the general had commenced before the absorption of the ipecac, +since Matrena Petrovna had been obliged to go for it to her +medicine-closet after his illness commenced, in order to counteract +the poison of which she also appeared to be the victim. + +"But, if I acquire proof that Matrena Petrovna had the ipecac at +hand before the sickness, my hypothesis of pretense at poisoning +has irresistible force. Because, if it was not to use it before, +why did she have it with her before? And if it was not that she +wished to hide the fact that she had used it before, why did she +wish to make believe that she went to find it afterwards? + +"Then, in order to show Natacha's innocence, here is what must be +proved: that Matrena Petrovna had the ipecac on her, even when she +went to look for it." + +"Young Rouletabille, I hardly breathe," said the Tsar. + +"Breathe, Sire. The proof is here. Matrena Petrovna necessarily +had the ipecac on her, because after the sickness she had not the +time for going to find it. Do you understand, Sire? Between the +moment when she fled from the kiosk and when she returned there, +she had not the actual time to go to her medicine-closet to find +the ipecac." + +"How have you been able to compute the time?" asked the Emperor. + +"Sire, the Lord God directed, Who made me admire Feodor +Feodorovitch's watch just when we went to read, and to read on the +dial of that watch two minutes to the hour, and the Lord God +directed yet, Who, after the scene of the poison, at the time +Matrena returned carrying the ipecac publicly, made the hour +strike from that watch in the general's pocket. + +"Two minutes. It was impossible for Matrena to have covered that +distance in two minutes. She could only have entered the deserted +datcha and left it again instantly. She had not taken the trouble +to mount to the floor above, where, she told us and repeated when +she returned, the ipecac was in the medicine-closet. She lied! +And if she lied, all is explained. + +"It was the striking of a watch, Sire, with a striking apparatus +and a sound like the general's, there in the quarters of the +revolutionaries, that roused my memory and indicated to me in a +second this argument of the time. + +"I got down from my gallows-scaffold, Your Majesty, to experiment +on that time-limit. Oh, nothing and nobody could have prevented +my making that experiment before I died, to prove to myself that +Rouletabille had all along been right. I had studied the grounds +around the datcha enough to be perfectly exact about the distances. +I found in the court where I was to be hanged the same number of +steps that there were from the kiosk to the steps of the veranda, +and, as the staircase of the revolutionaries had fewer steps, I +lengthened my journey a few steps by walking around a chair. +Finally, I attended to the opening and closing of the doors that +Matrena would have had to do. I had looked at a watch when I +started. When I returned, Sire, and looked at the watch again, I +had taken three minutes to cover the distance - and it is not for +me to boast, but I am a little livelier than the excellent Matrena. + +"Matrena had lied. Matrena had simulated the poisoning of the +general. Matrena had coolly poured ipecac in the general's glass +while we were illustrating with matches a curious-enough theory of +the nature of the constitution of the empire." + +"But this is abominable!" cried the Emperor, this time definitely +convinced by the intricate argument of Rouletabille. "And what end +could this imitation serve?'" + +"The end of preventing the real crime! The end that she believed +herself to have attained, Sire, to have Natacha removed forever +- Natacha whom she believed capable of any crime." + +"Oh, it is monstrous! Feodor Feodorovitch has often told me that +Matrena loved Natacha sincerely." + +"She loved her sincerely up to the day that she believed her guilty. +Matrena Petrovna was sure of Natacha's complicity in Michael +Nikolaievitch's attempt to poison the general. I shared her stupor, +her despair, when Feodor Feodorovitch took his daughter in his arms +after that tragic night, and embraced her. He seemed to absolve +her. It was then that Matrena resolved within herself to save the +general in spite of himself, but I remain persuaded that, if she +had dared such a plan against Natacha, it would only be because of +what she believed definite proof of her step-daughter's infamy. +These papers, Sire, that you have shown me, and which show, if +nothing more, an understanding between Natacha and the +revolutionaries, could only have been in the possession of Michael +or of Natacha. Nothing was found in Michael's quarters. Tell me, +then, that Matrena found them in Natacha's apartment. Then, she +did not hesitate!" + +"If one outlined her crime to her, do you believe she would confess +it? asked the Emperor. + +"I am so sure of it that I have had her brought here. By now +Koupriane should be here at the chateau, with Matrena Petrovna." + +"You think of everything, monsieur." + +The Tsar moved to ring a bell. Rouletabille raised his hand. + +"Not yet, Sire. I ask that you permit me not to be present at the +confusion of that brave, heroic, good woman who has loved me much. +But before I go, Sire - do you promise me?" + +The Emperor believed he had not heard correctly or did not grasp +the meaning. He repeated what Rouletabille had said. The young +reporter repeated it once more: + +"Do you promise? No, Sire, I am not mad. I dare to ask you that. +I have confided my honor to Your Majesty. I have told you Natacha's +secret. Well, now, before Matrena's confession, I dare to ask you: +Promise me to forget that secret. It will not suffice merely to +give Natacha back again to her father. It is necessary to leave +her course open to her - if you really wish to save General +Trebassof. What do you decide, Sire?" + +"It is the first time anyone has questioned me, monsieur." + +"Ah, well, it will be the last. But I humbly beg Your Majesty to +reply." + +"That would be many millions given to the Revolution." + +"Oh, Sire, they are not given yet. The general is sixty-five, but +he has many years ahead of him, if you wish it. By the time he +dies - a natural death, if you wish it - your enemies will have +disarmed." + +"My enemies!" murmured the Tsar in a low voice. "No, no; my enemies +never will disarm. Who, then, will be able to disarm them?" added he, +melancholily, shaking his head. + +"Progress, Sire! If you wish it." + +The Tsar turned red and looked at the audacious young man, who met +the gaze of His Majesty frankly. + +"It is kind of you to say that, my young friend. But you speak as +a child." + +"As a child of France to the Father of the Russian people." + +It was said in a voice so solemn and, at the same time, so naively +touching, that the Tsar started. He gazed again for some time in +silence at this boy who, this time, turned away his brimming eyes. + +"Progress and pity, Sire." + +"Well," said the Emperor, "it is promised." + +Rouletabille was not able to restrain a joyous movement hardly in +keeping. + +"You can ring now, Sire." + +And the Tsar rang. + +The reporter passed into a little salon, where he found the Marshal, +Koupriane and Matrena Petrovna, who was "in a state." + +She threw a suspicious glance at Rouletabille, who was not treated +this morning as the dear little domovoi-doukh. She permitted +herself to be conducted, already trembling, before the Emperor. + +"What happened?" asked Koupriane agitatedly. + +"It so happened, my dear Monsieur Koupriane, that I have the pardon +of the Emperor for all the crimes you have charged against me, and +that I wish to shake hands before I go, without any rancor. Monsieur +Koupriane, the Emperor will tell you himself that General Trebassof +is saved, and that his life will never be in danger any more. Do +you know what follows? It follows that you must at once set Matiew +free, whom I have taken, if you remember, under my protection. Tell +him that he is going to make his way in France. I will find him a +place on condition that he forgets certain lashes." + +"Such a promise! Such an attitude toward me!" cried Koupriane. +"But I will wait for the Emperor to tell me all these fine things. +And your Natacha, what do you do with her?" + +"We release her also, monsieur. Natacha never has been the monster +that you think." + +"How can you say that? Someone at least is guilty." + +"There are two guilty. The first, Monsieur le Marechal." + +"What!" cried the Marshal. + +"Monsieur le Marechal, who had the imprudence to bring such +dangerous grapes to the datcha des Iles, and - and -" + +"And the other?" asked Koupriane, more and more anxiously. + +"Listen there," said Rouletabille, pointing toward the Emperor's +cabinet. + +The sound of tears and sobs reached them. The grief and the remorse +of Matrena Petrovna passed the walls of the cabinet. Koupriane was +completely disconcerted. + +Suddenly the Emperor appeared. He was in a state of exaltation +such as had never been known in him. Koupriane, dismayed, drew back. + +"Monsieur," said the Tsar to him, "I require that Natacha Feodorovna +be here within the next two hours, and that she be conducted with +the honors due to her rank. Natacha is innocent, and we must make +reparation to her." + +Then, turning toward Rouletabille: + +"I have learned what she knows and what she owes to you - we owe +to you, my young friend." + +The Tsar said "my young friend." Rouletabille, at this last moment +before his departure, spoke Russian? + +"Then she knows nothing, Sire. That is better, Sire, because Your +Majesty and me, we must forget right from to-day that we know +anything." + +"You are right," said the Tsar thoughtfully. "But, my friend, what +am I to do for you?" + +"Sire, one favor. Do not let me miss the train at 10:55." + +And he threw himself on his knees. + +"Remain on your knees, my friend. You are ready, thus. Monsieur +le Marechal will prepare at once a brevet, which I will immediately +sign. Meantime, Monsieur le Marechal, find me, in my own closet, +one of my St. Anne's collars." + +And it was thus that Joseph Rouletabille, of "L'Epoque," was created +officer of St. Anne of Russia by the Emperor himself, who gave him +the accolade. + +"They combine the whole course of time in this country," thought +Rouletabille, pressing his hand to his eyes to hold back the tears. + +For the train at 10:55 everybody had crowded at Tsarskoie-Coelo +station. Among those who had come from St. Petersburg to press the +young reporter's hand when they learned of his impending departure +were Ivan Petrovitch, the jolly Councilor of the Emperor, and +Athanase Georgevitch, the lively advocate so well known for his +famous exploits with knife and fork. They had come naturally with +all their bandages and dressings, which made them look like glorious +ruins. They brought the greetings of Feodor Feodorovitch, who still +had a little fever, and of Thaddeus Tchitchnikoff, the Lithuanian, +who had both legs broken. + +Even after he was in his compartment Rouletabille had to drink his +last drink of champagne. When nothing remained in the bottle and +everyone had embraced and re-embraced him, as the train did not +start quite yet, Athanase Georgevitch opened a second "last" bottle. +It was then that Monsieur le Grand Marechal arrived, out of breath. +They invited him to drink, and he accepted. But he had need to +speak to Rouletabille in private, and he drew the reporter, after +excuses, out into the corridor. + +"It is the Emperor himself who has sent me," said the high dignitary +with emotion. "He has sent me about the eider downs. You forgot to +explain the eider downs to him." + +"Niet!" replied Rouletabille, laughing. "That is nothing. Nitchevo! +His Majesty's eider downs are of the finest eider, as one of the +feathers that you have shown me demonstrates. Well, open them now. +They are a cheap imitation, as the second feather proves. The +return of the false eider downs, before evening, proves then that +they hoped the substitution would pass undetected. That is all. +Caracho! Collapse of the hoax. Your health! Vive le Tsar!" + +"Caracho! Caracho!" + +The locomotive was puffing when a couple were seen running, a man +and a woman. It was Monsieur and Madame Gounsovski. + +Gounsovski stood on the running-board. + +"Madame Gounsovski has insisted upon shaking hands. You are very +congenial." + +"Compliments, madame." + +"Tell me, young man, you did wrong to fail for dinner at my house +yesterday." + +"I would have certainly escaped a disagreeable little journey into +Finland. I do not regret it, monsieur." + +The train trembled and moved. They cried, "Vive la France! Vive +la Russe!" Athanase Georgevitch wept. Matrena Petrovna, at a +window of the station, whither she had timidly retired, waved a +handkerchief to the little domovoi-doukh, who had made her see +everything in the right light, and whom she did not dare to embrace +after the terrible affair of the false poison and the Tsar's anger. + +The reporter threw her a respectful kiss. + +As he said to Gounsovski, there was nothing to be regretted. + +All the same, as the train took its way toward the frontier, +Rouletabille threw himself back on the cushions, and said: + +"Ouf!" + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of The Secret of the Night, by Leroux + |