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diff --git a/34503-8.txt b/34503-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..78c8487 --- /dev/null +++ b/34503-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17365 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Green Book, by Mór Jókai + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Green Book + Freedom Under the Snow + +Author: Mór Jókai + +Translator: Ellen Waugh + +Release Date: November 29, 2010 [EBook #34503] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREEN BOOK *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +MAURUS JOKAI + +THE GREEN BOOK +OR +_FREEDOM UNDER THE SNOW_ + +A Novel + +TRANSLATED BY +MRS. WAUGH + +NEW YORK +HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS +1897 + + + + + BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + BLACK DIAMONDS. A Novel. Translated by Frances A. + Gerard. With a Photogravure Portrait of the Author. + 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50. (In "The Odd Number + Series.") + + One of the best of the novels of Mr. Jokai that have + thus far been put into English.... The story is a happy + blend of the elements of romance with those of + every-day life.... The action is varied, animated, and + sufficiently exciting to sustain the reader's interest, + to which a constant appeal is also made by the fresh + and piquant aspects given the book by its Hungarian + atmosphere.--_Dial_, Chicago. + + PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. + + + + +Copyright, 1897, by HARPER & BROTHERS. +All rights reserved. + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE +I. SNOW ROSES 1 +II. MIST SHADOWS 4 +III. COMME LE MONDE S'AMUSE 11 +IV. NO RIVAL 17 +V. PLAN OF WAR AGAINST A WOMAN 21 +VI. OLD AGE 34 +VII. THE EIGHT-IN-HAND 47 +VIII. AN ORGY OVER A VOLCANO 51 +IX. THE BOARD OF GREEN CLOTH AND THE GREEN BOOK 64 +X. FROM SCENT OF MUSK TO REEKING TAR 85 +XI. THE HUNTED STAG 102 +XII. HOW A FORTRESS WAS TAKEN 118 +XIII. A CANNIBAL 125 +XIV. THE YOUNG HOPEFUL 134 +XV. THE CZAR SMILES 141 +XVI. SOPHIE 158 +XVII. BETHSABA 168 +XVIII. KORYNTHIA 172 +XIX. THE MONSTER 176 +XX. THE BLIND HEN'S GENUINE PEARL 199 +XXI. THE MOST POWERFUL RULER OF THEM ALL 207 +XXII. THE DEVIL 218 +XXIII. THE STORY OF THE MAN WITH THE GREEN EYES 225 +XXIV. "THEN YOU ARE NOT--?" 232 +XXV. GOG AND MAGOG 247 +XXVI. UNDER THE PALMS 255 +XXVII. PANACEA 264 +XXVIII. THE WEDDING PRESENT 272 +XXIX. MADAME POTIPHAR 279 +XXX. A MOTHER'S BLESSING 284 +XXXI. THE WILL 290 +XXXII. NOT ONLY A BULLET STRIKES HOME 299 +XXXIII. THE RENDEZVOUS 303 +XXXIV. A DIVIDED HEART 316 +XXXV. SPARKS AND ASHES 323 +XXXVI. DAIMONA 326 +XXXVII. IT'S NOT THE KNIFE ALONE THAT STRIKES TO THE HEART 346 +XXXVIII. THE TRAGI-COMEDY AT GRUSINO 357 +XXXIX. THE HERMIT 365 +XL. DISCORDS 372 +XLI. HOW TO ROB A MAN OF HIS WIFE 377 +XLII. THE FEAST OF MASINKA 389 +XLIII. UNDER THE COMETS 404 +XLIV. THE MAN WITH THE GREEN EYES 409 +XLV. THE HERALD 429 +XLVI. "BEATUS ILLE...." 430 +XLVII. THE TEMPTER 435 +XLVIII. THE MOUSE PLAYS WITH THE CAT 441 +XLIX. THE ANTIDOTE 446 +L. "DEREVASKI DALOI" 452 +LI. THE NAMELESS WIFE OF A NAMELESS MAN 460 + +EPISODES.--THE RESCUED POET 479 + GHEDIMIN AND ZENEIDA 482 + THE ROMANCE OF CONSTANTINE 483 + + + + +THE GREEN BOOK +OR +_FREEDOM UNDER THE SNOW_ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +SNOW ROSES + + +A blizzard is covering the roads with a thick coating of snow. The +horses are up to their fetlocks in it. The dark-green firs bend beneath +its weight, and what has melted in the midday sun already hangs from the +slender branches of the undergrowth in thick masses of icicles; and as +the wind sweeps through the forest the ice-covered leaves and branches +ring and jingle like fairy bells. + +Ever and anon the moon shines out from amid the fast-flying clouds; +then, as though it has seen enough, hides itself again under the ghostly +mist. The sighing of the wind through the forest is like the trembling +of fever-stricken nature. In the stillness of night, through the +pathless forest, rides a troop of horsemen. Their little long-maned +horses sniff their way with low, sunk necks; by the shaggy fur caps of +their riders, and their long lances hanging far back at their sides, +they are to be recognized as a party of Don Cossacks. + +They ride in battle array. In the van a picket with drawn carbines; next +to them a detachment; then a cannon drawn by six horses. After that +follow a large body of men; then, again, a mounted gun and +artillerymen. Behind these another troop of mounted horsemen, and +another gun-carriage drawn by six horses. But to this the cannon is +wanting. In its stead a human form lies bound. The head hangs down over +the back of the rattling carriage, and as the moon ever and anon peeps +out from between the clouds, it discloses a face distorted with agony, +from which all trace of hair on head or beard has been cut away--perhaps +dragged out. The eyes and mouth are wide open. A coarse horsecloth +covering is fastened underneath the man. A corner of it drags along the +snow-covered ground. From it every now and then a drop of blood falls--a +sign that, in bleeding, the man still lives. The drops of blood in the +snow fantastically change, as they fall, into roses. Red flowers on the +white snow-field! The ghost-like procession disappears in the mist. + +Keeping carefully to one side, but ever following closely on the track +of the soldiers, is a horseman, also mounted on a long-maned, +broad-headed pony. He wears a thick fur coat; a fur-bordered czamarka is +on his head; icicles hang from his long beard. He rides slowly and +cautiously, his horse taking long strides, as though its master were +seeking something on the ground. Then, as often as he sees a red rose +upon the snow, he dismounts, kneels, and with a golden spoon he takes up +the crystallized token and places it in an enamelled reliquary, then +rides on to the next. + +The way leads without interruption through a primeval forest. It is the +forest of Bjelostok. Only there, in all Europe, are bisons to be met +with. There no sound of axe is ever heard; storms alone bring down the +giant trees. One forest arises out of the decay of the former. Beeches, +oaks, limes, vie in height with tall pines. In the dead of night resound +the shriek of the lynx, and the roar of the female bison anxiously +calling for its sucking calf. But no human sound is to be heard. No +human dwelling is near. Had not the path through the forest been a +highway, undergrowth had long since made it impenetrable. + +The fallen drops of blood lead the rider on farther and farther. Now +they appear at longer intervals. At length the last rose is reached; the +track left by the wheels of the gun carriage is now his only guide. The +horseman continues to follow it. The man bound to the gun-carriage is +assuredly dead by this time. If dead, they will as surely bury him +somewhere. + +Upon the endless solitary forest follow towns equally void of human +beings. On the banks of a great river stand two towns facing one +another, marked upon maps of a former century as still fortified places, +but now only to be classed among ruins. At that time they were specified +by name, Kazimir and Ivanowicze, I believe. Now their very names are +lost to history. Fallen walls, heaps of bricks and stones everywhere. +Nettles grow rank in the snow-covered squares and streets; castles, +churches, and temples are overgrown with briers to the very roofs. The +broad river is frozen over; from out the ice rise the piles of a +half-burned drawbridge, near to which stretches a track across the snow. +The solitary horseman follows the traces. In the middle of the river his +scrutinizing search is suddenly brought to a halt by a newly made gap in +the ice. + +That it is newly made is shown by the broken ice lying about, upon which +no fresh layer of snow has had time to form. The shape of the gap is +oblong--like an open grave. Close round it are traces of many feet upon +the snow; not far away the smooth surface shows the pressure of a human +form, which must have lain there face downwards. Here, without a doubt, +has been the place of burial. They had lowered the body under the ice (a +secure burial-place, indeed); the current would then convey it gently to +the sea. + +The horseman dismounts, kneeling down beside the open space and baring +his head. He murmurs something--perhaps a prayer. Into the water beneath +there drops something--perhaps a tear. + +At that instant the moon shines out resplendent. The man's head is +distinctly visible--a head once seen not easily forgotten. A high +forehead; the hair of reddish hue, but already tinged with gray, growing +low upon it; the face thin, nervous; cheek-bones and chin prominent; +nose aquiline; deep-set eyes; the towsled beard brushed forward; the +character of the whole face was one of suppressed suffering, of silent +woe. The moon has again disappeared under the clouds. A thick, heavy +mist falls around. Primeval forest and ruins alike fade; the figure of +the horseman grows more and more shadowy. + +Through the thick mist, in the dead stillness of black night, is a weird +sound of sighing and moaning. Perhaps it is the she-bison calling her +young--perhaps it is the voice of one singing "Boze cos Polske." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +MIST SHADOWS + + +At the same time that the wanderer on the rough path of Bjelostok forest +was gathering up its snow roses, another man on the far-off shores of +the Black Sea was preparing for a long, distant, and hurried journey. +The two men hasten to the same goal. They had never seen one another, +had never heard the other's name, had never corresponded. Yet each is +aware of the other's existence; aware that they are to meet, and that +this meeting must take place on a given day. The first has, perhaps, the +shorter road to take, but he can only ride slowly; he has to avoid +inhabited towns, to utilize night for his progress, to pass the days in +isolated csards. + +The second has the longer and more difficult way; but the only battle he +has to fight is with the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, and +these he can conquer. The fifth obstacle--man--places himself +obsequiously at his service. This traveller wears the uniform of a +colonel. Short of stature, he gains in height by the singular erectness +of his head and the elasticity of his walk. By that walk he can be +detected under any disguise. His closely cropped hair displays a broad, +high brow; his eager eyes dance in his head as he speaks. He has an +expressive face--one from which it is easy to read his thoughts, even +when his lips are silent--a face in which every muscle moves with his +words; one in strongest contrast to that of the other man. He can hide +his every feeling under an immovable countenance; this one betrays +beforehand his every thought. During his five minutes' colloquy with the +jemsik, he has exhausted a whole gamut of expressions, from flattery to +rage, as if playing upon the strings of a violin. He gesticulates +violently with his hands; now his five fingers are under the peasant's +nose; then they strike him on the shoulder, punch him in the ribs, seize +him by the lappet of his coat; now shake, then embrace him. He kisses +him, strokes his beard with coaxing action, then tugs at it, pushes him +roughly away, finally reaching him his flask for a drink; and perhaps +his only object has been to find out whether the road to Jekaseviroslaw +is passable or not. + +For while the snow still lies deep in the forest of Bjelostok, and +gun-carriages may yet drive across the ice-covered Niemen, thaw has +already set in along the valleys of the Dnieper and the Don, and the +whole plain is a sea, from out which the rush huts, with their +surrounding plantations of reeds, stand out like solitary islands. To +every hut a boat made of willow is secured; this boat is the one and +only mode of locomotion, albeit a dangerous one, whereby in the spring +season the inhabitants can convey themselves to the pasture-land to look +after their cattle and horses. + +As far as eye can reach stretches out the endless reddish-brown plain. +Rushes, reeds, and other water-plants not yet freed from their dried-up +winter clothing, lend a deep-red shimmer to the landscape, to which the +sprouting willows, now illumined by the light of the setting sun, add +their tinge of color. The storm-portending evening glow tinges the +fleecy clouds flame color, causing the rest of the sky to appear topaz +green. Myriads of water-birds whirl restlessly through the air, filling +the plain with their cries. In the far distance swim a flock of swans, +tinged golden in the setting sun, which, half-sunken beneath the +horizon, sends out its last rays across the changing clouds, like a +departing sovereign clothed in gold and purple. + +Across the great, never-ending plain there is but one path, laid +bridge-like with willow stems. Over this the traveller must needs make +his way--there is no alternative. The river banks passed, further sign +of human habitation ceases. The smithy of a gypsy colony, which has +established itself on the side of a hill, alone sends its light far out +into the evening mist. Soon that, too, will be lost in the gathering +gloom; then the traveller's three-horsed car must jolt along by the +fitful light of the moon. An occasional kurgan rising up here and there +in the Steppe is the sole sign that it was once inhabited by a people. +Those tschudas upon the brow of the hill were their gods. Blocks of +stone, with roughly carved human heads, proclaim afar, even to the banks +of the Amur, the former abiding-place of a race which has not left even +a name behind, only its gods, which later races have called tschudas +(from the Hungarian word _csuda_, signifying "miracle"). + +The traveller will find shelter for the night with a Czaban, who has +chanced to dig himself a cave near the wayside, and lives there, +surrounded by his numerous herds of sheep. The Colonel remarks in his +note-book that the shepherds living in the neighborhood of the kurgans +are a stupid, squalid set, who smell of cheese. + +Next morning the chariot with its ringing bells proceeds ever farther +and farther, until the inundated banks of the Dnieper oblige it to halt. +Here, the traveller has no resource but to take to a boat. Luckily the +stream is sufficiently swollen to enable his boat successfully to +navigate the famous Falls of Herodotus without striking on the rocks. +Only of the last does the ferryman warn him. It is the Nyenaschiketz +(the Insatiable). There it is not advisable to tempt one's fate by +evening light. + +"But I must go on," says the traveller, imperiously. He is in haste. +That alters the case. His imperious "must" knows no hindrances. Upon it +follows the only answer, "Seisas" (Immediately). This one word +characterizes the whole people. It even bridges over the "Insatiable." +The boat goes to pieces, but boatman and traveller swim safely to +shore. The remainder of the night is passed in a fisherman's hut. The +traveller here remarks in his note-book that the boatmen and fisher-folk +who live on the banks of the Dnieper are a stupid, squalid set, who +smell of fish. + +The opposite bank is inhabited by the Zaporogenes, who take their name +from the falls "zaporagi"--people who live beside waterfalls. Here it is +only possible to proceed on horseback. By nightfall the traveller has +reached Szetsa, a so-called village. The houses are earthen caves, +thatched with grass, called "kurenyi." The traveller, after having sung +and drunk with the Zaporogenes, observes in his note-book that the +dwellers in "kurenyi" are a stupid, squalid set, smelling of +coach-grease. + +The first work of a Zaporagen is to soak his new garments in tar, to +make them durable. Among that people are to be found the first +indistinct traces of a longing after freedom, primitive, but still +existent. This instinct reaches its culminating-point in the propensity +to rob their neighbors; turn their wives out of doors when tired of +them, and take to themselves a fresh one, who may please them better. + +On, on, in the saddle, until the ancient city of the Steppe looms in the +horizon, "the Mother of Cities." It is Kiev, the so often razed and +rebuilt Jerusalem of the Scythians, with its catacombs and remains of +Sarmatic saints. In the distance a deceptive Fata Morgana, looking with +its gilded cupolas like a city of churches, from out which the mighty +tower of Lavra rises like a giant. + +The traveller avoids alike the Beresztovo, the most inhabited quarter, +and the barracks; nor does he avail himself of the hospitable shelter of +the Lavra monastery, but seeks the Jewish quarter, and there in a +poor-looking Jewish hovel passes the night, taking counsel with soldiers +who, as though informed beforehand of his coming, have entered one by +one through the low entrance-door, to disappear in like manner by the +opposite one. + +The traveller remarks in his note-book that the Jews are a stupid, +squalid set, who smell of anise-seed. + +The way lies ever northwards. Spring-time vanishes from the earth; the +glow of evening from the sky; a canopy of gloomy gray mist overspreads +the firmament: the pale disk of the sun is like a medal upon a ragged +soldier's cloak. Even the waning moon only rises late of nights. The +nights grow longer, and the flames of the rush-heaps burning in the +fields impede the way. The traveller is often obliged to turn back to +the houses which border the pine forests. They are well-ordered, pretty +domiciles, inhabited by apostates who have taken refuge from their +pursuers in the woods. + +There, too, sounds an occasional chord of yearning after freedom. They +are prepared to endure, to make a firm stand, one and the other, in +order to be allowed to write the name of Jesus ("Jhsus"). This is +something for a beginning! + +The traveller records in his note-book that the Raskolniks are stupid +and unhappy, and smell of leather. + +Still farther northwards. Upon the plains green with young wheat follow +again expanses of snow; instead of flocks of swans and cranes, swarms of +ravens and Arctic birds are to be seen thickening the air. This time the +traveller passes the night in the Sloboden, where all sorts and +conditions of men congregate--men from the most remote parts in search +of work, offering their pair of hands for any description of labor. +Hither each brings his misery, his ignorance, and--foul odors. The +misery and ignorance are one and the same, but the foul odors are +diverse: by these they distinguish one from another, through these they +fall into broils. No sooner do they perceive the alien smell than they +come to blows. + +Time presses with the traveller. Now he has reached the land of sledges. + +Thick mists and snow-storms are his companions. There come days in which +there is no morning or noon-day; the snow-drifts change the world around +him into a prison-house. Such terrific snow-storms are only known in +those parts; they are "pad," the terror of travellers. The night frosts +have become insupportable in their severity; the mile-stones lie hidden +under the snow; the north wind has swept it into hillocks in many +places; then, again, into deep holes, in which the sledge sinks +axle-deep: a chorus of wolves howl in the woods. By morning the door of +the csárda is snowed up; the only mode of egress is to crawl through the +hole in the roof, where the jemsik, his sledge already horsed, is in +waiting, leaning against the chimney. He calls laughingly to his fare: + +"It is cold enough for a couple of fur coats, sir!" + +The north wind has chased away the clouds over night; the sky is the +color of steel. In the gray lilac-tinted horizon a red glowing fire-ball +is rising--it is the sun, which, running its orbit, scarce rises over +the earth; even at mid-day it gives out no warmth. The kingdom of winter +reigns. And now the way becomes more peopled. Life seems bright and +stirring in this kingdom of winter. Whole strings of sledges, laden high +with wares, move onwards in the one direction; well-appointed equipages, +steering clear of the heavily laden freight, pass them by. It is the +last day of the journey. Along the horizon a shining streak grows +visible--the frozen ocean. The streak grows broader and broader, and as +the sun goes down the rays of the aurora borealis stretch up over the +starry sky to its very zenith; and, illuminated by this magic sea of +rosy light, there arises from out the expanse of snow a giant city, with +the white roofs of its palaces, the cupolas of its churches, the +bastions of its fortresses, cupolas and bastions alike of dazzling +whiteness, as though it were the ghost of a city, painted white upon +white; above it the rosy northern light, behind it the bluish-leaden +veil of mist. + +The traveller has reached his goal. But the other--is he here too? + + + + +CHAPTER III + +COMME LE MONDE S'AMUSE + + +It is the last day of "Butter-week." Despite the excessive cold, the +streets of St. Petersburg are thronged with a tumultuous crowd. To-day +meat may still be eaten, to-morrow the great fast begins; every +butcher's shop will be shut; for seven whole weeks oil is in the +ascendant. Every one is in haste to make a good meal to-day. + +The great Haymarket, the "Szenaja Plostadt," is the attraction to the +hungry throng. There, in long rows before the butchers' booths, stand on +their four feet frozen oxen, bucks, and wild boars, with heads +outstretched, the butcher either sawing or chopping off the desired +joint for his customers; his knife would make no impression upon the +hard-frozen meat. Quantities of small game--hares, partridges, +pheasants, and black-cock--from other countries, preserved by the icy +atmosphere, hang in festoons from the booths. The venders of bear's +flesh have their separate quarter; the centre of the square is taken up +by the fish shops, where great heaps of bemaned sea-lions are offered as +delicacies. Purchasers in tens of thousands pass before the booths, some +on foot, others in sleighs with bells jingling, the greater part of them +women, while the sellers are all men. No women hawkers are to be found +here. Even the special delicacy of Butter-week, the "blinnis," are made +by men bakers; these are omelets soaked in butter and spread with +caviare. Then there are the Raznocsiks, tall young fellows, their fur +coats fastened with a girdle round their waists, who, with baskets on +their heads piled high with every kind of eatable, go in and out of the +crowd with untiring cry, "Come, buy pirogo! saikis! kwast!" The venders +of tea are keeping it boiling hot in their great samovars; the doors of +the spirit-booths are forever on the swing. Pirog especially disposes to +a good drink. It is a flat cake, composed of chopped fish, meat, and +coarse vegetables--a choice morsel--and this is the last day on which it +may be enjoyed; to-morrow it may not even be thought of. All St. +Petersburg is in the streets. It is a lovely day in March; not a day of +spring and violets, but of frost and icicles. The north wind of +yesterday has sent down the thermometer fourteen degrees. Splendid +weather! + +At midday, just as the great clock of Isaac Church begins to strike, a +fresh hubbub arises among the noisy throng. Down the long, straight +street, called Czarskoje Zelo Prospect, a party of huntsmen were seen +coming along in full pursuit of a magnificent twelve-antlered stag. A +stag-hunt at that season of the year is forbidden by the common laws of +hunting. The new antlers are not yet grown; they are but knots grown +over with tender hide. No less is it permitted to follow a hunt through +the streets of a city, more especially of St. Petersburg during Maflicza +week. But this distinguished party does not seem bound by ordinary laws. + +The hunting-party consists of some twelve men and three of the opposite +sex, not counting about fifty huntsmen and packs of hounds. They send +the people flying the whole length of the street before them. + +It may have been that the start had been in Czarskoje Zelo Deer Park, +that the stag had broken away and had taken his course towards the town, +the huntsmen after him. A huntsman's zeal does not stop to inquire which +way is permitted or which prohibited. + +The stag dashes across Fontankabridge. In vain the toll-keepers put up +the barrier, it clears it at a bound. Then, seeing the hunting-party in +pursuit, the terrified toll-keepers prepare to reopen the passage. +"Leave it alone!" shouts the foremost, and the company, following the +example of the stag, clears it. Mr. Stag has meanwhile reached one of +the principal streets, the hounds on his track; the gaping country +bumpkins at the street corners rush back in panic as the huntsmen dash +past them. + +At the entrance to the barracks of the Imperial Cadet Corps stands a +grenadier on guard. If he has any sense he will shoot down the +approaching stag, that it may not injure the crowd in its mad career. +But military etiquette goes before common-sense. The soldier on guard, +recognizing his superior in command, lowers his gun and presents arms. +The rebellious stag meanwhile, knowing no such etiquette, springs upon +the guard, and, catching him on its antlers, tosses him into the air. +The guard on reaching the ground again will probably present arms once +more from that lowly position. The stag, by this time, has reached a +cross street. This is one of the most frequented promenades in the +imperial city. The loungers rush away in all directions, women +screaming, men swearing, dogs barking--one runs against and upsets the +other--sledges overturn upon fallen foot-passengers. The stag and +hunting-party spring over outstretched bodies and overturned sledges +alike. It is capital sport--no one can take any hurt, the snow lies too +thick. Now the stag, reaching the Haymarket, seems somewhat bewildered. +For one second it stands affrighted, the dense throng blocking up the +great square. The next something attracts its attention. It is the row +of stags, which it takes for a herd, standing up before the +game-dealers' booths. Now the instinct of all hunted animals is to seek +refuge in a herd if they come upon one. So away into the thick of the +throng! Now the roar, the screams, and curses become a very pandemonium. +Booths and butchers' stalls overturned bear witness to the creature's +wild career; but no sooner has it reached its lifeless fellows and, with +quick instinct, scented blood, than, maddened with fury and with antlers +lowered, it forces itself a passage back into the Garten Strasse, and +tears off panting and snorting towards the Costinoi Dwor. This is one of +the curiosities of St. Petersburg--the great bazaar. + +The Costinoi Dwor is a distinct quarter in itself, where everything of +most costly nature, from Persian carpets to diamond necklaces, is to be +bought. Here the stag evidently thinks to find shelter. All the doors +stand open. From among the thousand shops he must needs select that of a +Venetian glass-dealer, huntsmen and hounds in hot pursuit. In the vast +apartment, supported by pillars, are massed crystal ornaments, +amounting in value to hundreds of thousands of rubles, artistically +piled into pyramids of fairy-like elegance, the walls hung with Venetian +mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling. The unhappy Italian proclaims +himself bankrupt as he sees the stag make for his shop, containing such +costly and perishable wares, and it is a comical sight to see the poor +signor and his _fauteuil_ fall back head over heels when the crash +comes. But no sooner does the stag see an innumerable number of its +fellows reflected in the mirrors all around him, hounds upon them, +closely followed by galloping huntsmen, than it completely loses the +little remnant of wits it had retained, and, turning its back on the +raving Italian, it dashes through the ranks of its pursuers towards the +Appraxin Dwor, where Turks, Jews, Armenians, Persians, brokers, +second-hand dealers, Little and Great Russians, Copts, and Raskolniks, +Gruses, and Finlanders abound, their stalls crammed with old rubbish +from every quarter of the globe, and they themselves standing out in the +middle of the street to better attract the passers-by, two or three +seizing the unwary customer by the arm at the same time, crying up their +own wares, depreciating those of their neighbors, squabbling among +themselves, vociferating oaths, lying, cheating, bargaining--playing the +rogue in every barbaric language under the sun. And to them, in their +very midst, the excited, maddened stag! Now the real fun begins. It was +a sight to see the terrified peddlers scattered right and left among +their heaps of rubbish, to hear their agonized adjurations to all the +powers of heaven and earth; to see them crawl on all fours, frog-like, +into their holes, as the huntsmen and hounds went galloping in full +course over their fallen bodies; and to watch the angry company, after +the wild hunt had passed, streaming back again to their desecrated +wares with loud laments, proclaiming that the world was coming to an +end. The stag simply flew over the heads of the densely packed throng; +the hunt could not follow up so rapidly; it required the huntsmen's +whips to keep the dogs together in such a bewildering crowd. Thus it +gained a certain advantage, and, reaching the Boulevard of the Fontana +Canal, dashed across the frozen stream to the opposite bank, and sped +down the Goronschaja Street before its pursuers came up with it. [At the +time of our story (1825) a palace, surrounded by a large park, the +Bulasky Gardens, stood there. The great fire of 1862 has since laid it, +as well as the whole Appraxin Dwor, in ruins; the railway-station of +Czarskoje Zelo now occupies the site.] + +The park is surrounded by a high gilded railing, through which sprigs of +vine-covered firs push their way. Perhaps the stag takes it for its +native home. Close by palace and park lies the great Obuchow Hospital; +some five hundred patients, men and women (most of them epileptics) are +just coming down the opposite street, returning from Trinity Church, +where they have been attending mass. Should the affrighted creature rush +in among the panic-stricken crowd, there would be no escape for +them--their crippled, infirm forms, their enfeebled brains, would render +it impossible. The very fright alone might kill them, deadened as are +their senses. Now a chorus of horror arises from the procession of +imbeciles, who, as if under a spell, come to a halt, helplessly awaiting +the attack of the incomprehensible foe. Infirmity has not crippled their +feet alone, but their thinking powers also. Nothing intervenes to stop +the approaching stag. As it flies in full career past the principal gate +of the Bulasky Gardens a shot resounds in the air. The stag makes a +side spring, throws back its head, sinks down, struggles up again, +plunges its bleeding nose into the snow, then stretches itself out, +resting its stately antlered head on the threshold of the gate, as +though in gratitude to him whose well-directed aim has released it from +its pursuers. + +Sport was spoiled. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +NO RIVAL + + +What unheard-of audacity, to spoil the sport of such an aristocratic +hunting-party! + +"Who fired that shot?" cried the foremost of the huntsmen, with a +threatening crack of his whip. + +The hounds dashed furiously on towards the open gate, their sense of the +dignity of the hunt equally insulted. + +The question had been put in Russian; and the action was in accord with +the speech, although the speaker's face was close shaven in the French +style, while the other members of the hunt all wore short whiskers. + +"I took that liberty!" returned a woman's voice; and from under the +fir-trees, whose branches overhung the gate, appeared a woman's form, +slender as one of the Amazons of the "Kalevala" Saga, her pale oval face +surrounded by loose-falling hair of reddish gold, like a lion's mane; +the nose, straight and delicate, and full lips recalling the Niobe +group; while at sight of the great flashing eyes, instinct with magic +beauty, one was irresistibly reminded of a peri from the "Sakuntala." A +very fairy, who united in herself the threefold myths. + +"I dared do it!" she said, coming forward alone, unattended. And +carelessly dispersing the excited dogs with one hand, she raised the +pistol she held in the other, and, pointing it at her interlocutor, +continued: "And there is another shot in it for you if you do not +instantly lower your whip." + +The hounds were cringingly snuffing about her whom the moment before +they had been ready to tear in pieces; the huntsman, too, was not less +susceptible to the charm than was the pack. Raising his whip, he touched +his cap courteously with it, and addressed her in French, the language +of Russian society: + +"It were unnecessary, madame, that you should use firearms, possessing +as you do in your eyes such powerful weapons." + +By this speech the huntsman betrayed the school of Versailles, where men +were accustomed to carry on war with compliments, and to mask retreat +with gallant words. + +Meanwhile the rest of the hunting-party had come up to the gates. The +gentlemen, seeing with whom their comrade was in conversation, held in +their horses, as though not wishing to take part in it; only an older +man, wearing an order set in diamonds on his fur-lined coat, approached +nearer; and one of the ladies, galloping straight up to the gate, pulled +up her horse at its threshold, the body of the dead stag alone +separating her from the other woman. + +The huntswoman wore a blue, fur-bordered jacket, with hunting-cap to +match, under which her fair hair hung in ringlets to the shoulders. Her +face was crimsoned with eagerness and the extreme cold, giving to her +somewhat prominent eyes a still more dazzling brilliancy than they were +wont to have; her thin, delicately shaped lips were half open; the blue +veil falling over her forehead, and the blue band she wore under her +chin as a protection from the cold, did not allow more of her face to be +seen. But as she drew up close beside the other lady she pushed back the +chin band, perhaps in order to speak more freely, thereby displaying a +pretty, rosy chin, divided by charming dimples. + +"How dared you shoot that stag?" she cried to the other lady. "Did you +not know it was an imperial one?" + +"How dared you chase that stag to the very gates of the hospital? Did +you not know that it is a hospital for cripples?" + +"I hope you recognize that the Czar is the first gentleman in Russia." + +"Throughout the whole world the first gentlefolks are the sick." + +"You are foolhardy, madame." + +"That I admit." + +Now the huntswoman lifted her veil. She was heated. She toyed +impatiently with the riding-whip in her hand. + +"Why am I not a man?" she muttered, between her pearly teeth. + +The huntsman with the clean-shaven face, reading from his companion's +working features and piercing eyes that there was something more in +dispute than the shot stag, now bending towards her, addressed her +audibly enough in German. For though the French language--that of the +best-beloved enemy--is the language of society in the Russian capital, +German--that of the most hated friend--is only spoken by the exclusive. +German is therefore spoken when the servants are not desired to +understand. + +"A rival, eh?" asked the clean-shaven one. + +The huntswoman projected her lips scornfully, and, knitting her brows, +answered aloud in German: + +"Neither rival nor----" + +The lady standing by had distinctly heard the short colloquy, and was +perfectly aware that she had another charge in her pistol. + +The speaker had turned pale as she spoke, like a duellist who, having +fired his shot and wounded his adversary, now awaits the other's fire. + +The owner of the park did not do this, however. There are words, looks, +and gestures which can strike deeper than the most deadly weapon. +Placing one foot on the crowned antlers of the stag lying prone before +her, she smiled full in the face of her adversary; and, as though to +emphasize the insulting challenge, raising her pistol, she fired the +remaining shot into the air. For an insult loses its sting if directed +by an armed person against one unarmed. Now once more she stood +conqueror. + +The huntswoman's face flamed with fury. She twisted her riding-whip in +her hands like a serpent, as though inwardly debating whether to strike +it across the other's face, and thus wipe away the irritating smile. + +One of the other two ladies was young, little more than a child. Her +face a perfect oval, with exquisitely formed chin, a little rosebud +mouth, large, deep-blue eyes, looking black in the distance, dark, +finely pencilled eyebrows, and hair hanging in soft, shining plaits down +her back. + +Her whole face wore the astounded expression of a school-girl. The +strangest thing about her was that she rode a gentleman's saddle, with +which her costume was in keeping--the Circassian beshmet, the broad, +white salavár, high boots, and flowing cashmere, with hanging kindzsál. +Every one but she knew what the two women were saying to each other. He +who happened to be ignorant of the language could understand the +gestures, the contemptuous expression of the features, the crossfire of +eyes. The young girl did not understand even that. She merely looked on +in amazement. That the two ladies were angry with each other she +saw--and about a stag's antlers! The riding-whip was twisted about in +the huntswoman's nervous fingers until it snapped. She made use of +another weapon. + +"Bethsaba!" she exclaimed, turning to the girl, and speaking to her in a +language unknown to any of their auditors--possibly Circassian; but the +expression on the speaker's face, and the terror-stricken, pallid look +on that of the young girl, said as plainly as words: + +"You have asked me what the devil looks like? Look at that woman; there +you have the fiend in human form." + +The girl, bending her head, crossed herself as she cast a frightened +side glance at the dreadful woman, who was the embodiment of his Satanic +Majesty. Then the Amazon, turning her own horse, and at the same time +seizing the reins of that upon which the young girl was mounted, +galloped back the way she had come, huntsmen and hounds following. The +stag remained where it had fallen. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +PLAN OF WAR AGAINST A WOMAN + + +On the way back to Ghedimin Palace naturally nothing was spoken of by +the members of the hunt but the exciting scene to which they had just +been witness. + +"_Parole d'honneur_," said the clean-shaven horseman, as he struck his +riding-boot with his whip, "the whole world is turned upside down! In +the time of the Empress Elizabeth, if any woman had allowed herself to +insult a Princess Ghedimin in that manner, she would have had her tongue +cut out and have been punished with the knout." + +"This is what we have to thank exaggerated philanthropy for! It was +never created for us. Voltairianism will be the ruin of the nation. How +can Araktseieff suffer it?" + +"The woman is no Russian?" + +"Perhaps some English or German here to spite us, and who has placed +herself under the protection of the Embassy? By Jove! in 1816, when I +was last at home, such a thing would not have been permitted!" + +"These cursed foreigners! Anyway, if the president of the police does +not take the matter in hand, we will administer the knout ourselves. I +swear your presence alone withheld me just now, Princess Maria +Alexievna!" + +"Indeed! You do not know who the woman is." + +"What does it matter who she is? She may even be a princess." + +"She is more than that." + +"Then some expatriated queen, perhaps from Georgia." + +"Silence!" said the lady, as she gave a warning look in the direction of +the girl riding at her other side. + +"She does not understand German. So the woman is really a queen?" + +At this question the lady laughed heartily. + +"Really a queen! A true queen! A reigning queen--an absolute monarch! We +all are her slaves; you, I, even Alexis Maximovitch. A queen who is not +to be driven out of her kingdom by means of cannon, but with this!" and +she held out to her companion the whistle of her shattered riding-whip. + +"What! an actress?" + +"Of course. What else should she be?" + +"Ha, ha, ha! To whom the whistle means a revolution; whose throne is +upset by hisses! Ah, Maria Alexievna, present me with this whistle. With +it I will fight for you, as a knight _sans peur et sans reproche_." + +The lady resigned the fatal weapon, so efficacious in the downfall of +stage potentates, to her cavalier, as the latter lifted her out of her +saddle in the portico of the Ghedimin Palace. + +He then kissed her hand. She kissed him on the cheek, and, taking the +young girl by the hand, she passed through a treble glass door and +ascended the broad frescoed staircase within. + +Here the hunting-party broke up, making rendezvous at the opera that +evening. + +Now the silent, bestarred gentleman, who had hitherto not mixed in the +conversation, slapping the clean-shorn one on the back with the flat of +his hand, said: + +"Nicholas Sergievitch, a word with you. Come along with me." + +"At your service, Alexis Maximovitch." + +And together they rode off to the Araktseieff Palace. + +There are no old palaces in St. Petersburg. The whole city only dates +back a century and a half. The palace of the favorite official of the +Czar is situated on the Nevski Prospect, and is built more for comfort +than for elegance. During the winter the whole building is heated +throughout with hot-air pipes; every window has treble cases; the floors +of the rooms are of parquetry. + +The two huntsmen said nothing until they had refreshed themselves with +hot tea seasoned with arak and a curious compound of cayenne and +cantharides. A tiny portion on the point of a knife of this latter warms +one's frozen limbs. In any other climate it were poison. + +The great man whom we now recognize from the name of his palace, +Araktseieff, first locking the door of the room they were in, pushed up +a rocking-chair to the fireplace for his guest, gave him a chibouque, +and himself took up his station before the fire. + +"Hark ye, Nicholas Sergievitch, put the whistle you received from the +Princess just now among your treasures, and when you want to blow it go +out into the woods. That is my advice to you. For if you carry out what +you have sworn to the Princess you will find yourself next day on the +road to Irkutsk, and, by Heaven! I can't say when you will be coming +back." + +"The devil!" + +"You see, the Czar is of opinion that he can create a hundred noblemen +such as you in an hour; but singers such as Zeneida Ilmarine are to be +met with but once in the century." + +"Ah! So this mysterious stranger is Zeneida Ilmarine, the far-famed +Simarosa heroine? All honor to her! I take my pipe out of my mouth as I +speak her revered name! When I made my promise to Princess Ghedimin, I +had no idea whom it concerned. This absolves me from my oath. Against +the 'divine' Zeneida one may not revolt, even to please the 'angelic' +Maria Alexievna. Rather raise the standard against the whole army of +legitimate rulers! What a fool I was! The excessive cold must have +frozen my wits like quicksilver in a thermometer. Of course, I had heard +abroad that the _diva_ was a _protégée_ of the Czar and Czarina, and, +moreover, the beloved of the brave Ivan Maximovitch. From the dialogue +in which the two ladies indulged, I might have gathered that it was a +meeting between wife and lady-love." + +"Now you must devise a way to find favor with both. Favor with the wife, +as with the sweetheart." + +"Easy as kiss your hand. I have only to tell one about the other." + +"That may succeed with the wife, for she is outspoken, straightforward, +and passionate. With the favorite, however, it may be more difficult; +for she understands how to play as many parts in real life as on the +stage. And your office it will be to find out which is the real one." + +"That I will do--as sure as my name is Galban." + +"Well, Chevalier Galban, you may imagine that it is a matter of some +importance which has induced us to call you back from Versailles, where +you were to us as eyes and ears are to man. You have there learned, in +masterly fashion, how to unravel the most secret diplomatic webs by +means of a woman's heart, yourself the while remaining unscathed. Now +you must carry out your masterwork at home." + +"What, Holy Russia has secrets which her police and the priests are +unable to fathom?" + +"My dear Chevalier Galban, our good Chulkin has enough to do to catch +thieves, and is not too successful in that department. I counsel you, if +your sledge be stopped on the way home from the club at night, give the +thief your purse quietly, for if you call the watch the soldiers will +ease you of your fur coat into the bargain. If, on the other hand, you +fall into the hands of a policeman, he will not only clear you out, but +the thief too. As for the priests, they count for nothing to our people, +who are atheists." + +"Have we come to that?" + +"Yes; to that. General Kutusoff did well to say, when our forces came +back from the French War, 'The best thing the Czar could do would be to +drown the whole expedition in the Baltic.' They were all indoctrinated +to a man with liberalism, and have infected the entire army. I assure +you that many a young officer carries 'The Catechism of a Free Man' and +'A Scheme of Constitutional Monarchy' about with him in his +coat-pocket." + +"How do they get hold of them?" + +"They must have a secret press." + +"They have been allowed to play with freedom too long." + +"That were the least danger. As long as we allowed them the game of +freemasonry, all was open and above board. At the court balls they would +talk in the presence of the Czar himself of freedom, and debate over the +rights of the people and the emancipation of serfs. That was all +academical discussion. But when the masonic lodges were closed, and the +insignia sold by auction in the Jews' market on the Appraxin Dwor, the +secret evil grew worse and worse. The freemasonry of Mamonoff, of a +sudden, took five or six different forms. One called itself a 'General +Betterment Society,' Orloff at its head. Another was 'Szojusz Spacinia,' +a third 'The Confederation of Patriots,' a fourth 'Szojusz +Blagadenztoiga.' There is another constituted under the title of +'Republic of the Eight Slav Races'; its members wear an eight-pointed +star as a token, the inscription on one of the points being Hungary. +They grow like mushrooms." + +"Ridiculous! Even in my time there were clubs where secret meetings were +held. But there was no talk then of danger to the State. If certain +much-wronged husbands had no complaint to make, the police might let us +go scot-free." + +"That is not the case now," answered Araktseieff, impatiently. (It was +his habit, when receiving secret visits in his own house, to keep a +sword-stick in his hand, with which he would incessantly prod screens, +walls, and hangings, as though ever suspecting listeners; and did he +perceive that his visitor had a bulging pocket-handkerchief or +note-book, he would prod that, too, to discover what was there.) "They +are about everywhere, and yet nowhere to be traced. They give each other +rendezvous at balls, concerts, wine-parties, etc., and so contrive to +give our spies the slip. Why, they actually keep a register, a sort of +parliamentary hand-book, in which the conferences of every distant +province are entered concerning the organizing of a systematic +revolution throughout Russia; the best form of constitution; what is to +become of the dynasty; how the empire is to be partitioned, and whether +to be represented by landed proprietors or the people. And this protocol +it is which contains a fully named register of the conspirators, those +who hold the threads of the net in their hands throughout the whole +land, from the shores of the Black Sea to the Arctic Pole. Among +themselves they call it 'the green book.' Now, where is this book? That +is the question." + +"To which I reply by a counter-question. But do not keep on so +incessantly prodding my coat-pockets with that sharp stiletto of yours. +Has any one seen this book--and, if seen, why has he not said where he +has seen it?" + +"That I will tell you, too. The conspirators are divided into three +classes. The first are 'Brethren.' To this community any one may belong, +on his introducer making himself responsible for him; they know nothing +beyond the fact that they are members of a conspiracy, and have the +right to attend meetings. The second class are called 'Men.' They are +trusty people, who, on a certain watchword being given them, are +authorized to act. You may reckon one-third of the officers in the army +as belonging to this class. They cannot betray anything beyond their own +individual names and the work given them to do. Then we come to the +third class, the 'Bojars,' and leaders of the whole affair. It is +extremely difficult to get in among them; and those who do belong to +them do not betray one iota." + +"Are they married men? Have they no wives--no mistresses?" + +"That question occurred to me long ago. It is no new discovery that +women are the best mediums for discovering secrets. Bright eyes and +diamonds can cast light into many a dark corner--that is an old story! +That 'the green book' is in the custody of some woman is unquestionable; +but, so far, with all our espionage, we have reached no further. We were +informed that Orloff's mistress was the possessor of 'the green book,' +and paid down enormous sums for the information. And what did we find? A +pack of scandalous anecdotes of St. Petersburg society, all of which, +moreover, were known to us before. Then we got on another scent. 'The +green book' was in the keeping of the 'Martinists,' whose president had +a lady-love--faithfulness itself. In her case all our bribes were +useless. So one night we had her surprised in her room, bound, the +boards of the floor raised, and actually there was found a 'green book.' +But it contained nothing but atheistic theses. What was the use of them? +People may rebel against the Deity, but not against the Czar! At length +we received secret information that the heart of the conspiracy is that +league which calls itself 'The Northern Union'--its head Prince +Ghedimin." + +"The devil!" + +"Yes, my friend; the next in succession to the throne! He it is who must +hold possession of 'the green book,' or who has had it in his keeping. +To whom should a man confide so dangerous a treasure but to his own +wife? But the husband, we are told, always wore the key of the iron +chest in which the book was guarded round his neck. Father Hilary +attacked the Princess on the religious side, and persuaded her to remove +the key from her husband's neck when he lay unconscious in typhus fever. +She must have had many sins to atone for. Anyway, she did commit the +small piece of treachery, and I passed a whole night studying 'the green +book' obtained from Ghedimin." + +"Well?" + +"Well, having carefully gone through it, I flung it to the other end of +the room. The book was filled with dangerous doctrines--nothing more. +Pure abstract reasoning, philosophical treatises, and the like, but no +single name of any member. What care I for the utterances of Seneca, +Rousseau, Saint-Just? What I want to know is what the Muravieffs and +Turgenieffs are talking about. That, too, was a mere piece of trickery. +That cunning Ghedimin did not trust his wife. He gave her a book to keep +which the Censor--had she betrayed him--would readily have condemned to +be burned, but for which the President of Secret Police would have +grudged the oil consumed in the reading." + +"Then, if the real 'green book' is not to be found in his wife's +keeping, it must be in that of his lady-love--and that lady-love is +Zeneida?" + +"Right." + +"Is she a foreigner?" + +"No; a subject. A Finnish girl from Helsingfors; and especially favored +by the Czar, because she has triumphed over the pride of the +Empire--Catalani. The Czarina, too, is very gracious to her. You know +that the Czar is a great music-lover, and will not suffer the school of +Cimarosa and Paisiello to be set aside by the modern school of Rossini. +Zeneida Ilmarine does not sing a note of Rossini. At all hours she is +admitted to the imperial family. How often have I--ay, and even the +Grand Duke Nicholas--had to kick our heels in the antechamber while she +was having audience? At the court soirées she is treated like any +reigning princess; she alone is privileged to wear in her hair a white +rose, the Czarina's favorite flower. It is entirely due to the magic of +her voice that the Finnish students of Helsingfors escaped being sent +off in a body to Kiew after the rebellion; for she can intercede as +effectually as she can sing. The Czar would have raised her to the rank +of a duchess, but what do you think the spoiled _diva_ said? 'Would your +Majesty wish to degrade me?'" + +"And is this the woman who could take part in a conspiracy against the +Czar?" + +"Why not? if the leader of that conspiracy be sweet upon her, a Prince +Ghedimin, the most powerful among Russia's twelve ruling families, the +number of whose serfs and estates more than equals the whole kingdom of +Würtemberg. Do not forget, moreover, that she is a 'Kalevaine.'" + +"What are the proofs of this suspicion?" + +"I have already told you that the conspirators are marvellously clever +in eluding detection. It is not their way to creep into obscure corners +or subterranean caves; they rather hold their meetings in the midst of +crowds and in public places. This is a wrinkle they have learned from +the Poles, among whom the 'Philaretes' and 'Vendita' usually meet at +their yearly fairs. Now the fast is at hand. For seven weeks every +public amusement is forbidden, that the people may see that great folks +do penance as well as themselves. High and low must attend the services +of the Church. But no one asks what takes place o' nights behind closed +doors. This is the harvest-time for secret meetings. The invited guests +have no political proclivities; they have no wish to found +constitutions; their sole idea is to enjoy a good dinner--'Anti-fasters' +they call themselves. Surprised by the police, all that would be +discovered would probably be a table spread with appetizing game or +steaming roast-beef, and, maybe, a few guests the worse for liquor. The +'sinners' would, of course, be fined, but no one would be the wiser of +what was taking place in the more private apartments. And here our prima +donna has peculiar advantages. The stage, as you know, makes its own +laws. Who in the world expects to find strict morality among actresses +and ballet-dancers? The police wisely shut their eyes to much that goes +on among them. He who is lucky enough to be an invited guest to one of +Zeneida Ilmarine's exclusive Caręme soirées will find all the frivolous +beauties of the opera and ballet, all the _jeunesse dorée_ of St. +Petersburg, assembled, and will have no need to complain of either the +lack of fiery eyes or fiery wines. Many a man has been singed by them. +But if he be wise enough to keep his head in the midst of the tumult, he +will observe a certain portion of the company disappear gradually and +noiselessly from the reception-rooms." + +"There may be other reasons for such disappearance." + +"Certainly. For instance, roulette may be carried on in those private +apartments. Now, the Czar has issued a severe prohibition against +roulette-playing--any one caught in the act is sent straight off to +Siberia, without possibility of remission of sentence. It is a fact that +Zeneida's calumniators, especially among the women who are envious of +her, have circulated the report that she keeps a roulette bank, which +enables her to indulge in all her lavish luxury. I hold a different +opinion." + +"Upon what grounds?" + +"That Michael Turgenieff is a constant guest at these theatrical +soirées, and is one of those who at midnight disappear into the inner +apartments. Now, Michael Turgenieff is a philosopher and a puritan." + +"Even philosophers have their lucid intervals, induced by combined +charms of pretty women and good wine." + +"We know Michael better. I have had my eye upon him ever since his +Demi-Decemvir. He was the only one among his young companions who did +not give way to any of the modern forms of debauchery. In his travels +through England, France, and Germany, he only sought out great writers +and men of mind and genius; he was never to be found in fashionable or +vicious haunts. Not even in Paris, where vice and pleasure reign +supreme. What, then, should possess him to secretly worship here at the +altar of false gods? No; the presence of this one man alone is +sufficient to betray that those closed doors conceal other than +Eleusinian mysteries." + +"And it has, so far, been impossible to discover them?" + +"No sooner does Zeneida, taking the Duke's arm, leave the company than +it assumes the aspect of a revel. Beauty and folly take possession of +men's senses, and next day not one of them can recall anything but that +they have had a jolly evening. If a 'Brother' try to follow a 'Bojar' in +his retreat, he is surrounded by sirens, who lure him back by a +conspiracy of charms. In order to let diamond cut diamond, and so +conquer the high-priestess of the mysteries herself, it needs just such +a conquering hero as you are." + +"Very flattering for me! When shall I make a beginning?" + +"This very night. It is the last day of Maslica week, the last night of +the opera. Zeneida is to sing in Cimarosa's _Secret Marriage_. The +streets will be thronged. At the stroke of midnight the bells of all the +churches will proclaim the beginning of Lent. Every one goes to +confession. In the opera queen's kingdom, however, the revel begins. +Prince Carnival, with his merry company, will make his joyous procession +through the brilliantly lighted saloons, through whose fast-closed +windows no ray of light, no sound of music, may penetrate. You must +manage to procure an invitation to the entertainment." + +"After the insult of to-day?" + +"You are master in the art of intrigue." + +"I have given my promise to Princess Ghedimin to hiss her rival off the +stage to-night." + +"You have given me your promise to win her to-night." + +"The time is too short." + +"But the opportunity favorable. I am informed that yesterday two men +arrived in the capital who are rarely seen here. The one is +Krizsanowski, from Poland; the other, Colonel Pestel, of the Southern +Army. Both have already received invitations to Zeneida's so-called +dance. Only there can you come across them; and you must find out from +them what has brought them here." + +"I will be there." + +"How will you manage it?" + +"As we men begin all love affairs--by means of presents." + +"Ah! this nymph is richer than you, my dear fellow. She makes her forty +thousand rubles in a single concert. If her mood is for diamonds, she +chooses out the most costly; if for something better than diamonds, she +divides her night's earnings among the poor. It may happen that you +receive back your presents twofold." + +"I will make her a present which will command her favor--an +eight-in-hand." + +"Ah! such as the Czar alone possesses?" + +"Such as not even the Czar possesses! You shall see, with this +eight-in-hand, I will force open the gates of the fairy castle. Leave +the rest to me. If a 'green book' be in existence, I will know its +contents." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +OLD AGE + + +Prince Ghedimin was dining that day with his wife. Both he and the +Princess studiously avoided mention of the affair which so abruptly +ended the hunt. Yet it was unlikely that the news of it should not have +spread throughout the city. The police alone appeared ignorant of it, +the shot stag remaining on the spot where it fell. Was it the intention +to remove it at nightfall, when no one could see who took it away? + +"Shall I meet you at the opera to-night?" asked the Princess. + +"I am not sure if I can be there." + +"It would be a pity to remain away. Fräulein Ilmarine sings in the +_Secret Marriage_ for the last time this season. She will have a great +ovation." + +The Princess firmly believed that Zeneida would be hissed off the stage; +and what could be better than that the Prince should have the pleasure +of witnessing her humiliation from his wife's box? + +"I am awfully sorry that I cannot engage to be there, my dear. As you +are aware, it is my night to visit my grandmother, and when once I am +there the dear old lady is sure not to let me come away. She has so much +to ask about every one, and at the stroke of midnight she will expect me +to take the organ in the chapel adjoining the apartment and sing through +the penitential mass; and I cannot refuse her. But if you wish that we +should spend the evening together, why not come with me?" + +"Oh, many thanks. I do not sing in masses." + +"But you have not once been to see the grandmother since our marriage." + +"I think you know that I shrink from dead people." + +"But the poor old soul is still living." + +"So much the worse--a living death! It makes me shudder to look at a +mummy, and to think that some day I too shall appear like one!" + +"Ah, well! A pleasant evening to you, my love." + +"Edifying devotions, your Excellency." + +The Prince withdrew. The Princess sent her dwarf after him, that--hidden +among the orange-trees in the conservatory--he might find out whether +the Prince had actually gone to his grandmother's apartments, and how +long he stayed there. + +Ivan Maximovitch Ghedimin really did pass through the corridor into his +grandmother's apartments. The old lady inhabited the central block of +the palace, its windows, on both sides, looking on to the court-yard. + +It is twenty years since Anna Feodorovna has left her apartments. Even +in the sultry summer heat, a time when all the aristocrats of the +capital take refuge in the islands of the Neva, she passes it among her +fur-hung walls. + +Since the spring of 1804, when she had a critical nervous illness, she +has spent her days in a wheel-chair, the being wheeled from the dinner +to the card-table and back again her only exercise. She dreads fresh +air. + +At first she had some society. Three old ladies of her own age used to +come to play whist and gossip with her. Gradually they left off coming; +first one, then two, at length all three. No one dared to tell her that +they were dead; she was told that they found it difficult to mount the +stairs. Since then she had played her game of whist alone. + +The old lady still wears the old-fashioned cotton costume which was so +fashionable in 1803, when the Czar Alexander had forbidden the +importation of foreign woollen stuffs. She thinks that every lady in +society still wears it, and with it a cap and feather, closely +resembling a turban. + +It is now twelve years since the last of her contemporaries visited her. +All have now been gathered to their fathers. But Anna Feodorovna must +not know this. All are living, and on every great occasion send her +their messages and congratulations, exchange consecrated cakes with her, +and colored Easter eggs; and on Easter morning she always finds on her +table their illuminated visiting-cards, with the inscription in letters +of gold, "Christos wosskresz." + +History for her has stopped with the signing of peace between the +Emperors Napoleon I. and Alexander I.; and the appointment, at that +date, by the Czar, of her only son, Maxim Wassilovitch, to the command +of the new Georgian regiment of Lancers. Georgia had just been +incorporated into Russia, and Anna Feodorovna tells proudly to this day +how, on one occasion, she had the honor of a conversation with +Heraclius, the deposed Emperor of Georgia; how her beloved son, Maxim, +brought his Majesty up to her, and although she did not understand what +he said to her--for his ex-Majesty only spoke Persian, which was not at +all like either Russian or French--they had had a most interesting +conversation. + +From that period in history it had been the endeavor of the family that +no rumors of the world and its events should disturb the quiet of that +revered member. A daily paper was published separately for her, from +which every war detail was scrupulously expunged. The reigning +sovereigns did nothing in the world but give or take a princess in +marriage, magnanimously yield each other territory, distinguish their +generals for no reason whatever; and, that the century might not pass +over without some blood-shedding, the unbelievers on the far-off island +of Tenedos were occasionally slaughtered; a revolt of the Kurds on the +boundaries of Persia would be suppressed from time to time; or Belgrade +be conquered by Csernyi-Gyurka. Anna Feodorovna knew nothing of the +terrible French invasion, nor of the burning of Moscow; nor that her +only son, Maxim, had fallen in the battle of Borodino. Her paper, on the +contrary, stated that Maxim Wassilovitch had been appointed Governor of +Georgia, and had at once proceeded there without furlough. From that +time news had regularly come to her from him, and he had sent letters, +which her man-servant was obliged to read to her, for her eyes were not +capable now of deciphering handwriting. The good son who never forgot +his old mother! Her man-servant, faithful Ihnasko, is everything to +her--cook, house-maid, reader. He, too, must be some seventy-five years +old; thus fifteen years younger than his mistress. No other serving-man +would have held on as he had done, no other have submitted to put a seal +to his lips, and have observed silence as to all that was passing +without. Even among us men there are few Ihnaskos. And on a fęte day, +such as this, it is especially difficult, when Anna Feodorovna does not +play cards--for card-playing is sinful--and there being no whist, she +questions the more. + +Fortunately for her she has a good appetite, and can enjoy all the +varieties of cakes sent her by "her friends" on this last Maslica day. + +"Ihnasko, I cannot believe that Sofia Ivanovna prepared these cakes +herself. She always stones the raisins so carefully. Try this one." + +"You are right, your Highness. But then the poor lady's eyesight is not +so good as it was." + +"Oh yes; she grows old, like me. Reason enough to see nothing." + +(The main reason, however, is that six feet of earth lie between her and +the world.) + +"And the little princess, and the brunette countess, have they sent +their usual congratulations to-day? And the Lieutenant-General's wife, +who is so hard of hearing?" + +"The cards are all laid on the silver table, your Highness." + +"And you have acknowledged them in the customary manner?" + +"At once, your Highness." + +"You should have written in very large characters to the +Lieutenant-General's lady, for she is so hard of hearing. Has the old +beggar-woman come for the warm clothing? Was she glad to have it? Did +she not prophesy good luck for this year? Is it not to be a comet year? +Ah, there is no chance of that! Have you taken the grand duchesses their +bouquets?" + +"I took them. They return their thanks." + +"Are neither of them married yet? Dear me! They must be of marriageable +age now." + +(Both are long married--in their girlhood--to the white bridegroom, +Death; but no one has ever told Anna Feodorovna this.) + +"How is the old man?" + +"As usual." + +"Does he make use of the Elizabeth pills I sent him against gout?" + +"Constantly." + +"Can he sleep at night?" + +"Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no." + +"Does he not grumble when it is new moon, or the wind blows?" + +"At times. But he soon calms down." + +"Of course, he always has that horrid pipe in his mouth, and sits in +clouds of smoke like a charcoal-burner." + +"What else should he do?" + +"Wait a minute. Just take him these warm night-caps. I knitted them with +red wool for the old man myself. He has always liked red caps. Tell him +that I think of him, though he does not think of me. But what could he +send me--tobacco ashes?" + +(Alas! the _old man_ has long become dust and ashes himself. He was Anna +Feodorovna's husband, a martyr to gout, who did not see his wife once +in a year, although they lived in the same house. Neither would visit +the other. She could not endure a pipe; he could not live without it. +One day he, too, found that his mausoleum in the Alexander Nevski +Cathedral was a more peaceful resting-place than his bed; but he was +interred so silently that his old wife did not know of his death, and +continued to knit him his red night-caps.) + +"Where can Boysie be so long? My boy is surely not ill? It would be a +fine thing if Boysie forgot me! I will give him a downright scolding for +this." + +Hereupon Ihnasko had to calm his old mistress by telling her that +"Boysie" had been called upon to attend an important council held by his +Imperial Majesty the Czar. Most probably concerning some new grant of +territory. + +That was quite another thing! + +Of course, Boysie was a grown-up man now--a man of thirty, and the owner +of many an order set in brilliants. It is her grandson, the haughty, +powerful Prince Ivan Maximovitch Ghedimin, whom his old grandmother +still calls the "Boy." + +The lamp has long been lighted; indeed, for days together it is not +extinguished. At the least current of air the windows are closely +curtained, and three or four days may pass before daylight is again +admitted. It matters little to the owner of the apartment whether it be +day or night; she neither rises nor goes to bed. She lives in her +arm-chair. If she is sleepy, she goes to sleep; when she awakes she is +ready for her food, and with good appetite. Every Sunday her maid washes +and dresses her, and that function lasts for the week. When the bells of +the Isaac Cathedral begin their midnight peal she knows that Sunday has +come round again; when her newspaper is brought to her she knows that +it must be Friday. Sometimes the two, Ihnasko and she, quarrel about +politics. + +Just now there are strained relations between mistress and man. A +paragraph in the newspaper has stated that "the heroic George Csernyi +has taken the fortress of Belgrade from the Turks." + +The mistress chooses to understand by this that Csernyi had stormed the +fortress and massacred the unbelievers; the man, on the contrary, takes +it literally, that he had bought the fortress from the Turks for +sterling cash. + +Over this they quarrel hotly. + +"When Ivan comes, he shall decide it; and if you are right, you shall +have a brand-new coat trimmed with fox; if I am right, you shall get +five-and-twenty lashes with this rod from my own hands!" + +From her hands, who had not the strength to kill a fly! But the old +woman is vindictive, and has already, for the third time, ordered him to +lay out the new coat and the courbash on two chairs, so that the instant +Ivan comes he shall get either the one or the other. And yet she forgets +all about her anger, Belgrade, and George Csernyi the moment "Boysie" +appears on the scene. + +He comes in so gently at the tapestried door that she only perceives him +when he stands before her. + +Her Boysie is the handsomest man in the whole capital; he is as tall as +the Czar. + +His languishing gray eyes wear an earnest, thoughtful expression. + +"Now, you bad boy--to come so late! Is school but just over? Are you not +afraid that I shall make you kneel to ask my pardon?" + +He is already kneeling before her; and the old grandmother passes her +thin, wrinkled hand over his face as he bows his head on her lap. +Laughing, she playfully ruffles his hair. + +"This naughty Boysie! He knows how to coax his old grandmother, like any +kitten. All right; you shall have no blows this time. I forgive you; so +no need to cry. He has just the same shaped head as my Maximilian; only +Maximilian loves me best, for he writes to me every month; and yet he is +a great man. At your age two orders of merit already decorated his +breast. But what have you done? Have you fought yet for the honor of +your country? Are you following in your father's footsteps?" + +The old woman's hands feel over the young man's breast until they rest +upon the diamond star of the Alexander Nevski order, upon which she +cries, joyfully: + +"This is no cross; it is a star! And set in brilliants! You have robbed +your father, for this order would have sat well upon him. He is a hero, +a great man; the diamond star would well have become him. But he, too, +has already obtained the first grade of the order, has he not? And set +with diamonds as fine as these?" (Ah yes--ah yes! he has received it set +with glistening pebbles in the cool sands of the Muscovite soil.) "But +now stand up. You are a grown-up man, and what would the Czar say if he +were to know that his privy-councillor still knelt, like a boy, at his +grandmother's knee? Stand up, my dear boy, and tell me about matters of +State. I know how to talk about them. Oh, in Czar Paul's time I was up +in everything. It was I who kept the old man back from joining in Count +Paklem's conspiracy, or he would be even now in Siberia. Eh, my boy, you +love the Czar? That's right. How many a time has Czar Paul bastinadoed +your grandfather! And he never complained. But now there are no +conspiracies throughout the whole land against the Czar." + +"None, dear granny." + +"If at any time you should hear of plots, mind you tell it at once to +headquarters. If you knew there was a thief lurking under your +grandmother's bed, would you not straightway drag him out by the legs? +Much more is it your sacred duty to destroy all conspiracies against the +Czar's Majesty. He who works against the Czar will be punished, but he +who serves him will be richly rewarded. How was it with Kutusoff? Did +not the Czar take the finest jewel from his crown to present to him, and +had a golden leaf set in the empty space with 'Kutusoff' inscribed upon +it? The family of the Ghedimins is not inferior to that of the +Kutusoffs." + +Ivan turned pale. The family name, "Ghedimin," and the Czar's crown? One +was a part of the other. The topic was a dangerous one. High-treason +might be named in the next breath. + +"My whole life I have consecrated to the Czar, granny." And then he +blushed at his own words, for he had spoken falsely. He neither can nor +dare tell the truth to living soul. His old grandmother is the only +being on earth he really loves; and her, too, he must deceive. From +morning to night his life is a lie; he must look men in the face and +lie; must lie to baffle the spies ever on his track, so that at night he +dare not offer up the prayer, "Incline thine ear to me, O God," for +dread lest he must lie even to his God. + +"I have been waiting for you ever so long. I have had a sharp dispute +with Ihnasko, and you must be the arbiter;" and she related the subject +of their dispute. "So now, who is in the right?" + +Ivan laughed. + +"As far as experience goes, you were right, grandmother; for fortresses, +as a rule, are taken by force. But in this case Ihnasko was right, for +George Csernyi really did buy Belgrade for good coin of the realm. So +give the good fellow the coat, and not the whip." + +The old lady nodded to her man-servant. + +"Do you hear, Ihnasko? Thus should a just judge decide. Like Prince +Ivan, he should give the servant right over the master, if need be, even +if it be over his own grandmother. Rejoice, ye people, that your fate +will rest in the hands of a man whose lips only know the truth!" + +Ivan turned away. + +"But now come nearer, sit down by me, and make your confession. When are +you going to marry? It is high time. Have you not made your choice yet?" + +And Ivan had to answer, "No." + +He could not tell her that he had been already married three years to a +woman who was so utterly heartless that she would not be presented to +his old grandmother because she was afraid of her age and wrinkles--so +he had answered, "No." + +"Now you are telling me a fib. Let me feel your pulse. Of course, it was +a fib! And why should you not have fallen in love? Look! in this drawer +I am keeping a diadem for your bride; it is the same diadem I wore when +your grandfather led me to the altar. Then Moscow was the capital of the +empire. Where this fine palace stands were nothing but clumps of +willows. Now, your bride shall adorn herself with this diadem. Take it; +I give it you. You best know who is to wear it. The girl you love shall +be my very dear granddaughter." + +But Ivan, in truth, did not know to whom to give the diadem. He had a +wife who had no love for him, and he loved a woman who could never be +his wife. Thus to neither could he give it. + +"I will take care of it, dear granny, until the right one comes." + +"But now you will stay to supper with me, will you not, that we may eat +the last Butter-night meal together? You are not going to be off to any +bachelor drinking-party--to get into all sorts of wild company? You will +stay, like a good son, with the old grandmother." + +And so Ivan stayed to supper, and had to declare how much he was +enjoying it, when he had dined but so short a time before, and knew all +the while that in Zeneida's palace a Lucullus-like feast awaited him. If +his digestion rebelled against the sacrifice, his heart made it a +thousand times heavier. + +Oh, the unspeakable agony that overpowered him as he thought how at that +very time his affronted wife would be venting her whole vengeance upon +that other woman who the world knew had thrown her soft shackles over +him, and whom he dared not openly protect, least of all against this +aggressor, his own wife! Had the Czar been in St. Petersburg, she would +not have dared to molest her; but, in his absence, his powerful +favorite, Araktseieff, was supreme. + +To tell the truth, Ivan was glad that his absence was compulsory. A +warm, tender-hearted man, of weak will, he was unequal to the situation. +Taller by a head than most other men, he had been chosen as a leader +among them; but the position oppressed him, for, capable as he was in +all else, he lacked the necessary courage and decision for the post. + +What he would most gladly have done would have been to say adieu one +fine day to all his palaces, possessions, confederates, and to Russia, +and to go out with Zeneida into the wide world to sing tenor to her +soprano. Perhaps, too, it might have come about, had Zeneida been an +ordinary artist and nothing more. But the disquieting thought is +there--what may happen to-night on that other stage? Perhaps she is +destined to mortification on the one; but on the other? On those boards +the blood of the actors is wont to flow. + +And all this time his fond grandmother could not press him enough to +eat, as she asked news of Maria Louisa and the great Napoleon, of the +little King of Rome, and many another who had long passed away; to many +of which questions Ivan returned such mixed answers that the good +Ihnasko was constantly exercised to set him right, being far better +informed through his newspapers of all these things than was the +absent-minded Prince. + +At the first sound of the bells the old lady conscientiously lays down +her knife and fork; and Ihnasko, without awaiting orders, proceeds to +clear the table, and spreads another silken cover over it. + +It was Lent. + +"Let us draw near to our heavenly Father!" whispers the pious old lady. + +Ivan kisses her cheeks, and she his. + +There was a small door opening out from her bedchamber into the chapel. +Opening this, Prince Ghedimin went in; and while his old grandmother, +rosary in hand, began telling her beads, the tones of the organ were +heard, and a man's clear voice began chanting the penitential psalm. + +"What a good son and a good Christian is my Ivan Maximovitch!" murmured +Anna Feodorovna, amid her prayers. "And what a lovely voice he has! He +might be one of the Czar's choristers." + +And amid the sounds of pealing organ and penitential psalm she +reverently thanked the Lord, and, praying for the living and the +faithful dead, fell into peaceful slumber in her arm-chair. + +The organ still continues to peal, and penitential psalms ascend, for +Ivan Maximovitch--Prince Ghedimin--is a good man, and a tender, loving +son. + +And yet this again is a fresh lie; for, as Ivan entered the chapel from +his grandmother's room, one of the Czar's choirmen, who had been +admitted by a secret door, was already in waiting there, and his task it +was to sing on and play the organ until the old woman had fallen asleep. + +Prince Ghedimin, meanwhile, hastily descended the secret staircase and +passed into a masked corridor leading from his palace into the next +house. There, quickly assuming a disguise, he jumped into a sledge +awaiting him in the courtyard, and gave the coachman directions where to +drive. + +Upon the Princess's return from the opera she was informed, both by his +Highness's coachman and her dwarf, that the Prince was still at home, +and had not yet left his grandmother's apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE EIGHT-IN-HAND + + +Prince Ghedimin left his secret domicile in a simply appointed sledge, +without crest, his coachman wearing no livery. He ordered his man to +drive to the opera. + +At that time the capital possessed but one large, newly built +theatre--the opera-house. Here representations of the drama, comedy, and +opera were given, and often on one and the same evening, the +performances lasting, as a rule, from early evening to midnight. + +It was just the period when Russians had conceived a passion for the +drama. One theatre no longer sufficed them. It had become the fashion +for the wealthy princes of the blood to have stages erected in their own +palaces, and to have representations given by their own private +companies of Shakespeare and Moličre. Even in the Czar's two +palaces--the Winter Palace and Hermitage--there were theatres, where the +court actors and actresses made their début. One leader of fashion +carried the theatrical mania so far that he never travelled to his +country-seat without taking his troop with him; but, the main difficulty +there being to find the audience, he had a collection of wax figures +made--generals, statesmen, and elegant women--and with these figures he +filled his stalls, to give the illusion of a full house. If we add that +this theatrical company was largely recruited from the retainers and +serfs of the said magnate, there is nothing improbable in the story that +went about of him that one night, as Othello was in the very act of +throttling his Desdemona, my lord in his box was seized with a fit of +sneezing, which resounded through the house; whereupon the dark-skinned +tyrant, instantly abandoning his murderous design, advanced to the front +of the stage, humbly uttered the Russian form, "God bless your Grace," +and then retreated, to proceed with Shakespeare's ghastly deed. + +Hence we may imagine the enthusiasm excited by so extraordinary an +artistic genius as was Zeneida, a child of the people--since Finland was +_born_ to Russia on the day of Zeneida's birth. + +Zeneida was a more powerful factor than a cabinet minister. Even in +Catharine II.'s time a prima donna, on the Czarina's representing to her +that she was drawing as heavy pay as the most renowned of her generals, +had presumed to say flatly to her, "Then, your Majesty, bid your +generals sing to you." + +Prince Ghedimin's great source of anxiety was not that Zeneida might be +exposed to some insult or humiliation at the hands of a wounded rival; +much more, knowing her spirit, he dreaded lest she, at first sound of a +hiss, should rush forward to the footlights and begin singing the +_Marseillaise_, and that if rotten eggs were thrown one moment, in the +next men's heads would be flying. It needed so tiny a spark to fire the +whole mine. + +His heart was beating violently as he neared the opera-house. The clang +of bells from a hundred clock-towers drowned all other sounds; but as +they ceased a roar rose in the long street into which his sledge had +turned. The stately avenue was simply filled with a moving mass of +people surging in his direction. What could it be? A revolt, or a +triumphal procession? Hundreds and hundreds of torches cast their lurid +light over the heads of the throng. + +His heart beat faster and faster. He was not a lover of revolutions; not +one of those who grow drunk with enthusiasm when they hear the leonine +roar of an insurgent mass. On the contrary, his soul shuddered within +him at the thought. But he was a brave man--a man who, although heart +and spirit might shrink, would know how to die with those to whom he had +sworn fidelity; who, although his soul might faint within him, would +walk with firm step to the scaffold for the great aspirations with which +that soul was fired. More than one man has proved himself a hero whose +soul has quailed within him before the beginning of the fight. Prince +Ivan, ordering his coachman to stop, awaited the throng. + +And presently a strange sight met his gaze. In the very midst of the +torch-lit crowd came a golden sledge, shaped like a swan. It was +Zeneida's well-known sledge. In it was sitting the prima donna (wrapped +in her costly sables, and literally covered with bouquets, the flowers +of which were beginning to sparkle with the night frost), drawn by a +team of eight--such a team as the Czar himself had never been drawn by, +since it was composed of eight young noblemen, the cream of Russia's +_jeunesse dorée_. On the coachman's box sat Chevalier Galban in person. + +Prince Ghedimin, springing from his sledge, joined the procession. Among +the crowd a man was pressing and forcing his way. In him the Prince +recognized one of his wife's lackeys. Reaching Zeneida's sledge, the man +handed up to Chevalier Galban an enormous bouquet of hyacinths, +whispering a few words as he did so. The Chevalier, straightway standing +up, called out with stentorian voice: + +"Ho, ho, gentlemen! Noble team of teams! halt an instant! Look at this +brilliant trophy! See these flowers with their diamond-set +bouquet-holder--'With the expression of her admiration for our divine +Zeneida--from Princess Ghedimin!'" + +A thousand hurrahs resounded through the icy air, thickened for an +instant with the breath from many vociferous lungs. + +"_Allons!_ forward, my noble steeds!" And the eight-in-hand proceeded on +its way. + +A young man was standing at the back of the sledge. As Zeneida leaned +forward to take the flowers, he reached over her so that his face, bent +downward, nearly touched hers. In such a position even a well-known face +is hard to recognize. The man thus standing whispered to her: + +"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes." + +"I do not understand Latin," she answered. "Translate it into some other +language for me." + +And he at once, converting it into faultless hexameter, said, in their +own tongue: + +"Ever I fear the Russian, even when with gifts he comes." + +"Thanks, Pushkin." + +The members of the "Northern Confederation" called each other by their +family names, in contradistinction to the old Russian usage, which is to +call every one by their Christian names, adding to a man that of his +father, to a woman that of her mother. + +So this young man was to become the renowned Pushkin. At that time he +had no such claim; at that time he was a nobody. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN ORGY OVER A VOLCANO + + +It needed a well-seasoned head to keep his wits about him when, on +entering Zeneida's palace, a man found himself suddenly plunged into the +fairy-like pell-mell, such as is usually only to be seen at a masked +ball at the opera. + +Hundreds of guests, invited and uninvited, thronged the brilliantly +lighted reception-rooms. Zeneida to-night had been acting in the last +scene of _Semiramide_, and it suited her mood to carry on the part of +the all-conquering queen off the stage; to see her admirers, her +slaves, and those she fooled, at her feet. + +The whole _corps de ballet_ were here assembled in the dresses in which +they had appeared on the stage; the chorus and singers wearing their +rich costumes of Persian and Median nobles. The male aristocracy of St. +Petersburg, young and old, were there assembled. As the hostess appeared +in the ballroom, leaning on Chevalier Galban's arm, the band, concealed +behind the balcony of the gallery, struck up a welcoming overture; the +guests cheered, and those nearest pressed round to kiss her hands. + +However, things were not long destined to proceed so smoothly. + +In the middle of the ballroom was standing a police-agent in full +uniform, his helmet on his head. Going forward to meet the hostess and +her cavalier, and bowing stiffly, he made a hissing sound which was +supposed to stand for _Sudar_ and _Sudarinja_ ("Monsieur" and "Madame"). + +"His Excellency the President of Police bids you take notice that at the +stroke of twelve to-night the great fast has begun, and all dancing, +music, and entertainments of every description are in consequence +prohibited. Such being the case, monsieur and madame's guests are to +return forthwith to their own houses, and monsieur and madame, the host +and hostess, to retire to their apartments. Monsieur and madame--" + +Here Zeneida burst into a merry laugh; while Galban inwardly cursed the +Minister of Police, who by his clumsy zeal was in danger of spoiling the +excellent plan he and Araktseieff had together made out. + +Zeneida drawing three golden-shaped arrows from her hair, handed them to +the sergeant of police. + +"Go back to your chief and show him these symbols. From them he will +recognize that Assyria's queen challenges the Prince of Sarmatia to +combat." + +The words were over the head of the agent of police, but he took the +golden arrows. + +"Then I shall be compelled to take your names. Yours, sir, is--" + +"Caracalla," replied Galban, readily, "and this lady is my wife." + +The police-agent duly entered in his book, "Herr Caracallus and Madame +Caracalla"; then turned to a gentleman who had just entered, Prince +Ghedimin. "And what is your name?" + +"Rainbow. Here is my card." + +It may be mentioned that hundred-ruble notes are called "rainbows" on +account of their gay coloring. The name pleased the agent of police so +well that he evinced no further curiosity. With obsequious bow he wished +the company a pleasant evening, drank a bottle of champagne on his way +out, pinched the cheek of a pretty ballet-girl, then hastened back to +make his truthful report to the President of Police that all was quiet +and dark at Palace Ilmarinen as in a church, and not a soul waking save +the house porter. + +But this was not the sole interruption that night. Scarce had the agent +of police taken his departure before the organist and chaplain of the +Protestant church appeared. The chaplain began a honeyed speech, +probably to the effect that he hoped the lady of the house, as a good +Protestant, would not give cause of offence to the faithful of the State +religion by desecrating the first night of so holy a fast by +entertaining so motley a crew of the worshippers of Baal. + +But Zeneida did not suffer him to proceed. + +"Go back and tell your superintendent, my dear sir," said Zeneida, "that +I am holding the rehearsal of a grand concert, which I intended to give +during Lent in aid of the building of the Protestant church-tower." + +Chaplain and organist were fully pacified. Going back they announced +that the zealous and religious lady had begun the great fast with a good +work for the benefit of the Church. + +And now, at length, the doors could be shut; now there would be no +further interruptions from without, and those present would not be +leaving until to-morrow night had set in. + +Chevalier Galban judged it advisable to resign the lady of the house to +Prince Ghedimin. + +"Allow me to introduce myself, Prince--Chevalier Galban." + +"A name world-renowned. And one all-powerful among the ladies." + +"I may perhaps claim in that respect to have kept up my reputation +to-day. See, Prince, the bracelet round this bouquet. Do you not +recognize it? And this?" And he drew forth from his waistcoat-pocket the +silver whistle which had formed the handle of Princess Ghedimin's +riding-whip. + +Ivan recognized his own crest upon it. + +"These are the two conflicting _souvenirs_ of this morning's stag-hunt +and to-night's triumph." + +"And it is you who have formed the connecting link." + +Prince Ghedimin was on the point of shaking hands with the Chevalier for +having made conquest of his wife, and thus enabling his beloved to go +scot-free; but in this he was prevented by the young man we have heard +called Pushkin, who, pressing in between the Prince and Galban, +intercepted the intended hand-shake by a demonstrative embrace. + +"Zdravtvujtjé Galban! I am Pushkin!" + +"Ah, Pushkin! Bravo! I have heard of you. You are a Russian edition of a +perfected Paris _bon vivant_." + +"Proud of the title!" None the less, he was anything but proud of it. +You cannot offer a poet a worse insult than to credit him with a quality +which has no relation to Parnassus. Still, Galban was no censor; he +could not know how many of the bard's great works were lying low, +massacred under the murderous red pencil. "Proud, my dear fellow, to act +Rinaldo to the St. Petersburg dare-devils, and in that capacity your +modest Epigon. Permit me, without delay, to make you known to some of +the prettiest girls of our party to-night." + +So saying, he passed his arm under that of Galban, and in rollicking +fashion led him into the thick of the throng. + +The Chevalier was content. It was his immediate task to make as many +acquaintances as possible among the malcontents here assembled. To this +end the guidance of so open-hearted and loquacious a comrade was highly +acceptable. All the same, he soon had reason to find he had been a +little mistaken in him. + +The first individual with whom Pushkin made Chevalier Galban acquainted +was the English ambassador, Mr. Black. + +Mr. Black had only one leg; his other was an artificial one, which, +however, in no wise prevented his taking part in every country dance to +the very end of the programme. Moreover, all his movements were as +automatic as if head and arms were on springs, and as if he took himself +to pieces every night before going to bed. + +"Mr. Black, the best fellow in the world! He neither understands +French, German, Greek, nor Russian. In fact, he only speaks English; and +that we none of us know, so he is dumb to us. All the same, he is jolly +as a sand-boy. A year or two ago he had one man about him with whom he +could converse, his secretary. Unfortunately he took the poor devil with +him one day in December, when it was atrociously cold, to the Alexander +Nevski church-yard, to see the fine show of tombstones. A granite +obelisk took the secretary's fancy uncommonly. On the way home my fine +fellow partook somewhat too plentifully of brandy, to keep the cold out, +and froze to death. Mr. Black carted him off to the stone-mason, then +and there, and bought for him an obelisk like the one he had admired so +much." + +The ambassador, guessing that his praises were being sung, duly put in +motion that part of his mechanism necessary for bringing a smile to his +face; then shook the Chevalier's hand violently, and without more ado +took possession of Galban's other arm. And now both men towed their +victim along, until they came face to face with a third man, whom +Pushkin introduced to the Chevalier with the words-- + +"Sergius Sumikoff Alexievitsch." + +"Ah, the renowned conjuror! I have heard of your fame far and wide." + +The very word "conjuring," and, above all, the notion of befooling +others for the general amusement, had just then become the fashion, in +Paris especially--of course to be readily imitated in St. Petersburg. + +"But you have not heard his latest," broke in Pushkin, "the story about +the negro? I must tell it you; it is such a joke. Sumikoff painted his +face jet black, and gave himself out to be Prince Milinkoff's black +slave. We were all in the fun, save Count Petroniefsky; he was to be +fooled. Mungo played the piano and guitar, spoke Greek, Latin, declaimed +Schiller, uncommonly rare acquirements in a negro slave. Moreover, he +had all kinds of interesting details to tell, among others, how, when +king in his native land, he had had his prime-minister, convicted of +theft, crushed to death in a mortar. Petroniefsky, awfully taken with +the fellow, goes to Milinkoff, and offers to purchase him. Milinkoff at +first refuses; he is his favorite slave, can't part with him, etc. At +length they settle the matter for six thousand rubles. On receiving the +purchase-money Milinkoff gives his friend a hint to keep a sharp eye on +the fellow, as he is deucedly fond of giving his owner the slip. The +count answers, he'll see to that. Of course, the very first night +Sumikoff washes off his Chinese black, and quietly takes himself off, +without any concealment, through the open palace gates. We ordered a +jolly supper for the six thousand rubles, and Petroniefsky has no idea +to this day that it was he who paid the piper. He still daily routs up +the unlucky police officials to bring him back his negro." + +Every one laughed, Galban, with the others, all the time thinking, "Does +my new friend really think with such worn-out anecdotes to keep me in +pawn, and prevent my seeing that for which I came?" + +And he did see it. He was an adept in the art of recognizing people from +description, and amidst the noisiest surroundings to find that of which +he was in search. + +First among the crowded rooms, he made out the man described to him as +Krizsanowski, and soon after the man called Pestel. He seemed to be all +eyes for the conjuror's clever doings, the while he was closely watching +the two men to see if they accosted each other. Would they approach +Prince Ghedimin and Zeneida? Neither of these things took place. Did +they accidentally come across each other, they simply passed each other +by without even a look; on the whole, they seemed rather to avoid +Zeneida. In between the crowd of merry, noisy dancers he perceived many +a striking face, yet none of them seemed to have anything in common one +with another. Now Pushkin made a proposition. + +"Why should not we four have a game of _ombre_?" + +Chevalier Galban saw through it. Not a bad dodge to pin him to a +card-table in some dark corner for the remainder of the night. + +"Thanks. I only play hazard." + +"Humph! Strictly forbidden here." + +"As is ball-giving in Lent," returned Galban, laughing. + +Now a fresh procession riveted the general attention. "The gypsies!" +went from mouth to mouth. + +In Russia, as in Hungary, the gypsy is the minstrel of national song. It +is curious that in Hungary instrumental music is the gypsies' art, while +in Russia it is singing. Troops of them go from town to town as choral +societies, and never fail at entertainments given at the houses of the +great. + +The group of some four-and-twenty men and women, clad in their +picturesque Oriental costume, formed themselves into a circle in the +ballroom, and began their songs of wood and valley, while one of them, a +girl, represented in her dance the subject of their song. + +"By Jove! come and look at our black pearl," said Pushkin, by the aid of +his friend drawing Galban into the circle. "Bravo, Diabolka! Show +yourself worthy of your name. Look how supple she is! she is a very +devil! Every one of her gestures is enticement. See how her eyes +sparkle! All the fires of hell are burning in them! Enviable they who do +penance there. And when, with downcast eyes, she casts you a melancholy +glance from beneath those long silken lashes, you think she must be on +the verge of swooning. But, beware, the tiger can bite." + +The wild gypsy girl, suddenly starting from her lifeless statuesque +posture, here sprang upon Chevalier Galban, and threw her arms around +him. + +"By Jove! the comedy is well planned," thought Chevalier Galban to +himself. "Here am I fast bound in the arms of this gypsy. My friends, +the conspirators, know how to set about things." + +"Bravo, Diabolka!" applauded Pushkin; and in a trice the three gentlemen +had disappeared from Galban's side; it was unnecessary to watch him +longer. Once Diabolka's net was spun about him, he was caught and +meshed. + +Chevalier Galban saw through this also. Yet he was too much a man of the +world, and appreciated pretty women too keenly, to turn from the offered +cup. Accepting the situation, he led her to the buffet, to the ballroom, +to the palm-grove, everywhere, in fact, as faithful cavalier, keeping +the two men, however, always in sight. He began to observe that they +whom he thus watched were also watching him, and to feel convinced that +they would not leave the noisy, overflowing reception-rooms as long as +they saw him there. He planned a stratagem. + +As he made the tour of the rooms for the second time with Diabolka he +promised to marry her, and in sign of the betrothal drew off a ring and +placed it on her finger. The girl forgot to ask him his name; but she +well knew the name of the stone that flashed in the ring. It was a +diamond. + +"And when you are my husband will you come with me to our encampment +where we mend pots and kettles, and feast on the sheep we have stolen?" + +"Not so. When you are my wife you shall come with me into my castle. +There you shall dress yourself in new dresses five times a day, and eat +off silver dishes as if every day were our wedding-day." + +"I will tell your fortune with cards; then we will see which is the true +prophecy. Come! Let us hide away in some corner, where no one can see +us." + +Diabolka, it appeared, was perfectly at home. She knew exactly where to +press the spring in the wainscot which should open a secret door. Within +this door was a tempting hiding-place, roomy enough for a cooing pair. +The door closed after them. In the crowded rooms one couple was not +missed. In the middle of the little retreat was a round table. On giving +this table a twist it sank, to come up again spread with a tempting +refection, among which champagne, cooled in ice, was not wanting. + +Chevalier Galban smiled. So this was the idea. And to make it more +secure they had shut the cat in with the mouse. Poor fools! They think +to catch a serpent in a mouse-trap! Meanwhile, why not amuse himself? +The enemy must be allowed time to get into battle-array. They believe +him disposed of already. And now, safe from his sharp eyes, the +initiated will be betaking themselves to the place of meeting. But where +is this place of meeting? In what hidden portion of this mysterious +building? These and like thoughts rush through his brain. Tschirr! a +sound of shattered glass falling in a thousand pieces on the table. + +"When I am by your side, I forbid you to think of anything else. When +you can look into my eyes, do not stare out into the wide world. Or are +you afraid of me? Don't you drink?" + +Galban soon proved to her that he was not afraid of her, and that he did +drink. Seizing the bottle, he drank. He may have had his reasons for +thus drinking direct out of the bottle. No sleeping potion can be mixed +with a bottle of champagne, for, once opened, it forces its way out; +while a drug can be easily conveyed into a glass. + +Chevalier Galban's suspicion that they might seek to disarm him by means +of a narcotic is the more easily explained in that he himself was +carrying a similar medium in his waistcoat-pocket, with the idea of +ridding himself of any inconvenient obstacle did it come in his way. + +But one cannot listen to two things at a time, the beating of one's +heart and the tick of the clock. Galban knew this from experience. He +must rid himself betimes of the dark beauty. They were drinking by turns +from the bottle. One such bottle must do the work for her. Four-fifths +of a champagne bottle standing in ice is frozen; the sleeping powder +shaken into it can only mix with that which remains fluid. The first who +drinks receives the opiate; the next one, drinking the wine as it melts, +takes no harm. + +Diabolka's wild abandonment suddenly seemed to give place to a certain +exhaustion; her arms sank wearily to her side; she began to yawn; her +head fell back. For an instant she pulled herself together as though +shaking off the inertia. She must not sleep now when some great danger +might be threatening without. She reached out her hand for the +water-jug. But the potion had been too powerful. Going a step or two, +she staggered; in the act of pressing her hand to her head she fell +into a deep sleep. "Chain up the bear," she stammered. She was already +dreaming of the forest. Then she fell full length on to the ground. + +Galban, lifting her on to the couch, pressed the spring. The secret door +opened to his touch, and he found himself once more in the palm-grove. +This was an amphitheatre, some six fathoms high, massed with the rarest +palms from India and Senegal, which in an atmosphere of artificial heat +and sunshine were being coaxed into flourishing in a land where winter +reigns nine months in the year. + +Hidden behind a giant cactus, Chevalier Galban peered into the adjacent +apartment, intent upon discovering whether the men he had previously +marked were taking part in the Eleusinian mysteries. None were visible. +It was in truth a _masked_ ball; the ball was the mask, and they who +wore the mask were no longer present. + +Where were they then? + +All had disappeared, even Pushkin, the head and front of the revels. + +He resolved to go in search of them. It was a difficult and dangerous +undertaking. It meant beginning a search in a vast place, utterly +strange to him, to which he had no clew; it meant avoiding any he might +meet, deceiving those who noticed him by simulated intoxication--a +drunken man, not knowing whither he was going; it meant the risk of +being kicked out from intrusive disturbance of flirting couples. And +even if at length he find the spot whither the conspirators had retired, +it is only too probable that some watch would be kept to warn them of +the approach of a suspected person. This watchman he must murder, his +pistol at his breast; for where a guard is necessary, a conspiracy +lurks behind the portal. Then to force his way in. If the doors be +closed, suspicion is well founded. Then is the palace doomed; if need +be, razed to the last stone. If the doors stand open, then to enter with +the words, "In the name of the Czar, you are my prisoners!" Possible +that they may overpower him, but far more likely that they will not. A +detected conspiracy is demoralizing; to say, "If I do not return to +Araktseieff by to-morrow morning, all who are here to-night will fall +into the hands of justice," will be to lame them and bring them to his +feet. Moreover, it is his profession. One man dies in one way, one in +another. The soldier knows the enemy will fire upon him, yet he goes +forward; the sailor knows the sea is treacherous, yet he trusts himself +to it. One man bows his head to the executioner's axe, another bares his +breast to the dagger. In both it is heroism. + +And suppose he should find the missing guests round the board of green +cloth, instead of round "the green book," staking their money at the +prohibited roulette-table? _Eh bien!_ then he would join them, and say +nothing to Araktseieff. It would not be a gentleman-like thing to tell +upon them. + +In his search he had, in a measure, an Ariadne clew, like that strewn +sand which, according to the fable, served to guide the lost child out +of the wood. + +Zeneida had returned from the opera in her costume as Semiramide, her +wealth of reddish golden hair interwoven with real pearls. When +Chevalier Galban, on her triumphal return to the palace, had assisted +the _diva_ to remove the bashlik from her head, he had, unseen and +purposely, severed one of the strings of pearls in her hair. For a time +the thick masses of hair might hold them together, but it was unlikely +that in moving hither and thither one should not occasionally fall to +the ground. + +He had already picked up one in the palm-grove; she had, therefore, +passed through there. The second he found in a corridor; a third +betrayed to him the threshold of the apartments into which she had +disappeared. Where she is, there must the others be. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE BOARD OF GREEN CLOTH AND THE GREEN BOOK + + +The room in which the "Confederation of the North" held its meetings was +provided with double doors--a circumstance by no means uncommon in +Russian palaces, in order that there should be no spying through +keyholes, no listening at doors. + +The centre of the room was taken up by a massive table, or rather a +great chest, the upper part of which formed a roulette-table. + +The rolls of gold--probably sovereigns (bank-notes are not used in +roulette)--are laid out in rows, beside which is placed the croupier's +long scoop. Each new-comer, as he enters, takes his seat at the table +and puts down his purse before him. But there is no play--in fact, it is +a mere sham. At each arrival the opening of the outer door sets the +table in motion, the noise of the rotary ball calling the attention of +those present to the fact that some one is coming. Thus there is no fear +of surprises. + +The introductions are performed by the lady of the house--a necessary +ceremony, for on this occasion there are people who have never met +before--accredited agents, representatives of secret societies which +have been formed in the remotest corners of the Russian dominion. The +president and keeper of the privy seal of the Northern Confederation is +Prince Ghedimin; the secretary, Ryleieff, is a young poet, and agent of +the American corn trade. + +Of the three brothers Turgenieff, Nicholas, the historian, is present; +as well as Colonel Lunin, the proprietor of the secret press; Bestuseff, +Kuchelbäcker, Commandant of Artillery. There are also Vaskofsky, Chief +of the "Welfare Union"; Muravieff, the representative of the "United +Slavs"; and Orloff, the life and soul of the "Patriots." All are +distinct secret societies; yet all are united in one aim, "Freedom" +(freedom under the snow)--their mode of procedure, action, the +instruments employed, wholly diverse. For this reason they have arranged +the present meeting, in order to unite the various opposing plans into +one common form of action. To this conference they have called the +president of the "Southern Confederation," Colonel Pestel, from the +far-off shores of the Black Sea, and the still more distant chief of the +Caucasian "Barbarians," Jakuskin. But of all, he who has come from the +remotest part (for he had had to wade through the sea of blood which +separates the two countries) was the spokesman of the Polish +"Kosinyery," Krizsanowski. All these men wear uniforms, save Ryleieff, +who is of the burgher class, and who wears a modern blue frock-coat with +gold buttons; all are beardless, with clean-shaven faces; only the Pole +preserves the national type; and Jakuskin, whose shaggy eyebrows join +his tousled beard, represents the wild Cossack, and seems, by his rough, +neglected exterior, to bid defiance to the civilized world. + +There is something written on the foreheads of all these men. + +Zeneida stands by the door to receive the new-comers, until the room +fills up. Conversation is not loud; each seems to be conferring with the +spirit which has led him hither. + +The rolling of the roulette ball is heard yet again. + +"Who can still be coming?" asks Zeneida. + +Pushkin appears on the threshold. + +Zeneida's countenance involuntarily assumes an expression of alarm. + +"Why do you come here?" she whispers, excitedly, to him. + +"Is it not permitted?" + +"Did I not commission you to watch Galban, that he might not take us by +surprise?" + +"I found a better guardian for him. Diabolka has got him in the +mouse-trap." + +"But your responsibility remains." + +"I will go back as soon as I can do so without exciting attention. At +present, I stay here. Introduce me!" + +"What a child you are! Are you not consumed with curiosity to know what +we are about here?" + +"I wish to take my part in it." + +"What wilfulness! Of course you imagine lives are going to be risked, +and must needs stake yours for sake of the glory. Well, stay here. You +shall see. Herr Pushkin!" And she turned her back upon him, as if in +anger, while making the introduction. + +Zeneida was the accredited agent of the whole union. Whom she invited to +her palace was received as a "Brother"; to whom she confided any work +was ranked among the "Men"; but to take part in secret conferences and +to be promoted to be a "Bojar" required a further recommendation. + +"Who else stands security for him?" asked Prince Ghedimin. + +"I," answered Ryleieff. + +Upon which room was at once made for Pushkin at the table. + +His was a fine head. The curly hair and form of the nose recalled the +African blood which ran in his veins, one of his forefathers having +taken to wife a daughter of Hannibal, the negro slave promoted by Peter +the Great to be a general. His eyes were dark and deep-set, yet, despite +the irregular features, one could trace in the expression a resemblance +to Byron. Pushkin was in love with Zeneida--that is, he raved about her. +Zeneida was deeply in love with Pushkin, therefore she did not want him +really to love her. + +A word will clear up this seeming paradox. Zeneida knew too well that he +who united his fate to hers must inevitably meet some dark doom, in the +background of which loomed the scaffold. Finland had been reduced to +subjection by the same power against which these secret societies were +waging war, and Zeneida could still remember her mother's tears, and the +plain black coffin brought by stealth to her home one dark night, +wherein lay the corpse of a headless man for whom they dared not even +mourn. Only when she was grown up had she learned that that man was her +father. She loved Pushkin far too dearly to lead him on that perilous +path on which men risk their heads. She had dreamed of a happier, +sunnier lot for him. She had long detected in the wild, restless youth +that genius that had not been given him to make the lion of a lady's +boudoir--a genius which belonged, not to Russia only, but to the whole +world. A poet was not thus to be wasted. Why load the gun with a charge +of diamonds when common lead would answer the purpose equally well, nay, +better! + +"Gentlemen," said Zeneida, addressing those assembled. "I will first +request our brother Ryleieff to read to us the verses we are to spread +among the people. To prepare the minds of the people is, indeed, the +main object." (General applause.) + +Ryleieff, the poet, a fair, slim, handsome young man, here rising, +produced the verses he had written. + +It was a fine, noble-toned poem, perfectly rhythmical, and true to every +rule of composition. The rhetorical warmth rising gradually to an +impassioned climax, the under-current expressing that deep spirit of +yearning melancholy which harmonizes so entirely with the spirit of the +people. + +The poem recited, all united to congratulate the youthful Tyrtćus; while +Zeneida, with eyes filled with tears, kissed him on both cheeks. + +Pushkin, annoyed, looked away. For a woman to kiss a man is the accepted +custom in Russian society. Ghedimin scarcely heeded Zeneida's action, +and he certainly had the best right to demur; but Pushkin was plainly +annoyed by it. He envied Ryleieff: envied him the kiss; how much more +the poem which answered its purpose--_faute de mieux_! + +"The verses are splendid!" exclaimed Prince Ghedimin. "We will have a +million copies of them struck off in Lunin's press, and distributed +among the peasants." + +"You forget, Prince," put in Zeneida, "that our peasants cannot read. I +would suggest it were more practical to have the poem set to music, that +it might be diffused more rapidly among them. In that way it would pass +from field to field; mowers, reapers, wagoners, would carry it from +village to village, and what is once sung among them never dies out. In +our Finnish _Volkslieder_ has lived the history of the nation, the +traditions of its historical life, its freedom. These no man can take +away. The _Marseillaise_ alone raised an army in France." + +"But to whom confide the setting of it to music?" asked the Prince. + +"Here is Herr Pushkin," said Zeneida. "He composes charming melodies." + +Pushkin felt as if stung by a tarantula. + +He compose the melody to Ryleieff's song of freedom! Subordination can +be carried to a nicety of perfection. A state councillor, when he puts +on the uniform of a private of volunteers, may find he has to obey the +orders of his own chancery clerk and corporal; or a duke, if he become a +freemason, have to make obeisance to a bootmaker, as master of the +lodge; but for one poet to be called upon to write the music to another +poet's effusion, when he feels himself to be Cćsar and the other man +Pompey, is a sheer impossibility. + +Pushkin's face crimsoned. + +"To the best of my belief, the words and air of the _Marseillaise_ were +composed at one and the same time. Rouget de l'Isle wrote them together. +Nor can it be otherwise. The poet alone can find the fitting +inspiration. Ryleieff's poem is fine, very fine, but it does not inflame +and excite one. To such an end the fire of enthusiasm is a necessity." +And unconsciously he slapped his breast, as though to say, "And it is +here." + +"Do you know, Pushkin," said Zeneida, "if you are really feeling the +poetic ardor of which you speak--if you think you can compose something +better than we have here, you could not do better than to retire into +this little side chamber; there you will find piano and writing-table. +Give us something better suited to our purpose!" + +Pushkin was caught. + +"Why not? I will write you a song which the peasant will not need to +take first to the priest to have its meaning explained to him." + +And with that he looked straight into Zeneida's eyes, with a look which +said, "If you can bestow a kiss for Ryleieff's rhymes, what will you +give me when I put on paper the words that burn in my heart?" + +Rising, he repaired to the inner room. Soon the sound of chords showed +him to be deep in poetic creation. When once thus absorbed, a man does +not lightly break off. + +Zeneida had no better wish for him. + +As Pushkin left the room Zeneida turned the roulette-board. The ball +stopped at Nicholas Turgenieff. He was thus made President of the +Council that day, and accordingly took the chair--made to resemble that +of the banker of a roulette-table. + +And now Prince Ghedimin, drawing out a delicate little polished key, +which fitted into a keyhole revealed by pushing aside a brass button, +handed it to the President, who turned it twice in the lock. Hereupon +the copper slab, upon which the roulette-board was fixed, slid to the +other end of the long table, disclosing, in the part thus laid open, +"the green book." One single lamp hanging from the ceiling illuminated +the figures of those sitting there, looking, by its light, like statues +in a museum; every feature seemed to gain in sharpness of outline; their +immobility lending character and determination to their faces; so many +historical subjects destined either to rise to eminence, the idols of +the people, or to fall under the hand of the executioner. In those few +moments, devoted to silent reflection, which each man seemed to be +engaged in studying his neighbor, many were looking upon the other for +the first time, and appeared to be mentally comparing the reality with +the ideal previously formed. The members of the Southern Confederation +had never before met their Polish brother. Many of them had seen +Jakuskin ten years before, but then he was a merry youth with +clean-shaven face. That has all disappeared. He is now a wild man of the +woods, who only smiles when he speaks of murder. Leaning against the +President's chair is Zeneida; attitude and figure alike recall statues +of the "Republic," only that instead of a dagger she holds a bouquet in +her hand sent her by her rival. A dagger in disguise. Besides those we +have already named, the following historical personages were present: +the three brothers Bestuseff, Prince Trubetzkoi Obolensky, Korsofski, +Urbuseff, Peslien, Orloff, Konovitzin, Odojefski, Setkof, Sutsin, +Battenkoff, Rostopschin, Rosen, Steinkal, Arsibuseff, Annenkoff, +Oustofski, and Muravieff Apostol, all representatives of the many +wide-spread secret societies. + +Ryleieff, the secretary, opened "the green book." + +The President desired him to read out the business done during the last +sitting. + +It concerned the working out of a plan of constitutional government for +the whole Russian empire; its title--"Ruskaja Pravda." It was a republic +in which every province that the Russian despot had annexed to form one +vast empire was to arise as an independent state under its individual +president--Great Russia, Little Russia, Finland, Poland, Livland, Kasan, +Siberia, the Crimea, the Caucasus; nine republics with one government +and one army, under the control of one Directorate, to hold its sittings +at Moscow. + +The Republic needed no St. Petersburg. Neither the "Saint," nor the +"Peter," nor the "burg" (city). + +The device upon the plan was-- + +Question: "Will Europe in fifty years' time be republican or Russian?" + +To which the answer was--"Both." + +This plan of constitution was painted with the colors of a glowing +fancy. First, to free every people, and then to unite all free peoples! +None to be oppressed by the other. Each to be left to choose his own way +to prosperity, speak his own tongue, cultivate his own land. No more +hatred or jealousy among nations. + +So it stood in "the green book." + +Prince Ghedimin was the first to speak. + +"It is a grand idea; but the greatest obstacle in the way of freeing the +people is that the people are unconscious of their servitude. Let it be +our part to make it clear to them. Let us flood the land with catechisms +of the 'free man'; let us study the special grievances of every race in +the provinces; learn to know their want and misery, and win them to the +cause of freedom by promising them redress. A people suffers when it is +hungry; has to submit to blows; has its sons taken off to be soldiers; +but it is ignorant of the yoke that is bowing down its neck." + +Pestel waited impatiently until he could speak. + +"My dear Prince, your plan may be very good for such as can afford to +wait fifty years and build card houses, which fall to pieces at every +current of air. We have not the time to devote to philosophical +theories. We count upon the army and the aristocracy. The power once in +our hands, we can take our measures to secure the education of the +masses. A revolution left in their hands would lead to another Pugatsef +revolt." + +"And would that be a bad thing?" asked Jakuskin, in a hoarse voice, +advancing to them from the corner where he was seated. + +"It would be bad because there could be no organization. He who would +carry out our scheme must be master of the situation. In Russia, the +successful leader of an insurgent movement would only be another tyrant. +Our scheme must be carried out simultaneously, at the word of command, +throughout all Russia. No sooner that done than every secret society is +abandoned, and we suppress all conspiracies; and, hateful as is now the +system of police detectives, it must, in future, be raised to an +honorable calling. Every man of mind, every free man, and every patriot +must be proud to make himself a police-agent of a free country. All this +must come about at the stroke of a magic wand." + +"And what do you propose to do under the stroke of the magic wand with +the Czar and the Grand Dukes?" asked Jakuskin, with chilling irony. + +"Make them prisoners, convey them on board a man-of-war, and ship them +off to the New World." + +"Humph! to the other world! In Charon's boat," hissed out the Caucasian +soldier; and, going up to the table, he struck it with his clinched +fist. "Hark ye, envoys of the North and South, members of your various +virtuous and benevolent societies, you are all on a wrong tack, you +deceive yourselves. There is but one answer to the question I put to +you: scatter their ashes to the four winds. I am no puling child, such +as you are. I have not covered two thousand versts to come here and hear +you thresh out your philosophical theses; I am here to act." + +Ryleieff here interrupted the speaker with quiet dignity. + +"Quite right. But you will act as the majority decide." + +At this call to order the vehement Caucasian's blood boiled within him. + +"Once I was young like you, Ryleieff; but that is long past. Once I, +too, believed that one only needed to be a good man one's self to make +the world better. I, too, had then as young and lovely a betrothed as +you now have; I was an officer in the guards, and at twenty had +distinguished myself in ten battles. And do you know what happened to +me? The evening before my wedding-day, Araktseieff's son, a worthless +fellow who did not even know how to buckle on his sword, and who had +been made colonel over me, stole away my bride. I challenged him in +mortal combat, and the dastardly coward, instead of accepting my +challenge, denounced me to the Czar, and I was exiled to the Caucasus. +As, with hell in my heart, I was taking my leave of the city, the last +thing that met my eyes was the body of a drowned girl brought to me. It +was my bride. I kissed her. I still feel the chill of that kiss upon my +lips, and I shall feel it until the blood wipes it out, for which I long +as keenly as any cannibal. When you are in Czarskoje Zelo look at a +certain finely painted battle-piece. Close behind the Czar you will see +a youth on a rearing horse, a youth wielding his sword high in air, his +face beaming with triumph and loyalty. That youth was I! Years have +quenched my enthusiasm; but my sword still swings over his head." + +"And so I trust it may remain, ever wielded on high as in the picture." + +"But that it will not!" cried Jakuskin, vehemently. "I swear it by the +devil they sent into my heart as its constant indweller, I will listen +to naught else but my eternal vengeance! You may fill your 'green book' +with resolutions--this is my determination!" And as he waved his arm +aloft, he extracted a hidden dagger from his coat-sleeve, and displayed +its glittering surface to the company. + +Horrified, Ryleieff, springing up, drew forth a pistol from a +side-pocket and levelled it at Jakuskin's breast. + +"And I swear that I will shoot you down on the spot if you venture to +assert yourself against our rules." + +"Very well, then, shoot me down! Fire away, boy!" growled Jakuskin, +tearing open his coat and presenting his bare breast to the mouth of the +pistol. "And learn from me how to die." + +"Obey the rules, Jakuskin! Take back your word!" shouted several, as +they rushed up to pacify the infuriated man. + +"I will not withdraw it! You are cowards, all! He shall fire!" he +shouted back, roughly pushing them away. + +"Gentlemen!" exclaimed Krizsanowski, the Pole, rising. + +"Shoot me down!" roared Jakuskin, continuing to wave his dagger. + +Then it was that Zeneida, drawing a hyacinth from out her bouquet, aimed +it at the raging man's forehead. And the seasoned man, who had never +known what it was to shrink from a bullet, was so confused by this +playful projectile that, letting fall the dagger from his hand, he put +his hand to his brow. + +A quiet smile passed over the faces of those present, and before the +Caucasian could recover his dagger, Zeneida was beside him, had picked +it up from the ground, restored it to him, and was stroking his beard +with caressing action. + +"Dear friend, be courteous. Our guest Krizsanowski, the delegate of the +Polish 'Kosynyery,' wishes to speak. Let us listen to him, and put this +shaving apparatus away!" + +Jakuskin calmed down. This delicate woman had more than once stepped in +to spread oil on the waves of the most impassioned debates when, dagger +or pistol in hand, the disputants seemed bent on doing one another a +violence. + +And now Krizsanowski, hat in hand, began: + +"Gentlemen, I wish to bid farewell to you. I will not enter upon the +subject under discussion with you, nor have I any desire to await the +resolution arrived at. I will not listen to the question of murdering +the Czar, still less will I submit to be bound by your decisions. There +is not one among you who has endured such wrongs; not one among you who +carries such grief in his heart as I. What did your sovereign, as its +king, do with your country? He freed it from foreign conquest, made it +great and powerful, added new territory to it. What did he do with your +people? He gave them prosperity and knowledge, and erected a school in +every one of your villages. What is your ruler? A noble mind in a noble +body--'the handsomest man in all Europe,' as Napoleon said of him--and +with heart as good as he looks. And the most remarkable thing about him +is that, in every fault, in every feeling, he is a Russian to the +backbone. His only crime in your eyes is that he is the Czar. And to you +that is crime enough to make him die. And what is my ruler, the Czar's +brother, Constantine? A monster, in whose very face nature has curiously +wedded the hideous with the ridiculous; and his hideous features are a +true mirror of the hideous promptings of his soul. He is what he seems +to be--cruel and contemptible. In the whole extent of my poor, unhappy +nation there is not one feeling heart which he has not trampled upon; no +article of value, no relic, no Church money, he has not appropriated to +himself. But a Pole would see in that no cause to treacherously murder +his king. A Pole's hand is accustomed to the sword; it knows not the use +of a dagger. Let me take leave of you; I would go back to my people. I +came hither in the belief that I should find here brave men ready for +battle; who, at the appointed hour, would range themselves in fighting +order, and declare war upon their oppressors as do we, who fight in open +battle--as do we who, in open and honorable warfare, settle on whose +side is the right. Such I thought to find here. On my journey hither, on +the way from Warsaw to the Niemen, my predecessor, glorious Valerian +Lukasinski, was being conveyed before me--he whom treachery had given +over to the authorities. He was my relative, friend, and leader--trebly +dear to me. He had been subjected to every species of physical and +mental torture in order to make him reveal the aims of and participators +in the conspiracy. They had not succeeded in drawing a word out of him. +Constantine himself took the knout from the executioner's hands, and +taught him how to use the agonizing implement. When Lukasinski was +wellnigh flayed to death, no sign of humanity left in him, only one mass +of bleeding flesh and bones and gaping wounds, the viceroy had him laid +bound on a gun-carriage, and had this still breathing, bleeding mass +dragged to his captivity through the rigor of mid-winter. I followed his +track guided by the drops of blood which fell on the snow. Those frozen +drops I gathered up one by one on the way, and placed them in a +reliquary. Heaven had compassion on the sufferer; he died on the road. +They made a hole in the ice of the river Niemen, and threw the body in; +the current carried it off to the sea. I know that I shall follow him, +and that my end will be like his. Still that knowledge neither moves me +from fear or revengeful feeling to lie in ambush and murderously strike +my ruler in the back at any time, when he may be sleeping, or kneeling +in prayer! Our God was never a God of murder. The dagger which struck +down Cćsar but opened the door to Caligula and Heliogabalus. While +William Tell told Gessler to his face, 'With this arrow I will kill you. +Defend yourself as best you can!' I do likewise. When the time comes I +will declare war upon my enemies, and if God is with me, I shall destroy +them; but as long as I do not feel myself strong enough to engage in +open warfare, no oppression, no cruelty, and no fantastic ravings shall +lead me, by any untimely revolt, to draw the cord tighter, which I fain +would loose. Your plans are untimely, unripe, without sufficient basis; +they destroy, but do not build up again. I know them, and will not unite +our cause to yours. Let me go." + +Pestel, seizing the Pole by the hand, held him back. + +"You cannot go yet; you have learned nothing of our intentions. What you +have heard hitherto was only a weak, academical discussion. The words +this madman said were only the ravings of his mad passion. I, too, do +not inscribe upon my shield, 'Strew their ashes to the winds'; not +because my soul would shrink from it, but because such a dictum would +scatter our several societies like shots among a flock of birds. The +people themselves would turn against us. To the masses the prayer for +Czar and Grand Dukes is a necessity, and were the priest ever to leave +it out, they would hang him for a heretic. If I were to ask my soldiers, +'Do you want a republic?' they would straightway answer, 'Yes, if the +Czar commands.' We must begin at the beginning; we must not startle any +one. The first step is the difficulty; the others will follow of +themselves. Thus let us go back to the point where Jakuskin interrupted +us. And you, Krizsanowski, resume your seat. The question is the removal +of the Czar and Grand Dukes--their removal only. Let them go to America, +by all means. There Russia has noble possessions; there they can reign. +But to this end you Poles must lend us a helping hand. For what use +would it be to us to ship off the three brothers, when the fourth, +Constantine, who by fundamental law is next after Alexander in +succession to the throne, remains at large in Warsaw?" + +"Let us clearly understand one another, Pestel," replied Krizsanowski. +"We Poles have ever been, since our first existence as a nation, ready +to shed our blood for the benefit of others. Tell me, what is to become +of us if we succeed in freeing ourselves from the Romanoffs?" + +"Form Poland into a republic." + +"But your Polish republic will still be a part of the vast Russian +dominions, just as Livland and Little Russia will be; and over us there +will be some one--a chief, who is lord over the nine republics, although +I know not what title or what amount of power he will possess. And I +swear to you I do not wish for a freedom that shall be the downfall of +my country." + +The deep silence which ensued proved that the Pole had hit the right +nail upon the head. There was an expression of uneasy conviction on all +faces. + +Then Nicholas Turgenieff, the president, rose to speak. + +"Take comfort, Krizsanowski. The chief of the republic, he who will be +head of the nine republics, will be no autocrat, no tyrant under any +other name." + +"What, then?" + +"That which he must of necessity be--_un président sans phrases_." + +The conversation had taken place in French. These four words had nearly +cost Turgenieff his estates and his head. + +The words were scarce spoken, when the roulette-board suddenly slipped +back into its place, effectually concealing "the green book," and the +door opened. Copper-plate and door were an ingeniously constructed piece +of machinery. If "the green book" were exposed to view, and any one +opened the outer door, the roulette slid back instantly into its place. + +Chevalier Galban, entering, only heard Nicholas Turgenieff's four last +words, and saw nothing but a gambling-table. + +The banker repeated-- + +"Je suis un président sans phrases. Messieurs, faites vos jeux!" + +One of the men playing--the Pole--rose from his seat with a disturbed +look-- + +"Merci, monsieurs, c'en était assez!" + +Another, Jakuskin, drying the sweat from his brow, struck his hand on +the table-- + +"J'ai tout perdu!" + +All as if it were a real roulette-table. + +The others continued cold-bloodedly to lay their parcels of gold on the +numbers, seeming unaware of the new-comer's arrival. + +The hostess only advanced quickly to greet him. + +"I was certain that you would find out our den; I kept this seat for +you." + +"You honor me too much, _diva_. I ought to have good luck in play +to-night, as I have just had the opposite fate in love." + +"How is that? Did the pretty Gitanitza escape you?" + +"_Au contraire_, she fell asleep. A checkmate such as never happened to +me before!" + +Zeneida gave a merry laugh. No one could have divined under its mask the +agitation she was feeling. She knew that a sleeping-draught had been +given to Diabolka. + +"Come along! let us be partners for gain or loss." + +Chevalier Galban, accepting, took the seat allotted to him; Zeneida +seated herself on the arm of his chair. + +So it is a roulette-table pure and simple, and the party assembled +gamblers. There is no "green book." A thickness of half an inch lay +between him and it--his arm rested on it. + +Merely contravention of a police regulation--a thing winked at by the +authorities. Suppressed inclinations will find a vent--far better it +should be on moral than political domains. Nor is it any matter for +wonder that Nicholas Turgenieff should be the roulette banker. A man may +be a _bel esprit_, a great author, philosopher, philanthropist, and yet +have a passion for play. Even Napoleon was a gambler. + +As the game was in full swing, Pushkin suddenly entered to them from a +side room with flushed cheeks, crying, in a tone of triumph: + +"The song is ready." + +The gamblers looked askance at him. + +Now he would betray all. + +Lucky for them all that his eyes had mechanically sought Zeneida's. + +She, still sitting on the arm of Galban's chair, glanced significantly +at the Chevalier. + +Pushkin saw him. + +"Let us hear it," said Galban, toying with his pile of gold pieces. + +Pushkin changed color for an instant as he stared at him, then plunged +his hand into his breast-pocket. All followed his movements anxiously. +What would he bring out? Perhaps the song of freedom, just composed; and +would he declaim or sing it, for Chevalier Galban's edification? Or +would he draw that which every conspirator carried, dancing or drinking, +a pointed stiletto to strike down the traitor then and there? + +He drew out a packet of papers, smiling the while. + +"Here is what I promised you, _The Romance of the Lovely Gypsy Girl_. +Shall I read it?" + +A romance instead of a song of freedom? Why not? in order to cover an +untimely appearance, the wisest thing for a poet to do was to read or +recite something, no matter what, so that the others meanwhile could +recover their self-possession. + +But this was no mere rhyming jingle. No sooner had he begun than the +attention of all was riveted on his verses. The poetic form was striking +and brilliant, the thought original, the conception fine; there were +fire, passion, audacity, and beauty of expression in it, united to a +natural grace and simplicity. + +No one had heard the lines before. As he finished, Zeneida, hurrying up +to him, pressed both his hands in hers. She did not kiss him as she had +kissed Ryleieff, but the tears which flowed from her eyes were a higher +recompense. A kiss is cheap. Tears are costly. + +The whole company of conspirators, forgetting alike "green book" and +reorganization, hastened to congratulate the poet, who suddenly, like a +comet from before which the wind has chased the clouds, found himself +revealed in all his glory. + +Chevalier Galban was now convinced that this was no gathering of +conspirators, but merely a select assemblage who met for games of chance +and intellectual and literary interchange of thought--both prohibited, +it is true, in Russia--for which reason they were obliged to meet in +secret. + +_Par exemple_, such verses would be public property in any other +country, and half the world would be running after the poet. + +"Bah!" returned Pushkin, excited by the applause he had created. "Do you +not know that feebleness is the goddess we worship, and the priest of +her altar is called the 'Censor'?" + +General laughter broke out at these cutting words. The Censor is as +stereotyped a marionette in Russia as in other countries. Galban seized +the opportunity to bring his talents as _agent provocateur_ into the +field. + +"Yes, indeed, ladies and gentlemen, the Censor is a necessary evil among +us. You are aware that the Czarina Catherine II. once, at the instance +of her men of letters, commanded full freedom of the press in Russia +for--three days! It would be seen then what fruit the tree would bear. +It would have been thought that those three days would have proved a +harvest-time for songs of freedom, prohibited pamphlets, and +philosophical treatises to crawl out of their hiding-places, but the +result was only an avalanche of low slander and scurrilous anecdotes. +The press was flooded with a stream of scandalous personalities, +directed against well-known families and personages; so that already on +the second day of the freedom of the press the Czarina was besieged +with petitions to countermand the third day and reinstate the censure." + +No one save Pushkin deemed it advisable to accept the proffered +challenge; but he, as a poet, could not suffer the liberty of the press +to be a mark for ridicule. + +"Come, I say, Galban, if I were to tell a man who had never tasted wine +that he might drink what ran out from the bung-hole of a cask the third +day after the vintage, that man would swear that there was no such +disgusting stuff as wine in the world." + +"Messieurs, je suis un président sans phrases. Le dernier jeu!" broke in +the banker's voice, interrupting the dangerous turn the conversation had +taken. + +It was time, moreover, to finish the game; for if by five o'clock +Chevalier Galban had not left the palace, the police would have broken +open the doors, and every one in it have been arrested. The roulette was +turned for the last time. Chevalier Galban had won six thousand four +hundred rubles, which he gallantly shared with Zeneida. Then, with the +customary forms of good society, he took his leave. + +The remaining company looked at one another. Every one well knew that +roulette was a mere farce among them. It was alike Zeneida's money which +furnished bank and players. Hence the general smile which went round on +Galban's winning a pile of his hostess's money and then courteously +sharing it with her. + +But there was a glow of triumph on Zeneida's countenance, as, raising +the bouquet with its diamond-set holder in her hand, she murmured, in a +tone of angry satisfaction: + +"Je le payais!" + +Chevalier Galban had received back the price of his diamonds, without +ever suspecting that it had, so to speak, been thrown after him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +FROM SCENT OF MUSK TO REEKING TAR + + +When those assembled were assured of Galban's departure, Pestel began: + +"My lords and gentlemen, that was very fine--I mean the romance; but it +seems to me we have met to discuss other matters. Is it not so, Cousin +Krizsanowski?" + +The Polish noble shrugged his shoulders. + +"I have nothing more to say." At the same time, drawing from his pocket +the inevitable meerschaum and tobacco-pouch, he slowly filled and +lighted his pipe, which in the Eastern "language of tobacco" implies, "I +should have plenty to say, if I could only smoke out from here certain +folk who seem suspicious to me." + +Zeneida, understanding his meaning, whispered something in Ryleieff's +ear. + +"All right," returned Ryleieff, "let us hear our Pushkin's song of +liberty. True, the fine romance you read us entitles us to name you our +Tyrtćus. Never, since Byron--" + +Pushkin did not allow him to finish the sentence. His praises excited +him to fury. A schoolboy may win with pride the prize for the best +verses, and carry it home in triumph to his parents, but your true poet +cannot brook being praised to his face. He feels that he has constrained +your praises. Thus, if you be a woman, throw him a flower; if a man, +give him a shake of the hand; but never tell him face to face that he +has composed a fine poem; by so doing you repel him. And worse than all +is it for another poet to praise his work. "_Genus irritabile vatum._" + +"No, no, gentlemen," he cried, in wrathful voice. "My poem is not for +your ears. It is not meant for musk-scented atmospheres, but for such as +reek with tar and tobacco. Come, Jakuskin, let us go off to some +beer-shop; that's the right place for it." + +Springing up, Jakuskin held out his hand to him. + +"All right, let us go to the Bear's Paw." + +"Very well." + +No one attempted to detain them. Between the two doors the rest of their +conversation was heard. + +"Shall we take Diabolka with us?" said Jakuskin. + +"All right. Let's look for her." + +"She must have fallen asleep somewhere. I will soon wake her to life +again." + +In this unceremonious fashion did the guests take their leave of their +hostess. Zeneida, however, following them, left the room. + +"Now you can talk out," exclaimed Pestel, hurriedly, to Krizsanowski. +"Perhaps Zeneida's presence has hampered you. Have you anything to make +known to us?" + +"Yes," replied the Pole. "But it was not her presence which deterred me. +Far from it. Women, when they are in a conspiracy, know well how to keep +secrets. Laena bit out her tongue on the wheel of torture that she might +not betray her colleagues. Ever since then the tongueless lioness has +been the emblem of silence. Oh, I reckon greatly upon our women. I would +even rather await Zeneida's return before speaking, were I assured that +she would not bring back the other two with her." + +"You mistrust them?" + +"No, but I do not like them. In conspiracies it is not the absolute +traitors who are the most to be feared. There are three classes I dread +more--cowards, self-willed and fantastic persons. The last is the most +dangerous of all, for he deceives himself, and reports falsely. If he +hear a drunken peasant swear, he reports the existence of a +revolutionary spirit; if he see a solitary deserter, he distorts him +into a whole regiment. He believes just what his fancy paints. If he has +filled his head with revolutionary writings he conceives himself to be a +Robespierre, and every St. Petersburg mujik is a Paris _sans culotte_ to +him. To the working out of a conspiracy we want no fantastic notions; +but, on the contrary, common-sense and judgment. With those two men I +prefer not to discuss matters; the one is a fool, the other a poet." + +Pestel hastily pulled the Pole's long hanging sleeve. + +"Do not affront Ryleieff," he said. + +"Oh, Ryleieff is different. He can write any number of correct +verses--faultless as to rhyme; he measures his thoughts into iambics and +trochees, like a corn merchant does his wheat into bushels and sacks. He +is master of his imagination--imagination does not master him." + +Ryleieff was manager of the American Corn Company, and being, in truth, +more business man than poet, received this doubtful compliment with an +acquiescent smile. + +The party, meanwhile, had risen from the table, and was standing about +in little groups, awaiting Zeneida's return. + +Ryleieff and Krizsanowski retired together into a corner. The Pole, +smoking furiously, blew thick clouds of smoke about him, as though +considering his rigid features a too transparent mask, likely to betray +him. And in order not to be questioned, he began to question. + +"There are one or two points I should be glad to have cleared up. The +first spring of every great aim proceeds from selfish motives. +Freedom--well, yes, is the sun; private aims are earth. We are upon the +earth. From mere abstract motives a new era has never been started. My +private motives require no explanation; they are expressed in two +words--I am a Pole. That is sufficient ground for me to stand upon. +Fräulein Ilmarinen is a Finn. I take it that is sufficient reason for +her action. I have no fear that she will be dazzled by the pinnacle she +stands on, encircled with wreaths and diamonds. I can also understand +your moving spring. You love your own race; you see how it has remained +behind other nations, and would raise it to their level. Pestel's +motives also I can grasp. He has immense ambition. He would fain be the +head of a newly formed state. The basis is broad enough; his foot rests +on a sure pedestal. The rest are shifting, unstable, attracted to the +movement by the hope of playing some brilliant part in it. Then we have +Apostol Muravieff. He, too, is constrained to it by a paternal heritage, +from which he cannot free himself. Pushkin is in love with Zeneida; +that, too, is sure ground enough. That madman Jakuskin is actuated by +revenge; another safe passion on which one may rely. His sense of +puritanical integrity binds that fine fellow Turgenieff to us. From +earliest youth he has ever been in the advance guard of freedom, first +in the first rank. Such iron rectitude can be recast in no other form, +rather it would break than yield. Now there is but one man here whose +presence I cannot understand: that is Duke Ghedimin. A member of one of +the twelve old Russian dynastic families, his possessions so immense +that he is simply unable to expend his yearly income on Russian soil, +holding the highest grade at Court, himself an accomplished, brilliant, +sought-after aristocrat, who by any changes you may effect has +everything to lose, nothing to gain--what does he seek here? What is his +interest in making himself one of this conspiracy?" + +"He is the very one, among us all, who has the weightiest reason: the +recollection of an irreconcilable affront, for it was a personal one. +You know the Czar. You know that, as a man, no one is his enemy. Even +Jakuskin merely hates in him the Czar, not the man. Duke Ghedimin is the +sole one who stands opposed to him, as man to man. The Czar was married +very young, to a delicate wife; his children died early. He grew cold +towards his wife, and sought compensation in a new passion. The only +daughter of one of our first families, renowned far and wide for her +great beauty, was willing to console him. The illicit connection had +consequences--a daughter. The affair was kept strictly secret. The young +duchess journeyed to Italy as an unmarried girl, and returned from there +the same. Soon after she married Duke Ghedimin. Meanwhile a young girl +was growing up in Italy who went by the name of Princess Sophie +Narishkin, and who, in her fourteenth year, was brought to St. +Petersburg. It was her father, not her mother, who brought her here. The +girl resides in a house surrounded by a garden in the outskirts of the +capital, where her father visits her constantly, her mother never. The +father worships the child, who, moreover, is terribly delicate. The +mother simply hates her. Her father is the Czar, her mother, Princess +Ghedimin. Now do you see what brings Prince Ghedimin among us?" + +"Yes, yes. But does he know the secret of the girl's birth?" + +"Know it? We all do." + +"Still, no reason why the husband should. Think a moment. What human +being is there who could go to a man like Prince Ghedimin and breathe to +him such a foul statement about his own wife? At the least whisper of +such a slander an inferior would receive the knout, an equal be shot. A +shopkeeper may denounce his wife; no gentleman does such a thing. Who +could have made this known to Ghedimin?" + +"Who other than his sweetheart! Is not Zeneida Prince Ghedimin's +sweetheart, and has she not a thousand reasons to enlighten him upon his +wife's shame?" + +"Do not believe a word of it! She has not done it. You do not know +Fräulein Zeneida; I do. First of all, I do not believe she is Ghedimin's +sweetheart; or, if she love him, it is with a real love, not that of a +_Ninon de l'Enclos_. But my belief is that she is in love with some one +else; and I believe, moreover, that she controls that love. She is a +woman capable of defying the scorn of the whole world, but not of doing +anything to merit her own self-contempt. And for a woman who loves a man +to denounce his own wife to him is a piece of vileness only fit for the +lowest of the low. You do not know with whom you have to deal. Zeneida +is playing some far-seeing game with you. You are mere chessmen in her +hands; one may be a castle, another a bishop, the third a knight. +Possibly Ghedimin may be your king of chess, but she is not the queen. +She is playing the game." + +"And you have confidence enough in her to consent to this?" + +"Yes; because I am her partner." + +The roulette ball spun round. Some one was coming. All hurriedly +returned to their places. Krizsanowski did not deserve the scornful +smile with which Ryleieff had silently received his great +utterance--for, indeed, it was a great utterance--"You others are only +the chessmen; we two are the players." But so it was. The others only +saw single moves; these two saw the whole game. + +Krizsanowski had also plainly observed--although he made as if he saw +nothing--with what painful anxiety Zeneida was moved to keep Pushkin +away from the dangerous chess-board. Such a head is too costly for a +"pawn"; perhaps too precious to be staked for a whole nation--the whole +world--certainly in her estimation. + +She had chased him away as if he were the evil one; now she had hastened +after him to prevent his coming back. She knew that the heads of all +those taking part in the conspiracy would fall prey to the executioner +did it not succeed, and Pushkin's must not be among them. And yet poets +have their whims. Should Jakuskin on the way reveal anything of the +fateful conference which had taken place round Zeneida's roulette-table, +the very charm of danger would bring Pushkin back. If he learned that it +was no mere academical discussion, but a council of war, which was being +held, he would break open her doors to take his share in it. + +Pushkin was still in the sulks. While Jakuskin hastened from one cabinet +to another in search of Diabolka, he had thrown himself upon a sofa in +the palm-grove, replying to all the blandishments of passing fair ones. + +"Leave me alone. I don't want you." + +"Nor me either?" asked a well-known voice, at sound of which another, +fairer, world seemed to open to him. And Zeneida, seating herself beside +him on the couch, asked, "Are you angry with me?" + +"Confess. It was you who put Ryleieff up to insulting me?" + +"In what way, dear friend?" + +"I will not submit to be called Byron! I am Pushkin, or no one. Men may +say that my verses are common Russian brandy which gets into the head, +but no one shall presume to call them the dregs of an English teapot. I +may be only a hillock, but I will not pose as a miniature Chimborazo. +And it was your whisper to Ryleieff that did it." + +"Yes; so it was." + +"To drive me away?" + +"To drive you away." + +"I am not worthy, then, to join the society of the Bojars!" + +"What care I for the Bojars and the whole Szojusz Blagadenztoiga? I give +them shelter--and _basta_!" + +"And am I not worthy to singe my wings in the fire of your eyes?" + +"It would convert you to ice." + +"Are you so cold, then?" + +"Cold as the northern light." + +"Have you no heart?" + +"According to anatomy I have such a thing; but it has other functions +than those ascribed to it by poets. That of which you speak has, Gall +tells us, its seat in the skull, in No. 27 portion of the brain, and is +not developed in my organization." + +"Do not kill me with your phrenology. You know what love is--" + +"I know. The compact of a tyrant with a slave." + +"Be you the tyrant; I will be the slave." + +"With these words as many women have been deceived as there are grains +of sand on the sea-shore." + +"I swear to you, my life, my very soul, are yours." + +"By whom do you swear? By Venus, so inconstant; by Allah, who denies +that women have souls, and divides the heart of man in four parts; by +Brahma, who burns the widow on the funereal pyre; or by the great +Cosmos?" + +"There is nothing so formidable as a woman who takes to philosophizing!" + +"That is why I do so." + +"You kill every iota of poetry with it." + +"Then speak prose." + +"Well, then, I ask nothing of you--I give. I give you my soul, my hand, +my name!" + +"Ah, your name! That is a gift. A woman like me has diamonds, horses, +houses, given her; but he who would offer her his name is indeed rare to +meet with. And yet a name is the most precious ornament. Without such a +name, I am nobody. Were I to marry my groom of the chambers to-morrow, I +should be a woman of respectability. My poor good Bogumil never dreams +that in his fur-lined gloves, besides his own red hands, lies my +reputation! So you would give me your name?--a name which, so far, has +been written on nothing else than overdue bills and ale-house doors. You +silly boy! Why, people would not call me 'Frau Pushkin,' but you 'Herr +Ilmarinen.' But once let your name be written in the fiery letters of +fame, instead of chalked on innkeepers' slates, would you then unite it +to another whose every letter is besmeared with--" + +"With calumny!" broke in Pushkin, vehemently. + +"It is but just. There is nothing so bad that can be said of me that I +cannot fill in. I am selfish, unfeeling; I have no faith in religion, +nor in honor. Both are sophistries, contradicting each other, according +as the ethnographical relations change about. The only good is, what +benefits mankind. Virtue is folly. The sole use of good men is to be the +tools of their more clever fellows." + +"Do not say such things," cried Pushkin. "When I hear you speak so, you +seem to me as if you had smeared your face with hideous colors." + +Was it not her calling to do so? + +Zeneida drew her wrap about her shoulders. + +"You will not see me such as I am. I am sorry for it; but I cannot +deceive. Have you no eyes for the magnificence which surrounds me? Do +you know whence it all comes? Would you have me forsake it all--for +what?" + +"For another world before whose splendor all you see around you must +fall into dust. The world into which I would lead you is filled with +more magnificent palaces than even yours, Zeneida. It is Paradise!" + +"Find yourself another Eve. Did I love you, I should kill you with _my_ +jealousy; did I not love you, with _yours_. To-day with one, to-morrow +with another, for my caprices are boundless. I know no law, no oath, no +shame. Go; save yourself from me! Now you are but ice, do not wait until +you are aflame. I can be his only who loves me not!" + +"Your words are mere falsehoods from beginning to end. You wish to drive +me from you that I may not take part in the conspiracy! I am not worthy, +in your eyes, to share the dangers my more distinguished friends are +running. Let me go back to them!" + +"What conspiracy?" exclaimed Zeneida, feigning astonishment. "Our +friends are now debating how to introduce the American form of +'Temperance Associations' into Russia in order to put an end to the +enormous consumption of brandy now going on. There is no talk of +upsetting dynasties in my house. Do you suppose that the 'court singer' +of the Czar, the court favorite, did she hear of any conspiracy against +his Majesty, would not at once hasten to smooth her own way to a coronet +by its disclosure?" + +"A way marked out by the skulls of her best friends?" + +"Well, yes." + +"No. You would not do it." + +"Who knows? I have no soul, and do not believe in the souls of others. I +have no faith in a future world, therefore I use this world so that +things may go well with me in it." + +"And supposing it were to happen for a change that things did not go +well with you?" + +"Then I would give back to earth what is earth's. The fable of the +Phoenix has a deep-set meaning. When he feels that his plumage is worn +out, he changes into ashes. Of all creatures man has the greatest right +to decide the term of his life." + +Pushkin sought in the face which knew so well how to keep its secrets +what there was of truth in all this. + +A sound of laughter and oaths behind the jasmine bush betokened the +approach of some noisy revellers. Zeneida sprang up from Pushkin's side. +Laying her hand upon his shoulder, she whispered to him, in a voice made +tender by deep feeling: + +"Avoid me, and seek her who is worthy of you and truly loves you, your +Muse, and be faithful to her!" + +And, like a phantom, she disappeared. + +Jakuskin came forcing his way through the jasmine bower, Diabolka with +him. + +"Come, let's be off to the Bear's Paw." + +Pushkin sprang defiantly to his feet, and said, with a laugh. + +"By Jove! here is my Muse! Come along; we'll go where we are +understood." + +And the three made their noisy way through the still thronged ballroom. + +It was Zeneida whose reappearance the whirling roulette-ball had +announced. A look from her told that the two had taken their departure. + +Krizsanowski, removing the pipe from his mouth, put it in his pocket. + +"Now we are among ourselves. Let us continue." + +Pestel asked permission to speak. + +"In order to disperse friend Krizsanowski's fears, let me first of all +state that we look upon Jakuskin as a fool; and that not a man of us +endorses his mad views of a _Cćsaricidium_; in fact, there is not a man +among us who would not prevent it. Our plan is this: In the coming +spring there is to be a great concentration of troops in the Government +of Minsk. The Ninth Army Corps will march to the fortress of Bobrinszk +on the Beresina; the Czar and the Grand Dukes will themselves lead the +manoeuvres, returning at night to the fortress, which fortress will be +guarded by the Saratoff regiment of infantry, the colonel of which, +Bojar Sveikofsky, is a member of the 'Szojusz Blagadenztoiga.' All the +officers of the Saratoff regiment belong to our Union. At night a patrol +of officers, disguised as privates, commanded by Apostol Muravieff and +Corporal Bestuseff, will relieve the guard outside the Czar's pavilion. +They will promptly take the Czar, the Grand Dukes, and Commandant +Diebitsch prisoners, proclaim a constitution, institute a provisionary +government, and proceed straightway, at the head of the whole army +corps, on the road to Moscow. On their way they will gain over all the +troops they come across. At news of their success Moscow will yield; and +from thence St. Petersburg can be compelled to surrender. The men and +officers of the fleet, anchored off Cronstadt, are fully informed of our +plan. A man-of-war is in waiting to convey the entire imperial family to +England. The revolution will be accomplished without the shedding of one +drop of blood. What do you say to it, friend Krizsanowski?" + +"That your plan is too complicated; has too much romance about it; and +that the miscarriage of any minor detail would throw your whole +reckoning into confusion. However, I do not look upon a successful issue +as wholly impossible. The thing has already been achieved in Russia. +Now, I will tell you what I bring, and which will serve to perfect your +plan. Do you not agree with me that its success were highly +problematical if, after the kidnapping of the Czar, a Czarevitch were +remaining, who, by right of succession to the throne, could at the head +of a whole army enter Russia to test the power of a republican +government by the loyalty of the people to throne and army?" + +"That, in truth, is the rock on which we may be wrecked." + +"Then, you may set yourselves at ease in that particular. I can promise +you my head in pledge of my words that the Czarevitch will very shortly +resign his rights of succession; and resign after a fashion which will +make it impossible for him to recall the step, even did he himself +desire to do so. Ay, even were he the sole remaining member of the +Romanoff dynasty; and were the whole nation, senate, and peerage to +press him to ascend the throne, it would be an impossibility to him." + +"And is this no romancing?" cried Ryleieff. + +"No. Positive knowledge; psychological necessity; logical sequence." + +"Devil take me! If that is not a greater riddle than the Sphinx!" +growled Pestel. + +"I have said what I know. Whether you like to believe it or not, is your +affair." + +So saying the Polish magnate rose, and thrust his pipe between his +teeth, which was as much as to say that he had said his say, and was +intent on seeing that his pipe drew well. + +But Zeneida, approaching him, whispered: + +"Is not the key to this riddle called 'Johanna'?" + +A nervous contraction passed over his set face at the mention of the +name. + +"If you have guessed it, tell it no further," he muttered under his +mustache. + +"I?" + +"True. You are the 'tongueless lioness!'" returned the Pole, with a +smile. + + * * * * * + +At that period lanterns were a luxury known but in few streets of the +imperial city; and where a lantern did exist was posted a guard to watch +that it was not stolen. Therefore, in the courtyards of great palaces +huge fires were blazing, in order to give light to the guests' sledges, +and that the jemsiks might protect themselves against the bitter night +cold. These fires gave out warmth and light at one and the same time. + +With some difficulty Jakuskin found his sledge among the lines of +others. Placing Diabolka between them, the two men wrapped her in their +furs. She was too heedless ever to think of bringing her own. The +jemsik, made loquacious by oft recurrence to his brandy bottle, told +them that the distinguished gentleman who had driven the eight-in-hand +into the courtyard had but just gone off in his sledge, and had given +his man orders to drive to Araktseieff Palace. + +That was a piece of intelligence worth having. + +Jakuskin told his jemsik to drive to the Bear's Paw. + +"Never fear, children," returned the man; "I'll drive you safely through +side streets, that you may not be robbed." + +"None of your side streets," said Jakuskin, "but just you drive along +the Prospect and over the Fontanka Ringstrasse, where the patrols are. +Don't be afraid about us, my man; we have our pistols." + +"Ah, there's no use in that, children. The robbers might let you pass +scot-free when they saw your pistols; but the guards have no fear of +firearms, and they would plunder you." + +And the jemsik was by no means joking. Under the police presidency not +only the soldiers managed to slip out of barracks to act the +light-fingered gentry, but the patrols shared in the spoil, and +commissioners of police were the most reliable of accomplices. Great +folk only ventured out at night with mounted escorts; their palace-doors +were strengthened with iron bars. + +As they drove along the two men began scolding Diabolka for letting +Chevalier Galban escape her, telling her how they had had to get rid of +him at the cost of some thousands of rubles. + +Just as the sledge turned off from the broad Prospect into Fontanka +Ringstrasse, five armed men suddenly sprang out upon it. Two seized the +horses' bridles, one levelled his weapon at the coachman's head, the +two others fell upon the occupants of the sledge. All were armed with +swords and pistols, their faces concealed by masks; long sheep-skins +covered their persons from head to foot; their tall, pointed fur caps +alone betraying them to be not only soldiers but grenadiers. One of +them, speaking in French (consequently an officer), ejaculated: + +"La bourse ou la vie, messieurs!" + +On which Diabolka, suddenly springing up, jerked the pistol directed at +Pushkin's head out of the assailant's hand, and, throwing both arms +round his neck, began, coaxingly: + +"Ei, ei, sweetheart, cousin! would you plunder poor folk like us? Don't +you know us, then? Look! this is the brave Jakuskin, a captain on +half-pay; this, Pushkin, who has more creditors on his heels than kopecs +in his pocket. I am Diabolka, who pays, and is paid, in kisses. Here are +a few--on your cheeks, eyes, lips. There, take as many as there is room +for. But if you are wise, and want to make money, there's a rich +gentleman just now on his way home from Araktseieff Palace, who has just +pocketed thirteen thousand rubles at roulette. If you are quick you'll +catch him up on the ice, crossing the Fontanka. He is wearing a red fox +coat, trimmed with white bear-skin." + +Her words were as magic. With one accord the four thieves, deserting +sledge and their leader, took to their heels in the direction of the +Fontanka, as if they were possessed. The officer, too, seeing himself +thus left alone, endeavored to free himself from Diabolka's embrace. But +that was not so easy. + +"Stop! just one kiss on the tip of your nose." + +Then he, too, was suffered to follow his companions. Diabolka laughed +unrestrainedly. + +"Ha, ha, ha! what good the consciousness of a meritorious action does +one! They are safe to clear out Chevalier Galban." + +"But you might have let the fellow off the last kiss," growled Jakuskin. +"On the tip of his nose, too! As though he could feel it through his +mask!" + +"But those kisses were useful," returned the girl, with a sly wink. +"While kissing him, I was spying what the dear youth was wearing upon +his breast, and this is what I found." And she held up a star set with +diamonds. + +"Eh, the devil! Why, it is a Vladimir order of the first class," +exclaimed Jakuskin. + +"Our Rinaldo is high up in the army." + +"A Vladimir order set with brilliants! Eh, jemsik, hold hard, and strike +a light. The names of owners, as a rule, are usually written in gold +inside the ribbons of the orders." + +The jemsik, taking out his flint and steel, struck a light, and while +Diabolka puffed at it with distended cheeks, the two men simultaneously +read out the name engraven on the ribbon--"Jevgen Araktseieff." + +"By Jove! The son of our trusty Araktseieff, too, plies the trade," +cried Jakuskin. + +"He is a known _mauvais sujet_." + +"Well, Diabolka, this is a fine catch. For this you may claim to-morrow +every penny Jevgen has robbed overnight." + +"And next day I should be as poor as ever," laughed the girl. + +"If you chose, this order might make you Jevgen's wife--a real +countess," put in Pushkin. + +"What would be the good of that? In a week after I should be going back +to the gypsies." + +"Do you mean to expose him--to have him hanged?" + +"I am not such a fool; they would hang me beside him. Leave it to me. I +know what to do with my prize." + +Jakuskin said to Pushkin, in German, that Diabolka might not understand: + +"That man wrecked my whole life; and I had him at my pistol's mouth but +now! But the ball is destined for another now. You see, I did not even +break out into fury when I read his name. When we are on the watch for +bears we can afford to let foxes go. The huntsman's spear is on his +neck. He is in Diabolka's clutches. Come, let us go to the Bear's Paw, +and hear Germain's new effusion, _The Song of the Knife_." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE HUNTED STAG + + +Next morning the Office of the Great Fast was initiated in Isaac +Cathedral by the court singers--a celebrated choir of men and boys, who +possessed the finest voices in the whole empire, and who were maintained +at great cost. + +Contemporary accounts extol these services beyond anything ever produced +by human voices. In his riper years the Czar could endure no other music +than the sound of harps and mystic sacred song. It was on that account +that Zeneida Ilmarinen, the church singer, was so great a favorite of +the Czar. He never went to a theatre. Did he desire music his favorite +artiste was commanded to the Winter Palace or the Hermitage. During the +fasts, however, he went daily to church to hear the boys sing. + +On such occasions it was considered the correct thing by the aristocracy +also to go to church, and in order to appear still more devotional, +great ladies made a point of wearing no rouge, only powder. + +In the row next the high altar sat Prince Ghedimin, Muravieff, Orloff, +Trubetzkoi, all of whom had inscribed their names in "the green book"; +after them, those officers of the guards who had deliberated the +previous night whether the Czar should die, or be merely banished. There +they stood in two rows, erect, with military bearing, holding their +drawn swords in their hands. + +The heads of all were bowed so low that perhaps none remarked that the +husband and wife, the rulers of all the Russias, only extended a finger +to each other as they passed up the aisle, deigned no look at one +another as the service proceeded, and exchanged no word together as they +took the holy-water. + +Zeneida also was among the congregation. As she left church an officer +bowed to her. It was Pushkin. + +"Madame, you have been weeping--your cheeks are wet. Was _some one_, +then, in church?" + +"There is no _some one_," returned Zeneida; "but the music tells on +one's nerves. We are but animals; even dogs howl when they hear music." + +"Did you observe with what devotion the Czarina kissed the crucifix? Did +you not know what was her petition?" + +"I neither know, nor did I remark anything." + +It was late before the church service had ended. The congregation +quickly dispersed and hastened home. The streets were deserted. On the +first day of Lent every family man makes a point of supping at home. And +as among the poorer classes in St. Petersburg only about every seventh +man is blessed with a wife, others join together and get some female of +their own class in life to prepare the Lenten soup for them. This is +seen on every table, rich and poor, whether in hardware vessel or +delicate china tureen. Even upon the Czar's table it may not be absent; +the imperial cook prepares it according to time-honored formula. + +This soup every head of the family is expected to partake of in his own +home. Time was when even in the Winter Palace the custom was observed. +Time was! The table was laid for two covers only; no guests were +invited. The many dishes, all prepared with oil and honey, were served +for the two alone. Then came a day when the imperial wife awaited her +husband in vain at the Lenten meal. He came not. And yet she waited and +waited; the supper waited also. Some untoward circumstance had come +between them. First the meats grew cold, then their hearts. Yet all the +same, year after year, the wife had two covers laid on the first evening +in Lent, and waited on and on, until the dishes grew cold, and still she +did not touch them. She was waiting for him. Hours would pass, the +imperial wife sitting lonely, waiting, listening for the slightest +sound, wondering whether it were not her husband's footstep outside the +tapestried door which connected the corridor of their apartments--that +door, at the opening of which her heart had formerly overflowed with +earthly bliss. Alas! now the lock had long grown stiff and rusty. +Suddenly the clock began to strike--a mechanical clock which Araktseieff +had had made in Paris. The piece it plays is the National Anthem; it +plays it but once in the twenty-four hours--at one o'clock in the +morning--the hour at which Czar Paul had been murdered by his generals +and nobles in his bedchamber. + +The son of the murdered man, who had ascended the throne over his +father's dead body, had, at the turn of the year, listened for many an +anniversary to the solemn strain, kneeling low, bedewing his _prie dieu_ +with his tears; and one being there was who fully shared the sorrow of +his heart. With every fibre that heart of his vibrated to the sad notes, +a truer timepiece than the clock: it attuned its note to the triumphant +strains of victory, as to the undertone of sadness when it reproached +him that his father's corpse had been his stepping-stone to the throne, +threatening that his body, likewise, should be the stepping-stone to his +successor. This was the great trouble of his life; the ever-present +torture of his soul. To no one had he confided it save to his wife. No +one had ever comforted him in the hours of his agonized wrestling with +that burden of grief save his wife. Now that is all over. The +soul-destroying blue eyes, in whose depths he had sought a new heaven, +gave him for heaven the cold, blue ether eternally separating earth from +heaven for him. The Czar of all the Russias has no one in whom he can +trust. The mightiest of the mighty has no place where he may sleep in +peace. The most forlorn pilgrim of the desert is not so utterly alone as +is he. + +When the last notes of the hymn has died away, and the husband, so long +waited for, has not returned, the wife, rising, fetches a portrait of +him painted upon ivory, and places it upon the table by the place he +should have occupied. It is the portrait of a proud, heroic man, with +smiling lip and unclouded brow--such as he was as a bridegroom. She +gazes at it long, so long that her eyes are suffused with tears. Nothing +is left to her of him but this portrait. He whom it represents has long +ceased to smile. + +Two sledges, already horsed, are drawn up before the colonnade of the +Winter Palace. One is harnessed with six horses, the other with three. +Both are closed carriages with drawn blinds. The coachman and footmen +belonging to the six-in-hand wear the livery of the Czar; those of the +three-horsed sledge that of the Grand Duke. But, on getting into them, +the Czar takes the Grand Duke's sledge, the Grand Duke that of the Czar; +and as they pass out of the gates, with jingling of bells, the one +sledge turns to the right, the other to the left. The six-horsed sledge +is followed by an escort of the guards; where it halts, there halts the +escort. The three-horsed sledge skims along the road unattended. It is +known that the Grand Duke drives home direct; he is a domesticated man. +But of the Czar none knows whither he will take his way in the course of +the long night; and nowadays it behooves one to be careful; an escort +has become a necessity! + +Araktseieff had had a sharp tussle that very morning with Chulkin, Chief +of Police, and the governor of the city, Miloradovics. There were three +sets of police on active duty--military, civil, and secret police. And +instead of playing into each other's hands, their sole study seemed to +be for each to set the other's regulations at naught. Araktseieff was +furious at Chulkin because Chevalier Galban had been set upon and robbed +the previous night, not only of his money, but of his papers--papers, +among which were many important state secrets. To which Chulkin had +retorted that the soldiers on patrol had been the thieves. Hereupon +Araktseieff's wrath was turned upon Miloradovics, and he demanded that +the officer in command, who had had the inspection on the night past, be +sternly reprimanded for lack of supervision. To which the governor +returned that the said officer in command was no other than young +Araktseieff, his hopeful son. Hereupon Araktseieff waxed still more +wroth; but with whom? He fully believed that his son had been Chevalier +Galban's plunderer, well knowing him to be capable of the act. + +He made no further official inquiry into the matter, merely adding that +in future the Household Regiment of Hussars, under his own immediate +command, were to accompany the Czar, at a distance, whenever he left the +palace. No reliance, evidently, was to be placed on either infantry or +police. + +Araktseieff possessed a sure instinct which warned him of conspiracies +against the Czar, even when he failed to obtain any certain clew. His +was the sole and ever-watchful eye that guarded the person of the Czar. +He gathered upon his head the detestation of a whole nation in order to +protect the head of the one man in whom his entire individuality was +merged. + +But the pursued knew how to elude protector as efficiently as pursuer. +Whilst thus secretly escorted, the six-horsed sledge proceeded from +barrack to barrack, the Grand Duke probably holding an inspection to +satisfy himself that the officers on guard had not removed their tight +stocks; the three-horsed sledge glided along the banks of the Moika +Canal, drawing up, at length, before a long walled-in enclosure set with +iron spikes. Alighting from his sledge the Czar took from his +breast-pocket a key, opened the gate, and entered unattended, the unlit +path marked by a line of oak-trees. No footprint was to be seen on the +fresh-fallen snow. The path was unused by any but himself. In among the +trees with their crows' nests an old-fashioned house was visible, its +wooden steps leading to a low oaken door. The solitary man has with him +a key to this door also; he opens it, and enters. Here it is so dark he +has to take a lantern from his pocket in order to find the stairs +leading to the story above. Having ascended the stairs, he proceeds on +tiptoe down a long corridor. There is not even a dog to bark at him. As +he opens a door two persons, engaged in conversation, look round in +startled fear. They are an old man and woman. The old woman screams; the +old man throws himself at the Czar's feet. + +"Who is this man, Helenka?" + +"My old man, my husband. Hold up your ugly pate, Ihnasko, that the Czar +may see who you are." + +"You never told me you had a husband." + +"Why should one tell of the gout one is plagued with, or any other ugly +thing one would rather forget?" + +"Well, what does he want here?" + +Here the old woman, covering half her mouth with her hand, whispers: + +"He has brought the king's daughter here." + +At these words the icy look melts from the Czar's severe features. + +"What! Bethsaba here?" + +"Yes; and she is to stay the night. They are playing draughts together." + +"How is Sophie?" The inquirer's voice falters. + +"Fairly well. She slept well last night, and took her chocolate this +morning. She has not been so cross as usual to-day, since the doctor +told her that giving way to temper was bad for her." + +"Has she followed the doctor's directions?" + +"Rather too closely. If I am a second after time in giving her her +medicine, she rings for me." + +"Did the doctor say anything about diet?" + +"Yes; he said her Highness was not to observe the fast, but to eat meat +and eggs daily; and that will strengthen her. But the Princess gave it +him soundly. What was he thinking of? Did he mean to endanger her soul +for sake of her body? And she has ordered me to pay no attention to what +he said, and has threatened me with blows if I attempt to deceive her." + +"Indeed! And the doctor said that the observance of strict fast would be +injurious to her health?" + +"Certainly. He said she wanted blood, she was anćmic, and that beans +cooked in oil did not make blood." + +"What have you prepared for her supper to-night?" + +"The usual soup for the fast." + +"Just oblige me, my good Helenka. I have brought something with me which +will do our invalid good. I have had it over expressly from a celebrated +physician in England. Give her a spoonful of it daily in her soup." + +"Of course I will do what you command, sire. But tell me first, is it +prepared from the flesh of any animal? For if the dear soul were to find +out that I had mixed any meat preparation in her soup during the fast, +she would cry and rage to that extent that she would make herself ill +again." + +"Do not be afraid, good Helenka. It is a remedy composed of palm-root, +which takes the place of meat." + +"And I shall not endanger my own soul by using it?" + +"No, no; have no fear. I will take all responsibility upon myself." + +And yet were it an unpardonable sin to eat meat during Quadragesima the +Czar had laid a great burden upon his soul, for his remedy was no other +than extract of beef, at that time the patent of an English chemist. But +the Czar was a philosopher and--a father. + +"Go in and tell her I am here, that she may not be startled at my +coming." + +By a lamp, whose light was tempered by a lace shade, sat two young girls +playing draughts. + +The one we have already seen at the noteworthy stag-hunt; and now we +know her to be a "king's daughter." + +As the Czar entered the Princess's room, and Ihnasko was alone with his +wife, he could not refrain from asking-- + +"What did you mean by 'king's daughter'?" + +"Slow coach! Don't you know that yet? She has lived the last eight years +in your house without your knowing that she is the daughter of a +Circassian king. Her father was once a mighty ruler there, where the +currants and olives grow; he was killed by the Turks, and the Queen +brought her crown and her little daughter, and fled to us for +protection. She was a wonderfully handsome woman. I saw her once in all +her national costume at a New-year's review. I did not wonder at what +had happened. It was General Lazaroff who had received orders to bring +her from her own country to Russia. The General was a man of amorous +nature. On one occasion the wine he drunk flew to his head, and he +forgot that he was escorting a queen, and only saw the lovely woman. But +the Circassian butterflies have stings as sharp as any bee. The Queen +drove her kindzal into his heart, and he fell down dead at her feet. Not +much was made of the affair; it was hushed up. The Queen was put into a +convent, where she has always been treated with royal honors. But she is +not allowed to leave it. Only on New-year's day she takes her place with +the widowed Queens of Imeritia and Mingrelia on the steps of the throne. +As for her little six-year-old daughter, she was taken from her, that +her royal mother might not teach her to follow her ways. Why, there +would not be a man left in St. Petersburg! The child was intrusted to +Princess Ghedimin's care, who has not the blessing of a child of her +own." + +"What child?" blurted out Ihnasko. + +"Oh, you goose! What a question to ask! What child? None at all, seeing +she hasn't got one. Don't wink at me, or you'll get a cuff in the face. +So the king's daughter was brought to Ghedimin Palace, and is now a +member of the family. Forgetting her own mother, she looks upon the +Princess as one." + +"I should just like to know why the Princess sends her here to visit +your sick princess?" + +"That's nothing to do with your thick skull." + + * * * * * + +The other draught-player is Sophie Narishkin, a tall, delicate-looking +girl with straw-colored hair. It is well that she is kept in strict +retirement, for in face she is the image of what Princess Ghedimin was +at that age. There is an expression of premature wisdom in her +countenance blended with that of superstitious fear. Her eyes wear a +softer look than those of her prototype; instead of Princess Ghedimin's +haughty, contemptuous expression, hers are dreamy and melancholy. + +What can be a maiden's dreams who knows nothing of the world? The world, +peopled with mankind. She may dream of lovely landscapes, of rocks, +woods, waterfalls. But of the beings who people the world she knows none +save her nurse, to whose fairy tales she listens so eagerly, and her +governesses, who had vainly striven to indoctrinate her into the +sciences and fine arts. + +All spoiled, no one loved, her. + +All around were traces of work or play, begun and left +unfinished--draught-board, cards, chessmen, patience, embroidery, +drawings, patterns. She is sitting, in a white embroidered +dressing-gown, upon a wide divan, both feet drawn up under her. Beside +her sits the Circassian Princess on a low stool. + +His Imperial Majesty is received ungraciously. Evidently he has +interrupted the two girls in some amusement. And yet he seems to have +the right to go up to Sophie and, taking her face between both hands, to +imprint a hearty kiss upon her cheek--a kiss the traces of which the +girl, with childlike coquetry, instantly tries to remove by means of the +sleeve of her dress, which has the effect of making the offending cheek +as red as a rose. + +"How are you feeling, my Madonna?" + +"Oh, now you have come and interrupted the lovely story Bethsaba was +telling me!" + +"She shall go on with it. I will listen too." + +"How can you, when you were not here at the beginning?" + +"I know Bethsaba will not mind beginning it again." + +The Princess nodded acquiescently, while Sophie, with a look, directed +her father to take a seat at the other end of the divan. The Czar, +understanding the look, did as he was bid; and, taking one of the girl's +delicate, transparent hands in his, stroked it, and, as he did so, +succeeded in feeling the pulse, to assure himself that there was still +hope for her. He wanted to put a question, but the delicately pencilled +eyebrows commanded silence, and the Ruler of All the Russias was +obedient. + +"Once upon a time," began the king's daughter, "there lived on the +Caspian Sea a mighty king who took a lovely woman to wife, not knowing, +when he did so, that she was a fire-worshipper. Now, fire-worshippers +are in league with the Jinn (spirit), and the queen had promised the +Jinn that if she married and bore a daughter she would give her to him +when grown up. No sooner had the child become a maiden than the Jinn +came and knocked at the king's door to claim her. The poor king was +terribly frightened when he was told that the spirit had come to fetch +away his daughter--" + +"If he was a king, why could he not command the spirit to obey him?" +broke in the sick girl, angrily. + +"Ah, my dearest, the spirit is so powerful that no king can control +him." + +"And no _emperor_?" + +"No, not even emperor. No one has power over him; but he has power over +every one. There is no locking him up or shutting him out, for he can +penetrate everywhere. He has no material weight, yet can suffocate; +carries no sword, yet can kill." + +"What a good thing that the spirits only live on the Caspian Sea!" + +"When the king heard this he began to entreat the spirit not to take his +beloved daughter from him so soon; to grant her to him yet another year. +'Very well,' said the spirit, 'I will leave you your daughter a year +longer if you will promise to give me your thumb in exchange.' The king +cared nothing about his thumb, so he promised, and the spirit took his +departure. At the lapse of a year the spirit came again either to take +the princess or the king's thumb. The king loved his daughter very +dearly, but he also valued his thumb, for without it he would not be +able to draw a bow. So again he entreated the spirit that he might grant +her to him only one year more. 'Be it so,' returned the spirit, 'I will +leave her to you another year, but then either I will take her away or +you will give me your right hand.' And the king again closed the +bargain. A year passed, and the spirit came a third time. The king +would neither give up his child, nor would he part from his right hand. +Thereupon the spirit demanded the king's whole arm as forfeit." + +"But, then, do the spirits never die?" asked Sophie. + +"No, darling, the spirits live forever. Well, the king promised him his +arm--if by that means he might save his child--and his hand. And from +year to year the spirit came back, demanding ever more and more as +forfeit-money. At last he obtained promise of the king's head and heart. +And when the king's whole body belonged to him he said, 'This is the +last year. Now I shall either carry off your daughter or you must +promise me your shadow.' Upon which the king replied, 'No; I will give +you no more. Take what is yours; but neither my daughter nor my shadow +shall you have.' Thereupon the spirit left him amid loud claps of +thunder. The next day was fine and sunny, and the king set out for a +pleasure sail upon the sea. Suddenly a violent storm arose, and engulfed +both ship and king in the waves. His body was never found. His daughter +still lived on; and every evening, when the sun was going down, she saw +a shadow draw near to her--the shadow of a man with a kingly crown upon +his head; and as the shadow glided past her it seemed to her as if she +felt a kiss upon her cheek, and as if her cheek became rosy red." + +The Czar had grown thoughtful. That king, whose shadow alone wandered +upon the face of the earth, was so like to himself. And Sophie, too, +thought that she was like the king's daughter--kissed every evening by a +kingly shadow. + +Bethsaba, however, added, playfully, "We have so many such legends with +us. I could tell you more than a hundred." + +"It is a very sad story, my dear child," said the Czar. + +"I like stories that have a sad ending," said Princess Sophie. "Those +that end, 'And if they are not dead, they are alive to this day,' I +cannot endure. I like books, too, to end badly; but the doctor says I +must not read. But little Bethsie knows such a lot of nice stories." + +"Have in your supper now. Are you not hungry?" + +"Oh, who wants to be always thinking of eating? Besides, we are eating +all day long." And Sophie pointed to a box of bonbons, from which a few +had been taken. + +"But you ought to eat nourishing things, to make you strong." + +"Who says I am ill? Give me my hand-mirror. Have I not color enough?" + +"Yes, you have a good color. You are really looking well to-day." + +"Phew, phew!" she exclaimed, spitting twice behind her. "One should +never tell anybody they look well; it is unlucky. Now let us lay the +table for supper." + +The mighty ruler was quite ready to act the lackey to the pale child +with the weary eyes, in whom his whole soul was concentrated. But, with +the best of will, he did it awkwardly; it was plain he was not learned +in the art. And Sophie scolded him roundly. + +"See how badly you are holding that plate! Did one ever hear of placing +the spoon betwixt knife and fork like that? No, the salt must be turned +out upon the table; it is not to be put on the table in the salt-cellar; +for if the salt-cellar should happen to be upset it is unlucky. You must +not stick in the point of the knife when you are cutting bread! First +make the sign of the cross over it, or Heaven will be angry. To think +that such a big man should be so clumsy!" + +Meanwhile Helenka had brought in the Lenten soup. Sophie tasted it, then +laid her spoon down. + +"There is something different about it. You have smuggled some meat into +it. I will not eat it! You wanted to deceive me! You wanted to make me +eat meat soup!" + +The Czar, tasting the soup, assured her that it had no taste of meat. +But the sick girl, angry at the mere suspicion of being tricked, sent +all away untouched, and vowed she would eat nothing but sweets. The Czar +implored her not to spoil her digestion with such trash; whereupon, +bursting into tears, she complained that they would let her die of +hunger. At length the Czar, sending for the samovar, made her some tea +with his own hands, and, breaking some biscuit into it, begged her to +try it. And great was his joy when she said it was "very nice." She ate +a whole biscuit; dipped another in it, ate a piece of it, and gave the +rest to the Czar for him to taste how good it was. Then, letting him +take her upon his knee, she laid her head upon his shoulder, and seemed +inclined to sleep. Soon she asked him to carry her to bed and unplait +her hair; then, winding her fingers in the Czar's, she said her evening +prayer; and when it came to "Amen" her virgin soul seemed to breathe +itself away upon the Czar's lips. + +She was the sole being in the world he could call his own! Among his +forty millions of subjects she alone belonged exclusively to him. + +The Czar of All the Russias found so many little things still to do for +his sick child. There was a cushion to be warmed to be placed at her +feet; orange-flower water to be prepared for her night drink. He pushed +a branch of consecrated palm under her pillow to chase away bad +dreams--he, a philosopher, believing in the efficacy of a consecrated +palm branch! But philosophy is nowhere by the sick-bed of one's child. + +"Now, you go home," whispered Sophie; "Bethsaba is to sleep with me. +Good-night. I know I shall have no bad dreams." + +"Lay your hand upon my head, that I, too, may sleep well. Good-night." + +They called one another by no endearing names, though they knew that in +the whole wide world they had no one but each other. + +It was past midnight when the Czar went back to his sledge--too early to +go home. + +"Drive along Newski Prospect," said the Czar. + +The coachman understood the command. Upon Newski Prospect there is a +two-storied house with "Severin" upon the door. Here the coachman drew +up. The windows of the first story were lighted. On ringing the bell, +men-servants with lamps promptly appeared, who led the great Czar to the +master of the house. Herr Severin was a simple paper-maker and printer, +carrying on his business with his sons and sons-in-law, who, with their +families, lived here with him. Upon great festivals it was the Czar's +custom to indulge himself for an hour or two with the sight of their +simple family life and joys--such joys as were denied to him. The tiny +children recite their verses to grandpapa, who rides them upon his knee; +converting them into generals by dint of paper hats and wooden swords. +The Czar has no such generals! Then five or six of them, forming into a +circle, dance round, and sing the story of the "Ashimashi Beggars," each +striking up in a different key. No such choir does the Czar possess! At +supper every dish is so well cleared out that it would be a puzzle to +say what it had contained. Such a feast the Czar cannot give! And supper +over, the favorite game of "Clock and Hammer" is brought out. They play +for high stakes--nuts; and the stakes are eaten while the game is +played. The Czar has no such national coin! + +So he sits among them until the little ones, growing sleepy, are carried +off to bed by their nurses; first kissing everybody--even the Czar. No +such thing happens in the Winter Palace! + +When that is all over, the distinguished guest has a long talk with the +old man over the good old times. He listens to all the joys and sorrows +of his host's every-day life. The samovar is emptied and filled again. +The Czar cannot tell what does him so much good--whether the tea, the +cakes, or the good old man's integrity--his honest, straightforward +spirit. No such tea does the Czar taste in his own house! + +Without, on the snow-covered roads, gallop the escort of the guards, +while stealthy conspirators peer out from dark doorways, and look after +the six-horsed sledge, pistol and knife in hand. + +The hunted stag knows nothing of all this! + +None may tell whither he has wandered through the long hours of the +night, nor who it is that so persistently tracks him. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HOW A FORTRESS WAS TAKEN + + +"Lock and bolt the doors, and see that you let no one in! To him who +doubts that I am not at home, say I am dead!" + +"And suppose it's some one to bring you money?" + +"There's no man living who would do that." + +"And if it's a love letter?" + +"Let him push it under the door; but don't let him in! For it might +prove to be some rascal of a creditor." + +Unnecessary to state that this dialogue took place between a young +officer and his servant. It may, however, be as well to add that the +said young officer was Pushkin. + +With heavy head and light pockets he had reached home in the small +hours, and, dressed as he was, had thrown himself on his bed, feeling as +if each individual hair in his head were being torn out by a devil with +red-hot pincers. + +Suddenly he was aroused from his uneasy slumbers by a hideous noise of +scuffling and quarrelling in the street. A man beneath his windows, +seemingly set upon by ruffians, was screaming loudly for help, and no +one going to his aid. Why should they--when the police did not trouble +themselves about private disturbances? + +Pushkin could stand it no longer; going to his window, he breathed upon +the frozen pane to clear a space, and looked out. Two men were +belaboring a third, who was vainly endeavoring to defend himself, his +face covered with blood. One of his assailants gave a tug at the long +beard, worn divided in the middle, plucking out a handful. That was too +much for Pushkin; the sight of such brutality made his blood boil. +Snatching his dog-whip from the wall, he tore down into the street. In +vain his man cried after him, "Don't open the door, sir;" he was out +like a shot, and, plunging into the middle of the trio, began laying his +whip upon the two offenders right merrily, upon which they quickly took +to their heels; and Pushkin, raising in his arms the injured, groaning +victim of their brutality, carried him into his house. Reaching his +room, he sent for cold water and a basin, that the poor fellow might +bathe his face. This he proceeded to do so effectually that not only the +vermilion dye stained the water deep red, but also the beard, which was +only stuck on, entirely disappeared from his face. Drying his face, he +turned with a smile to Pushkin, drew out a folded paper from the sleeve +of his caftan, and said: + +"Very glad to have the opportunity of speaking to you again. Will you +not pay me this little account?" + +And now, for the first time, did Pushkin perceive that it was his worst +creditor, the usurer Zsabakoff, who stood before him. + +"Was it the devil brought you here?" + +"No, sir, you brought me yourself." + +His servant interposed-- + +"Didn't I tell you, sir, not to open the door?" + +"But they were pulling out his beard." + +"It was only stuck on," confessed Zsabakoff, with a grin. + +"And the two men who were laying their sticks about you?" + +"Are my two brothers-in-law. That was all a pre-arranged thing. I knew +that you were too much a gentleman to see a man ill-treated before your +very door. There seemed no other way of getting at you." + +Pushkin saw that he had been thoroughly sold, and that it was best to +put a good face on it. + +"Well, and what's your business?" + +"Only humbly to ask you, sir, to pay this miserable one thousand rubles. +You know how long they have been owing." + +"Yes, I have already paid them twice over in interest." + +"Ah, if it were my own money! But I had to borrow it, in order to lend +it to you; and the horse-leech from whom I borrowed it has put on the +screw each time you renewed it, so that I have had to pay him the same +rate of interest that you have been paying me. And now he swears he will +grant me no more time; that he will have the caftan off my back if I do +not raise the thousand rubles. And here, in the depths of winter, shall +I have to go about in shirt-sleeves, and my seven children--beautiful as +angels--will have no bread! To pay your debts the very pillow under +their heads will be taken from them. I shall have nothing left; +everything I had I have turned into money to satisfy those blood-sucking +usurers; even my wife's last gown has been pawned in Appraxin-Dwor. What +will become of me, miserable man that I am?" And the usurer wept like a +water-spout. + +"But I cannot help you," said Pushkin, irritably. "Where the devil am I +to get the money from? I do not coin bank-notes." + +"When will you pay me?" + +"I am no prophet." + +"But what is a poor devil like me to do, then?" said the usurer, +trembling. + +"County court me." + +"Ah, dear, kind sir, don't make a joke of it. I should only be thrown +into prison for lending money to an officer in the army. Have pity on +me! Nine people will pray daily for your soul's good if you will only +pay me." + +"Where am I to get the money from, if I have none?" + +"Just reflect a little, sir. You have some wealthy aunts--one of them +may make you her heir. There are no end of rich, beautiful princesses in +St. Petersburg who would be only too glad to help such a brave +gentleman did they but know that he was in temporary difficulty. I +could tell you this moment of an excellent match--a good, handsome, +well-behaved young lady, with half a million rubles for her dowry. I +will undertake the affair for you, if you wish it. Then you have such a +fine estate at Pleskow. There are plenty of honest bankers here who, not +knowing that your property is confiscated by the Crown, would lend you +money on it. Such a man is rolling in gold, he would not miss it; and, +of course, you would give back his money when you got back your lands, +and that would be sure to be the case when you have done some brave +soldiering, and the Czar rewards you for it." + +Pushkin held his sides with laughing as he listened to this view of his +affairs. + +Zsabakoff grew desperate at the way Pushkin took his suggestions. + +"Do not make light of it, sir," cried he. "I assure you, it is a matter +of life and death with me. If I have to go home like this to those +angels who are crying out for bread, I will take a razor and cut their +seven throats, then their mother's, and then my own. That I have made up +my mind to. You may depend, if you go on laughing at me, I will prepare +you a comedy that will turn your laughter into something very different. +A desperate man sticks at nothing. When you have it on your conscience +that a father of seven hanged himself, before your very eyes, upon your +window-frame--" + +"Try it," said Pushkin, laughing; "but be quick about it, for it's +uncommonly late, and I want to go to sleep." And with these words he +threw himself upon his camp-bedstead. + +"Well, then, you shall see, before you have time to sleep." + +And the money-lender, dragging a chair to the window, got on it, made a +noose of his scarf, fastened it to the window-frame, passed his head +through it, and kicked away the chair. And suddenly Pushkin saw his +creditor struggling in the air, his eyes starting out of his head. + +So then it was more than a joke! Springing from his bed, he snatched up +his dagger to cut the noose; then saw that his would-be suicide was +wearing a kind of cravat of stout leather under his shirt, which +effectually prevented any possibility of strangulation. Furious at the +deception, he threatened the man with a sound thrashing. + +"Thrash as hard as you like, but pay. I would willingly sacrifice my +life to get back my thousand rubles. Don't tell me you have no money. I +know you have. Did you not pay back Nyemozsin, that shameless usurer, +last week? He's a thorough horse-leech! Takes two hundred per cent. And +yet you could pay him, though he held no written acknowledgment of +yours." + +"Just why I did pay him. It was a debt of honor." + +Zsabakoff, as he heard this, took his I.O.U. and tore it into shreds. + +"Now I have no written security either--and mine is a debt of honor!" he +said, placing both hands in his girdle. + +This was too much for Pushkin. + +"Devil take you!" he cried. "Here is my pocket-book. What you find in it +you may take." + +And the money-lender did find something in it--a poem called _The Gypsy +Girl_. He began to dance round with glee, now stopping, now starting off +afresh, like a merry Cossack. + +"Ho, ho, what a find! _The Gypsy Girl_! Heaven bless you for it! I am +off with it." + +"Where to?" + +"To Severin. He was only just telling me how all the world of fashion +was besieging his doors to know when Pushkin's poem of _The Gypsy Girl_, +that he had read at Fräulein Ilmarinen's, was coming out. He said he +would give any amount for it. So my thousand rubles are safe. If I can, +I will squeeze something more out of him, and honorably share the +surplus with you. I kiss your hand, sir. Pardon any annoyance I may have +caused you. Command me when you are in want of more money. I shall be +only too happy to be at your service." + +The money-lender had said the half of this speech as he looked back on +the threshold. Pushkin thought the man had gone mad. Angrily throwing +himself back on his bed, he forbade his man-servant to admit the fellow +again; then slept till noon. When he awoke he rang for his man. + +"That fellow came again, sir." + +"But you did not let him in?" + +"No. But he pushed this packet under the door. Shall I throw it into the +fire, sir?" + +"No. Give it me." + +And, opening the packet, Pushkin found in it a copy of his romance, _The +Gypsy Girl_, two bank-notes for one hundred rubles each, and a letter +from the publisher, Severin, informing him that he had bought his poem +for twelve hundred rubles, of which he herewith enclosed two hundred, +and had paid the rest to the person who brought the manuscript. He +forwarded a copy to Pushkin that he might obtain the necessary +permission to publish. + +It was a queer story; and especially that he should have made money for +what he had merely scribbled down for his own amusement. Absurd! A +gambler had more right to the accumulated gains of a gambling club than +a man to extort money from the multitude for permission to read what he +had written! An author's fee! Surely a hybrid betwixt the degrading and +the ridiculous! Did it most savor of theft or deception? or was it but a +loan? + +These thoughts passed through Pushkin's head as he read the letter. Now +he had to go to the Censor--he, a military man, to humiliate himself to +a scurvy civil official, and acknowledge him to be his judge and +superior! In all else the army has its own court-martial. Poetry is +truly an unsavory implement when it so demeans a smart officer to defer +to a civilian. Pushkin decided to make this sacrifice to Apollo. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +A CANNIBAL + + +The devourer of human flesh is called a cannibal, but what shall we call +him who feeds upon the souls of men?--who breakfasts off flights of +youthful imagination, dines off great thoughts, and sups on the heart's +blood of genius--what shall we call such an one? A censor? A man who +sits in judgment on the gods! + +At that period there were certain especially renowned censors in St. +Petersburg, at the head of whom was Magnitsky, Araktseieff's right hand, +if one may use the word _right_ to either of his hands. + +Certain anecdotes which have gone the round about these men insure them +immortality. + +Herr Sujukin revised Homer's _Iliad_, made Venus into an irreproachable +lady and Mars an officer of unquestionable morality, and changed the +capital letters of all the false gods into small type. Only Mars was +permitted to retain the capital M, out of respect to the Czar, who was +also the god of war. + +He struck out "unknown heaven" from the works of a poet, because there +is but one heaven where the saints dwell; consequently it is not +unknown. From another he struck out the passage, "I despise the world!" +It is a treasonable offence to despise the world in which Czar and Grand +Dukes, foreign rulers and their ministers, delight to dwell. + +In the love sonnets of a third, beginning, "Worshipped being, creator of +my bliss!" the solitary word "being" alone found grace in the eyes of +the arbitrary Censor. We may only "worship" Divinity; there is but one +Creator. "Bliss" is only to be known in eternity for such as have ended +their lives as true Christians. Thus the adjuration "being" was +accounted fully sufficient for the lady of the poet's thoughts. + +And this was the man to whose tender mercies Pushkin must perforce +commit his poem! Knocking at his door, he courteously requested him to +do him the favor of first reading through his poem, which request was as +courteously conceded, a holy Friday being the day appointed for the next +interview. + +Never yet had the youth looked forward to a meeting with his lady-love +so ardently as he did to this appointment. He knew his man, and that he +should have a hard fight for it--for there was no forgetting that though +there were many censors there was no possibility of choice. Each had his +special province: one the press, another religion, the third education, +the fourth advertisements, the fifth theatrical programmes and +announcements, and, lastly, the sixth, poetical effusions. + +Herr Sujukin, who represented the earthly providence of the poetical +world, had exercised that function in Czar Paul's time. He was now an +aged man, with perfectly bald head, and, his face being also +clean-shaven, he looked for all the world like a death's-head, only that +his skull was still provided with every imaginable expression of +torture; his contemptuous grimaces could galvanize the luckless poet +standing before him; and many a one felt a death sentence passed upon +him as he encountered the glare of those little red eyes, fixed upon him +from out their wrinkled sockets. + +"Well, dear son Pushkin!" Every poet was "son" to him. "I have read your +papers through from beginning to end. I am truly sorry for you. What has +induced you to mix with the lower orders and select a pack of gypsies +for the subject of your poetical labors? Have you no higher associates? +Are you desirous to bring shame on your noble father by this versifying +of gypsydom?" + +Here Pushkin calmed him by informing him that his father was dead long +ago--which, be it known, was not strictly in accordance with the truth; +but it is not necessary to tell the truth to a censor. + +"Then you have certainly noble relatives who will feel ashamed as they +read these lines! Why, they will think you have become a gypsy yourself! +Now, if you had at least idealized gypsy life! But you have drawn them +true to nature, thus sinning against the first rules of poetry. Nor is +this your grossest fault. But, in the name of all the poets, what +versification is this? The like I have never come across before! +Virgilius Mars wrote in hexameters; Horatius Flaccus in alcaic, +sapphic, and anapestic verse. But what do you call yours? There is no +rhythm, the lines rhyme in all directions, as if the smith had three +hammers working together on his anvil; one line is too long, another too +short! That I could not allow; where I have found a line too short I +have lengthened it with an interjection: because; namely; but; however." +And the death's-head beamed with self-satisfaction. "Yes, yes, my son, I +have helped out many a poet. Derschavin owes the greater part of his +fame to me; and I shall make something out of you!" + +"All right, make what you like out of me, but not one iota do you add to +my verses! Your office is to cut out what does not please you." + +"Now, don't flare up, my child. You will have no need to complain of +want of cutting. Do you see this red pencil in my hand? It is +historical. It has never been pointed; that is done effectually by the +constant striking out it performs. Since the year 1796--before you were +born--I have been engaged, with this very pencil, striking out words, +lines--ay, whole pages! And what it has struck out has been condemned to +eternal death!" + +"By Jove! that pencil, then, is a very guillotine." + +"Eh, eh! A young man such as you should not pronounce the word +'guillotine!' This red lead, my son, preserves society from +degeneration, conspiracies, epidemics. It is more precious than the +philosopher's stone; more powerful than a marshal's staff. It is the +pillar on which rests the peace of the whole land." + +"Just let me hear what miracles your enchanted wand has effected on my +poor verses?" + +"It has done its duty. Do you suppose that lines like 'Men enclosed +within narrow walls are ashamed to love one another' may see the light? +Humph! to love in the sense of your fine heroes one might well be +ashamed! Running after gypsy girls, without the sanction of a priest, +without wedlock--all unfettered--a pretty incentive to the young who +would read it!" + +"But, my dear sir, that is not my intention. As the dramatic development +proceeds, I purpose to show up my hero's wrong-doing, for which he has +to atone." + +The death's-head was discomfited. He was not prepared for this reply. + +"Oh, so they are the adventurer's opinions? Then you should have made a +foot-note stating that they are not the author's views, and that the +offender will atone for them later on. But listen again: 'He' (that is, +the citizen) 'basely sells his freedom, bows his head to the dust before +his fetich, and by his importunity wrests from it gold and fetters!' +Now, is it permissible to put this in black and white? What 'freedom' +does he sell? and to whom does he sell it? No one in Russia has freedom; +consequently neither can he sell it to any one! It is a revolutionary +appeal. An incitement to anarchy! A proclamation! And then, 'bows his +head to the dust before his fetich.' Who is this fetich? The Czar or the +holy images? Do you want to provoke the people to iconoclasm? But it is +worse than blasphemy. In former times you would have had your tongue +torn out for such words. And again: 'By importunity wrests gold and +fetters.' A calumny upon our thirteen official grades! Fetters! Thorough +Jacobin heresy! So the fetters offend you? Without them you were wolves +and no men! Nor do you need to importune for them; they are conceded +without it, of grace! You must have fetters--_must_, I say! It is in +vain to versify against them! Did not my red pencil strike out those +three lines, I should deserve to have it bored through my nose!" + +And, upon this awful possibility, he began applying the said fateful +pencil with dire force to expunge the offending lines. + +"But I do not permit you to strike those lines out of my poem. I would +rather withdraw it from publication." + +"But I will not give it back!" returned the death's-head, placing a hand +upon the manuscript. "What is once presented to my censure can no more +be withdrawn! It must receive the deserved castigation!" + +"And I protest against the striking out of any single letter of it! The +manuscript is mine; it is as much my individual property as is that red +pencil yours. You are at liberty to reject my writings, but not to +deface them with your confounded chalk!" + +"Deface! Confounded chalk!" screamed the death's-head, rigid with +horror. "Audacity like this has no superlative." + +"By heavens, it has!" shouted Pushkin, on his side; and to substantiate +his words, snatching the red pencil from the Censor's hand he threw it +so violently to the ground that the precious relic was shattered to a +thousand pieces; at which awful result Pushkin himself was so terrified +that he took to flight, leaving the terrible man alone with the pieces. + +The Censor was aghast with rage and horror at the deed. His all-powerful +pencil shattered to atoms! He could scarce believe it. Such a thing had +never before happened in civilized Europe. What would men leave sacred +and untouched in future, when even that hallowed implement could be +dashed to the ground? + +Herr Sujukin did not call his servant, but himself, kneeling down, +began collecting the precious fragments, weeping so bitterly as he did +so that his chin trembled. + +"My faithful--my treasure--pride of my life--thou art no more!" He +endeavored to fasten the larger portions together, but in vain. + +Such an offence needed a special punishment. + +The aggrieved Censor, wrapping the _corpus delicti_ in a paper, rolled +Pushkin's poem round it, and hastened off to Araktseieff's Palace, +mentally conning the speech the while with which he should make his +patron acquainted with the abominable assault. + +Araktseieff's palace was just then being decorated with those historic +frescos by which the celebrated Doyen perpetuated the deeds of Czar +Alexander. The master was even then himself at work on the immense +circle which formed the cupola of the domed reception-room, and in which +the Czar appears in the midst of his generals and surrounded by +mythological and allegorical figures. + +The furious Censor had to pass through this saloon. He glanced up at the +master, who, astride on the plank, was touching up the figures, already +designed, with color. It was just what he wanted. He would let off some +of his rage upon him. + +"Is it Master Doyen, or one of his assistants, who is painting up +there?" asked he. + +To this singular question the artist made reply: + +"And pray what may be your business down there?" + +"I have no 'business,' but am Vasul Sujukin Sergievitch, Counsellor of +Enlightenment to his Majesty." Such was the Censor's title. + +"A jolly good thing you have come. There is precious little light in +this city with its confounded fogs." + +"Learn, sir, that this is no 'confounded' fog. A St. Petersburg fog is +purer than that of any other city. We allow no complaints of our skies. +But, look! who is that woman up there in the picture, standing close to +the Czar, with leg bared to the knee?" + +"It is Fame, the goddess of novelty." + +"But what indecency for any one to stand in proximity to the Czar in +such a costume!" + +"Ha, my friend, in the period of Roman-Greek mythology stockings were +not in fashion." + +"But we are in Russia, where ladies who have been presented do not go +about barefoot. I forbid you to bring women in such _negligée_ in +contact with the person of the Czar!" + +"All right! I will give her sandals." + +"And let down her dress!" + +"It is going to have a border to it." + +"Mind, then, that it is a broad one that covers the knee. And who is +that with a roll of papers in his hand?" + +"General Kutusoff." + +"Why is his right arm shorter than the left?" + +"It is not shorter; only his position makes it appear so. We call that +_scorzo_ in Italian." + +"_Scorzo_ here, _scorzo_ there! We are not Italians! Here we call a man +who has one arm shorter than the other deformed!" + +"But I cannot paint my characters with stretched-out arms as if they +were on a crucifix!" + +"I don't see why not." + +The artist here, giving up the discussion, began touching up the face of +the Czar. + +"What is that black you are smearing over the countenance of the Czar?" + +"_Terra di Siena._ It gives the shadows." + +"But there must be no shadow on the countenance of the Czar! It must +shine, be radiant, brilliant. And then, look here, one-half of the +imperial face is broader than the other." + +"Of course it is; because it is taken in three-quarter profile." + +"But why do you take the Czar in three-quarter profile?" + +"Because he could not otherwise be looking straight at Kutusoff." + +"Then turn Kutusoff's head so that the Czar may look at him in full +face." + +The artist was nigh to springing off his plank with brush and palette, +and alighting on the head of the dictatorial Counsellor of +Enlightenment. But, controlling himself, he took up a large brush and +began painting in the clouds in the background. This thoroughly provoked +the Censor's severity. + +"Halt! What are you doing? What is that?" + +"A cloud." + +"I can under no conditions permit you to paint clouds behind the person +of the Czar. It might seem to some to have an allegorical meaning, as +though our political horizon were threatened with dark clouds." + +"But, my dear sir, clouds are necessary to make the figure stand out." + +"The Czar stands out by himself! You must paint in a twilight sky for +your background." + +"Impossible! Light is thrown on to the figures from the other side, +where the sun is shining." + +"Where is the sun? How are you going to paint it--in what colors? With +us the sun shines far more brilliantly than in any other country." + +The artist looked round to see which paint-pot he could aim at the +Enlightened Counsellor's head. Then a better idea struck him. + +"Stop a bit, Herr Counsellor! Here at the feet of the Czar is to be a +figure, 'Death Conquered.' Your head will make a capital model. Just let +me jot down a sketch of it." + +The Counsellor of Enlightenment once more felt his reason staggered. He +could not at the moment decide whether it were a compliment or an +impertinence that his physiognomy should be perpetuated on one canvas +with that of the Czar as "Death Conquered." But his brutish instincts +whispered him that it would be doing the Frenchman a service to stand as +his model; so he did not do it. Leaving him in the lurch, he passed on +to his patron's apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE YOUNG HOPEFUL + + +The Counsellor of Public Enlightenment was just by way of detailing at +large to Araktseieff Pushkin's unheard-of outrage upon the censorial red +pencil, with all its aggravations, when a young man, unceremoniously +bursting open the door of the reception-room of the dread President of +Police, appeared upon the scene. The intruder seemed privileged to break +in upon him unannounced, whoever might be having audience of the +all-powerful statesman. The new-comer was a man of some thirty years of +age; his dress the uniform of a colonel in the Life Guards. His features +were pleasing and regular, but the expression uneasy, shifty; he never +looked the person to whom he was speaking full in the face. + +It was Junker Jevgen, Araktseieff's son and young hopeful. + +"Ah!" cried his father, "you have got into some other ugly scrape, sir!" + +"_Au contraire_, governor! Mistaken for once." + +"Your appearance rarely means anything else. Have you anything of +importance to say to me?" + +"Oh, nothing of a nature that I cannot say before Herr Sujukin." + +"I suppose some pressing money difficulty?" + +"_Au contraire_," returned the young man, carelessly throwing himself +back upon a couch, and ostentatiously drawing out a handful of gold from +his pocket. "You see it is not that which brought me." + +"By Jove! you have lined your pockets well. May I inquire the source of +this plenty?" + +"Why not? No need to conceal it from Herr Sujukin. I won it a night or +two ago at rouge-et-noir." + +"So! At nights, when you are intrusted with the inspection, you can +manage to find time for the faro-bank?" + +"I only just happened in _en passant_. I just hazarded a couple of +sovereigns; seven times, one after another, I won. I had deuced +good-luck; red always turned up. And I left off playing while the vein +was on." + +"And you come to tell me the good news?" + +"Oh no! On the contrary, I come to bring you the latest. Only fancy! the +celebrated harpist, Chamberlin, has arrived from Paris, and is going to +give some concerts." + +"I never knew you to be so devoted to the harp." + +"Oh, I rave about it." + +"And I can't abide it," put in Sujukin, in full agreement with the +father. + +Jevgen continued: + +"His Majesty the Czar, to do honor to the harpist, has commanded a state +concert to-night at the Winter Palace." + +"Oh, I delight in the harp!" hastily threw in Sujukin, in order to amend +his former speech. + +"The invitations are already issued. It will be a particularly brilliant +assemblage. I just saw your invitation delivered to your groom of the +chambers. I have already received mine." + +"Oh, then, of course it will be a brilliant affair!" + +"I suppose you know that we must appear _en grande tenue_? Men with the +_grand cordon_ and all their orders." + +"Upon my soul! Doing high honor to the musician." + +"Besides which the Zeneida will sing something of Cimarosa." + +"Is that all you have to tell me?" + +"Beyond that nothing," returned the young man, rising with a yawn as he +looked at the clock. "Now I must be off and change. By-the-way, shall +you be at the state concert to-night?" + +"What else should I do, as the Czar honors me with an invitation?" + +"I thought, perhaps, your rheumatism was plaguing you too much." + +"Do not forget that there is no rheumatism when the Czar commands." + +"And yet it were a pity to risk your health, sir, for sake of a +scoundrelly musician. You will be awfully bored. There is nothing in the +world so ghastly dull as the harp." + +"You just told me you raved about it." + +"Oh, of course, if it is a lady harpist. But to see a man sprawling over +the strings! _pas si bęte_! It is for all the world like listening to +some street player. I could make your excuses to the Czar for you in +form if you preferred to stay at home." + +"Now what the devil does it matter to you whether I go or not? What has +made you such an affectionate son, so solicitous for your father's +health? Have you entered upon the climacteric years which alter a man's +nature?" + +Jevgen broke into a laugh. + +"Not exactly, father. Your son is the same as before. But I want you to +stay at home to-night, because then you could lend me your diamond +Vladimir order. I can't find mine anywhere." + +"Because you have not searched at the pawnbroker's for it." + +"With clear conscience I can say it is not at the pawnbroker's. If it +were I could have easily redeemed it with the cash in my pocket, and +need not have come to you. I have searched everywhere, and cannot set +eyes upon it." + +"Just think, my boy; you'll remember what you've done with it." + +"Well, then, I will confess. It is no disgrace; a thing that happens to +many of us officers. After playing I came across a demoniacal little +girl." + +"Ah, you found time for that, too, during inspection?" + +"What matter! When I released the said little fury I perceived that my +Vladimir order had disappeared with her." + +"Upon my word! It is a pretty story!" cried Araktseieff, springing up +from his chair. "You have done for yourself. Did I not say that some +nice mess had brought you here? Lose your order! Let it be stolen from +you by a street wench! Do you know the girl?" + +"Yes; she is a street dancer--Diabolka, the gypsy girl." + +"A gypsy, eh?" broke in Sujukin at that moment. "That's it! Just what +might have been expected from Pushkin's verses. Ah! I can generally see +through things!" + +"Did you put the police at once upon her track?" asked Araktseieff. + +"As though the police were to be found at once, or, to put it the other +way, as though our police were likely to find any one at once! Oh, it is +not lost! The gypsy or the Vladimir order will be found fast enough in +Appraxin Dwor. But that's no use to me. I want to wear the order +to-night; for I dare not appear without it at the state concert." + +"Well, my boy, no power but death shall separate me from mine." + +"Then I see no way out of it. I have tried to obtain one from the State +Treasurer; but the Czar keeps the key of the order safe himself; so +nothing is to be done there. It is enough to make a fellow blow his +brains out!" + +"Well, well, here is an idea; but, mind, I take no responsibility for +it. Are you on good terms with the Czar's groom of the chambers?" + +"Oh yes, excellent! We meet constantly--under the table!" + +"You are aware that when the Czar attends any civil function and not a +military parade, he is pleased to show his imperial favor towards +civilians by appearing in a plain black coat, and wears no orders, +merely the gold medal in his button-hole, which he received from the +society of 'Philanthropists' in Riga for having saved a poor peasant +from drowning in the river. Thus, amid all the brilliant assemblage, +the Czar is conspicuous by the simplicity of his attire; and his +Vladimir order will be in the custody of the groom of the chambers for +the night. Bribe your friend to lend you the Czar's order to-night." + +"By Jove! a brilliant idea! I see, after all, that you love me, +governor." + +"Ah! were you not my son, my boy, you'd long ago have been swinging on +the gallows." + +"No, no, father. Why joke with the word 'gallows'? You may come to it +yourself one day, though you are my respected parent." + +"But I give you one piece of advice: See that you keep as far off as +possible from the Czar at the concert, that he may not recognize his own +order." + +"Bah! how is he to single out one amid the forty that will be there?" + +"I tell you this much, that the Czar is an expert in precious stones. So +make a point of keeping in some obscure corner." + +"Well, I will be your obedient son. I am pleased with you to-day, +father. It is no light matter to have such a sensible parent to come to. +I grant you permission to give me a kiss. Adieu! Good-day, Herr Sujukin. +Pray continue where you left off." + +Meanwhile the death's-head had been chewing something between his teeth, +perhaps a criticism, while the young man was making a clean breast of +it. "A good many things to strike out with the red pencil there," +thought he to himself. The father gazed for some time at the half-open +door; then, turning to Sujukin: + +"A fine, handsome boy, is he not? A merry fellow. His worst fault is +that he knows how much I love him." + +"He only needs a little of the red pencil! But to return to the story of +that red pencil." + +"You shall have satisfaction, Vasul Sergievitch! Leave the matter to me. +I will place the _corpus delicti_ in the Czar's own hands, and can +assure you that the culprit will bitterly repent his offence! As though +his first intemperate actions, which he paid for by the confiscation of +his property and his banishment to Odessa, were not sufficient reminder, +he requites the clemency of the Czar, who permitted him to return home, +with these fresh excesses; but we will find a means of settling with +him. Be comforted, Vasul Sergievitch. To-morrow morning Master Pushkin +will find himself on his way to Uralsk." + +"Irkutsk is farther!" said the Censor, who could not refrain from +improving on Araktseieff's verdict. + +"But Uralsk is worse! Believe me, Uralsk is an awful garrison for an +officer to be disgraced to. In ten years' time no woman would recognize +him. From a gay butterfly he will come back transformed into a hairy +caterpillar--like our friend Jakuskin!" + +The death's-head was satisfied to leave matters to him--_Typis +admittitur!_--and went back to the reception-rooms to administer a +parting shot to the Frenchman. After the encouraging words of the +President of Police his horns had grown so fast that he felt as if they +would reach to the artist perched aloft. + +"I forbid you to paint a figure of Death before his Majesty's very feet. +It will give the whole fresco an ominous meaning." + +But the artist continued undisturbed to paint in his figure of Death; +and the face was the counterpart of that of the Censor. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE CZAR SMILES + + +Only as Pushkin reached home did he begin to meditate over what he had +done. He did not for a moment hesitate as to the consequences of his +rash act. A man only just permitted to return from exile in Bessarabia, +whither his hot head had banished him, and even then but received in +semi-favor at court, could not expect other from his recent scene with +the sacred person of the Censor than to be deported to some fortress on +the Volga, or to guard the Kirghis Pustas, where he would be forever +lost to sight and mind. He therefore set to work at once addressing +P.P.C. cards to his friends; on that to Zeneida he added, "pour jamais." +When once he received marching orders, there would be no time for such +things. The report of the assault had quickly made the round of the +town; such news is sure to spread quickly. Among his many friends there +was but one who found his way to him on hearing of it; that one was +Jakuskin. + +"Well, friend, now you, too, will make acquaintance with the Caucasus. +You would do well to have your portrait taken at once, that after ten +years, when you come back, like me, you may at least know what you once +were like." + +"I am prepared for anything," answered Pushkin, sealing the letter in +which he was returning the publisher Severin the two hundred rubles he +had received for his poem, not having obtained the Censor's permission +to publish. "But there is one thing I cannot understand. I have just +received from the Lord Chamberlain an invitation to the state concert +to-night. Now, what the devil does that mean?" + +"What does it mean, my friend? That your punishment is to be carried out +with a refinement of cruelty! Had I not a similar experience? The very +night I had challenged that scoundrel, I, too, received an invitation to +a court ball. When the circle was formed round the Czar, the Lord +Chamberlain placed me among the guests to whom his Majesty desired to +speak. I was simple enough to feel elated at the distinction. My turn at +length came. The great man stood before me, letting me feel his colossal +height. Looking full at me with his cold, green eyes, his face as +immovable as a moonlit landscape, he asked, 'You are not satisfied with +your commanding officer?' And, taking my confusion for acquiescence, +added, 'We will provide against any such unpleasant friction in the +future.' And I stammered out something like thanks, never thinking that +this was only a planned humiliation for me, that every one standing +round about me knew already whither I was to be banished, and that the +honor of this imperial interview was merely intended to further +humiliate me. Oh, if I had but known it then! If it should again happen +that I-- Ah, fool that I am! Fate does not so repeat itself. But could I +pass on to you my imbittered heart, my experience, and my determination +at the moment in which you will be standing there, face to face with +'him,' apart from all, all eyes upon you, but every man's hand turned +away from you; no one near you but a devil! Casca's devil! But what am I +talking about! You are but an Epimetheus to whom wisdom only comes when +the opportunity is past. A pleasant journey to Tungusia; my respects to +the marmots! Come, let us shake hands. We are comrades now." + +"Eh! fate does not repeat itself? How if the soup be not eaten as hot as +it is served?" asked Pushkin, simulating light-heartedness. But +Jakuskin's words had left a sting in his heart. Why had he received the +invitation to the palace that night? + +There was no evading the command. His sledge was one among the many +formed in line before the gates of the Winter Palace that evening; the +guests numbered more than two thousand, the whole _élite_ of St. +Petersburg society was there. + +At that time the Winter Palace, in its magnificence, tone of society, +its mode of paying compliments, and distinguished courtesy, threatened +to rival the Tuileries; even Parisian _bon-mots_ went the round. All +national characteristics had become decidedly bad form. Ladies no longer +wore the fur-lined _dolmanka_, the clasped girdles; the singular fashion +which had formerly prevailed of wearing gold watches in the hair had +been given up; feminine taste displayed itself in following the latest +Paris fashions, in which lace and artificial flowers were _de rigueur_. +The men wore uniforms. The Czarina was the sole exception to the +prevailing fashion; she continued to wear the out-spreading head-dress, +in form of a peacock tail, which made her tall figure seem even taller, +and lent still more majesty to her countenance. The Czar, on the other +hand, was wearing plain civilian evening dress, without ribbon or order +of any description. + +Late as was Pushkin's entry among the gayly attired throng, he could not +fail to notice how greatly the tone of society had altered towards him +from the night before. People did not seem to see him. His superior +officers and others to whom he had been presented did not acknowledge +his salute. Intimate friends, comrades in arms, seemed suddenly +engrossed in conversation with their neighbors on his approach, to avoid +accosting him. Lovely women, who but yesterday had welcomed him to their +opera-boxes, spread out their fans before their faces as he neared them; +the heat suddenly became oppressive! One lady alone, clad in rich silks, +crossing the room on Prince Ghedimin's arm, vouchsafed him her +attention; she was the beautiful Princess Korynthia, Prince Ghedimin's +wife; her cold gray eyes measured the young officer from head to +foot--she who had so often laughed at his wit--while she deigned him no +other return to his salutation than a contemptuous curl of the lip, for +which he promptly revenged himself by turning and exchanging mischievous +smiles with the young girl at her side, Princess Bethsaba. Just then the +press before them brought Prince Ghedimin's party to a standstill, and +Pushkin saw the bright flush which had suffused the young Princess's +face under the fire of his eyes. Almost he felt inclined to say: "Nay, +fair rosebud, do not blush at my gaze. To-morrow I shall be speeding to +the land where your fathers sleep!" + +The Prince and Princess were now received by Araktseieff, who conducted +the ladies to the arm-chairs reserved for them near the stage on which +the artistes were to appear. Ghedimin disappeared among the crowd of +brilliant uniforms; there were no seats for the men. + +The concert began with a sonata of Beethoven, to which the Czar listened +absorbed, as he leaned over the back of the Czarina's chair, his tall +figure overtopping all others, his eyes fixed on vacancy. When it came +to the turn of the harpist his manner became animated. Hurrying across +to the performer, he led him on the stage, settled the music-stand for +him to the requisite height, and then, as his chair was too low, himself +fetched a cushion, oblivious for the moment that he was the Czar of all +the Russias. The harpist acquitted himself magnificently, fully bearing +out his world-wide fame. At the Czar's state concerts there is no +applause; but the murmurs of delight passing from mouth to mouth of a +crowded audience are a higher reward to the artist than the stormiest +applause. + +After the harpist followed Fräulein Ilmarinen. + +Every one said she had never sung the Swan's song so thrillingly and +exquisitely as on that evening; the tears sparkling in her eyes were as +real as the brilliants which flashed in her hair. + +The Czar involuntarily was beating time to her song. Zeneida looked +lovelier than ever that night; her dress was covered with spring +flowers; her face was radiant. It could not be all art. + +Three pair of eyes are fixed most untiringly upon her. The first are +those of Princess Korynthia. Filled with hate and contempt, they strive +to read into the singer's inmost soul; to detect some false look of +betrayal which shall expose the artiste in the part she is playing; and +the Princess inwardly rages that she does not find the clew. + +The second pair of eyes are Bethsaba's. Her great dark eyes are staring +wide open at the charming apparition, as though to say, "Does the devil +look like that? Then, indeed, one must be on one's guard, for its +counterpart is very lovely!" + +The third pair of eyes belong to Pushkin. He feels that the better part +of his soul is merged in that of the lovely woman before him; and that +soul, at this moment, is filled with bitterness against all those who +would banish him from her vicinity. He feels that in losing Zeneida he +loses all that is noblest within him, and that evil alone will remain. +Already it has gained the upper hand as he recalls Jakuskin's speech: +"Oh that I could infuse into you Casca's fiendish spirit, when you +stand, the mark of every eye, before 'him'!" + +He feels himself touched on the shoulder. Looking back, he sees the Lord +Chamberlain. Speaking no word, the latter was lost in the crowd of men. + +Pushkin knows what that touch on the shoulder means. It means that at +the close of the concert the person thus signalled out is to take his +place in the middle of the concert-room, as one of those to whom the +Czar designs to speak. Exactly as Jakuskin had prophesied! The blood +rushes wildly through his veins. The comedy may be turned into a +tragedy. + +Princess Korynthia turns to Araktseieff, standing behind her chair. + +"Fräulein Ilmarinen seems to be in particularly good spirits this +evening." + +"I have done my best to spoil them. I have struck her heart a blow which +will stop her love of intrigue for a while." + +"Let me be the first to enjoy your secret." + +"The lady's hero, Pushkin, is about to be despatched to Uralsk." + +"Do you think the girl will desert St. Petersburg and follow him?" + +"Either that, or she will commit some greater folly. Anyway, it will +compel her to unmask." + +The Czar, after thanking and praising Zeneida, now began to make the +round of the gentlemen; while the ladies to whom the Czarina desired to +speak were called up to her. + +The Czar entered into conversation with some of the ambassadors, +exchanged a few words with Miloradovics; then, passing over a number of +the circle, looked about him, and, perceiving Pushkin, signed him to +approach. + +All deferentially drew back. From the Czar and a culprit it is well to +keep one's distance. All the same, every eye was fixed on the two. + +At this critical moment Pushkin felt himself singularly calm. He stood, +in fact, as cold bloodedly before his imperial master as he would have +done before any ordinary man. + +"So I hear you are not satisfied with your Censor?" asked the Czar. + +The very form of question he had addressed to Jakuskin! + +But Pushkin had a guardian angel--his Muse--who did not suffer him to +remain silent and abashed. + +"As satisfied as one is with an illness, sire." + +"Do not bear him a grudge. He is a well-meaning man, but with certain +old-fashioned notions. That is not his fault. I have read your poem; it +is very fine. The Censor had struck out some portions; but that you did +not allow?" + +"No, sire." + +"And do not allow their suppression?" + +"No, sire." + +"You are right. They are the best passages in the whole poem. But what +are we to do about it? I cannot go against the Censor; for were I to +permit what he forbids, the whole institution would be overturned; and +it is a necessary one. What do you think?" + +"Sire, I will take back my poem and burn it." + +"No, no. I think we will send it to Leipsic, have it printed there, and +then import it." + +"And the frontier custom-house, sire?" asked Pushkin. + +The Czar smiled; nay, he laughed--he laughed aloud. + +"We will have it packed in among my own personal things, which are not +examined in the customs. Thus will we bring the poem into the country." + +Pushkin trembled in every limb, like a schoolboy who has undergone an +examination. + +"Stay a moment!" exclaimed the Czar. "It will be more profitable to your +poetical studies were you to prosecute them in the country. It will be +better for you to pass the summer on your estate of Pleskow. You will +find you can write better there." + +That meant the restoration of his confiscated estate. Moved to tears, +Pushkin's voice failed. + +"Tell no one of what has passed between us. I do not wish it spread +abroad." + +"Only to one woman, sire, whose silence is as perfect as is her +singing." + +"She knows it already," returned the Czar, with a smile. He had smiled +twice. + +How instantly the brightness of that smile had changed the temperature! +How immediately the ice and snow in it had thawed! As Pushkin rejoined +the circle he was greeted on all sides by friendly faces beaming with +congratulation. Distinguished court ladies shut up their fans; they no +longer felt the heat. Pushkin could not but respond to the crowd who +claimed acquaintance. He was wise enough to tell every one that the Czar +had restored his Pleskow estates to him on condition that he gave up +writing poetry, which raised him at once on a pinnacle. For be it known, +not to write poetry at all is a negative merit; to write bad poetry and +give it up is some slight merit; to write good poetry, and yet give it +up, is a positive and great merit--in high society. + +Even Princess Korynthia had the hero of the hour called up to her in +order to ask him why he had not recognized her just now. Women alone are +capable of such a piece of audacity, and men are obliged to take it from +them. + +Pushkin and the Princess conversed pleasantly for some little time, and +he was introduced to Bethsaba, to whom he said many foolish things. + +One woman only, Zeneida, he had no courage to approach. With the +divination of a true poet, he felt that she was the only creditor in all +the world from whom he must keep aloof; for that which he owed to that +creditor he was unable to pay. + +Nor had he any news to impart. Had not the Czar said, "She knows it +already"? + + * * * * * + +The Czar had smiled. The smile had lightened all hearts. The melancholy +feeling of monotony which was weighing over society was at once +dispelled. But it was but an autumnal ray--a ray of evening sunshine on +a rainy day. + +But he to whom this turn of things brought no content was Araktseieff. +Pleskow is not the end of the world! If Pushkin went no further than +that, Fräulein Ilmarinen's intrigues would suffer no reverse. They could +meet as often as they wished. He could not understand how it had all +come about. That the Czar favored Fräulein Ilmarinen he well knew; and +that Zeneida had been working to save her beloved poet, that, too, he +knew. But this was not sufficient to have put the Czar in the very +opposite frame of mind from that which he, the all-powerful favorite, +had striven to bring about. Some other hand must have been at work here. + +Now among those whom the unaccustomed ray of sunlight had moved to creep +out of their dark corners was young Araktseieff. + +Forgetting his father's advice to keep well in the shade, and not +thinking that the sparkling order on his breast was a borrowed one, and +that its owner was among the party there assembled, he suffered himself +to be enticed to the front, and joined the set of young men who were +paying court to the ladies. + +Suddenly he became aware that the Czar was bearing down upon him. + +He was about to make way respectfully for his Majesty, but the Czar, +going directly up to him, said: + +"What fine diamonds those are you are wearing, Araktseieff!" + +He who was thus addressed replied, with audacious humility: + +"Sire, I wear them by your Majesty's favor." + +"Remarkable!" exclaimed the Czar. "Those brilliants are the very +counterpart of the ones in my Vladimir star." + +Junker Jevgen began to think that cheek alone would carry him through +here. + +"Sire, some diamonds resemble each other wonderfully." + +"And yet I am inclined to think that the star you are wearing is mine, +and that in my pocket I happen to have a Vladimir order bearing your +name on the ribbon." + +"Mercy, sire!" implored Jevgen, with shaking knees. + +"Silence! You surely would not implore mercy here before the whole +court. Go to your quarters. Keep the order you are wearing; I wear it no +more, since it has been worn by you. Away with you!" + +"A bad adviser led me on, sire." The young nobleman was ready to betray +his father. + +"I do not ask who advised you. Go to-morrow morning to your father. +There you will learn what is in store for you." + +After this scene the Czar abruptly left the concert-room and withdrew to +his own apartments, the former icy expression on his face. He did not +even return the greetings of the surrounding guests. + +Araktseieff, who had watched the scene from a distance, followed the +Czar. He was not admitted, but commanded to await his Imperial Majesty's +pleasure, and the all-powerful favorite awaited it until two in the +morning. + +Then the Czar entered the audience-chamber, carrying a roll of papers in +his hand. + +"What say you, Alexis Maximovitch," said he to his favorite. "Was it not +a good idea of mine to institute the _posta sofianskaja_?" + +"Without doubt, sire. It has given the people opportunity to bring their +needs and wishes directly, in written form, before the Czar." + +"One learns interesting things through it at times. This morning, for +example, I received a letter from a gypsy girl containing a Vladimir +order set with diamonds. The letter graphically recounted the manner in +which the said order had fallen into the girl's hands. Here, read it." + +Araktseieff was never so near to swooning as when he had come to the end +of the letter. It was a cruel, bitter blow to his heart; he was cut to +the quick in his paternal love. He had wanted to strike a blow at that +woman's heart, and it had rebounded on his own in its most vulnerable +place. That this was all Zeneida's doing there was no manner of doubt. +Araktseieff was to be disgraced before the Czar. She meant to bring upon +him what he had intended for her. + +But she should find herself mistaken. + +Refolding the letter, he said, coldly and calmly: + +"The criminal must suffer." + +"Will it be punishment enough if he be sent to Uralsk?" + +To Uralsk! That meant never to see him more! He, the well-loved only +son, the arch-rogue for whom he lived, for whom he gathered up treasure, +through whom he trusted to make his name live to posterity; he to be +buried in a rocky fortress of the Kirghis steppes! But if it had been +good enough for Pushkin, who had resisted the extinction of his poetic +fervor, why not good enough for a soldier who by nights made burglarious +onslaughts on the passers-by? And yet he would so gladly save him! After +all, it was no crime, only a foolhardy scrape, such as had taken place +in the days of old chivalry, and even been practised by King Henry of +England himself when he was yet Prince of Wales. Foolhardiness, but no +crime! He suppressed the defence, however, feeling that although the +Czar might perhaps pardon his son at his intercession, such pardon would +mean the end of the father's influence. His enemies should find +themselves mistaken if they reckoned upon that. + +"He was my only son," he said, sobbing. "I loved him above all the +world, but I love the Czar better than my only son. He must suffer if he +has sinned." And he prepared the ukase condemning his son to banishment +in Uralsk, then kissed the Czar's hand. + +Araktseieff parted from his son without saying farewell to him. He must +carry out the part of Brutus consistently, that his enemies might +recognize the ancient Roman and tremble. But the Roman in him had a +strong admixture of the Sarmatic. Like Foscari, he could sign with his +own hand his only son's banishment; but not because he made no +distinction, but out of the genuine love of a Russian subject towards +his ruler, and, by making his powerful position still more powerful, to +be able to pay back to his enemies the cruel vengeance they had wreaked +on him. + +To this he made preparation. No single one should be exempt. + +On the very day his son set out on the road from which so few ever +return, Magriczki came to him with the intelligence that the police had +arrested Diabolka. What should be her penalty? Should he have her +knouted in the open market-place, or with slit ears and nose be +transported to Lake Baikal? There was cause sufficient. Her vagabond +life, her immoral habits, could be brought up against her--moreover, a +gypsy girl! Was not the dark skin crime enough? + +"Bring her to me," said Araktseieff. "You, none of you yet know how to +punish. This is a wild animal who only feels the smart of the lash while +it is upon her. It were no shame to such as her to be beaten half naked +in the market-place; she is brazen enough to laugh while the punishment +is being inflicted. Of what use is punishment to her yet? First that +sense must be awakened in her, latent in every human being, but +slumbering yet--the sense of self-respect. Then we can inflict the +penalty when something more than her outer skin will feel it. Send the +girl in." + +And soon Diabolka was standing before Araktseieff, both hands chained +to her back, her unkempt hair about her saucy face, her eyes gleaming +wildly through it. Her feet, too, were chained. + +"So you are Diabolka, the street dancer?" asked the President of Police. + +"Of course. Don't you hear my castanets?" answered the girl, striking +her feet together, and making the chains clash. + +"And do you know who I am?" + +"Of course. The father of a street thief." + +"You are right! My son is an offender; he has paid the penalty. I myself +signed his sentence. Was it you who informed against him?" + +"I might deny it if I chose, but I do not." + +"Was it you who wrote the letter to the Czar?" + +"Though I cannot write, yet it was I who wrote it." + +"Then somebody guided your hand, and you wrote down the characters?" + +"But you shall never know the name of that 'somebody.'" + +"Were you aware what your hand was putting to paper?" + +"I was." + +"Then you must have been aware that not alone he whom you denounced was +lost, but also you yourself, for having stolen a Vladimir order." + +"But I have returned it." + +"None the less, you are a thief, and must be sent to the pillory." + +"Women of higher rank than mine have stood there already." + +"Your shoulders will be branded with hot iron." + +"My dark skin marks me already as a gypsy. I am bad from head to foot." + +"Come, I don't believe that. This very day, through you, I have forever +lost my only son. All night long until the sun rose I was tossing in an +agony of sobs on my bed. In the early morning I went into the chapel, +and there, before my Maker, I swore an oath that I would free the +unhappy creature who had been my son's undoing, body and soul. At least, +I will loose your outer chains." + +"No need to trouble the jailer for that. If I choose and you allow, I +can be rid of them myself." + +The gypsy girl had extraordinarily little hands. Easily, as if she were +drawing off a glove, she drew out her hands from the fetters; and as +simply, without even sitting down, freed her feet. Lifting one foot in +the air, she balanced herself on the other, and, in a second, stood +unfettered. So she stood before Araktseieff, holding one end of her +chain in her hand, looking capable of laying about her with the other +end on the head of any one who came near her; and that person would have +remembered the attention to his dying day. + +The keeper was alone in the cage with the unchained leopard. + +"Listen to what I will do with you!" + +The leopard took an attitude as if about to spring. + +And this time Araktseieff was not, as usual, prodding about with his +sword-stick. He had no weapon of any description near to hand. + +"I will find you a respectable situation, where you can both live +quietly and honestly, and educate yourself, mind and body--where, in +fact, you can improve yourself." + +"But I don't want it. I want neither a cloister, nor praying nuns, nor +hypocritical monks. I will not work, unless I am beaten and made to; and +even if I am beaten, I won't pray." + +"You shall not be forced to anything of that kind. I will send you +neither to a cloister, nor to a reformatory, but into the country. I +have a castle on my estate where a dear friend of mine is living." + +There was a sudden sparkle in the girl's eyes. Throwing away the +threatening chain, and shaking back the loose hair with sudden movement +from her brow, she looked with joyful smile at the President of Police. + +"Ah! you would send me to Daimona?" + +"Yes; to Daimona." + +Ah! stern Cato Censorius then had yet one tender chord in his heart, one +far more tender even than that which had been wrung by the banishment of +his son! + +There was much talk about Daimona, but not in her favor; and what was +said of her was but a shadow of truth--the woman whom the favorite of +the Czar worshipped more than all the saints in heaven or earth! It was +with her he spent every moment he could snatch from affairs of state. +She was the sun of his life--at once his tyrant and his happiness. She +was a woman so savage, so cruel and passionate, that none but an +Araktseieff could have loved her. Or was it just for that that he did +love her? Every one who wished to appeal to Araktseieff, or hoped to +escape his vengeance, must first sue to his idol and offer his sacrifice +at her feet; and costly sacrifices they must be--no make-believes. +Daimona's extortions were renowned throughout the breadth of the empire. + +Diabolka's pearly teeth glistened white through her coral lips. + +"So you would like to go to Daimona?" asked the great official. + +"Why not? She is a woman after my own heart." + +"I am not sending you to her to be her servant, but to be her friend." + +"Oh, we shall soon be very friendly!" + +"She feels lonely; and you will know how to amuse her." + +"I will divine her thoughts." + +"If she takes a fancy to you, you will be happy with her. She will give +you smart clothes, trinkets, and riding-horses." + +"And a whip to scourge the slaves with." + +"And if you get on well, and become a _young lady_, Daimona will find +you a husband." + +At these words the girl's face darkened. Shaking her head energetically, +till the dishevelled hair fell over it again, she struck her thigh +vehemently as she exclaimed, with a stamp of her foot: + +"Then I will not go!" + +A malicious smile curled Araktseieff's lips. Then he continued, in a +paternal tone: + +"I understand. You have a lover here among the gypsies." + +"A 'brother'!" exclaimed the girl. + +"Oh, a 'brother'! Gypsies are prudish; they only have 'brothers.' And +suppose I were to send your brother, too, to Daimona's castle? He might +make a good overseer of slaves." + +"Would that be possible?" cried Diabolka, joyously. + +"It shall be done. I will send you together to Daimona, and you shall +become her confidential people." + +Diabolka fell at the feet of the dreaded President and kissed them, +while Araktseieff, with Christian mildness, stroked the gypsy's unkempt +hair. And at the moment of this scene of foot-kissing and hair-stroking +the hearts of both were filled with thoughts of direst vengeance. In +the inexperienced girl's soul a scheme of as wide-spreading a nature was +developing against Araktseieff as he was evolving to the torture of the +girl, while she was as deft at lying, dissembling, and hiding her +feelings as was the statesman. It is the advantage alike of savages and +diplomats. + +Which would triumph? + +Diabolka and her "brother" set off that very day for Araktseieff's +estates, where Daimona was already expecting them. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +SOPHIE + + +Araktseieff's chief care now was to divert the Czar from the influence +of his, Araktseieff's, enemies. And the best means to that end was a +visit to the military colonies. This atrocious idea had originated in +Araktseieff's brain; he was the creator of the military colonies. Half a +million soldiers, who had gone through every European war, were to be +rewarded for their services by being planted as colonists, regiment by +regiment, throughout the length and breadth of the empire. The peasants +were to teach them to plough and sow seed, while they in turn were to +instruct the peasants in drill and the use of firearms. A marvellous +conception--on paper! Thus in time the state would acquire three +millions of well-drilled soldiers at no cost. The scythe would pay the +piper. + +But one important factor in the project had been left out of his +calculations by its author. The peasant did not take kindly to drill, +nor did the soldier to the scythe. + +The Czar took the military colony of Novgorod for his first inspection; +Araktseieff was in his retinue. They returned unexpectedly; a fact +mentioned in the newspapers, as showing with what marvellous rapidity +the Czar travelled. He had actually accomplished the journey to the Ural +Mountains in four weeks; it was a peculiarity of his to gallop night and +day. Then they went on to describe the magnificent reception the +imperial cortčge had met with in every town of the colony, which had +sprung up with magic quickness. They dilated on the triumphal arches, +deputations, the gifts offered them by the people, by which they +endeavored to express their unbounded loyalty to the Czar. The great +military parades which had been held were also graphically described; +and no one for a moment suspected but that all these things had duly +taken place. + +On his return from the inspection, Araktseieff went on an official +mission to Warsaw. This, too, was duly announced by the newspapers, +without comment of any kind or description. + +With the month of June springtide returned to St. Petersburg. Sophie +Narishkin's room was a mass of lilies-of-the-valley, her favorite +flower. Every vase, every available space was filled with them. With the +more favorable season her health seemed to be re-established. She could +now walk across the room without support, and began to think more about +food than medicines. She even began to speculate on being taken to court +balls in the winter. One of her aunts was to chaperon her in society; +perhaps she might even be allowed to dance a minuet. She was constantly +sending for Bethsaba to hear what a court ball was like. The king's +daughter had already attended one. + +One day, after the Czar's return from the inspection, Bethsaba came to +see Sophie. + +"Oh, your room is quite full of lilies-of-the-valley! Who sent them to +you?" + +"Who else than father?" + +Sophie had no secrets from Bethsaba. She openly called the Czar "father" +to her. + +"Has he been here?" + +"Yes; all last evening. It was a very sad one. I begin to feel quite +afraid of him." + +"Did you do anything to vex him?" + +"Oh no! It is his great love for me which makes me begin to feel +frightened of him. When he stands so long, looking silently at me, my +hands in his, I feel as if I cannot endure the silence; then I ask him, +'What is it, father? What is grieving you?' And he answers, 'My grief is +that I have no one to whom I can tell my troubles.' 'Can so great a man +as you have any trouble for which there is no help?' Then, pointing to +his heart, he said, 'Here is the trouble!' Upon which I coaxed him, and +begged him to tell me all his trouble. Who could tell--perhaps even my +childish simplicity might find a way to heal or lessen his sorrows? Then +he drew me again to his heart, laid my head on his shoulder, and said, +'I am ill, Sophie; and there is no physician in the wide world to whom I +can tell my ailment. There is something weighing on my heart, and there +is no confessor to whom I can confess it. By night my dreams make me +tremble; by day, my thoughts. I dread solitude, and I dread mankind. I +know that no one loves me; I know that I am condemned.' 'By whom?' 'By +God and man. Every one flatters me; only that which beats within me +tells me the truth and accuses me.' 'And does not this, too, that beats +within me tell the truth?' I cried; 'and does it not live, love, and +worship you? Let those two hearts of ours fight it out together!' Then +he embraced me, and whispered, 'Be it so. There is no one on whom I have +wrought such ill as you. Why should I not confess to you? You are my +martyr; if you can give me absolution, I am indeed absolved.' And +kneeling before me, he said, oh! such sorrowful words, 'Look! I ascended +the throne over my father's body. _I accepted the crown at the hands of +his murderers_, and placed it upon my head. I wept no tears when I heard +of his death; I felt relieved. I had no longer to dread his wrath, for +he had parted from me in anger. On how many a battle-field have I since +sought expiation! It was not for me. It was written upon my brow that +the bullets that whizzed about me should not strike me; it was spoken of +me that my punishment should be as my sin. As a son, my heart was cold +as stone to my father. How was I to suffer in my children? I have borne +them all to the grave. You are my last and only one! I am ground down to +the earth under the iron hand of Fate when I think of you, when I look +into your dear face. Are you, too, to be condemned for my great sin?' I +tried to console him. 'I want for nothing, father dear,' I said; 'I am +happy, quite happy, and mean to grow strong, and love you ever so long.' +And we both burst into tears. 'It is not for myself I tremble,' he +whispered. 'I see the sword hanging over me. I hear, in the watches of +the night, how the knife is being sharpened against the corner-stone of +my palace. I am ready. _Through blood I ascended the throne; in blood I +must descend it._ But it is for you that I tremble! God's sentence upon +me must not strike your head too!' Then I made him rise, and said such +wise things to him that I quite astonished myself; I am usually such a +silly child. I comforted him in a hundred ways, so that at last I won a +smile to his lips, and he said, 'Then give me absolution. Say, _Christe +eleison_!' I was so brave that I even began to talk politics with +him--actually got to matters of state! I said, 'Why torment yourself +with such fancies? Your people are not as bad as those of other +countries. I know something of the world! I have seen Frenchmen, +Italians, Germans. When they drink hard on holidays, they grow noisy and +quarrelsome; but your subjects, when they drink at holiday-time, only +stagger about, and laugh and embrace each other.'" + +"Did not that make him laugh?" + +"He only kissed me, telling me I was a wiser stateswoman than either +Talleyrand or Metternich; then grew grave again. 'So it used to be in +former times; and the distinction your wise little head draws did then +exist. But nowadays there is something in the air which seems to infect +the most peace-loving people; so that what you are sure of one day you +cannot be the next. I will tell you what happened to me on my recent +journey. It is not talked about, and newspapers and parliamentary +reports will be dumb about it. It was growing dusk as I neared the +military colony of Petrowsk; the setting sun was tinting bright crimson +the fleecy clouds covering the sky. It looked like a ragged imperial +mantle.' Here I, scolding him, asked who had ever seen a ragged imperial +mantle? And he, answering me, said, 'Among others, Julius Cćsar.' 'I +remarked that it was a sky which presaged storm. "A mere fancy," +returned Araktseieff. + +"'In the light of the crimson sky the triumphal arch erected in the +street of Petrowsk looked like a bower of molten gold. The other +triumphal arches under which we had passed had been of fir, which, +taking no reflection from the sun, looked gloomy, however brightly it +might be shining. What was this made of that it shone so brightly? An +immense throng surrounded it. As I drew nearer I discovered of what it +was composed. Oh, I have passed through many a triumphal arch erected in +welcome of me. They have been made of velvets and satins in my honor; I +have seen the two side pillars formed of cannon conquered from the +enemy; the arch decorated with standards wrested from them; the crown in +the centre formed of the orders of fallen heroes; the glittering aureole +around of the swords of the generals who were our prisoners. But the +triumphal arch of Petrowsk exceeded them all. + +"'That which from afar in the light of the setting sun shone golden were +strips of ragged shirts and gowns; in place of flags were beggars' +sacks; the crown was composed of crutches stuck through an old +bottomless cooking-pot. It was a triumphal arch built up of rags and +beggars' sacks. While I stood transfixed at the hideous phantom, there +stepped one from the midst of the crowd--a fine, tall old man with +flowing beard, holding in his hand the customary wooden vessel, in which +was a crust of bread--and said: + +"'"This is the bread which your soldiers have left us. Taste it! It is +made from the bark of fir-trees. The usual salt we cannot offer you, for +we have none but our salt tears. On this triumphal arch you will find +many a token left us by your soldiers; the ragged clothing of our wives +and daughters. They themselves are not here, because they could not +appear naked before you. The twelve chaste virgins commanded by the +Hetman we could not present to bid you welcome, because in all the +neighborhood there does not exist a single chaste virgin since you have +quartered your soldiers upon us." + +"'At these words Araktseieff gave the command to the companies of Guard +Cossacks in our suite to disperse the rebellious crowd. But they were no +rebels, but despairing men. As the trumpet sounded they threw themselves +down by the wayside before our horses' feet, and, with hands and face +uplifted to me, implored: + +"'"Deliver us from your soldiers. Take your armed men away from us. We +are loyal peasants, and will work. You must ride over our bodies if you +wish to go farther." + +"'It was impossible to make way along the ground so densely strewn with +prostrate figures. Nor angry threats, nor gracious words availed. +Without intermission they cried, "Take your soldiers away from us!" +Seldom has a ruler been in such a dilemma. At length came help. From the +military colony appeared rank upon rank of veterans, marching in close +order, at their head a drum-major, as venerable and gray-bearded as was +the peasants' spokesman. I recognized them as my grenadiers. They +understood how to overcome the obstacles in their way. A blast of the +trumpet, and the sappers advancing seized the peasants by their hands +and feet, and, heaping one upon another, made summary way for the +brigade to pass. The drum-major, planting his standard on the ground, +said: + +"'"Sire, do not leave us in this cursed place. We served you faithfully +in the battle-field for fifteen years; we fought for you against +Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians; and are we now to wage war against +field-mice, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and, what is worse, peasants? In +our youth we learned to fight like bears; we don't want, in our old age, +to learn to plough like oxen. We understand how to use our guns and +sabres, but we are not handy with scythe and sickle, and must we be +mocked at by peasants? Lead us into the enemy's country, where behind +every shrub lurks an ambush; but, for pity's sake, sire, do not leave us +here among your peasantry. Send us into the field against idolaters, but +do not leave us here to be cursed when we ask anything; cursed when we +strike them; cursed if we only look at them. Shut us up in a beleaguered +fortress, where we have only the flesh of fallen horses to eat--must +season it with powder instead of salt; and for drink have only the water +that runs down the walls; but do not condemn us to this forsaken spot on +earth, to labor for our bit of bread, envied by a set of thieving, +treacherous peasants. Bury us under the corpses of our brothers on the +field of battle, but do not bury us alive in the military colony. Curses +on him who first thought of it!" + +"'Araktseieff here commanded the trumpeter to put an end to the man's +speech, but now peasants and soldiers began to make such an uproar that +the trumpet notes were deadened. Tlia' (the Czar's coachman), 'without +awaiting orders, turned the horses' heads, and we drove back the way by +which we had come, but avoiding the hideous arch. Thus ended my +triumphal progress. When I reached home I read in the papers the glowing +accounts of the ovations I had received. The red sky had truly betokened +storm.' This is what my poor father told me." + +"It is indeed sad for so mighty a Czar, when his people _will_ not be +happy, whom he would fain make so. My father's people were happier. Why +does not your father go to them? They are his subjects." + +"Bethsaba! What a capital idea! Don't let me forget it. I will propose +it to him as soon as ever he is in better spirits. Just now he is so +depressed. After he had said good-bye he came back to me again. 'I +forgot to ask how you were?' 'That proves,' said I, 'that I must be +looking well.' Looking anxiously at me, he asked if my face was always +as red as then; and I, laughing, said 'Yes. But why are you so anxious? +Does not the good God know how you love me; and are you not the +anointed, the chosen one of Him to whom you pray for my recovery to +health?' 'Yes, He knows,' he answered, gloomily, 'that I love you. But +was not King David also His anointed, chosen servant? And did not the +king sing all night through his despairing, penitential Psalm, and yet +his child was taken from him, in punishment of his sin with Bathsheba?'" + +"Who was that Bathsheba?" broke in the king's daughter. "It can only be +another form for Bethsaba. Was there really any one who bore that name +before me? I have hitherto searched in vain to find a namesake in +society or in the Calendar. Never have I been able to find one. My +godmother, Duchess Korynthia, who named me so at my christening--up to +my sixth year I was a heathen--in answer to my question why I could not +find it in any Calendar, told me it was another name for Elizabeth, and +that St. Elizabeth's day was my name-day; and they give me presents on +that day. And now the Czar has told you that there really was a +Bathsheba. Who was she?" + +"I do not know any more than you. I have never been taught anything +about her, although I am curious to know. I asked old Helena, and got +from her that Bathsheba was St. David's wife; but that was all she knew, +for only the priests are allowed to read the Bible. On that account it +is written in Bulgarian." + +"But why, then, should she not be among the saints in the Calendar?" + +"Of course, because she was a Jewess!" + +"But he said she had sinned. Oh, why did my godmother give me the name +of a sinful woman?" And Bethsaba was ready to cry. + +"Bethsaba, dear," said Sophie, "please don't tell anybody what I have +told you about the Czar's tour and the triumphal arch." + +"But if my godmother asks what we have been talking about?" + +"Tell her something else." + +"What else?" + +"Make up a fib." + +"A fib! How does one do that? I have never done it." + +Sophie Narishkin laughed in great amusement. She had learned to lie and +fib as quite a little child. Instead of "mamma" she had had to say +"madam"; and if her father brought her bonbons to tell people that +"Nicolo" (_la mčre Cicogne_) had brought them. + +What old Helena told her she dared not repeat to "madam"; what she heard +when with "madam" she must not breathe a word of to old Helena; what +either said must not be repeated to the Czar; and what the Czar told her +must be kept from every one. So she had been so inured to lying that she +had once brought her doctor to the verge of despair when, on his trying +to find out her symptoms, her prevarications made a diagnosis next to +impossible. How the poor child had rejoiced when at last she found two +beings to whom she might really open her heart, her father and her +friend! + +"So you always tell every one all you know?" she asked Bethsaba. + +"Oh no; although I do not understand the art of lying, if any one thinks +to pump me, or to catch me unawares, I have my own way of being even +with him. I begin to ask so many questions that he or she is only glad +enough to leave me in peace." + +At which they both laughed. The music of fresh young laughter was rarely +heard in that cage. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BETHSABA + + +Princess Ghedimin had accorded her royal god-daughter permission to +visit her friend, Sophie Narishkin, frequently. To one but partially +acquainted with the Princess's secret heart, such intimacy was easily +explained. As appearances forbade her personally from visiting the +child, at least through Bethsaba she could obtain news of her health. + +But to one in possession of the whole truth there was yet another cogent +reason. + +The Czar, that reserved, laconic man, who had secrets from his +ministers, and did not even confess to the priests, was in the habit of +telling this favorite daughter everything. When an ordinary father +confides things to an idolized daughter they are matters of feeling; if +that father be the Czar, what he confides are matters of state. + +Every word the Czar utters to Sophie Narishkin must necessarily concern +the condition of the country. Alexander I.'s words form the basis of +Europe's present and future relations. The softening or hardening of his +heart betokens peace or war. In that heart of his rest the mysteries of +great developments or upsettings of nations. + +And Sophie has no secrets from her bosom friend, Bethsaba. + +"Well, dear child, how did you find your little friend to-day?" asked +the Princess, on Bethsaba's return. + +"She is taking her medicine more regularly; and, I think, it is doing +her good; for I tasted one of her powders one day, and it was very nasty +and bitter." + +"Was she not talking a great deal again? Talking is bad for +convalescents." + +"She told me that she had had a visit from her godfather." + +Bethsaba had so far learned to "fib" that she said "godfather" instead +of "father." + +"Did he stay long with her?" + +"I do not know." + +"Did he tell her anything of interest?" + +"Oh yes; about King David and his wife Bathsheba. Do tell me, what was +Bathsheba's fault?" + +"Bathsheba's fault! What makes you ask me such a question?" + +"Because _he_ spoke about it; and I want to know what it was. Why is no +one called after her? And if she was so wicked, I don't want to bear her +name either. Give me some other." + +"Quiet, silly child! She did nothing wrong." + +"But Sophie's godfather told her that she had committed sin with King +David." + +"It was love, and no sin." + +"Love! What is that?" + +Maria Alexievna Korynthia laughed aloud. + +"Now, am I to tell you what is love? You will know soon enough, child, +when you fall in love yourself." + +"How shall I do that? Is love an evil which attacks people like an +illness, or is it a good thing for which people long?" + +Maria Alexievna Korynthia laughed still louder. + +"Both together!" + +"How does it begin?" + +"When a young man looks deep into your eyes." + +"Into my eyes? I could not endure that; I should die outright." + +"But suppose the young man wanted to make you his wife, and became +engaged to you?" + +"How can all that come about? I cannot imagine it." + +"The young man might begin by sending the girl some special birthday +present." + +"And that would mean that he was in love with her? And if the girl +accepted his present, would it mean that she was in love with him? Oh, +how nice, how delightful! Must the girl make him a present too?" + +"Only her love." + +"Nothing else? Oh, how pretty, how charming! And suppose some other +young man gives us handsomer presents, do we accept them too, and love +him as well?" + +Korynthia clapped her hands with amusement. + +"Yes, of course. But only if one can keep the second lover secret from +the first." + +"No, no. No secret dealings. I would rather confess that I loved another +too. And why not, if love is good, and no crime? For instance, when I +have a husband, may I not tell him that I love strawberries?" + +"Strawberries! Oh yes. That is only eating." + +"May I tell him that I love Sophie Narishkin?" + +"Oh yes. That is only friendship." + +"And would he behead me if he knew my love for dancing?" + +"Of course not." + +"Then if I may love strawberries, dancing, and my friend, why not a +youth, if he be good and handsome?" + +"Oh, precious innocence! Do people never talk about love in your +country?" + +"Never." + +"Are there, then, no youths and maidens?" + +"Of course there are. But in our country, when a young man wants to +marry a girl he settles her price with her father and takes her home. If +she is loving and faithful to him, he buys her costly clothing; if not, +he turns her away and buys himself another wife." + +"That is not the custom here. Here a woman may only love one husband; +this is commanded by our religion!" + +"That is quite different. Why did you not tell me at once that love is +commanded by religion? Oh, I will faithfully follow the dictates of +religion! You do, too, don't you? You love your husband? Do you look +deep into his eyes? I have never noticed it." + +"Ah, child, life is long; and the season of love, we call the honeymoon, +all too short." + +"Then the honeymoon, or month, should be portioned out into minutes, and +minutes into seconds, that each day of one's life should have one such +second." + +"You will soon find the impossibility of that." + +"Now I know that Bathsheba's sin was in not loving the man whom her +religion commanded her to love. Yet what had King David to do with all +that?" + +Yes; Korynthia, too, would fain have known how King David got mixed up +in the Czar's talk. For the chattering girl had so confused her with her +endless, inconsequent questions that she never thought of the prophet's +words of reproof to the king. + +A Russian is reticent beyond all men. None save the Czar dared to allude +to the affair of the triumphal arch. Araktseieff was silent, because he +did not want the fiasco connected with his military-colony scheme to +spread. The detachment of Cossack guards were despatched to Kasan, and +those others who had been present knew how to observe profoundest +silence as to what had taken place. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +KORYNTHIA + + +The young Circassian Princess could not have been in a better school +than that of Princess Ghedimin. + +Korynthia might have served as a type to that Russian naturalist who, +outdoing Darwin, endeavored to prove that women are degenerate cats. In +vain, be it here mentioned, was it sought to soften him so far as to +modify his views into their being a race of ennobled cats. He stuck to +his opinion. The beautiful Korynthia could be coquettish as an Aspasia, +stonily cold as a Diana. This time, however, it was not Diana, but +Aspasia, who changed her lover into Acteon. + + * * * * * + +The men whom she thus distinguished with her favors, like Chevalier +Galban, never succeeded in unravelling the riddle of the lovely sphinx. +Korynthia allowed him to accompany her in hunts, danced with him at +balls, gave him her bouquet to hold when dancing with another man, +laughed at his sallies, made fun of others with him, even kissed him at +parting, the while holding him as far off as a planet its +satellites--and of such satellites she had more than Saturn--each and +all permitted to revolve about her, none to approach her too near. + +Yet when in society she fixed a man with a stony look of a goddess, +acknowledging his bow with the contraction of the lips by which great +ladies express, at once, disdain and reproach, he was the man for whom +her heart was cherishing secret flames. + +No one knew it, for he, thus signalled out, an officer of the guards, +distinguished alike for his genius and his many gay adventures, was +careful to keep to himself that one day a perfumed note was brought him +by a mysterious messenger, and on opening the delicately tinted envelope +he read: "An unknown benefactress, who is interested in your fate, is +ready to pay off all your debts if you will stay away at nights from +Fräulein Ilmarinen's Saturnalia." + +We think we are not mistaken when we take, in connection with the above, +the usurer's speech, who certainly did not volunteer it without good +grounds: "There are certain young, rich, and lovely ladies in St. +Petersburg who are ready to come to the aid of a young officer whom I +could name." + +The young Endymion's reply to the perfumed note was that night to enter +the proscribed Eleusis on the box-seat of Zeneida's sledge. + +Korynthia's hatred of Zeneida was not on account of her husband, but of +Pushkin. Zeneida's position with regard to Prince Ghedimin was only +superficial. The devotion of great nobles to prima donnas is merely a +matter of fashion, and of cutting two ways. "What is allowed to you is +allowed to me!" The things which rankle most in the Princess's mind are +that her rival possesses a finer exotic garden than she does; that she +has finer horses; and that whenever they meet her toilets are +unquestionably triumphant. And they are constantly meeting; for her fame +as an artiste opens all doors to Zeneida. They meet at brilliant balls; +their horses are pitted together on the turf; their carriages are in +juxtaposition at reviews; and the Princess is convinced that all this +luxury is derived from her husband's Siberian silver-mines, which enable +their owner to indulge in the amusement of permitting two women to +outrival each other in the art of squandering. Could she but come out +conqueror in the strife, she could forgive the artist her extravagance; +but never would she forget that she, a Princess, had had to give in to +her even one hair's-breadth. Here was the second ground of her hatred of +Zeneida. + +There was still a third. The moment of weakness, which in her early +youth had made her all his life long an important factor in the life of +the Czar, was forgotten; had been long buried in oblivion. The Czarina +was the object of universal admiration, sympathy, and worship; and she +was seen to be visibly fading before people's eyes. Public opinion, +indeed, became so strong in the matter that it was often a question in +secret societies whether there should not be a repetition of what +occurred in the reign of Peter III. and Catherine II., to make the Czar +prisoner and proclaim Elisabeth reigning Czarina. And, withal, Princess +Ghedimin knew herself to stand nearer to the Czar's heart than did the +Czarina; a silken cord--Sophie Narishkin--held them together. No such +silken cord of union existed for Elisabeth. Alexander's love for her as +a husband had been buried forever in the grave of the last child she had +borne to him. And here, once more, did Korynthia find her detested rival +in her path. + +While the Czar avoided her, he lavished the wealth of his favor upon +Zeneida. The prima donna stood between Czar and Czarina. Both loved and +petted her. They were never together save when Zeneida made a third. +When listening to her singing, reading aloud, or the charm of her +pleasant talk, the imperial couple would forget their mutual +estrangement and draw together; when, on the contrary, the Czarina, +appearing at some court festivity leaning on the Czar's arm, would come +face to face with the Princess, their arms would fall abruptly apart, +and they would turn away from each other. That she knew right well. And, +withal, she must display her favors to those who were indifferent to +her, appear haughty and disdainful to those she would fain have +encouraged, seem affectionate to the husband she hated, be humble to the +man on whom she had a claim, and play the magnanimous protectress to the +rival of whom she was jealous. Jealousy is terrible enough when it has +one head; how much more when it has three! The three heads of her +jealousy were: passion, pride, and remembrance. + +And to her had been intrusted the bringing up of the Circassian king's +daughter! The Princess began her task by giving her at her christening a +name which the world then, and now, can only have condoned for sake of +the psalmist king, David. + +Bethsaba was fortunate in that she united to her inexperience and +innocence a considerable fund of imaginative fancy and the +characteristic cunning of her people. Moreover, she remembered many a +saying of her good mother, whom now she sees but once a year--on +New-year's day, when some forty thousand people assemble to pay +allegiance to the imperial pair in the great Throne Room. There stands +her mother on one of the steps of the throne; but her brow, instead of +wearing a crown, wears furrows. And as often as Bethsaba looks upon her +does she remember that her mother, to whom she may not speak, exchanged +her crown for those furrows, because she stabbed the man who dared to +say to her, "I love you; give me your love in return." + +Then she would begin to ponder over what that "love" could be which had +made it so easy for one to slay and the other to die. At one time it +would seem good and sweet, and one's duty; at another, evil, full of +pain, and, above all, sinful. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE MONSTER + + +Krizsanowski had just ended his report of the St. Petersburg +conference--to which a pale lady had lent most careful attention--when +the duenna, keeping guard, entered hurriedly, and whispered, +"Araktseieff has come." Then as quickly retreated. + +"Oh, heavens!" sighed the pale lady, pressing her hands convulsively to +her bosom. + +"Now be strong as a man," whispered Krizsanowski. "The decisive moment +is at hand!" + +"Can it be that that brings him?" she asked, tremblingly. + +"Not a doubt of it. Look well to your women, for he brings an arch spy +with him. Handsome and dangerous with the sex." + +Just then the sound of carriage-wheels was audible in the courtyard +below, amid much noise and the harsh tones of a man's voice. + +"Make haste away! The Grand Duke is coming!" the pale lady whispered to +Krizsanowski. + +He, rising, took her hand in his. + +Again the duenna appeared, this time rushing in, and saying, +breathlessly: + +"The Grand Duke is back from the manoeuvres. Just as they drove in at the +gate one of the horses stumbled, the outrider was thrown, and the Grand +Duke's pipe was so jolted that it broke one of his front teeth. He is +wild with rage." + +"Alas!" exclaimed the lady, and was hastening out. Krizsanowski held her +back. + +"You would do well just now to keep out of his way." + +"On the contrary, it is just now that I must hurry to him," she +answered, freeing herself from Krizsanowski's hold. "But you hasten away +from here, that no one sees you." + +"Well, then, be strong as a woman," he murmured, and disappeared. + +Yet it was so difficult to disappear. Krizsanowski was in the palace of +Belvedere, in the royal park of Lazienka, the residence of the Polish +Viceroy, outside Warsaw. The park was surrounded by a great wall, +guarded on all sides by armed soldiers. The castle itself a fortress, +with high bastions and intrenchments, a deep moat round it, and +drawbridge; every outlet was protected by an embrasure, there was no +evading the sentries. Within cannon-range the noble forest-trees had +been cleared away, and turf laid down adorned with tulip-beds. It is +humanly impossible to go or come unperceived. And yet Krizsanowski did +succeed in getting away, although Grand Duke Constantine had had the +Belvedere built to his own plan, and had watched its construction with +his own eyes. It was impossible that there should be any secret passage +unknown to him--and yet, supposing one did exist? The architect had been +a Pole. He was capable of constructing a secret passage by night, and so +building it up again that the Grand Duke had no notion of its existence. +And so it really was. Constantine might have been surprised in his bed +any night were not assassination detestable to a Pole. + +His wife hurried out to meet him. + +The tyrant met her in the armory hall. He was exactly as his +contemporaries have described. Imagination had not run riot. + +The Grand Duke had reason enough to be wroth with his brothers. They had +all inherited their mother's beauty and noble presence. He alone +possessed his father's repulsive features and person. Czar Paul was the +impersonation of ugliness, so hideous in appearance that he would allow +no coin bearing his effigy to be struck throughout the whole course of +his reign. And Constantine was a faithful counterpart of his father. His +enormous horn-shaped nose stood out from his face as if it had no +connection with his forehead; his little sea-green eyes were scarce +visible under his thick, shaggy eyebrows and blinking, almost shut, +eyelids. His hair, beard, eyebrows, and eyelashes were the color of +hemp, his face red as Russia leather. But the most remarkable thing +about him was that the one half of his face was unlike the other, as +though Nature had intended to crown her master-work of ugliness by +joining together two different caricatures. One corner of the mouth was +turned up, the other down; the scars of small-pox, wrinkles, warts, so +completed the disfigurement that the painter who would have perpetuated +the face could only have attempted it in profile. In fact, the artist +who would have painted him full-face would have been guilty of +high-treason. So he is described by contemporary writers. + +His exterior was the true picture of his inner man; his features were +the slaves of his passions. To look at him was to make one shudder or +deride. As was his face, so was his disposition--violent, passionate, +cruel to a degree. He carried a stick always in his hand, and laid it +about him freely. If it be true that his brother, the Czar, spent two +thousand rubles a year in quill pens, it may be guessed what amount +Constantine's yearly budget showed for smashed walking-sticks. The stick +he now held in his hand was broken and split all the way up. No doubt he +had been again laying it impartially about the shoulders of the several +commandants of division. Their morning prayers were blows. + +And there must needs come this accident. And through the confounded +horse stumbling, and the postilions being thrown, the pipe, which was +never out of the Grand Duke's mouth, had hurt his gum and broken him a +tooth. He uttered the most horrible oaths, spitting out blood the while. + +"Cursed hound! As soon as he comes to himself throw him into the water +to rouse him! Bring him here. Miserable rascal! I'll break all his bones +for him!" Just then he became aware of a gentleman advancing towards +him. "Who is that? Chevalier Galban? No, you fools--that hound, I mean; +not this gentleman! What does he want? Araktseieff has come? The devil +take--Humph! It's the barber I want, and not a minister. Can't he see +I've got a broken tooth? Why are you hanging about, Chevalier Galban?" + +At that moment a lady, coming hurriedly up, pushed the Chevalier aside. + +"For Heaven's sake, what has happened to you?" she cried, throwing +herself on Constantine's breast. "My life, my dearest, are you wounded? +What is it?" And she kissed his bleeding lips. + +Over the monster's face dawned a sudden smile--a smile joyous as the +aurora borealis, sad as the depths it was, but it transformed the Grand +Duke's hideous face. It chased away his violence. The wild, rugged +features became more harmonious; the brutal mouth endeavored to assume a +gentle expression. + +"Nothing, nothing, my love!" he replied, in the voice of a lion +caressing its mate. "Now, now, do not cry. Don't be frightened!"--his +voice growing lower and lower. "There is nothing the matter." + +"Oh, but your lips are bleeding. Your tooth is broken." + +And she tried to stanch the blood with her handkerchief. + +"It is not broken clean out," growled Constantine. "Only the crown of +it. And the devil take the crown!" + +"Why, your Highness," put in Galban, beginning to take part in the +conversation, which had assumed so much milder a tone, "do you say, 'May +the devil take the crown'?" + +"At present it is only the crown of my tooth that is under discussion," +returned the Viceroy, emphatically, in somewhat trembling tones. "Go you +to Araktseieff, Chevalier Galban, and rest awhile after the fatigues of +the journey. We shall have time for our talk after dinner. Before I have +eaten and drunk I am in no mood to talk over state matters. Do not spoil +my appetite. _Zdravtvijtjé!_ And as for you, bring that +good-for-nothing here as soon as he has come to himself. I will try a +couple of good boxes on the ear to see if his teeth are set like mine. +The scoundrel! If I had not been holding my pipe pretty firmly between +my teeth the mouth-piece would have pierced through my jugular--" + +"Oh, don't!" stammered his wife, in superstitious dread, laying her +trembling hands over the Grand Duke's mouth. + +He, pressing a kiss upon the palm of her outstretched hand, threw his +arm round her waist, and she, nestling up to him, they retired to their +inner apartments, leaving Chevalier Galban standing in the hall. + +"So you really would grieve if I were brought to you one day dead, run +through the chest to my back?" + +"Oh, do not say such things!" exclaimed she, making the sign of the +cross over the spot to which Constantine pointed. And to smother such +fearful words she shut his mouth with a long, fervent kiss. + +"Child!" murmured the monster, and, taking his wife's head between his +two hands, like a bear hugging the head of a lamb, he looked into her +eyes. "Child! Does it not go against you to kiss my mouth? Do not the +fumes of tobacco disgust you?" + +With an innocent glance, she answered: + +"I suppose every man's mouth emits the same smell of tobacco. I remember +my father's did." + +At these words the monster pressed her with such force to himself as +though he would stifle her in his embrace. + +"Oh, wondrous child! She knows neither the lies nor the flatteries of a +court lady. She does not tell me that my breath is ambrosian. She only +knows that it was so when her father kissed her, and therefore the lips +of every man must be the same! Wife of mine, my father was as hideous as +I am, and his wife loved him as dearly as you do me. And yet he was as +repulsive as I." + +"You cannot tell what you are like." + +"Oh yes, I know. My mother used to tell me. She loved me best of all her +children; spoiled me; allowed me my own way in everything. When my +brothers and sisters used to complain about it, she would say, 'Let him +alone. It is because he has his father's ugliness that I love him so.' +But I am a bad man too, and that my father never was. True, he was +hot-headed, and a blow was as quick as a word with him; but I am savage +by instinct. I am bad because I like it." + +"That is not true. Who says so?" + +"I say it myself. Often when I come home with an inch of cane in my +hand, having broken it on the backs of all who have come in my way, I +feel as if I could break the rest of it on my own head." Here, for the +first time noticing that the broken cane still hung from his wrist by +the strap, he flung it hastily from him. + +"No, no, dear," said his wife, "it is that bad men exasperate you to +wrath. You have to do with rough people who are stupid and cunning, and +that irritates you. If they were good you would treat them kindly." + +The monster stroked his wife's cheeks with caressing hand. + +"And you really believe that I am good? Wonderful! I should have thought +I had done enough to give proof to the contrary. I thought I was a very +devil." + +Meanwhile his wife had coaxed the monster to her dressing-room, and, +sitting him down before the toilet-table, had been busily occupied by +the aid of all manner of brushes and combs in bringing hair and beard +into something like order. Then she bathed his hot, dusty face with +lily water, and stuck court-plaster over the cut on his mouth. + +"Am I a pretty boy now?" said he, with the look of a child who has just +had his face washed. + +"That you always are to me. But to-day you will have strangers dining +with you." + +"True. And, moreover, grand gentlemen from St. Petersburg--from our +Russian Paris. Of course they are accustomed to smart folk, so make me +smart. How do we know whether these Frenchified gentlemen will like your +Polish cookery? You make light of it, after the manner of women-folk, +and then they'll praise it." + +"Do you wish me to appear at the table?" + +"Of course. Why not? Even were the Czar himself my guest! Are you not my +own little wife? Come, answer; are you not my very own little wife?" + +She answered a timid "Yes." + +"I would not advise any one who values sound limbs in his body to +presume to look down upon you, Excellency or no Excellency!" cried the +Viceroy, wrathfully, menacing his own face with his fists in the glass. +"True, this Araktseieff was devoted hand and foot to my father--he +followed him about like a dog. Yet, for all that, I'd rather know him to +be safe on the island which Kotzebue named after him, in the Yellow Sea, +than here." + +"Why, dearest?" asked his wife, as she tied and arranged the Grand +Duke's necktie. + +"Oh, women have nothing to do with state secrets," he answered, as he +strove to twirl the ends of his mustache evenly--an attempt in which all +his efforts were unavailing, for one side would not keep together. Woe +to the private if the Grand Duke's eyes lighted on an ill-waxed +mustache! "I only tell you he may esteem himself a lucky man if I have +no cane at hand during our interview." + +"Oh, don't terrify me, dearest!" + +"I was only joking. May I not have my bit of fun? Well, are we ready +now? I am hungry. I have been working all the morning like any +corporal." + +"We will go, then. Won't you choose out one of your sticks?" + +In every room of the palace where the Grand Duke went, even in his +wife's dressing-room, stood a couple of sticks; and it was as much as +any one's life was worth to move them from where he placed them. + +"A stick? For what? I am not lame." + +"No; but to chastise the culprit, he who ran you into such danger. You +might have been killed. He well deserves to be punished." + +"Does he, really? Well, then, you choose one. What, this good, stout +one? Ah, that won't break so easily. So you feel more for me than for +the man who injured me? Come, that is a rare trait in your sex. Women +usually expend their sympathy on the guilty. Now, then, let us be off." + +Johanna took Constantine's left arm; the stick was in his right hand. In +the armory hall the delinquent, with head bound up and swollen cheeks, +was awaiting sentence. He trembled like a dog when he saw the Grand Duke +in the doorway. + +"You scoundrel!" snorted the monster, swishing his cane threateningly +through the air. "You deserve a good sound hiding! Can you not look out +when you are driving? So you have got badly hurt? There, take these five +rubles--buy yourself doctor's stuff with them. Gallows bird! What, you +limp! Then take the stick to walk with, you good-for-nothing!" + +And he passed on with his wife. + +A monster arm in arm with his good genius! + +"Humph!" growled the Grand Duke. "It is odd. You have discovered the +better self within me; and now it almost seems as if I, too, were +sensible of it." + +The two gentlemen were already in the dining-hall. There were no other +guests. The Viceroy was not particularly hospitable; nor had he much +occasion to exercise that virtue, for the people over whom he ruled came +but seldom to the palace. But they must stand high in favor who were +allowed to sit at his table when his wife, Johanna, was present. + +Araktseieff was one of these privileged ones. The two men had seen each +other shed tears--once only, and no other eye had witnessed it. The +occasion was when first they met after Czar Paul's death. The faithful +follower loved the dead man as fondly as did the monster. Others +breathed a sigh of relief when the grave closed over him. The world was +rid of a burden! The assassins were pardoned; some even attained to high +positions as generals. Two men only never forgave them--Grand Duke +Constantine and Araktseieff. When, at Austerlitz, the French surrounded +General Bennigsen, Constantine charged them like a Berserker, at the +head of a company of Dragoon Guards, and, with the daring of a wild +animal, rescued him from their midst, only to call out later to him, "I +have saved your life, and you were one of my father's assassins!" It was +this common hatred which enabled him to "suffer" Araktseieff. He +"suffered" him. And that meant a great deal with him. Moreover, +Araktseieff was a minister who could be beaten--be sent away--and yet +who always came back again. + +"_Zdravtazjtye!_" was the Grand Duke's salutation to his guests. "One +can still talk Russian with you, eh? You have not grown into +full-fledged Frenchmen? Kiss my wife's hand!" + +Chevalier Galban carried out this injunction with all a courtier's +grace. Araktseieff, with the unction characteristic of the genuine +Russian peasant, pressing the lady's hand with both of his to his lips, +amid many long-winded compliments, finally ending up with an amorous +sigh. + +"Ah! the sight of this domestic happiness, this 'sweet home,' reminds me +of my own home." + +Johanna alone was unconscious of the deep affront hidden in these words. +But her very unconsciousness incensed the Grand Duke the more; his face +crimsoned with wrath. It was well that he had but now made a present of +his cane, else it would emphatically have expressed on Araktseieff's +back, "My good man, this is not Daimona!" + +"Don't talk bosh!" growled the imperial host; "but toss off a glass of +schnapps in good Russian style. I can't stand your foreign fads and +fashions--French compliments and German maunderings. I never could learn +a foreign language. I dare say you well remember, Araktseieff, the sort +of school-boy I made! My poor tutor! When he used to try to impress on +me to work hard, I would answer him, 'What for? You are always learning +and learning, and are only an usher, after all!'" + +"Better still was the answer your Imperial Highness gave to your +professor of geography: 'I do not learn geography; I make it!'" + +"All very fine. But you see I do not make it." + +"All in good time." + +"Shut up. Here comes the soup; set to work, and don't talk. And keep +silence, gentlemen, while my wife says grace; she does the praying for +me. And now, no serious subjects during dinner. Anecdotes are allowed, +drinking is a duty, swearing is not forbidden; but he who makes a coarse +speech in presence of my wife must straightway make full apology to her. +If you get short commons, I must beg you, in my wife's name, to excuse +it; she was not prepared for guests. That our fare is strictly +national--Russian and Polish--needs no excuse. I cannot abide French +cookery; their names are enough to my ears, let alone the kickshaws +themselves to my digestion! And as for my wife, they are positively +injurious to her!" + +Chevalier Galban had his word to say: + +"Oh, French cooks are swells among us just now. The family 'Robert' are +quite aristocrats in St. Petersburg; it confers nobility to possess one +of them in one's household. His French cook is a greater personage than +the Czar himself; for he makes out the Czar's daily menu, and suffers no +supervision in his domain. He is a more important man than the family +physician, for he rules strong and weak alike. What he refuses to serve +up is unobtainable. M. Robert does what the Polish Senate alone was +empowered to do when the 'niepozwolim' was yet in fashion. If his master +sends word that he desires this or that dish that day at table, M. +Robert meets him with his _liberum veto_, which in French implies, '_Ça +n'existe pas!_' Quite recently Prince Narishkin sent for his cook, that +he might repeat to him by word of mouth his written refusal to prepare a +blanc-mange for the dinner-table." + +"What, did he give an audience to the fellow?" + +"Yes; and M. Robert repeated his refusal verbally. The Prince began +giving him a piece of his mind, when the _chef_, rising on his heels, +said, 'Sir, you forget to whom you are speaking!'" + +"The devil! And what was the end of the story?" + +"Well, the Prince went without his blanc-mange." + +"Ah, ah! That would just suit me. I should be for eating up the cook +instead of his dishes." + +Chevalier Galban was a capital talker; he took the chief burden of the +conversation upon himself. + +"A funny thing happened at St. Petersburg a few days ago, at Prince +Popradoff's, who has a French cook, and a French tutor for the children. +The cook was but so-so; the tutor no great pedagogue. All of a sudden +the cook was taken ill, and confusion reigned. The tutor offered his +services, saying he knew a little about cookery, and he was forthwith +despatched to the kitchen, where he sent up seven excellent dinners. +Meanwhile the sick cook offered to carry on the little prince's tuition, +and he made surprising progress. To make a long story short, both +confessed to have only taken their situations from necessity, and, in +fact, to have changed departments." + +"And the Prince had not found it out? You must tell that story to my +wife, more in detail, when you go into the drawing-room. Let us now +speak of more important things. How was my august brother the Emperor +Alexander, Araktseieff, when you left him?" + +As he named the Czar the Grand Duke had risen, in which action he was +followed by the others. + +"I regret, your Highness, to be unable to give a satisfactory answer to +that question." + +"What is the matter, then, with his Majesty my brother? Eh? Or can you +not speak out before my wife? All right. You do well not to startle her. +You shall tell me when we are alone. And how is her Majesty the Czarina +Elisabeth? Are there any unpleasantnesses between them? If you have no +good news to give, better say nothing before my wife. Do not trouble +her." + +Araktseieff, in the face of this caution, found it wiser to lick his +fingers and say nothing. + +"It's always the case when a man marries too young!" resumed the Grand +Duke, picking his teeth with his two-pronged fork. "I found that out +myself, and had cause to repent it. Well, thank Heaven, that's past! I +had work enough before I could obtain a separation from my first wife. +But we won't talk of that before my wife. After all, it was I who was in +fault; I who was to blame. A woman who could put up with me is as rare +as a comet. And how does the world wag with you, Galban; have you got +caught yet? Who is the unlucky woman who calls you husband? If I were +the Czar I would levy a tax upon all such bachelors as you. The +old-bachelor tax! Lucky for you that I shall never come to the throne." + +"Your Highness! It was an understood thing that we touched upon no +serious subjects at table," observed Araktseieff, deferentially. + +"Yes; you are right. I was infringing the rule. To make amends, let us +empty our glasses to my wife's health." + +The men's three glasses clinked together, then touched the fourth, +extended to them by a white hand, while the fiery Tokay moistened a +delicate red lip. Dinner was over, dessert on the table. The Grand Duke +only took hazelnuts, which he cracked with his teeth. The first three he +laid on Johanna's plate. + +For the first time since she sat down to dinner she spoke, and then but +in a whisper. + +"Oh, please be careful about your teeth. You might break away another +crown!" + +"That may be!" said the Grand Duke, leaning his elbows on the table, and +darting a quick glance from under his bushy eyebrows at Araktseieff, who +understood it. Then Constantine kissed his wife's forehead. + +"Now leave us, darling. Have coffee served on the terrace, and take the +Chevalier with you. He likes to end up dinner with his coffee in French +fashion. While we, like good Poles, will sit over our wine a little +longer." + +On this Johanna, rising, took the Chevalier's arm, and, followed by a +footman carrying the silver coffee equipage, left the dining-hall. + +The two men, left alone, applied themselves to the wine, filling up +their glasses a fourth time with golden Tokay. + +"To the health of my august brother the Czar!" + +They drained their glasses and refilled them. + +"In truth, the Czar stands in sore need of that fervent aspiration!" +quoth Araktseieff, with a deep sigh. + +"What! is he seriously ill, then? What ails him?" + +"He is suffering from the malady hardest to cure--melancholia. All the +doctors' arts are of no avail. For months together the Czar gets no +sleep, save a short, unrefreshing siesta at noon. By night and day he is +tortured by all kinds of fancies. He is weary of life; and what wonder? +Wherever he looks he sees nothing but ruin and decay in all that which +he so painfully built up. The dreams he cherished are dispelled. Every +institution for promoting liberty of thought and action which he called +into life has he been himself compelled, one by one, to annul and +abolish. And he has no spirit or energy left to pull himself together +and devise new schemes. He feels that he has aroused disaffection, and +has not the moral strength to become a tyrant and quell that +disaffection. He knows himself to be surrounded by assassins, and has +not energy to take firm hold of the only weapon which remains to him. +Moreover, his domestic happiness is ruined. Your Imperial Highness knows +the catastrophe. The Czar's spirit is clouded by the weight of religious +depression; he looks upon himself as an irremediable sinner, condemned +alike by God and man. Shudderingly surveying the fatality, he is +hurrying it on. A mental condition such as this must in the end +undermine the strongest constitution. The slightest indisposition might +prove fatal at any moment; and he takes not the slightest care of +himself. He will suffer no physician about him, and keeps his ailments +secret. It is my firm belief that in his heart is the seat of disease, +and that the heart is wounded to death." + +"My poor brother!" muttered the Grand Duke, resting his head on his +hand. "That noble, powerful fellow, by whose side I was at the victory +of Leipsic, when he concluded peace with Napoleon on the island in the +Niemen, and in the triumphal entry into Paris; and in Vienna, at the +Congress; and wherever we went I heard people whisper, 'There he is, +that splendid-looking man beside the deformed one!' Light and shadow; we +were their true exponents." + +"We must be prepared for the worst. The feeble flame which still feeds +that light needs but a breath to extinguish it, and then the whole +country will be given up to most terrible anarchy. The ground is +undermined by countless conspiracies; we are menaced on all sides. Who +can withstand the flood when the gates of heaven are opened? The Czar +has no children. Who is to succeed him?" + +"He whom the Czar appoints." + +"And supposing he appoints no one? It is, indeed, impossible to get him +to do so. The law, he says, speaks plainly enough--it is the Czarevitch +who succeeds the Czar." + +The Grand Duke burst into a loud laugh. He threw himself back in his +chair in his fit of laughter; he laughed till his open jaws disclosed +two rows of teeth like those of a yawning lion. + +"Ha, ha, ha! That's a good one--the Czarevitch! No, my friend, he is +much obliged; he would rather not sit on the throne! You don't catch me +wearing Ivan's diamond crown!" + +"Why not, your Highness?" + +"Because I prefer to see your ribbon across your back than about my +throat!" + +Czar Paul had been strangled by his adjutant's ribbon. + +"What are you thinking of, your Highness?" + +"Of my father--and of my people. I should be a pretty fellow for the St. +Petersburgers! Last year, when my illustrious brother the Czar, thinking +himself in a bad way, was graciously pleased to command my presence, and +I repaired to the capital, Hui! there was a panic! They began to take +steps to appoint me his successor. As soon as I showed my face in the +streets they were cleared in a trice. People took refuge in doorways +rather than salute me. Ah! how they flocked into the churches! The +sacristan had never had so many kopecs in his alms-bag as while I was in +St. Petersburg. The priests almost dragged the angels by the feet out +from heaven in their fervent supplications for the Czar's recovery. They +sketched a caricature of my profile, with my huge nose, at every street +corner, with all manner of slanders beneath it! And when it pleased +Providence to restore my imperial brother so far that he could drive out +again, there were rejoicings. The people thronged round his carriage, +hardly allowing the horses room to plant their feet, and almost buried +him under flowers. And all this to show their hatred to me. Not that +they loved him, but because they dreaded me. You just now said that even +he is surrounded on all sides by assassins; but the difference is that +they would despatch him to heaven, me to hell. They believe they would +find in me the son of my father--a man with iron hand for their iron +necks, as was my sainted father." + +"And that is what they need! The Russian's iron neck only bends to the +hand of iron." + +"Well, let them have it; but Heaven preserve me from them, and them from +me!" + +"But every true man sets his hopes upon your Highness!" + +"Eh! Time enough for that. But why are we talking such folly? Why should +I survive him? I am but eighteen months his junior. Fill your glass. +Long life to my brother his Majesty, the Czar! And what else brings you +hither? We will speak no more of that." + +"I came with a commission from his Imperial Majesty. It is his pleasure +that the succession be now settled. The Czar has no heir." + +"Well, no more have I! But one may be on the way--as you see I have +recently married." + +"So I see; but only left-handed. A morganatic marriage." + +"So far. But as soon as my wife bears me a child I will make her my +legitimate wife." + +"That is not possible to your Highness." + +"Why not?" + +"Because your Highness's first wife, Anna Feodorovna, is still living." + +"But the Synod has granted me a separation, and she has already +renounced the name of Anna Feodorovna and resumed that of Juliana of +Saxe-Coburg; moreover, my fresh marriage was entered upon with the +sanction of the Czar." + +"But it was only a left-handed marriage." + +"Then we will convert it into a right-handed one." + +"That is impossible. In the State Archives is a ukase of Czar Alexander +to the effect that _only women descending from reigning families may be +raised to the imperial throne_, and the descendants of those who are not +of royal birth may not inherit the throne." + +"Then when I--which Heaven forbid--come to the throne I will promulgate +another ukase annulling that one." + +"But there is a further obstacle, which not even the Czar's ukase can +overcome. Your Highness is aware that _a woman may not ascend the +imperial throne unless she be of the Orthodox faith_. Does your Highness +believe that Johanna Grudzinska would abjure the Roman Catholic faith +for a crown?" + +"Not for all the crowns in Europe! The heart of that woman is so stanch +that she would scarce change a horse grown old in her service for a +young one! Still less would she change her religion. I would not advise +any one to try it on her." + +"And there is yet another still greater obstacle than even that of +religion--society. Is St. Petersburg society to be exiled from the +Czar's palace? Johanna Grudzinska may be a very angel of light, but she +would by no means make a Czarina whom the Ghedimins, Narishkins, +Trubetzuois, Muravieffs, and whatever all their names may be, would be +willing to acknowledge to stand on a par with themselves, still less to +whom they may pay allegiance." + +"Then let them keep it." + +"What does your Highness mean by that?" + +"A very simple meaning. Let them keep their crown. I keep my wife!" + +"Your Highness does not mean that in earnest?" + +"In thorough earnest and in cold blood," said the Grand Duke, laying his +hand on Araktseieff's arm. "All my life through I had never known what +it was to be loved. I verily believe that the nurse who nursed me +thrashed me for being such a piece of deformity. Not even a dog have I +ever been able to attach to me. Look where I will, I see that every one +shrinks back from me. My very voice, which I try in vain to moderate, is +rough and grating, as if I were perpetually scolding. I have never heard +an endearing epithet since I was out of the nursery. And suddenly Fate, +like a blind hen, casts in my way a pearl of women, a tender soul who +loves me with all her being. She does not say it, she feels it--nay, she +lets me feel it. She lives in me like the very soul and thought of me. +The little good there is in me she awakens and makes me reconciled to +myself. She alone of all the world has brought sunshine into my dark +life. When I am ill she nurses me; when I am violent she pacifies me. +She is my better self! And do you believe that I would renounce her for +any prize the earth could give? That for any throne in the whole world I +would exchange this easy-chair where she has sat nestling up to me? Ah, +what fools you must be to think it!" + +"Your Highness! I have long made the human mind an object of study, and +it is not new to find that love is the most powerful factor we have to +deal with on earth. It is strong, but not lasting. To-day your Highness +may be feeling as you say; but the human heart is as variable as the +sky; and earth, the fatherland, is its antipodes. To-day we may feel as +though we had cast away a whole paradise of bliss in descending from +heaven to earth; to-morrow we discover that our supposed heaven was but +a cloud which glistened in the sun and disappeared, leaving 'not a wrack +behind.' Earth, on the contrary, remains firm beneath our feet; it never +loses its power of gravity. What? Could your Imperial Highness stand by +with folded arms and see the whole monarchy, a prey to the flames, sink +into ashes at your feet, that your head might rest undisturbed on the +lap of the woman you love?" + +"Well, and even then?" + +"Even then? Even in that case I have my clear instructions. Your +Highness is the master of your own future. But the Russian Empire is the +master of its own fate. If the Czarevitch prizes the prosaic domestic +life of a citizen higher than the maintenance of the empire he has +received from his ancestors, I have yet one other proposition to make to +him. His Majesty the Czar will elevate the morganatic wife of the +Czarevitch, Johanna Grudzinska, to the rank of a Polish princess, with +the family name of 'Lovicz'! In perpetual lien he will make over to her +the royal Lovicz domain of Masover Voivodeship upon the Grand Duke +declaring her to be his legitimate wife; her children to be Princes of +Lovicz and heirs to their mother's kingdom, with the rank of Russian +bojars--_in virtue of which Grand Duke Constantine will resign the title +of Czarevitch and the right of succession to the Russian Empire, for +himself and his heirs, forever, in favor of his brother_." + +Constantine struck the table emphatically with his fist. + +"Rather to-day than to-morrow!" + +"I entreat your Highness not to reply too hastily! The sky is ever +changing; not so the earth. I am convinced of the truth of your Imperial +Highness's words; but a short delay cannot be of any vital importance. +Let your Highness try absence from the lady, say, for a week or a month. +Or send her for a time, as in truth her delicate health requires, to Ems +or Carlsbad. Separate yourself from her, so that you are not seeing each +other daily, hourly; that she may not always be your centre, but that +you may both come in contact with other people, other surroundings, +other interests--" + +"And do you suppose that absence, whether longer or shorter, could +estrange us from one another?" + +"It is an old story, yet ever new." + +"That one short month could suffice to cause some new face to blot out +the other from our hearts? You are a fool, man!" + +"It is but giving it a trial." + +"I may do it! But I tell you beforehand that you will find yourself +mistaken. Do not dream for an instant that your plan will be successful. +We do not stumble, like ordinary mortals. For a woman to love me is akin +to madness--it is incredible! But once to love me is never to part from +me! And to expect me to forget that woman is an absurdity. Then, of a +truth, should I be the blind fowl pecking at a grain of oats instead of +the pearl before her. Is the Act of Renunciation ready? Of course you +have brought it with you? Give it here. To-day, to-morrow, or as long as +my life lasts, you will receive from me but the one answer--'I will sign +it.'" + +"Let us agree to delay the decision, your Highness. The subject in +question is no child's play; nor is it the fighting down any youthful +love affair. Let your Imperial Highness weigh well what you are +renouncing--the nineteen crowns of Russia! From Ivan Alexievitch's +crown, inlaid with its nine hundred brilliants, to the simple 'cap' of +Peter the Great; the Novgorod crown with the Deissus, crown of the +Republic, worn by Ruric; the Astrakhan cap of Michael Feodorvitch; the +Siberian hat of Fedor Alexievitch; lastly, the ancient, most sacred +relic, the crown of Monomachos, who dates from legendary times. And +would my illustrious chief renounce all this splendor for the sake of a +'woman's charms'?" + +Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Chevalier +Galban, who appeared in the doorway humming a ballet air. + +"Well, Galban," shouted the Grand Duke, as he appeared, "how do you like +the Belvedere?" + +"Grand!" returned the Chevalier, "and, moreover, an _impregnable +fortress_!" The two last words were directed to Araktseieff, accompanied +with a meaning look. Possibly the Grand Duke intercepted it, for with +sharp intonation he repeated: + +"An impregnable fortress? I did not know that you concerned yourself +with the storming of fortresses among other things." + +"Oh yes," retorted the Chevalier, in a tone equally sarcastic. "I have +had the good-fortune to succeed in storming many a castle hitherto held +to be impregnable." + +Araktseieff here cut short the allegory by interposing, abruptly: + +"I know the castles in the taking of which you have won your +spurs--Château Lafitte and Château Margot!"--both well-known Bordeaux +wines--at which the Grand Duke, with a laugh, rose from the table. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BLIND HEN'S GENUINE PEARL + + +What had Chevalier Galban found so admirable on the terrace of Belvedere +Castle, and what did he find so impregnable there? + +In truth, a lovely view! In the foreground the massed trees of Lazienka +forest, clad in the tender hues of spring's young green, their colors +ranging from the golden green of the maple to the reddish purple of the +sumach, delighted the eye. From amidst the thick foliage arose the zinc +roofs of John Sobieski's ancestral home, Lazienka Castle. Red and green +roofs of luxurious villas peeped out here and there from among the +trees; rows of silvery poplars overtowering the rest marked out +cross-roads. In the distance the ancient capital of Poland, living heart +of a dead body; the terraces of the once royal castle showing where its +gardens had been; on the Gothic towers of St. John's Church the golden +crosses glistening. Below the city, the winding Vistula, its islands +ablaze with spring-tide glory. To the right the great Belian forest, +with its ancient Camaldulen Monastery, its walls glowing in the light of +the evening sun; and then, dumb witness to so many an historic event, +the great Wolja plain, where formerly kings were elected. On the +horizon, fast disappearing in the golden haze of evening, the outline of +a castle--Mariemont, whilom residence of Marie Sobieski. + +"A lovely view, is it not?" said Johanna to Chevalier Galban, as, having +reached the highest terrace of Belvedere, they let their eyes wander +round. + +"A magnificent prison," returned the Chevalier. + +Johanna looked in astonishment at him with her large brown eyes, which, +neither dazzling nor enticing, were full of soul. + +"A prison--for whom?" she asked, surprised. + +"For a saint and martyr, who is ready to sacrifice herself for her +nation." + +"And who may this be, and wherein her sacrifice? I do not understand +you." + +"Truly, it is not martyrdom to be tortured with red-hot iron if that +torture be borne in patience; but it is martyrdom to give one's heart to +be tortured in a manner more cruel than human imagination has yet +conceived. And to be torn in pieces by a wild beast is not so ghastly a +death as to kiss and embrace such a monster. Such a sacrifice could only +be conceived by a Polish woman and for the Polish nation!" + +"Either I fail to understand you, or you are laboring under some +mistake," returned Johanna, handing the Chevalier a cup of fragrant +mocha as they seated themselves. + +Chevalier Galban was a practised strategist at such storming operations. +He knew at once where the fortress was weakest. + +"Duchess! wherever the name of the Polish Viceroy is heard, that of +Johanna Grudzinska is named with it; with adoration and affection people +utter it, for she is the guardian angel of all who are oppressed and +afflicted." + +"I know nothing of all this. Here only criminals are punished; and +_such_ punishment I can do nothing to hinder." + +"Perhaps not in words; perhaps only unconsciously. Yet the whole world +knows that Poland's terror has changed under the magic of your +influence. He has sane periods in which he treats his people with +clemency. And for these Poland has to thank you!" + +"Herr Galban! Do you not see that any praise must be repugnant to me +which reflects upon my husband?" + +"Far be it from me in any way to reflect upon the Czarevitch, my master. +He is as nature and circumstances have made him. The ruling of a nation +is no poetry, nor is it a matter of Scriptural teaching; it has its +established laws. Diplomacy is heartless, and a thorough-going statesman +must be heartless likewise. Every one knows that the Czarevitch is a +tyrant to his subjects." + +"But to me he is my husband, to whom I am bound by every law of love and +duty." + +"It is just that which makes my blood boil. I can talk openly to you. I +must confess, when I undertook the mission intrusted me by Araktseieff, +I had conceived a very different idea of you from what I do, now that I +am face to face with you. In the different courts I have visited I have +come across many ladies who have deluded themselves with the belief that +the love of crowned heads is quite another thing from the love of +ordinary mortals. Once their mistake found out, they have been able to +console themselves; and when higher state interests have demanded the +sacrifice of their affections, they have accepted the title of countess +or princess, with its accompanying estate as compensation, and have +survived it." + +"But what analogy is there between their and my position? I was solemnly +married to my husband. At the altar I first placed my hand in his. I +bear his name, and I know he loves me truly." + +"Ah, Princess, you have no conception at present of the heartless nature +of diplomacy! What you say is perfectly true; but you certainly did not +notice that in the marriage ceremony the priest placed the Grand Duke's +left--not his right--hand in yours. This was no treachery, no deception; +it is customary with princes of the blood, and their wives and children +can hold up their heads without shame. But--and here comes in the +infamy--Araktseieff is set upon proclaiming the Grand Duke as the Czar's +successor to the throne, because he is his ideal. But to this end it is +imperative that the Grand Duke should take back his first wife, who is +still living, _and who is a member of a reigning dynasty_; for the +fundamental laws of the empire allow no other woman to ascend the +throne. Do you now see the fate awaiting you?" + +"However hard it be, I will endure it silently." + +"You will be deprived of your husband's name; and as Count Grudzinski +cannot give you back his, you will be made Princess of Lovicz. Can you +not now picture to yourself what your future lot will be?" + +"Patience and resignation!" + +"Did you not notice the cruel smile on Araktseieff's face as, when +kissing your hand, he said, 'The sight of this happiness reminds me _of +mine_'? By that he intended to put you on a par with the woman called +Daimona, who is only his paramour and was a _vivandičre_." + +"I do not feel the intended insult." + +"No, no; it is impossible! When I heard the scheme, I too thought, +'After all, what will it matter? She, like other women, will receive +compensation, and, like them, will--survive it.' But since I have been +brought face to face with those clear, pure eyes, which so faithfully +mirror the noble heart within, I ceased to consult my reasoning powers, +for they counselled me to take myself a hundred miles away and to make +myself believe that I had been dreaming. Since that moment I have been +pondering how--at the risk of my own life--I could save you. It must not +be that such an angel should fall a victim to such devilish intrigues! +It must not be that a Polish woman be forced to see her father's name +and coat of arms tarnished without any one to protect her--without means +of revenge!" + +"What do you mean?" + +"What do I mean? To tell you how you can revenge yourself! You must +anticipate those intriguers, and, in answer to their dishonoring +proposal, say, 'Keep your princedom of Lovicz for high-born courtesans. +I, a Polish noblewoman, will find a husband ready to give me the +protection of his honorable name and whole heart--a true man, who loves +and respects me!'" + +Face, eyes, the Chevalier's dramatic action, all tended to illustrate +his words. It was not difficult for Johanna to divine whom he meant as +the "true man." Not the shadow of a blush tinted her cheek as, with +great composure, she replied: + +"Chevalier Galban, do you see those walls surrounding Belvedere and +Lazienka? Within those walls you are my guest, and you have the right to +do exactly as you please, even to the length of insulting me; but only +within these walls, as my guest. As soon, however, as you are without +them, your immunity ceases. I will confide to no one what you have just +said to me. A Polish woman betrays no one, not even to her husband; she +revenges herself! So, once you have passed without these walls, for this +unpardonable insult I will order my people to give you a sound +thrashing! May I offer you a little more sugar in your coffee?" + +Chevalier Galban burst into a peal of laughter. + +"_Ma foi!_ the fate of war. Out of three assaults, one may come off +conqueror twice and yet be beaten the third time. Thank you, I will take +another piece of sugar." + +Then he strolled out with Johanna into the park, admired her tulip-bed, +and, deferentially taking leave of her, went back to his chief, as +already related. + +"Where did you leave my wife?" the Grand Duke asked, as he rose from +table. + +"I accompanied her into the park. We parted at the Hermitage." + +"Come, Araktseieff, let us go and find her! You take one way; I will +take the other. Whoever first finds her brings her back to Belvedere." + +The Grand Duke was lucky. He was first to find Johanna. She was kneeling +on the grass feeding his pet rabbits; he let himself down clumsily +beside her. + +"Take care!" he said; "the grass is wet with dew; you will take a +chill." + +"It will not hurt me--I am strong." + +"That's a story," he growled, "you are very delicate. I do not know how +to wait the season to send you to Ems, that you may take the baths for +which you are longing." + +"I do not want to go there now." + +"Why not?" + +"I have been thinking it over. You would be unable to leave your post to +go with me; and to be weeks, months, away from you, not ever to see you, +is more than I could bear. I would so much rather stay here. Indeed, I +am quite well." + +"What!" cried the Grand Duke, with a wild outburst of joy. "You love me +so much that you cannot live without me? that you would care for +nothing if you were away from me? Oh, my own true pearl of women!" And +taking up his wife in his strong arms he laughed, caressed, and covered +her with a shower of fiery kisses. "And they would separate me from my +wife! A fine idea, eh? Shall I throw you into this pond?" And he swung +her in his arms like a little child. "Are you afraid that I shall throw +you in? Ha, ha, ha! and do you think I would let them make you Princess +of Lovicz and be parted from you? That I would repay you for your love +and faithfulness with a title, and take another to wife? Are you afraid +of it? Shall I toss you into the pond? Hush!" + +Johanna twined her arms round her husband's neck, kissed him, and +murmured, softly: + +"Were you to dishonor me and chase me from you, I would come back to you +again. Were you to humiliate me from your wife into your mistress or +maid-servant, I would still serve and love you. I cannot do otherwise." + +"Ha, ha, ha! And from such a woman they would have torn me. Hallo! +Araktseieff! This way, man. I've found her." + +When Araktseieff, turning into the winding path, caught sight of the +Grand Duke with Johanna in his arms, he knew what had happened. + +"Tell them," shouted the Czarevitch when he was still at some distance, +and in a voice hoarse with emotion--"tell them that _I do not give up a +wife who loves me for a whole empire that hates me_! When are you and +your Chevalier Galban going back?" + +"With your Imperial Highness's permission, I will stay the night. But +Chevalier Galban has left the castle already, I see from a note he left +for me. He says he was compelled to hasten his departure; the ground +was burning under his feet, for Duchess Johanna had threatened him with +a horsewhipping for a speech which had displeased her." + +"A horsewhipping!" cried the Grand Duke. "What! my Johanna order any one +to be horsewhipped? _Come on my right hand, wife!_" And releasing +Johanna from the embrace in which he still held her, he offered her his +right arm, with face beaming with joy. + +"Go back to those who sent you, my good friend, and tell them that I am +about to wed Princess Lovicz in right-handed marriage. And as she may +not accompany me to St. Petersburg, I will go with her to Ems, with the +Czar's permission. And now get ready your trumpery papers that I have to +sign." + +With these words he turned away, and what he had further to say to +Johanna was inaudible from kisses and laughter. + +That which Krizsanowski had promised in the sitting of the Szojusz +Blagadenztoiga had come about--the incredible fact that a man could +voluntarily resign his succession to the throne of the mightiest empire +in the world, and in such a manner that, did he ever repent, he might +never undo his act. That incredible fact had become not a possibility, +but a thing accomplished. The solution to the riddle was, as Zeneida had +divined at the time, Johanna. For the present, however, none knew of it +save the participators and the trees of the ancient forest about them. + +Ah! what a terrific, world-wide catastrophe was this idyl to bring +about! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE MOST POWERFUL RULER OF THEM ALL + + +While the members of "the green book" were at work on their +wide-spreading plans, those of the Bear's Paw had made others to their +way of thinking. Passing over the military, and turning their backs upon +the league of the aristocrats, they took up a ground of their own, +calling themselves "Napoleonists!" What induced them to choose that +extraordinary name for themselves? + +Well, it is easy enough to make the poor believe their lot to be a hard +one; it was at that time that the Russian Volkslied was written-- + + "My soul I give to God; + My head I give the Czar; + My body beneath my master's feet; + The grave is all I call my own!" + +Within the last four years especially the iron hand of adversity had +pressed heavily on the country. The earth no longer gave back the seed +sown upon it; terrific fires had reduced the large cities to ashes; and +a pestilence, hitherto unknown in the land, had crept over the frontier +and devastated the population. The streams and rivulets had become +floods, carrying away whole towns at a moment's notice; locusts, +caterpillars of a kind and species never seen before, came down in +shoals, tormenting man and beast; great war-ships out at sea sank with +all their men and ammunition on board. + +And all this was Heaven's retribution because the Czar had not gone to +the assistance of the Greeks fighting for their freedom. Against +miracles, counter-miracles alone can be effectual. + +And the present century had produced a miracle in the form of a man: his +name, Napoleon. + +It was all a lie that the English had taken him prisoner at Waterloo! +All a lie that he was being kept in confinement on the island of St. +Helena! He was in hiding, though the whereabouts must not at present be +divulged. Where was that place? Only so much might be known, that it was +somewhere in the neighborhood of Irkutsk. Thence he would come, as soon +as the people's cup of bitterness was filled to the brim, to tread down +the mighty, and free every people under the sun. + +This rumor was extensively circulated everywhere. Among the conspirators +of the Bear's Paw was a plaster-modeller (our "Canova") who, +single-handed, sent out of his workshop over two hundred thousand busts +of Napoleon. These busts were worshipped by the mujiks as if they were +pictures of saints; they took the place of the crucifix to them. He was +the deliverer, before whom the mujik and his family bent the knee; he +would bring them relief from all their troubles. + +Even at the present time these plaster casts are to be seen in many a +Russian peasant's hut: the well-known form, cocked hat, arms crossed +upon the breast, in overcoat or short-waisted military tunic. Forty +years after his death they still awaited his coming. + +Hence the words "Only wait till Napoleon comes!" were a cry which spread +through the land. + +The people only remembered that twelve years before, when Napoleon +really did come, their masters were terribly frightened, and so merciful +to the peasants. How fast they cleared out, leaving their castles as +booty behind! and money then was as plentiful as blackberries. No price +was high enough for corn and oats. And such brilliant promises were +scattered about in all directions. The mujik was led to expect +everything under heaven and earth; but his expectations were never +realized. So let Napoleon come again! + +And to hasten this was the plan of the leader of the Bear's Paw party. + +The 8th of November, according to the Russian calendar, is the Feast of +the Archangel Michael. On that day it is the custom to have great +rejoicings in Isaacsplatz and on the Neva. The whole population of St. +Petersburg, from the highest to the lowest, take part in it. Now when +the throng should be at its thickest, and aristocrat and plebeian well +mixed up together, suddenly at the corner of every street and square +there should arise the cry, "Here comes Napoleon!" And in the midst of +the crowd, borne on the shoulders of the enthusiastic people, should +appear the well-known figure of the Corsican hero, to be represented by +Dobujoff, one of the Bear's Paw community--a man the very image of the +great Napoleon, and an admirable mimic. The rest would follow of itself. +At the words "Napoleon has come" all St. Petersburg would be at their +mercy, and the wave, thus started, would not stop until it reached +Novgorod, where the brotherhood of "Ancient Republic" would at once +swell the tide, overflowing Moscow and all that ventured to oppose it. +They looked upon their plan as sure of success. The people may suffer +themselves to be deprived of freedom, even of bread, but no one may +deprive them of their amusements. With the days set apart as holidays no +power on earth may meddle. The plan of campaign was devised cunningly +enough. Every one having anything to do with "the classes" was carefully +excluded. And one other circumstance was favorable to the audacious +originators. The Neva that year had frozen over in October, a succession +of hard frosts had followed, but no snow, while ordinarily in November +house-roofs were covered a foot deep in snow, which lasted into May. It +would be, therefore, no difficult task to set fire to the city in +various quarters, a thing not usually so possible in the winter in St. +Petersburg as in Moscow, built as it was entirely of wooden houses. With +fire breaking out in ten or twelve places simultaneously the panic would +be complete. + +The Feast of St. Michael was at that time still celebrated in the +Isaacsplatz. In one night, in the vast, usually empty space, a perfect +town had been erected, with entire streets of booths, the principal +booth being the People's Theatre. And what a theatre it was! in which +marionettes acted like real people and fought in real battles! And then +the troops of artists of all kinds, whose patron is not Apollo, but Pan, +who amuse the people, and are not at the beck and call of the rich and +learned, but are to be seen at fairs and in holiday places, and who do +not think it beneath their dignity to come down among the crowd to +collect kopecs after the performance. Then there are the people's +favorites, the Bajazzos, who are not so ambitious as to work for +posterity, but are perfectly content if they can earn to-day their +yesterday's score at the inn, playing the while, so the populace think, +every whit as well as Talma or Macready. They eat tow, draw whole +bundles of rags out of their noses, swallow red-hot coals and sharp +swords, and can scratch their ears with their toes, which is more than +either Sullivan or Kean, or even Dimitriefsky, more celebrated than +either, can do. In one booth is shown the "real original sea-maiden with +a fish's tail, who lives on live fish, and can only say 'Papa,' 'Mama.'" +In another the big drum is being beaten to call attention to the +elephants walking on a tight rope; next door to them are to be seen men +of the woods, with four hands and tusk-like teeth. The giantess is also +on view, under whose arm the tallest man can stand, although she wears +no high heels to her shoes, and, when desired, shows that the calves of +her legs are not wadded. The showman of a panorama describes, in singing +voice to an astonished public, great battles, eruptions of Vesuvius, +storms at sea, and ghastly tales of murders, the faithful representation +of all which is to be seen in his booth for the sum of two kopecs. Then, +how endless are the amusements hidden by no jealous tent! Here a group +of cornet-players, each playing a different note, and so forming a +melody; there a set of gypsies dancing and singing; windmill-like swings +swishing through the air with their delighted occupants; while crowds in +their holiday best glide over the smooth ice in sledges or on skates. +High above all these earthly delights is to be seen a rope slung across +between the tower of St. Isaac's Cathedral to the balcony of the +Admiralty, upon which a tight-rope dancer is to wheel his little son in +a wheelbarrow. + +Wild spirits reign among the crowd! The samovars are inexhaustible with +their supplies of hot tea, and epicures who know how to enjoy life +swallow mountains of sweet ices, and salt cucumbers immediately after. +The people listen to Volkslied singers, and join in with them; while +those who have brought their three-sided balalaikas with them accompany +the voices--no very difficult art, as it is an instrument with only two +strings. + +And it is not only a day for "the masses"; the "classes" are there also +in all their magnificence. True, every precaution has been taken to +prevent "the masses" from encroaching upon their betters. To this end +the Summer Garden is enclosed, and there the world of fashion is to be +seen driving in every variety of equipage, from the barouche to the +national _proledotky_, the owners exhibiting their costly furs and +running Bolognese dogs. + +The frozen Neva, open to all, is alive with thousands and thousands of +sledges, from smart gilded ones with their English thoroughbreds to +those of simple Lapland construction drawn by reindeer, crossing and +recrossing each other on the polished surface of the river. The Northern +Babel is in full force. + +As evening comes on, the terrace of the pavilion is illuminated with +Bengal lights, and huge pitch bonfires spring into flame, showing up the +animated picture of the people's feast in varied coloring. + +After the fireworks three salvoes of cannon from the citadel give the +signal for the bells in all the churches to begin ringing in honor of +St. Michael. + +These three salvoes and ringing of church bells are to serve as a signal +to the conspirators. At the first sound they are to rush forward, armed +with knives and torches, with the cry, "Napoleon is here! Here is +Napoleon!" When, under cover of the noise of the pealing bells, they +have forced a way into the midst of the aristocrats and soldiers, it +will be easy for them, in the universal chaos, to push on to the palace +and murder him of whom the _Song of the Knife_ was written. + +The thing was plain, a foregone conclusion. That afternoon a strong +southwest wind from the sea had sprung up, to the discomfort of many. +True, the St. Petersburger is accustomed, if one fur coat be not +sufficient, to put on two; but the poor performers suffered much damage +from the wind, which blew down their booths and stopped their +performances. The tight-rope dancer dared not venture upon his +neck-breaking exhibition, for the storm would have carried off him and +his son bodily like a couple of flies. Aristocratic ladies in the +enclosure lamented that the wind tore their veils off their bonnets. +Greater still were the lamentations anent the fireworks, for none but +Bengal lights and wheels could succeed on such a night. + +Towards evening the gale rose to a perfect hurricane. Suddenly came the +roar of the cannon from the citadel, and simultaneously the peal of +bells. Three hundred bells at one and the same time! A carillon truly. + +The roar of the cannon deadened the bells. It is the people's habit to +count the salvoes. Three were the signal for the lighting up of the +Bengal lights. + +But the cannon thundered on. + +When the reports had reached twenty-one, people whispered under their +breath, "What! can it be the birth of a princess in the Winter Palace?" + +No. Still the cannons thundered on. + +At the fiftieth report the rumor arose that a successful naval +engagement was being celebrated. + +But still the cannons continued their volley, amid the crash of church +bells. + +When the iron tongue had roared for the hundred and first time, people +began to ask themselves, "Can this be the Czar's birthday?" + +No; not even that. The iron monsters thundered on--102, 103, 104. At the +hundred and fifth time none asked any more what it meant; for the whole +city with one voice sent up a despairing cry, deadening even the crash +of the three hundred bells. + +"It is coming! It is coming!" + +But it was not the approach of Napoleon's army which aroused the voice +of panic, but that of a far mightier lord--the Neva! which, rushing back +upon the city, brings the sea with it, and with foaming, roaring, +resistless waves breaks up the ice of the river, flinging it abroad on +all sides. + +That was the meaning of the incessant firing of cannon from the citadel. + + * * * * * + +When Czar Peter I. first began to put into form his idea of building a +capital in the midst of the Finnish morass, and, to that end, had the +vast forest there standing exterminated, he came upon an old fir-tree, +on whose bark were cut deep lines. "What is the meaning of these lines?" +he asked an old countryman. "_These lines denote the height of the Neva +when it leaves its banks and floods the whole surrounding land._" The +Czar gave orders for tree and peasant to be cut down; but both had +spoken truly. The Neva remained the sworn enemy of the mighty city of +the Czar. + + * * * * * + +Yes. It is coming, rushing on with backward movement; it has left the +river-bed and increases mightily; it is no longer the Neva, but the +sea--the salt sea in all its awful immensity! And once it has gone down, +the walls of palaces and houses, as far as the water has reached, will +be covered with salt. + +The sledgers on the ice were the first to become aware of the extent of +the danger. Those of them who took refuge on the right bank of the river +might esteem themselves lucky, for there the streets were clear; but +those seeking the left side spread mad panic among the unconscious +throng of pleasure-seekers with their cry, "The Neva is coming!" + +The very words sufficed to strike dismay into the hearts of the bravest +and to paralyze the cowardly with terror; for in such danger there is no +way of escape. When the Neva rises it overflows the whole city, and he +who would flee the danger meets it at the next turning. + +Confusion reigned supreme. The crowds of carriages in the railed-in +Summer Garden had but one way of egress, and collision was inevitable; +those which at last forced a passage came into the midst of a maddened +press of people, who carried them along, regardless of the crest upon +the panels and the supercilious lackey on the box. There were for the +time being no princes and no mujiks, only a panic-stricken mob. And +before disentanglement was possible the flood was upon them. + +The first huge wave washed down the booths in Isaacsplatz. The terrified +owners came rushing out of the beer-houses, and, clambering on the tops +of their dismantled booths, shrieked for help. The giantess pushed head +and shoulders out of her tent, frightened to death. Boys dressed like +performing apes flew up their poles; the sea-maiden found her feet, and, +discarding tail, made for dry land. The performing elephant waddled +through the crowd, his roaster on his back; and the wild beasts in the +menagerie roared as if they were in their native forests. At that +instant, as though in mockery of this scene of terror, the red and green +lights on the terrace of the Summer Garden pavilion shone forth, +lighting up the flood in all its horror. The men in charge of the +fireworks were ignorant of what was happening. Only when the festive +peals of bells had died away in distant reverberations did they become +aware of their danger; and hastily putting out their lights, left the +whole city in darkness. For the slippery pavements impeded the +lamp-lighters; nor, indeed, could they have lighted their lamps in the +storm that was raging. Darkness added the final touch of horror to the +scene of danger! Among the terrified refugees were Duchess Ghedimin and +Bethsaba; their carriage, in Russian style, drawn by two horses tandem. +The first horse was wellnigh unmanageable; it was a spirited English +mare, which the Duchess had specially chosen that day to show that her +equipage was superior to Zeneida's. Only she had not attained her aim, +for Fräulein Ilmarinen had not entered an appearance. + +"Drive down one of the side streets," the Duchess said, peremptorily, to +her coachman. + +Easy to command, but not so easy to carry out! The mob surrounded them +on all sides. + +"Get down," she ordered her jäger, "and force a way through the people!" + +The jäger, a gigantic young fellow, a Finlander, seized the foremost +horse by the bridle, and, dealing out blows roundly with his other arm +on the mujiks, thought to steer the carriage in this way through the +crush. All very well; that kind of thing may do with the mujik, who is +accustomed to the lash; but your thoroughbred has noble blood in his +veins, and does not suffer himself to be led by the bridle. Violently +shaking himself loose, the horse dealt the jäger such a blow on the head +that he fell senseless to the ground. + +"Oh, what are we to do now?" asked the Duchess, terror-stricken, +bursting into tears. + +"I know a way," said Bethsaba. "Have the leader led in the saddle." + +"But who would venture to mount it?" asked the Duchess, wringing her +hands. + +"I will!" returned Bethsaba; "I am used to riding." + +"Very well, then," said the Duchess. + +Selfish to the last degree, she never considered that in order to reach +the farthermost horse Bethsaba would have to wade through the icy water +up to her knees, and in her light carriage-wrap expose herself to the +bitter cold of the stormy night, and to the maddened populace, who, in +the darkness and panic, recognized neither lord nor master. Also, in her +emergency, Princess Ghedimin utterly forgot that Bethsaba was, moreover, +a king's daughter, who had not been committed to her care to act as +postilion for her. + +So she merely said, "Very well, then." + +And the girl, throwing off her fur-lined cloak, jumped from the carriage +into the water, ran to the foremost horse, calling it by its name as she +ran; then, stroking its mane with one hand, sprang lightly upon its +back, using the leading-reins for bridle. + +And now they moved on once more. + +With her soft voice saying to the on-pressing crowd, "Dear cousin, +please make way! Heaven be with you!" she effected more than any amount +of violence would have done. The people made way for her, and she +succeeded in guiding the carriage into a side street, clear as yet from +the flying masses. + +But there was a reason which made advance impracticable. The flood was +already ahead of them; and the farther they proceeded the more imminent +grew their danger. The waves were already washing into the carriage; the +Duchess had to take refuge on the coachman's box to keep her feet dry. +There she was so far secure, but Bethsaba was soaked to the skin from +the spray dashed up by the horses' feet, while the water covered her +knees. + +"If only we could get to Nevski Prospect," gasped the Duchess. +"Hurry--hurry on! There is our castle." + +At length they reached it. But what a sight met their eyes! It was as +though they were in the very midst of the Neva, with its fields of ice. +Not water alone was round them, but ice--great icebergs floating on the +black expanse of water. Through the Moika Canal the flood was coming +down upon them. + +"Holy Archangel Michael!" screamed the coachman at the sight, "save us +on this your day!" + +"Don't pray now, but push on the horses," commanded the Duchess, +peremptorily. + +"From this only St. Michael or the devil can save us!" + +"Hold your tongue!" cried the Duchess, giving him a smart blow on the +head. "I trust neither in St. Michael nor the devil, but in my good +horses, which will take me home in safety. Drive on!" + +And the Duchess struck the coachman, the coachman the horses, and the +horses' feet the raging element. All three were furious. The king's +daughter alone prayed: + +"My God!--oh, dear God, send some one to help us!" + +She felt that she could not hold out much longer, that her limbs were +growing numb with cold. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE DEVIL + + +Suddenly a glow of light illumined the dark waves; a red gleam, +reflected on the street of houses, was seen advancing towards them. From +a side street a boat was approaching, with a torch stuck in its bow. +Two men were pulling; a third, boat-hook in hand, was staving off the +floating masses of ice; a fourth was at the rudder. In the middle of the +boat stood a woman, her head and face entirely enveloped in a bashlik, +engaged in covering up a group of children of all ages, distributing +biscuit among them, and soothing their cries for papa and baba (little +Russian children say "baba" instead of mamma). Papa and baba do not take +the children to the fair, but lock up the poor little mites in the +houses before they go out. If any sudden calamity occurs papa and baba +escape. But what becomes of the little ones? Does a fire break out they +are burned to death; a flood, then let Providence send some good-natured +gentry-folk, such as take pleasure in rescuing children through roof or +windows. It is as good sport as wild-duck shooting. So this boat was +filled to overflowing. + +The boatmen were the first to see the desperate position of the carriage +and its occupants, and they rowed towards it. The torch showered sparks +in the high wind, illuminating the face of the youth who, as he stood in +the prow of the boat gliding over the dark waters, looked like some hero +of antiquity. Masses of ice grated under the keel. The young man, +steering dexterously through the ice, reached the carriage. It was but +just in time, for Bethsaba could scarce maintain her seat upon the +horse. Without a second's hesitation he had seized the half-frozen girl, +who clutched with both hands at his arm, and the next instant she was in +the boat. + +Bethsaba looked into the youth's eyes, and in that moment she knew the +exquisite joy of losing one's self in a look. Once before she had met +the fire of those eyes--then they had singed her wings; now her heart +was the victim. + +"Wrap her in this fur cloak," said the lady standing in the middle of +the boat to the young man, and threw her own cloak to the girl, who was +shivering with cold; then going alongside the carriage, held out her +hand to help the lady sitting in it into the boat. As she did so the +bashlik fell back, and Bethsaba recognized the face. It was that of +Zeneida Ilmarinen--the devil! The Duchess also recognized her. + +Like a fury she struck back her enemy's helping hand, crying, in a voice +hoarse with passionate excitement: + +"Away, away! I will not have your help! Rather perish in the flood than +in hell with you!" And, snatching the whip from her coachman's hand, she +administered some smart lashes to the horses, who, madly rearing, +plunged deeper into the foaming waves, already up to their chests. She +would have none of Zeneida's help. + +Bethsaba remained in the boat, trembling, not with cold, but at the +thought that she had fallen into the devil's clutches, who already was +making off with her as his prey. Of course he had given her his own fur +wrap in order to get more sure hold of her. How warm it was! It must +come direct from the lower regions. + +"You will take cold," said the man with the boat-hook to Zeneida. + +"I will row to keep myself warm," she answered; and, taking an oar in +her firm grasp, began rowing vigorously, her chest heaving with the +exertion, as does the devil when hastening off with his prey. Of course +he takes all the little children he can get hold of to hell. The boat +flew like the wind down the dark lanes. + +At length they came to a large garden, the high walls of which kept back +the seething waters. Bethsaba recognized the gilded railings that +surmounted them. It was here the stag had been shot that they were +hunting last spring. The evil spirit was bringing her to his lair. + +The boat pulled up to the very threshold of the castle, for the water +covered the marble steps. But the castle itself was built on such high +ground that it was secure from all inundation. + +The hall was brilliantly lighted, and an army of liveried footmen with +lighted lamps hastened out to receive the party. From one end of the +long ballroom to the other were rows of beds; in the centre of the room +a table spread with food and steaming samovars. A number of beds were +already occupied by children; another group was in the act of being fed +with tea and soup. Bethsaba recognized many well-known faces among the +helpers. They were those of members of the Society of the Green Book, +who had been utilizing the Feast of St. Michael to hold a sitting, for +that is one of the days when the attention of the police is otherwise +engaged. Scarce had the sitting begun when Pushkin had burst in among +them with the alarming news that the Neva had overflowed its banks. + +The common danger at once put politics, new constitutions, and +conspiracy out of their heads. Their one thought was to save those +imperilled. + +In Zeneida's grounds was an immense fish-pond, on which her guests were +wont to hold regattas in the spring. In winter boats and punts were laid +up in the boat-houses. These were got out in all haste, the conspirators +told off to them with oars and boat-hooks, and they were quickly rowed +off in all directions to carry help to the inundated city. Their first +work was to rescue the children out of endangered houses, and those +women who had stayed at home with them. Zeneida placed her castle, staff +of servants, and wardrobe at the disposal of the rescuing party; but +the lion's share of the work fell to her, and she gave herself heart and +soul to it. She herself carried the young Circassian Princess in her +arms into a well-warmed apartment hung with rich tapestries. Bethsaba +had not strength to resist; she suffered herself to be carried like a +baby. Besides, what is the use of resistance to the Prince of Darkness? + +First Zeneida cut away and removed the frozen clothing from Bethsaba's +numbed body--so does the Evil One with his prey! Here the king's +daughter experienced a sensation of surprise, for she was accustomed to +bathe very often with Korynthia, who never failed to admire her form, +and to say to her god-daughter, "How lovely are you!" But Zeneida +instead, with frowning brow, as if angry with her, clothed her rapidly +in a woollen garment, then commenced rubbing her limbs vigorously until +the numbness yielded and a pleasant sense of warmth was infused into her +frame. Then, wrapping her in well-warmed blankets, she laid Bethsaba in +a delicious soft bed and covered her up. Yes, so the Evil One treats his +poor victims before he takes them to the nether regions! + +Then Zeneida brought a steaming drink in a delicate porcelain cup, from +which Bethsaba, taking one sip, felt warmed through as though with fire. +This must certainly be the devil's potion! And having once tasted it she +wanted more, and did not stop until she had emptied the cup. Then her +eyes closed, and, fiercely as she resisted it, sleep overpowered her. In +her dreams the Prince of Darkness led her through fairy-like places +which, narrow at first, widened out farther and farther until they +changed into one great Paradise, where people flew about instead of +walking. Once in her dreams she saw the Evil One gently attending to +her wants and removing her saturated garments. And next morning, when +she awoke, true enough, her coverings had been changed. If that was no +dream, were the other dreams equally true? + +Bethsaba, sitting up in bed, looked about her. Yes; it must be the Evil +One's room. No image of a saint to be seen; only Chinese and Japanese +idols of every form and shape. Most likely images of Beelzebub and +Asmodeus! + +But what most astonished her was to find her own clothes folded on a low +chair by her bedside. How could that be? Last night the Spirit of +Darkness had certainly cut and torn them to shreds; and now here they +were, whole and dry. Certainly he has numberless agents who can work +like magic? Timorously she put on the mysterious clothing, not failing +to ejaculate a "Kyrie eleison!" at each garment, in order to dispel the +power of the Evil One. + +And when thus dressed she tried to find her way out of the room she was +in. Two or three of the rooms she passed through were very unlike those +of her godmother, rich princess as she was. One of these was full of +living birds; another of stuffed animals. Suddenly she heard a +whimpering of children. This must be the place where the Evil Spirit +tortures the little ones he has stolen. Curiosity made her follow the +voices, and advancing she came to a half-open door, where, looking in, +she saw Zeneida occupied in washing, combing, and dressing a group of +tiny children. Some, who were being washed, were whimpering; but others, +already dressed, were chattering, and admiring their pretty, new frocks. +Surely an odd occupation for the Evil One. They were in Zeneida's +bath-room. Bethsaba boldly entered. Curiosity begets courage. + +"Ah, dressed already, little Princess?" said Zeneida. + +"What are you doing to the children?" asked Bethsaba, with desire for +knowledge. + +"As you see, washing and dressing them; one cannot tell where their +mother may be, poor little mites. The flood is rising higher and higher; +the whole city is under water. As long as the danger lasts we must look +after these little ones. Those who dress quickly," continued she, +turning to the children, "may run into the dining-hall, and the +housekeeper will give them some nice soup for breakfast." + +Bethsaba thought she would put the Evil One to the proof. + +"But who hears them say their prayers before their breakfast?" + +"Nobody, dear child; for they are more hungry than devout." + +"But prayer is good," returned the king's daughter. + +"For what?" + +"In order to avert further misfortune from the city." + +"My dear little Princess!" exclaimed Zeneida, "the wind which sends the +Neva over St. Petersburg is called _Auster_, and were the whole twelve +hundred millions of people who inhabit the earth to blow together it +would not avail to blow back the _Auster_!" + +This was a speech worthy of its maker. To liken the efficacy of prayer +to a blowing of breath! Bethsaba now plunged into the extreme of +audacity. She would name the Deity, and surely then the devil, amid +sulphur and brimstone, would strip himself of his seductive exterior and +appear in his conventional form of horns and goat's feet. + +"So you do not believe that God has sent this awful calamity upon +mankind?" + +"No, dear child. For were it God who had sent this visitation upon the +earth the flood would have destroyed the houses of the wicked and not +those of the honest, hard-working people." + +Bethsaba thought, "You must be he, or you would never have dared to +utter such blasphemy." She went further; she wanted to catch the Evil +One in his own net. + +"You have too much to do; may I not help you? If you would let me, I +would wash and dress the children, too. I should like to do it; it is so +amusing." + +"Yes, indeed," said Zeneida, merrily. "Why not? It will give you +something to do; and I, by-the-way, must go and see that we have enough +to eat for all our multitude. I leave you in charge of the nursery." + +So saying she gave up her seat to Bethsaba, and, bidding the many +unwashed little folk to be good, left the bath-room with a smile. +Bethsaba's first care was to make the children all kneel down. Then, +kneeling in their midst, she said the Lord's Prayer with them--"Deliver +us from the Evil One. Amen." + +Now he must be effectually quashed! + +Then she began her task of washing and dressing the little ones. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE STORY OF THE MAN WITH THE GREEN EYES + + +But the small mites were not as good with their new nurse as they had +been with the old one. A look from Zeneida had been enough to still +their moanings and whimperings; but Bethsaba was little more than a +child herself, they were not in the least awed by her. One child set up +the cry, the others following in chorus, "Where is baba? where is pata?" +and she might have gone on forever washing the tears from the little +faces. + +Well, pata and baba she could not give back to them; but she remembered +what her nurses had done when she was a little child and used to cry for +her mamma. They had told her fairy tales. + +"Don't cry! Be good and sensible, and I will tell you the story of _The +Man with the Green Eyes_. It's such a lovely story. Now listen!" + +The children were quiet as mice; they clustered up to Bethsaba, clinging +to her dress, resting their chins on her knees, and listened. + +"A long, long time ago there was a little prince, as little as you are, +Struwelpeter, here at my feet. He had a good papa and a good baba, who +loved him very much. But one day they had to go a long journey, and were +laid in long metal boxes, and the lids were shut down upon them. Then +they were carried out and placed upon two grand gold and silver coaches, +each drawn by six horses, and, amid bands of music, firing of cannons, +and great crowds of people, they were driven away. + +"When the little prince was left alone he asked his Grand Vizier, 'To +what land did my father and mother go?' + +"And the Grand Vizier answered, 'Ah, little prince, to a land far away. +To another world.' + +"'And why did they go to that other world?' + +"'Because it is much better there than in ours!' the vizier explained. + +"Upon which the little king's son asked, 'If that world is so much +better, why did they not take me with them?' + +"'Because you have yet much to work, battle, and suffer in this world +before you will be worthy to reach that other one whither your father +and mother went.' + +"This admonition did not please the little prince at all, and he thought +to himself, 'We'll see. I _will_ get to papa and baba in the other +world, whatever he may say!' + +"And, taking his little gun, he went out into the woods, as if to shoot +birds. There he stayed so long that he was caught in a thunder-shower; +and to avoid getting wet he looked about for a hollow tree to shelter +in. He had found one, and was looking in, when he saw that some one was +already there. Now, Struwelpeter, what would you have done in such a +case?" + +"I should have cried out loud." + +"Well, now, the little king's son did not do that; but, like a man, he +spoke up to the intruder: 'I say, you fellow, this wood is my wood, and +this tree is my tree, and I don't allow you to live in it. But if you +can tell me where that better land is to which papa and baba have gone I +will make you a present of wood and tree, and you shall live in them.' + +"And the stranger in the hollow tree answered, 'Not so, little king's +son! I lived here before this wood existed, and no one has power to +drive me away. You want to know where the better land is? That I can +only tell you when I love you and you love me. Already I love you.' + +"'But I don't love you, naughty man,' said the little prince. + +"'Why not?' asked the wood sprite. + +"'Because you've got _green eyes_.' + +"The stranger's eyes, in truth, gleamed like two green beetles. + +"'Then Heaven be with you!' said the stranger; by which the little +prince knew he was no evil spirit, else he dared not name the holy +place. + +"'I'm going!' returned the little king's son; 'and I will find the +better land without you. I have often heard which way to take.' + +"The little prince had often heard tell that far off, among the rocks, +lived a fierce, bloodthirsty tiger, who had despatched many a huntsman +and goatherd to the other world. He would take him along too. + +"So he went on till he came to the wild beast's den. He knew it by the +many human bones strewn about on the ground. The tiger was in his den; +his growling could be heard without. + +"Now, you obstreperous little man, would you have dared to go into his +den?" + +"Not even if my ball had fallen in!" + +"Well, then, the king's son was more courageous. He shouted into the +den, 'Heh! you tiger, come out! I am the king's son! Bear me at once +across to the better land!' + +"The monster came slowly out of his lair, licking his bloody muzzle and +striking his long tail against his haunches, and preparing to make one +spring on the boy. (Don't cry, little snub-nose!) He did not gobble him +up; for at that instant a gigantic snake darted out of a cleft in the +rock, threw itself round the tiger, and, encircling neck and body, bit +the monster in the throat. The tiger uttered an awful roar, and wrestled +with the snake on the ground. Now began a battle for life and death +between the two animals, until both together they fell down the rocky +precipice. They had killed each other. The prince had to go home to his +palace. + +"On his way home he met a huntsman, his bow and quiver slung on his +back. + +"'That's an odd huntsman who hunts nowadays with bow and arrow,' thought +the little prince, and looked straight into his eyes. It was _the man +with the green eyes_! + +"'So you can't find the way to the better land unless you love me, eh?' +said he, and disappeared as if the earth had swallowed him up. + +"'We'll see,' thought the little prince. 'I heard once that there is a +great sea, and that many people who went on that sea in ships found the +way to that land. Perhaps I may succeed in finding that big sea.' + +"So he commanded his Grand Vizier to fit out a great ship on the Black +Sea for him; and in this they sailed to the country of the +fire-worshippers, which had been the home of the prince's mother. The +voyage out was propitious; but coming back they were caught in a +terrific storm. It thundered and lightened, the sky grew quite dark, and +as the lightning lit it up and the rifts of cloud opened, they could +clearly see in the sky beyond the radiant angel host; and as the +storm-winds made clefts in the sea they could see the sea-nymphs at the +bottom. + +"'At last!' thought the king's son. 'Whether from above or below, I +shall find the way to the better land.' + +"The waves ran so high they had already broken the ship's rudder; the +man at the helm had been washed overboard; the ship was fast running on +to a huge mass of rocks; there was no doubt but that it must inevitably +go to pieces. + +"At that moment the prince saw some one by the steering-gear, a +stranger, who began steering the ship with an old-fashioned helm. + +"'That's an odd sort of man who thinks to steer this great ship with +that old-fashioned gear!' + +"Suddenly the storm ceased; sky and sea quieted down, the ship ran +unharmed past the threatening rocky shore, and reached its homeward +destination in safety. + +"The little prince looked round for the stranger steersman, whom no one +on board knew; but he, with a laugh, said: + +"'You will not find the better land before you get to love me, eh?' + +"And the little king's son, looking still more closely, recognized in +him _the man with the green eyes_; but he disappeared as if the sea had +swallowed him up. + +"And now the little prince began to be very angry. + +"'Can there be no road for me to the better land? Oh yes, there is. I +have heard that many a hero has found it on the battle-field.' + +"So he commanded his Grand Vizier, then and there, to declare war +against the King of the Tartars. + +"And the Grand Vizier, with his army, invaded Tartary; but its king was +very powerful. He let the little prince's army go farther and farther +into the heart of his country, then surrounded them on all sides. + +"The Grand Vizier was frightened. + +"'We are lost, little king's son! The Tartar knows no mercy; he will +either kill us or make us slaves. His army is countless as an army of +locusts.' + +"The little king's son exulted. + +"'Give the signal for attack at once, that it may be the sooner over.' + +"But the Grand Vizier was so frightened that he disguised himself as a +common soldier, and hid himself, not daring to lead on his army. So the +whole army, becoming demoralized, were ready to lay down their arms to +the enemy, when suddenly there appeared at their head an unknown general +in a uniform they had never yet seen. His sword was like a flaming fire +or a serpent. He encouraged the men, and led them against the Tartars; +and scarce had the trumpet sounded for the attack before the King of +Tartary advanced towards the prince, sword in hand, barefoot, in a +raiment of goat's hair, and humbly offered him costly presents, +beseeching peace. 'For,' he said, 'I cannot fight. My soldiers are dying +off by thousands; they fall as they stand, their hands and feet writhing +and convulsed.' + +"And once more the prince recognized _the man with the green eyes_ in +the unknown general. This grieved him greatly. He began to see that, +without his help, never could he find that land where his father and +mother were. Thus he made up his mind to seek out _the man with the +green eyes_ in his hiding-place, and to tell him he loved him. He went +and called him out of the hollow tree. _The man with the green eyes_ had +a garment of tinder, a hat of tinder bound with green mildew; his face +was yellow as wax, his lips blue as mulberries. + +"'Well, dear child, do you love me at last?' he asked the little king's +son. + +"'Yes, yes; I love you. Only show me, at last, the road to the better +land.' + +"'Never fear! I will show it you. But first you must eat one of the +plums from my basket and kiss me.' + +"I must tell you he had a basket in his hand, filled with plums, as +waxen yellow as was his face. The little king's son took a plum and ate +it. + +"'Now, just one kiss!' and he kissed him. + +"'Huh! how cold your lips were!' said the little prince, with a shudder. + +"And by means of that one plum and that kiss the king's son found, what +he had long sought so yearningly, the way to that better land where his +father and mother were awaiting him. He is still there, and sends you +his greetings." + +While she told her story the king's daughter had been busily combing the +fair locks of a little girl, who, with eyes and mouth wide open, took in +every word of the fable. When it came to an end she asked: + +"And what is that other world?" + +"Where good people live; where the sun ever shines and it is perpetual +spring-time; where man labors and every day is the Feast of St. Michael; +where all people are glad and love one another; where none are hungry or +thirsty; and where the children play with the baby angels." + +"Oh, I say," quoth the little fair-haired maid, "if people must not eat +or drink in the better land, I am sure papa and baba won't go there!" + +This set Bethsaba off laughing, as she covered the little speaker with +kisses. Upon which there was a loud clapping of hands from the next +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +"THEN YOU ARE NOT--?" + + +The pretty story-teller had had listeners. + +As the door opened she perceived three well-known faces, those of +Zeneida, Pushkin, her rescuer of the night before, and Jakuskin, the man +at the helm of the boat. The two men were covered with mud; it was plain +to see that they had just come in again from their work of mercy. + +"We were listening to you," said Zeneida. "Your audience were +enchanted." + +"When I was travelling in the Caucasus," said Jakuskin, "I chanced to +hear that very fable. The man with the green eyes is the allegorical +symbol of Caucasian fever, so rife there. The meaning of it is, that +whoever has received the incubation of that fever, whether he be wounded +in battle, mangled by wild beasts, or swallowed up by the sea, will meet +no other death than that prepared for him by the green-eyed spectre!" + +Bethsaba saw Pushkin standing before her. She gazed into those eyes in +which to look out one's very soul must be so sweet, and held out her +hand to him. + +"I have not yet thanked you for having saved my life. You came just in +time. I could not have kept my seat an instant longer." + +"But how could the Duchess have allowed you to be there at all?" asked +Pushkin, in tones of reproach. + +"I begged her to let me do it. I was so sorry for her, for she was so +terrified, and even began to cry, a thing I could not stand. Do you know +whether she reached home safely?" + +"She is perfectly well. I inquired. I assure you that my sole reason for +going expressly to her palace to make inquiries was that I knew your +first thought would be for her. There is nothing the matter with her. +She went off at once last night in her boat to Peterhof, where she is in +safety. She must have passed this very castle; but, of course, her only +reason for not stopping to take you in was because she felt satisfied +that you were in good keeping." + +And Bethsaba saw no irony in the words; for, in truth, she felt quite +happy in the place where she had those eyes to look into. + +"And now I can give you nothing in return for having saved me, for I am +so poor." + +"Like me," returned Pushkin. + +And Zeneida whispered in his ear: + +"Oh, the boundless riches that would come from the union of your +poverty!" + +Bethsaba turned back to her washing apparatus. + +"Please let me go back to my work. Duty before everything!" + +"Blessed be the hands that perform it!" said Pushkin. + +And each word of his was music in Bethsaba's ears. + +"Now I know that I love him," thought she to herself. "I am fully +convinced of that. But does he love me?" + +"We must now leave you," said Pushkin. "I only came to bring you news +from Ghedimin Castle. We must be getting back. The flood is still +rising; the whole of St. Petersburg is under water. There is no end of +work for us to do; but we shall be coming backwards and forwards many +times in the course of the day. I shall have many gifts to lay at your +feet, dear Princess." + +Gifts! Did not her godmother tell her that the Russian youth brings +gifts to his lady-love? So then-- + +"Gifts?" she asked, with naďve joy, an innocent flush upon her pretty +cheeks. "What kind of gifts?" + +"Boatfuls of muddy, ragged children for you to wash and dress." + +The girl laughed and clapped her hands with glee. + +"Oh, that is capital! Do bring them--the more the better! That is the +kind of gift I love." + +The two men, in their sailor's dress, all wet and muddy, hastened off. + +"Pushkin," said Zeneida, accompanying him to the adjoining room, "that +girl is Heaven-sent to you." + +"Since when have you believed in heaven?" + +"Be off with you! You are a goose! What news had you of Ghedimin?" + +Pushkin shrugged his shoulders. + +"He is at home quite well. I saw him through the balcony window, but +could not speak to him, as he did not open it. He is a good sort; +spirited enough, too, when once he is put up to a thing, but with no +self-reliance. He is fond of you, and is really anxious about you; but +he knows that your palace is on sufficiently high ground to be out of +danger, and that you have a host of friends to protect you. He is +hospitable, and is generosity itself, and is certain to subscribe +hundreds of thousands for the relief of the sufferers; yet he does not +offer to take a soul into his own place, for fear of spoiling his +carpets and floors; nor does he send out a cup of soup to them, because +he has no wife to stand by him and encourage him in it. He is even +philanthropic, yet fears to go out in the damp lest he should get +rheumatism. He is an incorporated 'idea,' and he knows it." + +"You are a calumniator! I am convinced that he is ill." + +"He is certainly not ill unto death, or the Duchess would never have +left him behind and gone alone to Peterhof." + +"Don't be in such a hurry! What of the Czar?" + +"He is rowing about everywhere in his boat. Jakuskin, come here! You met +the Czar; tell us about him." + +"Oh, bosh!" returned the other, impatiently. + +"Come, tell. Zeneida likes to hear these things." + +"I have no secrets from her; she knows me through and through, and that +I shrink from nothing. Last night in my boat I twice came upon the Czar; +we were but an arm's-length one from another. The torches of his +bodyguard lit up his figure. He himself was lifting the weeping, raving +people out of their windows--the very attitude for a pistol-shot! I had +mine loaded in my pocket. I drew it out, and, to escape temptation, held +it under water to prevent its going off." + +"Do you see, Jakuskin?" exclaimed Zeneida. + +"Draw no conclusions from that. That I would not shoot him at the moment +that he was helping his people is no proof that I have given up my plan. +A deed of violence at such a time would have raised up all Christendom +against the perpetrator. Let's have no sentiment. I merely let him go +free from well-grounded self-interest. Now I will confess to you what I +had not yet even confided to Pushkin. For the second time, and not by +chance, I met the Czar at the Bear's Paw. Now, the Bear's Paw is in that +quarter of the town which unites one end of Unishkoff Bridge with +Jelagnaja Street, a locality of whose existence St. Petersburg high life +has no idea. And Nevski Prospect, with its noble palaces, leads up into +that labyrinth of squalor and misery. But it is out of the range of the +carriage-drive of the magnates. There the scum of Europe mixes with the +refuse of Asia. And any catastrophe brings the refuse to the top. Our +worthy friends must have been rather unpleasantly surprised by the +Neva's unexpected performance; they had prepared one of another sort. +The rising water washed them out of their cellars into the attics. And +they knew how to howl! When the Czar heard so many clamoring voices he +had his boat turned in their direction. I followed him at a distance, +and saw him himself draw each several man out of the attic windows, and +witnessed their humble subjection to him. I had to cram my fists into my +mouth to prevent my laughter. The select company of the Bear's Paw was +taken off by the Czar to the Winter Palate, and Herr Marat and Company +will have received a cup of 'kvass' broth from the imperial hands and +returned a teeth-chattering 'thanks.' But a very convulsion of laughter +seized me when our friend Dobujoff, got up as Napoleon Bonaparte, +crawled out of the shanty. The Czar exclaimed, _'Diantre! Est-ce-que +vous ętes retourné de Sainte-Hélčne?_' Upon which Napoleon had to +confess that he understood no word of French. Now comes the catastrophe. +Not by hand of man, but by means of a bit of wood. In front of the +Bear's Paw a tall pine staff had been erected, on the summit of which +was stuck a pitch wreath. From this hung a line which had been steeped +in saltpetre, and was evidently intended to have been lighted--probably +as the signal. The masses of ice washing up against it had unsettled the +staff; it began to totter, and must inevitably have crushed both the +Czar and his boat's company had not, fortunately, a man been near who, +perceiving their danger in time, seized the line with powerful grip and +swayed the staff round so that it fell beside the boat instead of upon +it." + +"That man was you!" exclaimed Zeneida. + +"No matter! But this much I see, that a nobleman _cannot_ be a common +murderer. He is too fastidious about time and place. So to a more +favorable opportunity!" + +"One thing more," said Zeneida. "Did the Czar touch, too, at Petrovsky +Garden?" + +"No." + +"All right. I will not detain you any longer." + +The two men hastened down to their boat. Zeneida went back to Bethsaba. +The Princess had by this time dressed all the mujik children. + +"Now, children," said Zeneida, "go prettily, hand in hand, to the +winter garden; there you will get your breakfast, and then you may +play." + +Winter garden! palm grove! What sounds for poor children's ears! + +Then, turning to Bethsaba, she said: + +"Now, dear little Princess, you remain here. Take a good hot bath; it +will do you good after your yesterday's exposure. I will be back in an +hour. There is a bell; ring for all you want." + +Bethsaba's head was all confused. Everything was so new and strange to +her. + +A pleasant sense of fatigue stole over nerves and imagination after the +bath. What a pity that there was no one here to whom she could confide +her thoughts and feelings! It would have been so nice! If only Sophie +were here! Ah, if she were here there would be no further reason for +alarm. Two young girls together are the very essence of heroism! And now +she began to wonder what could have happened to Sophie in this dread +time. Had any one thought to go to her assistance? had she listened to +the alarm signals and thundering cannon with despair in her heart? What +tears she must have shed as she looked out of her windows at the rising +expanse of icy water! Bethsaba shuddered. Her excited fancy pictured her +friend kneeling, with uplifted hands, before her holy images, imploring +help. Would that prayer be answered? Or was it but a faint breath, lost +in the rushing of the _Auster_? + +Folding her hands, she prayed that help might be given to Sophie. +Perhaps the combined prayer of two maidens might have greater efficacy. +What a pity that there was no holy image in the room! She was forced to +shut her eyes, that some Buddhist idol might not think she was +addressing her prayer to him. + +Thus Zeneida, on her return, found her. + +"What, praying again, Princess? This is the time to be up and doing." + +"But what can I do?" + +"First of all, drink down this wine soup that I have brought for you. I +want to see you quite well and strong again, for I want your aid." + +"My aid?" + +"Now sit down and take your breakfast while I unfold my plan." + +Bethsaba trembled. The thought of the dragon in the fairy story struck +her, who first feasts the captured children on almonds and raisins and +then slays them. She could scarce get down her soup. + +"I dare say you know that one-storied house standing in a garden, near +the engineer's buildings, where a young girl and her old servant live?" + +Bethsaba lost not a syllable. + +"According to water-mark measurements that house stands four cubits +lower than this; hence the water which has encroached here to the castle +steps has already flooded the ground floor, and is reaching up to the +windows of the first story, and the water is still rising. But one cubit +more and it will be rushing through the windows in the first story. Now, +if the flood lasts another two or three days, which, unfortunately, is +but too certain, that poor, delicate child will be in despair. Her only +protector dare not go to her help on account of his high position; those +he has sent have gone away without accomplishing their errand, for the +girl is obstinate and mistrustful. She will not trust herself to +strangers, for she dreads meeting the same fate as did Princess +Tarrakonoff. There is therefore no other means of saving her from the +endangered house than for you to come with us, for she loves and trusts +you. On hearing your voice she will readily let herself down from her +balcony into the boat; then we will bring her here, and you can occupy +the same room together while the danger lasts. You will not be alone in +this anxious time, and she will feel comforted in your society; and, the +time of peril happily over, we will drive her back to her home." + +Bethsaba had forgotten her breakfast while Zeneida was speaking; her +eyes opened wider and wider, her cheeks rounded and flushed; she laughed +with tears in her eyes; and as Zeneida finished she jumped up from her +chair, and, placing both hands on Zeneida's shoulders, looked trustfully +into her eyes, as she joyfully said: + +"Oh, then, you are not the devil!" + +Zeneida broke into a peal of laughter. + +"Who told you that I was?" + +"My godmother. But I see now that it was all a lie." + +"It was only a manner of speaking. If one dislikes any one very much, +one says that he or she is a devil." + +"It was on account of the stag that my godmother was so angry with you, +was it not?" + +"Yes; for that." + +"But she need not then have frightened me so by telling me that the +devil looked just like you." + +"Oh, little goose! There is no such thing as a devil. Only that people +like to ascribe their own wicked imaginings to an ideal being, who, in +reality, has nothing to do with the evil within them." + +"But you are a real fairy, then! For you read into my very soul, and how +anxious I was about Sophie, and longing to see her. It was just for that +that I was praying, that my darling little Sophie might be saved and +brought here. And then you come in and bring me, like the message in +the Gospel, the comforting answer: 'Go yourself and fetch her!' And do +you still venture to affirm that there is no good in prayer?" + +"To those who believe it is good," replied Zeneida, kissing the girl's +forehead; upon which the latter, throwing her two arms lovingly round +Fräulein Ilmarinen's neck, said: + +"Let us say 'thou' to each other." + +And they signed the compact with a kiss. Then joyously running to the +table, Bethsaba drank her wine soup almost at a breath. There was a +little left in the glass. + +"That you must drink; I left it for you." + +And the bond was sealed. + +"I am quite ready; let us go," said Bethsaba. + +"Wait just a few minutes. We will let the gentlemen get away first. We +will go out by the garden gate, and take only one man to steer and +another for the boat-hook." + +"Then we will row, won't we? I am accustomed to it, and strong as iron." + +"It would be no use. The boat can only be sculled through the ice, +especially against the current, and that will be done with the +boat-hook." + +"Well, I am still convinced that you are a good fairy, Zeneida. You will +call me Betsi, won't you? And I must tell you that I am not at all +afraid of good spirits. Oh, we have so many at home! Tamara is queen of +them. For if you were not a fairy, how could you know that the flood was +going to last two or three days longer?" + +"There is no magic in that, dear little Betsi, for the barometer hanging +over there against the wall is pointing to continued storms. Moreover, +the city archives tell us that the danger always lasts several days +when a southwest wind causes the Neva to overflow its bank." + +"Well, that certainly is simple enough. So it was no prophecy? But then +you said something else--that that gentleman, Sophie's only protector, +could not go to her help. Now what barometer told you that?" + +"Humph!" Zeneida, pressing her lips together, reflected for a moment, +then said, "Do you know who that illustrious person is?" + +"Of course I do. Why, how often have I met him at Sophie's and have told +him fairy tales! And Sophie has told me everything; things that no one +else knows anything about. But I will tell them to you, for people who +love each other must have no secrets--don't you think so?" + +"Certainly! Well, then, dear child, all this time that illustrious +personage has been unable to go to Sophie, because, since the flooding +of the Greater Neva, it has been necessary for him to show himself +wherever the danger was greatest, in order, by his presence, to +stimulate others to the task of assistance and to insure success. Had +he, instead of this, gone to Sophie, who lives on the Lesser Neva, there +would have been fearful rioting. Do you understand this?" + +"Yes, indeed, I understand too well," returned Bethsaba, sorrowfully. + +"But to-day they do not allow that illustrious personage to show himself +in the inundated streets." + +"Who?" + +"His advisers." + +"Why not?" + +"Because they have discovered a plot against his life." + +"Oh, how sad!" sighed Bethsaba. Then her mind flew to the last link of +her chain of thought: "A plot against the life of the Czar, and known to +Zeneida! From whom could she have obtained the knowledge so quickly? +From those two men; but from which?" + +Timidly approaching Zeneida, and leaning over her shoulder, she +whispered: + +"It was not the younger man of the two, was it, who told you?" + +"No, no," replied Zeneida, to whom the child's whole soul was revealed. +"Fear nothing for him! His hand and heart are clear from it." + +"And you are in it?" asked the girl, touching Zeneida's breast with the +tip of her finger. + +Zeneida was startled by the direct questions. Was it childish curiosity, +or had it a deeper meaning? Bethsaba remarked her surprise. + +"You see, there can be no secrets where love is. I will tell you all I +know, and what hitherto I have told to no one--not even to my godmother, +whom I believe I fear more than I love. But you I love so very, very +much, and that is why I am going to tell what I know, and how awfully +they plot against him. He himself told Sophie. In Petrovsko the +rebellious soldiers and peasants would not allow him to go farther; they +insulted and threatened him to that degree that he had to turn back. Now +these people were ragged and starving, and I can understand their being +angry with him. But what complaint have you against him? You are rich, +beautiful, and fęted. Why, then, are you one of the conspirators?" + +An idea flashed into Zeneida's mind. This child might form the link in +the chain that was still wanting. + +"Come nearer; let us whisper it, that even the walls do not hear. I, +too, love you, and will frankly tell you all I know. I, too, am in the +conspiracy, and play an important part in it." + +"What reason have you?" + +"I am a 'Kalevaine.'" + +"And what is a 'Kalevaine'?" + +"In Soumalain language, that which you are in the Circassian language. A +girl who, when she came into the world, had a home she no longer has, +whose nation, then Soumalain, is now known as Finnish. Doubtless you +remember as clearly as I do the people and places you were among up to +your sixth year, whom you may never look on again, and yet whom you +never can forget?" + +"Oh, it is true." + +"Is it not? Amid all the pomp and splendor the world can give, in the +midst of the most brilliant court festivities, do you not feel a sudden +pang at heart when the thought of your dark native woods flashes across +you; of the horsemen, on their fiery steeds, coursing over the rushing +mountain streams; of the blue mountains in the far distance, and your +ancestral castle, in which, enthroned, your father received the homage +of his vassals?" + +"Oh yes, yes." + +"And even now you remember the legends told you by the murmuring streams +of your native land?" + +"You are right; you are right." + +"Well, then, you see, so it is with me. My recollections, like the +mighty roll of the Imatras, are forever surging in my soul. Just as +little can I forget those moss-covered rocks, the most ancient peak in +the whole world, the Fata Morgana of our Finnish plains; the red-roofed +houses, with low beams across the rooms, from which hung strings of +loaves; the legends of Kalevala, and its people's freedom, of which my +father used so often to tell me. Then I did not understand all he said; +now I recall all and--understand him." + +"I, too, recall; but I do not understand it yet." + +"The Czar has deprived you, as me, of our fatherland; he has deprived +our people of their freedom! And, as through him we became orphaned, +homeless, so he became a father to us in place of our own fathers. For +our little kingdoms he has given us a great one; for our quiet homes, +pomp and splendor. As a man, he has been a father to us; as Czar, a +tyrant. For the one I cannot be ungrateful to him; for the other I +cannot forgive him. So I stand hemmed in by two conflicting duties. As +my adopted father, it is my duty to shield his sensitive heart, to +protect him from the assassin's dagger, from pain and sickness; but at +the same time I am bound to deliver my country from the iron grasp of +the tyrant, to snatch from it my people and their freedom. Do you +understand?" + +"I see you fly before me; but I cannot follow your flight, cannot catch +you up. Tell me, is 'he' too in the conspiracy?" + +Zeneida knew whom she meant by "he." + +"No. He dare not! I will not suffer him to take part in it." + +"Oh, then permit me, too, to remain out of it. Had you told me he was in +it, I must, too, have been." + +"That's right! You shall keep each other out of it. But, all the same, +you must stand by me in one part of the hard duty." + +"Tell me what I must do! I will obey implicitly." + +"Our first thought must be to bring Sophie here, and to acquaint him +whose heart is heavy on her account that he need be anxious no longer." + +"Will you allow me to be the first to go in to Sophie?" + +"You alone; she would not trust any one else." + +And Bethsaba could not have desired greater happiness than to be the one +privileged to step from the boat on to the balcony of the mysterious +house in Petrovsky Garden. The flood had already risen to the balcony, +and she it was who might hasten in to the neglected girl and say, "You +are saved!" + +The poor child was already without provisions or fuel of any +description, for everything in the inundated cellar and dining-room was +spoiled by water. Wrapped in her furs, she sat at the window, breathing +upon it to make a clear space, and gazing with dismay at the huge blocks +of ice floating unimpeded over the wrecked fence. Some, with their sharp +edges, cut through the great trees opposing them as with a saw; others +were tossed lengthwise against their barks, those following hurled upon +them, until suddenly a great silver birch would go down with a crash. +Once the resistance formed by the trees swept down, the house must +follow. A pencil and paper lay prepared upon her writing-table, a +carrier-dove in its cage beside it. They had been brought her by the +Czar, that she might let him know when danger was imminent. + +She was waiting to send off her message until the extreme moment, for +she knew the grave difficulties which surrounded his coming to her +rescue. + +Thus her joy may be imagined on seeing Bethsaba appear on the balcony. + +Seizing her pencil, Sophie wrote, with trembling fingers, "I am saved +and in good hands; have no further anxiety for me!" Then tying her note +on to the carrier-dove's wing, she set it loose. It flew up high in the +air, then disappeared in the direction of the Winter Palace. + +She did not ask where they were taking her, but followed Bethsaba in +good faith. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +GOG AND MAGOG + + +The Czar had not undressed at all that night; but, tired out, had thrown +himself upon his couch, which had no covering but a bear-skin. + +Before sunrise he was up, and, without making a change of dress, went to +the window. It was frosted over; he had to open it to see out. He +quickly closed it again. The sight was terrible! In feverish excitement +he threw on his cloak and hurried out. In the anteroom his physician, +Sir James Wylie, was waiting, who at once accosted him with-- + +"Your Majesty may not go out to-day!" + +"I may not? Who commands me?" + +"I merely _prescribe_, sire--a right which physicians may exercise +towards princes." + +"But there is nothing the matter with me." + +"But there may be. Your health is endangered." + +"That rests in the hands of God." And he passed on. + +In the audience-chamber he found Araktseieff. + +"Your Majesty _cannot_ go out to-day." + +"So you, too, order me, as well as the physician." + +"Your Majesty's life is in danger." + +"Not for the first time. He who protected me yesterday will not fail me +to-day. Be a Christian, and do not treat me like a child who lets +himself be frightened by old women's tales. Remain at your post; I go to +mine." + +Araktseieff knew the Czar, and that opposition only made him more +obstinate; so stood deferentially aside as the Czar strode past him. + +The Czar passed, alone, down the long corridor hung with pictures of the +battles he had fought. At the end of it a little negro groom stood +waiting with a note, which he handed in silence. It was the Czarina's +page, a birthday present to her of long ago. The Czar hurriedly broke +open the note and ran it over, then looked down meditatively. Without a +word he went back to his apartment and took off his cloak. + +The note was from the Czarina: "I am afraid to be alone in the palace. +Please do not leave me now!" + +The words were a command; one which even the Ruler of All the Russias +had no choice but to obey. His wife was afraid! + +Now he is condemned to remain within the palace, like any imprisoned +criminal. + +For the first time for fourteen years his wife had made a request to +him. How could he refuse it? Not only his sense of duty as emperor +impelled him to repair to scenes of distress and danger, but also he was +urged by that mysterious impulse from within, which ever drove him from +one end of his empire to the other, leaving him no rest by night, until +he would rise, get into his carriage, and drive from street to street. +To stay in one place was torture to him. He had but returned this very +week from a journey which led him as far as to the Kirghiz steppes. And +now was he to sit idly at home? His wife had asked it. It is not much +she asks. She does not beg him to come to her in her apartments, to +stay with her, to cheer and comfort her; she only asks him to remain +under the same roof. + +Now he has leisure to pace from one end to the other of his room, to +hearken to the pealing of bells, the roar of the wind, and the splash of +the waves, whose surf dashes up to his windows. Suddenly he utters a +cry--"Where are you, Sophie?" It is well that no one hears him, that he +is alone. In spirit, he is in that solitary house, surrounded by the +waves. His eyes search round the empty rooms where wind and weather +sport unchecked, and, not finding her, he cries, "Sophie! where are +you?" The vision he had called up was even more terrible than the awful +reality of raging nature without. He could better bear to look upon +that. Rushing to the balcony of the palace, he tore open the glass +doors, and gazed down upon the ghastly devastation. The sight was awful +indeed! + +Wide as an ocean bay, the giant river was rolling back its waves upon +Lake Ladoga. Ever and anon from out the misty distance loomed visions +reflected in the surface of the madly rushing waters. + +When Napoleon, watching the fire of Moscow from the Kremlin, saw how the +storm was rolling the sea of flame upon the city, he cried in despair, +"But what wind is this?" So now Alexander, as he watched the waves, +lashed by the furious storm, dash up against his palace, asked, "But +what wind is this?" + +Houses roofless and in ruins; half-naked creatures clinging to their +framework; here, a tiny hand raised in piteous appeal from its mother's +arms; there, a man rowing with a plank, who finds no place to land on. +Every gust of wind, every wave, brings some fresh sight to view. Now +comes the remnant of a menagerie; its cages, chained together, are +being whirled about in eddying circles. A Bengal tiger, who has burst +his bonds, dashes wildly from one cage to another. Some men, clinging to +the bars, dare not climb on to the top for fear of the infuriated +animal. All must perish. Men and beasts shriek and roar in chorus. The +waves dash them pitilessly on. Then comes the fragment of a wooden +bridge wedged in between two icebergs. Upon it there still stands a +carriage, shafts in air, from the interior of which projects a pink +dress. Bridge and carriage float past, a flock of croaking ravens flying +about them. + +Who is sufficient for all these horrors? + +The current swept on, swift as an arrow, the waves playing with their +icy barriers; now building them into pyramids, now tearing them down, +leaving a circling eddy to mark the spot. + +Close by the Winter Palace stands the Admiralty, with its copper roof. +The furious storm, tearing off a portion of this, rolls it up, with +thunderous din, like a sheet of paper, flattens it out again, tosses it +into the air, showering down fragments of it like a pack of cards; then, +finally, rips off the whole remainder of the roof, hurling it into the +principal square. Then follows many thousand casks of flour, sugar, and +spices from the flooded warehouses of the Exchange--the whole winter +store of a great capital a prey to the waves! + +Again another picture. Arrayed in order of battle like a flotilla come a +series of black boats, not originally designed to carry their inmates +over the water, but under the earth. Coffins! The flood had burst the +walls of the military cemetery of Smolenskaja, washed up thousands of +graves, and was now bringing back their occupants to the city, of which +they had long ago taken farewell. The buried warriors were coming to +march past the Czar once more--the hurricane their deafening trumpets, +the waves their kettle-drums! They even bring their memorial chapel with +them, and their marble crosses, which tower in ghostly fashion from out +the icebergs! + +Nor is the fearful cyclorama over yet. The horrors of it are ever +increasing. In the distance looms a three-master, bearing down upon the +city--or, rather, in the cold gray mist it looks the ghost of a +man-of-war. It had broken its moorings at Cronstadt in the gale, and +now, driven before the wind, was coming down upon the city at full +speed! + +At that moment the Czar, forgetful of his dignity, hid his face and +wept, never thinking whether any eyes were upon him. And many eyes were +on him. + +All those whom in the course of the previous night the Czar had rescued +from the tottering houses in the suburbs--all those who, taken unawares +in the tumult of the fair, did not know where to turn, the Czar had +lodged in the western division of the Winter Palace, giving up that +brilliant suite of rooms to the use of the poor and destitute. Such +guests as these the Winter Palace had never harbored before! True, at +New-year it was the custom for some forty thousand guests to assemble in +the Winter Palace; but they swept the floors with silk, and illuminated +the marble halls with their diamonds. Now, however, it was the +show-place for rags and tatters. An exhibition of misery and +destitution! There were collected together all those who form the shady +side of a capital, and of whom the fashionable world have no +conception--an aggregate of bitter want and of shameless depravity. They +who did not dare to creep forth by day from their dark cellars have +given each other rendezvous in the Imperial Palace. The Czar sent them +food and drink, and they spent the night singing the _Knife Song_, +taught them by the frequenters of the Bear's Paw. + +Czar Alexander heard it, and doubtless rejoiced to know his guests were +in such good-humor. They opened their windows, and those in front put +their heads out, and called to the others to tell them what they saw. + +The façade of the Winter Palace had two projecting wings. The refugees +were housed in the west wing. Between that and the east, like the middle +stroke of the capital letter E, stretched the covered balcony from which +the Czar had watched the panorama of destruction. + +On seeing him his guests became mute. + +He was an imposing figure, with expansive forehead bared to the fury of +the storm. As long as he remained impassive his self-control +communicated itself to the spectators. But when they saw him break down +and shed tears, when they saw that the Czar was but a man after all, +they grew furious. Weakness arouses indignation. + +A man, brother to the French republican Marat, seizing his opportunity, +sprang upon the window-sill and shouted to the Czar: + +"Yes, you may cry! Cry for the loss of your fine city! The God of +vengeance has sent this destruction upon us as a penalty for your sins! +Plague, drought, starvation--all have come upon us through you! For you +are deaf to the cry of our glorious brothers the Greeks! Their innocent +blood that has been shed cries out to Heaven for vengeance! You are the +cause of this devastation! Heaven is punishing us for what you have +done!" + +The noisy voices of the people within drowned the concluding words; +their yells outvied the storm. The mutinous speech had stirred up the +already excited people to fury. The refrain of the _Song of the Knife_ +resounded to an accompaniment of infuriated noise and confusion. They +tried to burst open the strong doors communicating with the corridor +leading to the Czar's apartments. + +He, standing on the balcony, was rooted to the spot by a double +terror--behind him the yelling populace clamoring for his blood; before +him the approaching ship. It was one of the largest men-of-war in the +navy. When frozen up in the winter the crew is paid off, and the few men +left in charge had evidently escaped, so that it came along without +guidance of any kind, and was apparently making direct for the Winter +Palace. + +At the sound of raised and fierce voices every window in the central +portion of the palace opened suddenly, displaying a treble row of +bayonets. At one of the windows stood Araktseieff, who shouted in his +cruel, harsh voice to the rebels: + +"Silence, instantly, you cubs of Gog and Magog, or I will have you cast +back into the flood from which your sovereign lord saved you! Ungrateful +savages that ye are!" + +This was adding oil to the flames. + +"Oh, oh, Araktseieff!" roared a thousand throats. "There's the evil +genius!" + +"Come on!" screamed Marat. "Let's just see if your thousand bayonets can +conquer our ten thousand knives! Make a beginning, or we will!" + +The ship came nearer and nearer. + +As it reached within half a cable's length of the Winter Palace, the +Czar perceived a man in the wheel-house turning the wheel. + +"What are you about, man?" he shouted down angrily to him. + +The man knew perfectly what he was about. It was Borbotuseff, a naval +officer and a deserter. How came he on board? No one knew. He steered +straight for the palace, with the one hope of crashing into it, in order +that all within, and he himself, might be buried under it. A red flag +was flying from the mast. + +The struggling crowd and the guards saw nothing of all this; the balcony +gallery cut off their view. + +Now the moment had come to prove which was the stronger, the house of +wood or the house of stone. + +But the current was stronger than either, and instead of the bow of the +ship striking the palace, it came broadside on. It drew so much water +that its keel crashed on to the granite coping of the moat, throwing the +vessel on its side; while, like a knight in a tournament with +outstretched lance, it struck with its masts upon its stony adversary. A +terrific crashing and grinding--two of the masts broke to pieces against +the pillars; the third crashed through one of the windows, shaking the +whole massive structure from foundation to gable, yet the stone remained +conqueror. The ponderous vessel broke in two; the bow half of the wreck +was hurled on to Alexanderplatz; the afterpart, with the helmsman, fell +back into the vortex, and was carried away with the current. + +The concussion was like an earthquake. Of a sudden there was silence. +People, soldiers, even Araktseieff, fell upon their knees. The man upon +the balcony alone remained standing. He had seen something in the air. +It was a dove. + +The dove flew direct to him, hovered for a moment, and then alighted on +his shoulder. + +It was Sophie's carrier-dove. + +Alexander found the letter under its wing, telling him that Sophie was +in good keeping. Then, folding his hands in a prayer of thanksgiving, he +raised them to Heaven. + +But the dove is the sacred and wonder-working bird of Russia. + +As it descended upon the shoulder of the Czar the fury of the people +changed to superstitious worship. In it they saw the embodiment of the +Holy Ghost. He who would not be lost must be converted. It was a miracle +from Heaven. + +Bozse czarja chrani! An old mujik suddenly started the hymn of praise, +and all present joined in it. Araktseieff's bayonets had become +unnecessary. Marat's brother, leaving the rostrum, disappeared among the +multitude. Who could have found him among the ten thousand there +gathered? And even if they had he would have denied his identity. + +The flood lasted two days longer, leaving behind it three thousand +houses totally wrecked and a countless list of dead. + +The people firmly believed that Heaven's judgment had been wrought +because the Czar had not come to the assistance of the Greeks in their +War of Independence. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +UNDER THE PALMS + + +Without, ten degrees of cold, raging storm, flood, devastation, misery, +revolution, scenes of horror. The palms knew nothing of all this. Upon +the great, high elevation, under its glazed roof, reigned perpetual +spring, where huge lamps with ground-glass globes replaced sunshine. +And the tropical world suffered itself to be deceived. King-ferns, +brought hither from the East, forgot that they were not growing in their +native soil, and that they were putting forward leaves, never blossoms. +The soil beneath them was heated with hot-air pipes and enriched by +artificial aid. + +And in this artificial garden of the tropics children were playing who +had forgotten that their fathers and mothers were far away, perhaps not +even caring. Here they neither got blows nor were hungry; but danced +round the "mulberry-bush" and sang. Two beautiful young ladies--wards of +the Queen of the Fairies--looked after them, just as in fairy tales. + +Bethsaba had now a real true fairy tale to tell of her miraculous rescue +from the terrible dangers; the sudden appearance of the handsome knight +in her extremity, how his beautiful eyes, his look of daring, his heroic +stature-- + +Sophie grew quite anxious to see him. + +"You will soon see him, he is sure to come, he promised me he would. +Still it does seem to be a long time before he keeps his word!" + +"He is not, on any account, to know who I am," said Sophie. "It is to be +kept secret here. Our hostess wishes it." + +"Then we will only call you Sophie." + +"It is singular that we three have only one Christian name; neither you, +nor I, nor Zeneida bear our mother's names in addition, as is usual +among us. I cannot understand it." + +"Nor I." + +"Here he comes!" + +"How do you know?" + +"I know his footstep." + +And, in truth, he came. Zeneida brought him in, more wet and muddy than +the time before. His hair dishevelled; his face reddened by the cold +wind. Withal, so handsome! + +Bethsaba had told Sophie that here, too, a conspiracy was on foot; but +that "he" was not in it. Who else, then? Sophie only believes what she +sees. + +"Come, come, Pushkin!" exclaimed Zeneida, with strangely radiant look. +"Relate again, fully, what you have already told me." + +And Pushkin recounted all that had happened at the Winter Palace, of +which he had been an eye-witness, with the enthusiasm of a poet inspired +by the catastrophe. + +The second girl was a stranger to him. Had he known who she was he would +not have described with such poetic warmth the stirring scene when the +Czar stood bareheaded, the storm raging round him, menaced alike by the +fury of people and the fast-approaching vessel. + +She listened tremblingly to his recital, drinking in his every word with +feverish anxiety, the varying expression of his face reflected in hers; +her lips seeming mutely to repeat what he was saying. Shudderingly she +hid her face when the ship collided with the palace! She felt the force +of the shock, and staggered under it. + +When Pushkin went on to tell about the dove--her dove--how it descended +on to the shoulders of her father, the Czar, with what joy the august +ruler had raised his hands to heaven, and how with one voice the hymn of +praise had burst forth from the lips of the rebellious people, the poor, +overwrought girl's nerves could endure no more; with a cry of joy she +threw herself into Bethsaba's arms, laughing and crying hysterically. + +Pushkin, attributing her excitement to the power of his poetic +delineation, was not a little proud of his success. + +"But is all danger over now?" faltered Sophie, venturing to raise her +tearful eyes to the young man's face. + +He, not understanding the question, answered: + +"The danger is not over yet, although the storm is certainly lessening, +and, once lulled, the Neva will return to its bed; but until then much +damage may yet ensue." + +"It was not that I meant; but if he is still in any danger--he, the +Czar!" + +Pushkin was amazed. What interest could this girl, Bethsaba's friend, +feel in the Czar? + +"Danger at the hand of man cannot assail him, for Araktseieff has taken +the most stringent measures for his protection. All those who were given +shelter in the Winter Palace are being transferred to the Admiralty. +Nay; at such a time his very foes, even had he any, would be the first +to protect him." + +"How can that be?" she asked, and waited for Pushkin's answer with the +devout attention with which, in former times, the answers of the Oracle +were received. + +A secret instinct told Pushkin that he must answer in all sincerity. + +"Because the feeling of 'humanity' is stronger than that of 'love of +freedom.' It protects alike the serf when persecuted by the Czar, and +the Czar when persecuted by the serf!" + +The two girls heaved a deep sigh of relief into the air, weighted with +these significant words. + +"You are laying cruel waste in these two hearts," whispered Zeneida in +Pushkin's ear. "You had better go back to your work." + +"And you have not brought me the presents you promised?" asked Bethsaba, +sorrowfully. + +"I had not forgotten them; but from early morning we were busy trying to +make fast the wreck; there must have been some one on board cutting +through our ropes as fast as we threw them. And so I had no time to +think of saving little children." + +"When next you make a promise do not forget it," returned she, in tone +of aggrieved reproach. + +Pushkin could not understand her. Why that tone? How should he +understand it? He promised to come again that evening to bring her good +news, and something besides. + +Neither she nor Zeneida had told him who the other girl was. Zeneida now +took both girls into her boudoir. The time was approaching when she +would be receiving many visitors whom it was not expedient for them to +see. + +The catastrophe offered favorable opportunity to the "Szojusz +Blagadenztoiga" to hold uninterrupted sittings. There was to be a +meeting of "the green book" to-day. + +The two girls managed to find a "green book" for themselves. They +searched about in Zeneida's boudoir until they found Pushkin's poem, +_The Gypsy Girl_. This, of course, they had not read before; for, +according to the dictum of "good" society in Russia, a well-bred girl up +to her fifteenth year may indeed see, but not read, romances. Moreover, +that poem was not to be had in print, only manuscript. Alexander Pushkin +had created quite a distinct calling which had never existed before, +that of transcriber. In every town were men who made a livelihood by +copying out Pushkin's verses, sold, despite the Censor, by the +booksellers. (There are still many houses in which only written copies +of the works of the Russian poet Petösy are to be found.) + +The two girls now eagerly snatched at the forbidden fruit. First +Bethsaba read it to Sophie; then Sophie to Bethsaba. The third time they +read it together as a duet. + +Then they conferred the name of its hero, "Aleko," upon the author. And +when they wanted to speak of him called him only "Aleko." And it +fitted--only the other way about. Aleko had wandered among the gypsies +(gypsy, poet, or bohemian being synonymous); this gypsy or poet had +wandered among princesses. That evening Herr Aleko came, bringing +cheering news. The storm had subsided, and the water had fallen a span; +although it must be some time before it resumed its proper level, for it +stretched away eight versts on either bank. + +("Oh that it may last ever so long!" beat the heart of each maiden, +secretly.) + +He had, moreover, brought something for Bethsaba--a little doll, such as +he had promised her, but not a little muddy doll in rags, but a lovely, +gayly dressed, sweet little doll, made of sugar. There were no others to +be had; all the others had melted. Pushkin expected the girl to laugh at +his offering; but she took the matter seriously, accepted it with +greatest solemnity, placed it in her bosom, and it was evident that she +was not sorry to see Sophie just a tiny bit jealous of her. Pushkin was +not slow to see that he must be careful, so he sought in his pockets +until he found something worth offering. + +"See, fair Sophie"--he did not know her other name--"I have something +for you, too. You showed a special interest in the Czar this morning. +Here is a piece of copper from the vessel that ran into the Winter +Palace." + +Thankfully it was received. The platinum mines of the Ural had never +produced so precious a piece of ore. + +"He can be no conspirator," whispered Sophie to Bethsaba. + +"Decidedly not," whispered Bethsaba back. + +"The storm has quite gone down," said Zeneida. "The bells have left off +ringing. This will be a quieter night than those we have been having of +late. Good-night, Pushkin. If you do not hurry you will find your boat +running aground." + +The girls would not have minded if the water had not gone down so fast. + +Zeneida despatched Pushkin home, and the girls to their beds. She was +responsible for their good health. + +But it was long before they could settle to sleep. They had so much to +say about Aleko. They had made up quite a different ending to the poem +than the real one: the gypsy girl was not to have been faithless, but if +she were, Aleko should have despised her and have found a more faithful +love. The gypsy girl should have implored his pardon on her knees, and +he should have forgiven her, but not have driven her away from him. In a +word, they made Aleko what they fain would have had him to be. + +Zeneida, who slept in the next room, several times admonished them to go +to sleep. Then they would be quiet as mice, the next moment to begin +whispering again. At last her regular breathing proved Sophie, at least, +to have fallen asleep. Bethsaba could not sleep; her heart beat so +violently that, despite the prayers she said, midnight found her still +awake. Suddenly it seemed to her as if the occupant of the next room had +risen, and with light footsteps had gone out into the room beyond. The +night was still. Neither sound of carriage-wheels nor patrol disturbed +the quiet of the inundated streets. From a distant apartment rose a +psalm, sung in a woman's voice, low and sorrowful: + + "In every hour of grief and pain, + To Thee for help I crave; + O Thou to whom none cry in vain, + Be present now to save." + +Who was singing at that late hour? What grief could oppress her in this +house? Bethsaba drew the bedclothes over her head to quiet her +trembling. + + * * * * * + +Three days longer the two girls spent under Zeneida's protecting +care--that is, it was not until then that Princess Ghedimin ventured to +return from Peterhof, or that the slime-covered ground-floor and cellars +of the little dwelling in Petrovsky Garden could be cleansed and +thoroughly aired by old Helenka. The girls meanwhile were living Elysian +days. When Zeneida told them that they could now go to their homes, +Bethsaba sighed: + +"When I came here I thought I was coming to the infernal regions; now I +feel as if I were being turned out of Paradise!" + +They saw Pushkin daily, had talks with him, and delighted in the great, +noble soul which lay like an open book before them. Even earthly joys +have their revelations, awaking super-earthly joy when they cease to be +felt in secret. When the girls were alone Aleko was the sole subject of +their talk. Bethsaba thought she must love Sophie the more for holding +Aleko in such high esteem; yet she had not, even yet, breathed a word to +her friend of her love for him. At first, she had thought, it would be +an easy thing to tell. But the secret of a first love is refractory; it +will not come forth from its concealment. She delayed her confession; +guarding her secret like some hidden treasure; dissembled her love for +him, or, at least, learned to belie her feelings that she might not +betray the happiness that took possession of her at sight of him. Her +blushes she ascribed to headache, though, in reality, her head was +innocent of any such discomfort. + +But at the moment of parting the confession must be made. She would +whisper it to her friend in few words, then run away. + +When their sedan-chairs actually arrived--no carriages could yet be +used--the two friends could scarce make up their minds to part. They had +ever fresh confidences to whisper to each other; they wept and laughed, +and quarrelled for the sake of making it up again. They talked together +in a language which they two only understood; they promised to meet +again very soon; they gave each other the parting kiss, then began to +chatter again. Zeneida watched them attentively. + +At length the declaration must come. With the last, very last, kiss the +bomb must burst. + +"I love Aleko--until death." + +This Sophie whispered into Bethsaba's ear, then ran away. + +Zeneida saw the rosy glow suffusing the cheeks of the departing girl and +the deathly pallor overspreading those of her who remained, as though +the one had stolen the life-glow from the other. Bethsaba stood where +she had left her, white, motionless, with sunken head, and arms hanging +lifeless at her side. + +Zeneida at once divined the secret. She went up to her, but hardly had +she taken the girl's hands in hers when, falling before her, bitterly +weeping, the poor child hid her face in Zeneida's dress. + +"Oh, why did you bring me here?" + +Zeneida raised her. + +"Stand up. Do not cry. He will be yours." + +"What! I take him from her?" + +"Humph! Were it only 'her' you had to take him from-- But do not be +troubled. Love him; you alone deserve his love." + +The poor child shook her head sorrowfully. Now she understood the +meaning of "love," and with it what "jealousy" and "resignation" meant. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +PANACEA + + +Great natural calamities often have a softening effect upon excited +masses. + +The "great power," the people, and the "little master," the Emperor, +made friends again in the general distress. + +The storm of November, 1824, had been a universal calamity. History +knows no other so wide-spreading in its devastating effects. Not only +did it lay St. Petersburg in ruins, but it raged throughout Asia and +inundated the shores of California. Sailors saw the clear sea in +mid-ocean thick with mud and slime; from India to Syria flourishing +towns were laid in the dust by earthquakes; volcanoes burst forth in the +Greek Archipelago; in Germany many springs were dried up. The whole +world was in a state of upheaval. It was no time to think of +revolutions. + +Political secret societies changed themselves into philanthropic union. +Party spirit died out. The poor went unhesitatingly to claim relief +from the rich, and the doors of the rich were ungrudgingly opened to +them. The incitements of the "Irreconcilables" found no fruitful ground. +Prince Ghedimin and Araktseieff vied with each other in their efforts to +relieve the distress of the people. Each impartially scattered his +hundred thousand of rubles abroad: the one forgetting that his aim had +been to free, the other to oppress, the people. The people now were in +need of neither sword nor chains--only of bread. + +Nor were the ladies of St. Petersburg backward in relieving the distress +caused by the inundations. Princess Ghedimin presented her diamonds to +the committee, the sale of which brought them in thirty thousand rubles, +while Zeneida gave a concert at the Exchange for the sufferers, the +tickets for which sold for enormous prices, and which realized forty +thousand rubles. Prince Ghedimin presented his wife with diamonds double +the value of those she had given away. Zeneida received a wreath of +laurel from the _jeunesse dorée_ of St. Petersburg and an ode from +Pushkin. Thus once more had Korynthia lost the game, and her adversary +had triumphed. + +Those days of tribulation had made the Czar more reserved than ever. His +melancholy had dated from the day on which he had witnessed the burning +of Moscow, his capital; and now it had been his fate to witness the ruin +of his second capital. One had been destroyed by fire, the other by +water. Waking and sleeping, the dread visions were before him. + +But the saddest sight to him of all was that pale child's face, to which +nothing brought animation. One day he said to Sir James Wylie: + +"It is vain to try and cure me; my sickness lies within, not without. +Cure Sophie, and I shall be cured." + +The physician was silent. + +"Tell me frankly. Have you no hope?" + +"None." + +"Has your medical skill absolutely no panacea, no remedy to preserve a +precious life to us--no remedy which day by day might arrest Death +hovering on the threshold, and so prolong that dear life from spring to +autumn?" + +"Yes, there is such a remedy, sire! But it does not grow among +health-giving herbs of India. In illnesses such as these the spirits of +the patient are the most important factor. Sorrow, grief, and care +hasten the catastrophe, while cheerfulness, an equable temperament, joy, +and hope delay it. The love of life renews life." + +"Humph! How am I to give her joy, hope, and love of life when I have not +got them myself?" + +A day came which brought joy to the Czar. + +His Governor in the Urals announced to him the discovery of new deposits +of gold and platinum, with promise of abundant mining. He sent a +specimen of the platinum that had been found. A truly valuable +discovery! + +At the same time arrived a report from the Governor of Jekaterinograd, +notifying the discovery in the great desert of a species of beetle which +fed on the exuberant knot-grass (_poligonum_) of those parts, a useless +plant and one impossible to extirpate. The beetle in question, known in +the learned tongue as _Coccus polonorum_, is identical with the +cochineal, and affords the most beautiful purple and pink dye. He sent +the Czar, as a sample, a piece of rose-colored silk dyed with the purple +of the native beetle. + +This was a greater treasure even than gold and platinum; it grows like a +weed, gives no trouble, and will support the inhabitants of those +inhospitable steppes. + +But the third consignment was the most interesting. The Governor of the +Amurs sent from Siberia a cask of wine grown in the Amur country. This +is a still greater treasure than gold or bread, for it implies a +triumph--a triumph in the face of the whole world, which proclaims +Siberia to be a frozen hell! See! this wine contradicts it! It is more +sparkling than champagne, sweeter than Tokay--at least, one must pretend +that it is. Siberia can grow wine! Henceforth every Russian must drink +it. Siberian wine must supplant foreign wines for the tables of the +great; it must compete with Burgundy, the Rhine, and the Hegyalji. To be +exiled to Siberia will no longer count as a punishment; those in search +of fruitful soil will settle there of their own free-will. Siberia can +grow wine! If any one doubts the future of that country, who would argue +with him now? One gives him a glass and fills it. "Try this; this is +Siberian wine!" + +The Czar was as happy as a child! He still had one joy left. + +And he hurried off, on the strength of it, to the Petrowsky Garden +house. He had the platinum, the silk, and the cask of wine brought after +him, thinking that what gladdened him must also gladden Sophie. The poor +child was looking very pale; she was not allowed to go out at all in the +winter; the cold air out-of-doors was rapid poison to her; the heated +air within-doors slow poison. A strange country, where the invalid +cannot even love his home! He hates the sky which kills him and the +earth which keeps him bound. It is the survival of the fittest; if a man +be strong enough to enjoy a winter in Russia he thrives; if not, he +dies. + +In every Russian lady's drawing-room is a special corner fitted up +called the "Altana." + +It is a space surrounded by a little railing grown with ivy and +containing a bower of Southern plants and flowers which, during the long +nine months of winter, thrive and blossom in the artificial light and +warmth of lamps and stove, and make one forget the rigorous weather +outside. + +Alexander had had such a fragrant orange grove fitted up for Sophie when +the house had been put in order for her after the inundation. He had not +been to see her since the court gardener had carried out his +instructions; perhaps it had given her pleasure. + +Alas! nothing gave her pleasure. + +The Czar asked, "What is amiss with you, my darling?" + +"An unspeakable sorrow." + +To cheer her, he showed her the treasures he had brought with him--the +ore, silk, and wine. But her face did not brighten, she did not smile. +To his good news she had but "How nice! how fortunate! Oh, thank you!" +to say. + +"Come, tell me, what is amiss with you? There is something more than +bodily illness; it is mental trouble. Tell me, what is grieving you? To +whom should you tell it if not to me? Who shall place confidence in me +if you do not feel it?" + +Then, throwing her arms round her father's neck, and drawing his head +down to her, Sophie whispered, very low: + +"It is love!" + +Then, drawing back with abrupt movement, she buried her face in her +hands. + +Astonished, the Czar asked, "But where can you have met any one to fall +in love with?" + +"The flood brought us together." + +"And who is the man?" + +"If you speak so angrily I shall not dare to tell you." + +"It is not anger but excitement that made me speak so sharply. He whom +you love is forgiven everything." + +"Really? You do not forbid me to love somebody?" + +"If only he is worthy of you. What is his rank?" + +"An officer of the Body Guard." + +"I will give him a regiment and make him a prince, so that he may ask +you in marriage." + +"Let me kiss you for that! But do not give him anything, father. Let him +remain as he is; I love him for what he is now, and want him always to +remain the same. He is more than a prince, more than a general! Higher +far than they--" + +"Who is it, then?" + +"Well, Aleko." + +"What Aleko?" + +"Oh! do you not know his name? Then stoop down and I will whisper it in +your ear." + +The Czar drew her to him. + +"Would you like to be his wife?" + +For all answer the girl looked at him with eyes opened wide and radiant +expression. + +"Would you like to be his wife?" + +"What else could I desire? Poor little foundling as I am, I should be +happy indeed to have such a prospect. And we would be so happy together. +Aleko would not murder me for my faithlessness. But how can we let him +know? So far, he has not had permission to come here." + +"From this time forth he shall." + +"But who can tell him?" + +"I, myself. I will bring him to you." + +"You are as good a father as in one of Bethsaba's fairy tales." + +"I will see myself to all the preparations, will arrange your dowry, +settle the day, and command the Patriarch of Solowetshk here to +celebrate the marriage." + +"Oh yes, in summer, when the roses are out. My bridal wreath shall be of +real roses." + +"I will have your wedding ornaments made from this nugget of platinum. +And now you really are as happy as I am, are you not?" + +"Oh, happier!" + +"And will you have this pink silk for your wedding-dress?" + +"You have just guessed my wish--that my wedding-dress should be pink. +White makes one look pale, and I am pale enough without that." + +"This wine from the Amur we will drink at your wedding-breakfast." + +"And I too will taste it. We will drink to each other. 'As many drops in +this goblet, so many years our love shall last!' Is not that the +saying?" + +"Then you shall take up your residence on his estate. How strange that I +should have just given him back his confiscated property! He shall have +his ancestral castle put in order for you to live in, and I will come +and visit you constantly." + +Sophie clapped her hands with delight, her pale cheeks aglow. Then +suddenly the light in her eyes died away. + +"But is all this only joking?" + +"Joking? Do I ever joke with you?" + +"That Aleko should pay court to me, that you should give me to him for +wife, that the Patriarch should marry us on a lovely day in the lovely +month of roses. Is it not all a dream?" + +Alexander, instead of answering, took her in his arms and closed her +mouth with kisses. + +Yes, poor child, it is real. The only unreal part of it is that before +those roses shall have blossomed you will be-- + +Alexander commanded Pushkin to his presence that day, and made short +work of the matter. + +"You have caused a young girl to fall in love with you. You must marry +her. Her name is Sophie Narishkin. Wait upon me to-morrow evening at six +o'clock. I will take you to her, that you may formally ask her hand. You +will then visit her daily, and see that you endeavor to cause her no +sorrow. Her life hangs on the slightest thread; that thread is in your +hands. Beware that you are not the cause of her death." + +Pushkin was in a very awkward situation. + +The hand of the Czar's favorite daughter was offered him--to him, the +conspirator, the Constitutionalist, the sworn enemy of the tyrannical +Czar. He was to ask a girl in marriage who was in love with him, whom he +pitied and admired but did not love. That girl's life hung on the hope +of becoming his wife; with the extinction of that hope the feeble spark +of life within her would be extinguished. Merely to breathe "I do not +love you" would suffice to kill her. And what made his position the more +difficult was the circumstance that at Sophie's he would be constantly +meeting that other girl whom he looked upon as his betrothed, Sophie's +only friend, Bethsaba, to whom he had given his whole soul. Two hearts +to be thus stricken and betrayed! + +What bitter punishment for past frivolity brought back upon his own +head! But there was no turning back. We are in Russia, and when the Czar +commands there is no option but to obey. + +The next day Alexander himself took Pushkin to Sophie. The betrothal +took place in his presence. Pushkin was able to convince himself that +the heart intrusted to him was a treasure far above the merits of any +sublunary being. He learned that there can be an ideal bliss infinitely +more sublime than any earthly enjoyment utterly without sensual +passion--a magic of sympathy which is not dependent upon the power of +possession; that spiritual attraction is stronger even than love. It was +to him as though one of those angelic souls already floating heavenward +were drawing him thither in its train. + + * * * * * + +A few weeks later Sir James Wylie said to the Czar: + +"Princess Sophie's health is improving visibly." + +"I have found the panacea!" was the reply. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +THE WEDDING PRESENT + + +As Alexander had said, so it was. His health was in close sympathy with +that of his daughter. With the return of color to her cheeks his spirits +revived. Once more he busied himself with affairs of state. In his study +were whole piles of unsigned papers from various departments and of +letters through the "St. Sophie" post-box. He set to work upon them, and +the mountain of papers was soon hugely diminished. The Sophien-post was +a singular institution of Alexander's. In Czarskoje Zelo was an office +where any one might give in letters to be delivered direct to the Czar. +The official demanded ten rubles a letter, but asked no questions either +as to the writer or its contents, whether of complaint, petition, +accusation, calumniation of those in office, or favorable mention, or +schemes for a new constitution of the empire. One hour later it was in +the Czar's hands were he in St. Petersburg, or was sent after him if he +were travelling. + +The surest sign of his improvement in health and spirits was that he +ceased to tear through the streets at night, and supped on the first +holiday evening with the Czarina, having decided to communicate the +happy tidings to her. Elisabeth was the first to hear it. The Patriarch +himself had only been informed that on the 21st of June he was to be at +the late Czar Peter's residence on Petrowsky Island, where he would find +a young couple waiting to be married. + +Meanwhile, every petition addressed to the Czar's clemency was being +granted. Exiles were allowed to come home, political prisoners released +from prison. + +It was not in vain that Pushkin had sacrificed his love. His tenderness +charmed back to Sophie's lips the smile of happiness which is so +delusively like that of health. And that smile charmed a bright, +cloudless sky over the whole empire. When he came, punctual to the +minute, with his bouquets of flowers, and, with some pretty compliment +about the improved looks of the girl hurrying to meet him, would sit +down beside her and begin telling her the news, Pushkin was making the +happiness of an empire. Or did he ask about her last night's dreams and +tell their meaning; or play cards with her, letting her win and himself +be laughed at; or read poems and romances to her; bring her the first +hothouse fruit or delicate bonbons; watch her somewhat inartistic +attempts at drawing and painting, oft stealing a kiss the while, and +getting his hair pulled for it--then a whole empire was in sunshine! + +This even the unfortunates on the far-off Baikal Lake, who break stones +in Bleiberg mines, experienced; for every kiss pressed on Sophie's brow +the fetters on a pair of hands were loosed. + +The Czar, who purposely came to her late, after Pushkin had gone, always +found her luxuriating in bliss. Her talk would be all of Pushkin, and of +all he had told her. + +Sometimes they talked about politics. Sophie induced Pushkin to confess +what was the exact object of the secret society she had heard about. +And, like an engaged man should, Pushkin candidly told her that what +they wanted was a parliamentary constitution; that among them there was +many a man who could speak as well as the members of the English House +of Commons, and who ought to have the right to be heard. The government +would then find a majority composed of Tartars, Kirghis, Kalmucks, +Jakutes, Bashkir, and Finnish deputies, who would outvote the Russian +revolutionists, and the country would be tranquillized. That parliament +should have the control of the exchequer, so that in the case of a +minister peculating he might be sent about his business, and, at least, +give others the chance to do the same. Freedom of the press was also +necessary, so that they might go to loggerheads among themselves instead +of growling in an undertone. That was what they hoped to arrive at. The +Czar was infinitely amused when he heard of it all, taking it very +differently from what he did when Araktseieff told him the same things. + +People began to think that the good times were coming back. Some ten +years ago they had ventured to talk of constitutional liberty in +presence of the Czar, and the meetings of free masonic lodges were +openly announced in the daily papers. + +The improvement in Sophie's health deceived even the doctors; the bad +symptoms had entirely disappeared. Miracles do happen sometimes! The +power of nature is inexhaustible! Preparations for the wedding began in +earnest. The Czar had the bride's trousseau, including the pink-silk +gown and platinum diadem, sent from Paris, and had the satisfaction of +revelling in Sophie's radiant face on seeing all the lovely things. + +One day the Czar said to Pushkin: + +"My son, if God permits us to live to that happy day, which will also be +a turning-point in my life, what shall I give you for a wedding +present?" + +And Pushkin, falling on his knees, said: + +"Father, on that day give your subjects a constitution." + +The Czar was silent. This gave Pushkin courage to continue. + +"Your Majesty, the whole world is in a state of ferment, and preparing +for eruption, like Vesuvius. The volcanic eruption can be avoided by a +roll of paper inscribed with the single word 'Charta'! Not I alone, but +your whole country, every honest man, every patriot, every one about the +throne, thinks and says the same. Do not grant us immediate freedom, do +not remodel our country on foreign lines; but lead your people +gradually, step by step, towards freedom; suffer the constitution to be +shaped according to the habits and needs of your people. But do away +with serfdom! Banish Araktseieff, who stands like an evil genius between +you and the people. Take the education of the masses out of the hands of +the Sacred Synod, and restore it to Galitzin. Call the notables of the +land to your throne-room, and command them to speak out candidly to you. +Do away with the censorship, and grant permission to every man to +publish his thoughts to the light of day; dismiss the dishonest +stewards, who are robbing you and the country. Annul the military +colonies, which are a very pest of oppression in the land; summon the +old regiments, give them back their standards, unite them in a camp, put +us at their head, and send us to the rescue of our Greek brothers in +arms, who are drowning in a sea of their own blood. You will see what a +nation is capable of when, in possession of freedom herself, she is +fighting for the independence of other nations--how she would rise above +all others! Oh, give us freedom, and we will give you glory!" + +The Czar listened to the end, then said: + +"Rise! I forgive you your audacious words!" + + * * * * * + +Some day later Araktseieff set off, very quietly, for his country +estate, Grusino. It was whispered that, at his own request, he had been +granted a long leave of absence. His departure was emphasized the more +by Prince Ghedimin being chosen as his successor. He was now among the +confidential _entourage_ of the Czar, who might approach him, at any +hour, without being announced. + +More still took place. Magriczki, the most detested member of the +Council of Enlightenment, was dismissed, and younger censors were +appointed instead of the old ones. It was also known that the Russian +Ambassador at the Porte had received instructions to energetically +promote a more humane system of warfare against the Greeks in their War +of Independence. It was also decided to form a camp instantly in the +vicinity of Bender. + +Finally--clear sign of a new epoch--all the regiments of the guards were +recalled from the military colonies and concentrated in St. Petersburg. + +These events filled the apostles of freedom with new hopes. The Secret +Society of the North decided, on these lines, to support the Czar by all +the means in their power, although the leaders of that society were not +misled. Pestel sent word to Ghedimin: "It is all a comedy! They want to +make fools of us; the whole business will only last three months. I +shall stick to my plan!" But the Bear's Paw by degrees lost all its +associates, and the sole use Jakuskin found for his knife at that time +was to pick his teeth with. + +Pushkin, meanwhile, devoted himself completely to his duties as +bridegroom and to versifying. He wrote a charming poem under the title +of _The Spring of Baktshisseraj_, which he read aloud first to Sophie. +And the milder censorship made its publication easy. + +When the Czar was informed that the poem had been submitted to the +Censor--of course such an event had to be notified to the Czar--he said +to Pushkin: + +"I advise you to dedicate your poem to a certain lady." + +"To my betrothed?" + +"No. To the Princess Ghedimin." + +Pushkin understood the hint. It was desirable in some manner to pay +court to Sophie's mother. This was the most natural way. + +The Czar added: + +"When you take her your poem, tell her that on the 21st of June you will +celebrate your marriage with Sophie Narishkin." + +That, too, was quite _en rčgle_. Pushkin needed no explanation. The +bridegroom-elect must himself take Korynthia the tidings of Sophie +Narishkin's approaching marriage, and receive from her the kiss of +consent. The wooing and consent would be expressed in the form of the +dedication of the poem and its acceptance. The form was delicate, yet +expressive. Both think differently and speak differently; it was a +wooing under poetical guise. + +Pushkin was quite up to the proprieties in first seeking out Prince +Ghedimin. + +"Ivan Maximovitch, I have written a new poem, which I should greatly +like to dedicate to the Princess Maria Alexievna Korynthia. May I beg +you to read it, and if you deem it worthy of the honor of bearing the +Princess's name to be my advocate with her?" + +"I will read your verses with pleasure, and may venture to tell you +beforehand that the Princess will esteem your dedication as a great +distinction, and will be proud to read her name in print on any work of +yours." + +And Pushkin, that same day, received a note from the Prince telling him +that the Princess would receive him the next day at seven o'clock in her +summer palace on Neva Island. + +The great heat prevented people going out earlier. The St. Petersburg +world of fashion had already repaired to their villas. Even the rich +burgher lived in Neva Island on his "dotcha." The Czar had accompanied +Elisabeth and her court to her favorite castle "Monplaisir," in the +vicinity of which was Sophie's dwelling. + +The Czar could now visit her very seldom, for in June the nights are not +dark in St. Petersburg. But she had her lover to keep watch over her. + +But one short week separated them from the wedding. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +MADAME POTIPHAR + + +At the appointed hour Pushkin presented himself at Villa Ghedimin, and +was passed on from one footman to another, until he finally arrived at +Korynthia's boudoir. + +The Princess was a handsome woman; but to-day she wanted to surpass +herself. The feminine fashions of that day were very becoming. The +pale-golden silk, fine as any from the loom, thrown lightly about her +head, enhanced the gold of her waving hair, arranged in a classic coil, +and threw up her complexion; as did the soft Brussels lace the whiteness +of her neck and arms. Her shoulder-straps even were set with yellow +diamonds, and, coquettishly placed between the lace, a pale yellow +tea-rose diffused its delicate perfume. Her whole being betrayed an +agitation unusual to her. She blushed and smiled as Pushkin entered. And +both blushes and smiles repeated themselves during the greeting and +exchange of customary courtesies. Then she signed him to a chair, while +she seated herself upon a silken divan opposite to him, and opened the +conversation. + +"I have shed as many tears over your lovely poem as though I had been +myself to the Baktshisseraj Well of Tears." + +"I am rejoiced that the heroine of my lay should have won your +sympathy, Princess. For in her I impersonated my betrothed, Sophie +Narishkin." + +Oh, what a change passed over her face! + +Her cheeks aflame with anger, her eyebrows arched like bows, her eyes +shooting out arrows of fire. + +"You desire to marry Sophie Narishkin?" she cried, passionately. +"Impossible!" + +"I think it, on the contrary, very possible, seeing that our wedding is +already fixed for the 21st of June." + +"In a week? Has the betrothal been already announced, then?" + +"No! A dispensation has been granted for our marriage." + +Springing from her divan, the Princess gasped: + +"Impossible! Impossible!" + +Pushkin retained his seat. He was not easily frightened by any man--or +woman either. So he answered, calmly: + +"But, my dear Princess, what objection can you have to it?" + +Korynthia saw that she had suffered her impetuosity to carry her too +far. So, commanding herself, she resumed her seat and made as if fanning +herself from the heat. + +"He who advised you to this was no friend of yours!" she hissed out. + +"It was the Czar!" + +Korynthia, shutting her fan, put it to her lips. After a short silence +she said: + +"You know, then, that the Czar is Sophie's father?" + +"I have divined it." + +"And have you also divined the future which awaits you in marrying a +daughter of the Czar? You will be banished from the society in which you +have hitherto lived; the circles into which you will try to force +yourself will hold you in contempt. As long as the Czar lives you will +be a prisoner in the glittering cage of the court, deprived of +free-will; an unhappy man, born to enlighten others, condemned to be the +shadow of a man! At the death of the Czar you may be appointed to a +governorship in the Caucasus or on the Amur." + +"Princess! I shall neither become a prisoner at court nor governor of +Kamchatka. My wife will accompany me to my little estate of Pleskow, +where I mean to be sometime farmer, sometime poet." + +"You do not love the girl. Vanity alone has led you to this step." + +Pushkin never took a blow unrequited--even from a woman. + +"Princess, did you know her you would know that it were impossible not +to love her!" + +The Princess bit her lips until they bled. It was a cruel thrust. +Quickly upon it followed a second. + +"Sophie has only inherited her father's sweetness of disposition; +nothing of her mother." + +The Princess rose. She could bear it no longer. Her face was deathly +pale, her eyes gleaming with a dangerous light. Going up to Pushkin, she +seized his hand as she whispered: + +"Has the Czar also confided to you the name of Sophie's mother?" + +"Never!" + +"Have you heard it from any one else?" + +"From no one who had a right to know it." + +"Come, then, sit down by me," gasped the Princess, convulsively +clutching Pushkin's arm, and drawing him on to the divan beside her. +"Listen to me! I will make a confession to you. What I have hitherto +told to none but the Patriarch I will confess to you." Sobs choked her +voice; then violently tearing the lace handkerchief with which she had +dried her tears, she continued, "Even to my husband I have never dared +to say what I now tell to you: _I am Sophie Narishkin's mother!_" + +Pushkin, of course, appeared to be intensely surprised at this +discovery. + +"You be my judge," continued the Princess, as she threw back the +gossamer covering from her shoulders. She drew a long breath. "I was but +a child, scarce sixteen; my parents dead. I met a man whom all conspired +to worship. The aunt who brought me up was a vain, ambitious woman, and +had made me equally so. Every one about me counselled me to return his +love, telling me that he was unhappy for cause of me. They sought out +old records of how Czars who had not loved their wives had sent them +into convents, and had raised others, more beloved, to share the +imperial throne. Flattery, ambition, inexperience, youthful fancy, +turned my head, and I--fell. Ah, how low I fell! So low that my whole +life since has been one expiation! Still, I never relinquished hope; I +ever believed that the man who had wronged me would come one day to +raise me from shame to splendor. I implored him; I knelt in the dust at +his feet. Then he published the ukase that only the daughters of +reigning families might be raised to the throne of Russia--that was the +answer to my dreams! In the depths of my despair a man in my own rank of +life came and asked my hand. True, he had no love to give me, but he +gave me his name; I, too, had no love to give him, but I have borne his +name honorably and spotlessly before the world. And now there suddenly +breaks upon me the dreaded catastrophe which for sixteen long years has +been my nightly terror: Sophie Narishkin will marry, and people will be +asking, 'But who is this Sophie Narishkin? Who is her father--who is her +mother?" + +"You may make yourself at ease on that score, Princess. The wedding will +be conducted in all privacy by the Patriarch of Solowetshk in the Chapel +of Peter the Great on Petrovsky Island. After the wedding not a soul +will see the young couple in St. Petersburg, or speak about them." + +This consolation was poison to the heart of the Princess. Would she see +Pushkin no more, then? + +"But why this feverish haste? The girl is but a child, scarce sixteen +years old!" + +"Princess," returned Pushkin, mournfully, "we do not reckon time by +years, but by the griefs we endure; and by that computation Sophie has +already lived a long life. Sixteen years of confinement, banishment, +unrecognized by any one--sixteen years without knowing a loving word or +ray of brightness should count for age enough! It is just this dream of +happiness that is keeping the poor child in life. Sophie is a +somnambulist on this earth. To awaken would be to kill her!" + +"So it is a spirit of magnanimous self-sacrifice which binds you to +her--you are not in love with her?" + +"I worship her; am hers forever." + +"I see. Permit me to meditate over the subject. This news has taken me +so by surprise that I can give you no answer at present. Can this +marriage not be delayed?" + +"No." + +"Why not?" + +"The Czar is going on a journey--it may be a long--very long journey. He +will shortly hold a great review of the guards, and then start. But of +this Prince Ghedimin can inform you better than I. At any rate, it is +the Czar's pleasure that our marriage takes place before he leaves." + +"Then at least allow me to defer my answer to the last moment. I have so +much to say to you; do give me as long a time as you can. Come again on +the twentieth, and even then not until dusk, so that your coming may not +attract attention. In order to enter unperceived--you will readily +understand why I should not wish a visit from Sophie's bridegroom, on +the very eve of his wedding-day, to be publicly known--take this key. It +belongs to the door of the veranda which opens on to the park. Thence, +by a spiral staircase, you ascend direct to my apartments. We can then +talk over various matters undisturbed, which you ought to know." + +Pushkin put the key intrusted to him in his pocket, and, kissing the +Princess's hand, took leave, Korynthia giving him the farewell kiss on +his lips and accompanying him to the door of her room. + +From this we glean that the Russian scientist was right in his remarks +upon "degenerated cats"--at least, as far as this woman is concerned. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +A MOTHER'S BLESSING + + +In the villa shaded by aromatic pines the bride elect awaited the happy +day. No longer a prisoner, condemned to lifelong imprisonment. For the +hardest imprisonment of all is sickness; one is made to hear at every +step, "Oh, don't run! Don't sing! You must not drink water! Keep your +shawl about your throat! Do not eat this! Mind you don't take cold! +Don't get overheated!" + +Even the doctor stays away. The panacea has done wonders. + +The lovely month of roses had come. The bridegroom had had the path +along which Sophie was to walk planted with roses, and the happy girl +collected the blossoms, morning and evening, that not a single leaf +might fall to the ground. Why did she do this? When the leaves were dry +she meant to fill a silken cushion with them. Sleep would be so sweet on +such a cushion. + +She was even now spreading out her leaves on the sunny side of the +veranda, singing to herself as she did so. No one forbade her to sing +now; it was allowed; only old Helenka grumbled out the adage, "Sing on +Friday, cry on Sunday." But Sophie is accustomed to laugh at such wise +saws from her old nurse. Who believes in such superstitious omens +nowadays? When all of a sudden good old Helenka sighed out, anxiously: + +"Holy Maria! St. Anna! What brings her here?" + +And without another word she ran off, to avoid the new-comer. + +Sophie, looking up wonderingly, saw a lady of striking beauty coming +down the garden path. She wore a dress of gay-colored embroidery, a bird +of paradise in her bonnet, and upon her shoulders was a costly cashmere +shawl. At sight of the stranger's seductive beauty Sophie felt a +mysterious shudder pass through her frame; her heart seemed to stop +beating. She began to believe again in omens. + +The stranger came alone, and at an hour too early for ladies, as a +rule, to be out. Without hesitation she ascended the veranda steps, like +one who knew the house well. + +As she reached Sophie she raised her hand with the gesture of one +expecting to have it kissed, saying, in a low voice, as she did so: + +"I am Princess Ghedimin!" + +The girl's heart beat audibly; but she had no alternative, she must kiss +the gloved hand. + +"You have never seen me before?" the lady asked. + +Sophie shook her head in silent negation. + +"Let us go together into your sitting-room, then. Is there any one with +you?" + +"No one." + +The lady went on first, and, having reached the room, took off her +bonnet. Her abundant fair hair was dressed high, _ŕ la giraffe_. + +"Now kiss me, child. I am your mother!" + +Sophie did as she was bid. + +The Princess looked about her. Embroideries, pretty dresses, the whole +trousseau, lay scattered about in charming disorder. + +"Ah! Your trousseau. So you are going to be married, little one? Did it +never strike you that so serious a step demanded a mother's blessing +upon it?" + +The girl ventured to reply, "I had been told that I was neither to visit +nor to write to my mother." + +"But you might have let me know through your little friend Bethsaba, who +has been seeing you daily." + +"I thought she would have told you." + +"No; not a word. Oh, girls nowadays can keep their own counsel! Not once +did she mention 'his' name to me; it was by mere chance that I heard it. +Herr Pushkin came to me yesterday to ask my permission to dedicate his +new poem, _The Spring of Baktshisseraj_, to me." + +"To you?" + +"Have you any objection to his doing so?" + +"On the contrary, I am glad." + +"And he happened casually to mention that in a week he was about to lead +Sophie Narishkin to the altar. I was astonished. I fancied you still +playing with your dolls. Who brought this big doll to you?" + +"My father." + +"And do you think yourself sensible enough to marry yet?" + +"I do not know if I am sensible; I only know that I love him!" + +"A categorical answer! How positive you are that he will marry you! And +where did you get to know Pushkin?" + +"During the flood. Oh, I was in such terrible danger! Had they not come +to save me I should have been washed away." + +"Who came to save you then?" + +Sophie was surprised at the question. + +"Do you not know? Did not Bethsaba tell you?" + +"Bethsaba? No; she has not spoken to me a word of you or Pushkin. Sly +girl--she shall pay for this. So the same fairy sheltered you who +carried off Bethsaba from my carriage? That devil in woman's form! And +Bethsaba has thought well to keep it from me! And for whole days and +nights you were in that den of iniquity! Now I understand it all! It is +this fiend who has brought it all about!" + +"Mother, do not curse her! I owe all my happiness to her." + +"Do you know, then, what is 'happiness'?" + +"To be loved." + +"And do you know what is its opposite?" + +"That I do not know yet." + +"To be betrayed." + +"Who would betray me?" + +"Who but he whom you believe loves you?" + +"My Aleko?" + +"Yes, your Aleko, who is the property of so many besides you. A more +fickle man, a greater deceiver, more cruel, dishonorable, you could not +have met with on earth." + +"What reason could he have to deceive me?" + +"Because he hopes, through you, to rise to higher rank." + +"Oh no! He has refused all titles, rank, and possessions. He is taking +me as I am. My trousseau and this piece of copper--a piece of the ship +which ran into the Winter Palace, and which he gave me on the day of the +catastrophe--are my whole wealth. He means to remain a poor man, and to +make himself a name which no dukedom could rival." + +"How he can deceive you! His schemes stop only at the throne. He is +marrying you that in the next revolution he may figure as the Russian +'Prince Égalité.' Nay, Égalité!--as another Pugatseff! Why, do you not +know that he is one of the conspirators whose aim is to oust the Czar +from the throne?" + +"But it was my father who brought him here." + +"Because he has a honeyed tongue with which he can deceive the Czar--and +lull the daughter to sleep." + +"Oh, mother, you hate him sorely!" + +"And with reason! Does not this marriage threaten to ruin my whole life? +Will it not bring the secret of your birth to light--that birth the bane +of my early life?" + +"Mother! Do you curse the day of my birth?" + +"Not now only, but twice daily--when I wake and when I lie down. You +were as a death-sentence to me, the hour of which was unfixed. I have +thought with shuddering of you. You have been my accomplice, a living +witness to my wrecked honor; and now my fate is to be accomplished +through you. You announce to the whole world that you exist--look! here +am I!" + +"No, mother; I will hide myself. No one shall see me. No one shall know +of me." + +Korynthia here pretended that pity and maternal love had gained the +mastery. In sorrowing tones, she exclaimed: + +"But, my poor child, do you not know that you are condemning yourself to +a living grave--that you are choosing a life worse than hell? You will +be the wife of an adventurer, who is sunk so low in sin, so fettered by +vicious associates, that, even if he desired it, he is powerless to +avoid the consequences. Do you want to follow him to Siberia?" + +"If misfortune assails him I will share it with him." + +"And suppose the mad scheme in which he is the foremost actor succeeds, +and his hands are stained with your father's blood?" + +"Then I will find a path in which to implore Heaven's pardon for him." + +"Blinded creature! Your self-created ideal prevents your seeing the man +as he is. Do you believe it possible to confine a heart in a cage that +is accustomed to take free flight, and which, moreover, you have by no +means made captive? For Pushkin loves you not! I tell you, he loves you +not! Be convinced; he loves you not!" + +Sophie looked in bewilderment at Korynthia. The instinct of her woman's +heart, added to a nervous foreboding, told her the horrible truth. +Seizing Korynthia's hand, she exclaimed: + +"_You love him!_" + +"You are right!" hissed Korynthia, with wild vehemence. + +Sophie, pressing her hands to her heart, turned white as death; her eyes +closed, her breathing stopped, and she fell lifeless to the ground. + +The Princess went in search of Helenka. + +"Go in to your mistress; she is not well." + +And, drawing her cashmere close about her (the mornings are misty by the +river) and replacing her bonnet, she left the villa. + +Knowing that her farewell kiss would be of no benefit to the poor +swooning girl, she let it alone. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +THE WILL + + +That day Pushkin felt as heavy-hearted as if he had not only all the +sins of the world, but the national debts of all Europe, upon his +shoulders. Was it one of those presentiments to which the race of poets, +whose stock-in-trade is nerves, are so sensitive? Nothing gave him any +pleasure. He went to Zeneida, to formally announce his approaching +marriage to her. She had long been informed of it, for she possessed a +splendid service of secret police. + +Zeneida replied, with cold, stoical irony: + +"I still do not believe that the Czar's daughter _will marry you_." + +"Probably not; for _I_ intend to marry the Czar's daughter!" + +"Is Princess Ghedimin informed of it?" + +"I have announced it to her." + +"Then nothing will come of it." + +"It has nothing in the world to do with her." + +"I prophesy it. Else why am I the pythoness? Does Prince Ghedimin know +of it?" + +"Prince Ghedimin! _Mille tonnerres!_ Am I to go to the Prince, too, to +ask for Sophie's hand? He, at any rate, is out of it." + +"Not on account of your wooing, my friend, but that the Prince may erase +your name from 'the green book.' You will doubtless see that the name of +the son-in-law of the Czar can hardly adorn--I will not say blacken--its +pages." + +"By Jove! you are right. I had not thought of that." + +With heavier heart than he had come, Pushkin left her. + +Zeneida's villa was on the Kreskowsky Island, thus some distance from +Sophie's home, which lay embowered in orange groves. From afar the +light-green roof was visible, standing out from amidst the pines. Every +evening a white flag was to be seen floating from the flagstaff, hoisted +by Sophie herself, as a signal that she was expecting him. Sometimes she +would come down to the shore to meet him, her white-clad figure greeting +him when he was yet a long way off. + +Now neither white flag nor white-clad maiden was visible. He hastened on +impatiently. Usually, as his boat approached the landing-stage, another, +in which sat Bethsaba, would row away. The Circassian Princess never +awaited Pushkin; they only exchanged greetings from a distance. Now he +perceived a gondola, painted in the Ghedimin family colors, still +chained to the landing-stage, the boatmen stretched on benches fast +asleep. + +Without waiting for his boat to reach the land, Pushkin sprang ashore +and ran towards the house. + +On either side of the path Sophie's beloved roses were blooming; the +ground was covered with their fallen leaves. + +"What can have happened," thought Pushkin, "that your guardian angel has +not been gathering up your leaves this evening?" + +"Go in-doors; you will soon know the reason," answered the roses. + +He found no one upon the veranda. He opened the familiar tapestried door +leading into Sophie's private apartments. There he learned why the rose +leaves had not been gathered in that day. + +Sophie lay upon her bed, white as death. Yesterday's soft bloom had all +fled from her cheeks; they were almost transparent. The anguish she had +undergone had left a transfigured expression upon her face. She was +clasping Bethsaba's hand, who sat by her bedside, their fingers +interlaced, in prayer. + +Pushkin advanced cautiously, concealing his alarm. It is not well to let +invalids see that their appearance inspires anxiety. + +"What is this? Are you not well?" + +"No, Aleko; I am dying. Do not be startled; it is past now. I have +wrestled through it. You, too, will live through it." + +"Oh, do not speak so, my love!" stammered Pushkin, kneeling by the bed, +and covering the girl's white face with kisses. "It is but some slight +feeling of illness that will pass off, as so often before. I will go and +fetch the doctor." + +"You will go nowhere! You will stay, when I tell you to. Do not oblige +me to talk loudly, but obey. Think, were you to go and alarm Wylie with +the news that I am on my death-bed, he would at once inform the Czar. +The Czar just now is engaged upon a great work for the good of the +country; he is arming for war. Millions depend upon his decisions for +freedom, and a happier future in store. For this he needs all his +powers. My father loves me so dearly, and depends so entirely upon me, +that the news of this illness will completely unman him, and render him +unable to carry on the work he has in hand; the thought of his dying +daughter would deprive him of all energy and power. Is it not strange? +In my lifetime scarce a dozen people have known of my existence; in my +death shall millions upon millions curse the day of my birth and my +death! So, I implore you, do not disquiet the Czar with the news of my +extremity." + +With passionate vehemence Pushkin answered: + +"What matter to me Hellas and the Russian Constitution, now that you are +ill? I must save you!" + +The reason which led Pushkin to this imbittered exclamation was +characteristic of the times. Elsewhere, and at any other era, a lover, +under similar circumstances, would have said, "Very well; I will not go +to the Czar's physician, but to the first skilful doctor whom we can +trust not to publish your illness, and he shall cure you." But at that +period no one thought of going to a Russian doctor who did not want to +hasten his death. Rather would they go to a quack, or trust to household +remedies, than confide themselves to a St. Petersburg doctor. It was the +surest way to court death. People only sent to apothecaries for +rat-powder; indeed, under Czar Alexander, Russian subjects were +forbidden to be apothecaries; Germans only were allowed. A Russian +mistrusted his countryman; he held him capable of giving a sick man--in +the interest of his enemies--poison instead of remedies. The aristocracy +would only be attended by the Czar's and Czarina's physicians. In their +absence, it was no use for any one to be ill. + +"I have begged you not to excite me! In vain would you bring me all the +Galens in the world, with their potions; I would take none of them. I +will drink no more of that odious physic that tastes of bitter almonds. +I must die! Do you understand? I _must_. My death is necessary, +irremediable. Not because I am ill, but because I am condemned to die. +And it is right that it should be so!" + +Pushkin, unable to solve this riddle, looked inquiringly at Bethsaba, +who, at this, made a movement to go. But Sophie held her back. + +"Stay! I want you both. Pushkin, be a man--a brave, strong man! Are you +a child, that you are trembling so? Grant me what I ask. I am going to +make my will. Draw the writing-table up to my bed, light two candles, +and place the crucifix between them; but first close the shutters and +make it night! Oh, these terrible summer nights in St. Petersburg, with +their endless gathering dusk--it seems as if night would never come and +day would never cease! It is such an oppression! Ah, I feel calmer now +that it is dark. Now come and sit down by me and write; or would you +rather lay the portfolio on my bed and write kneeling? So you shall, +then. And you, Bethsaba, kneel beside him. Attend to what I say, and +write: 'Surrendering my soul to God, my ashes to earth, I, Sophie +Narishkin, bequeath, on my death, all my worldly goods to my only friend +the Circassian Princess, Bethsaba Dilarianoff. The only two things I +desire to have buried with me are the little piece of lead which I have +ever worn upon my heart, and, under my head, the little green silk +cushion filled with rose-leaves, on which I shall rest peacefully.' +What! cannot you see the letters that you are writing all across the +paper? Pushkin, what a baby you are! Write further: 'To my one and only +friend I bequeath the greatest treasure I have in the world--my Aleko +Pushkin!'" + +At these words Bethsaba would have started up, but Sophie would not +allow it. Twining one arm round her neck, the other round Pushkin's, she +pressed their cheeks together. + +"Am I not to be allowed to dispose of my treasure as I like in my will? +Do you think, then, that I do not know how dearly you love him? Before I +confessed to you my love for him, his praises were forever in your +mouth; since then you have never once mentioned his name. Do you think I +did not know why you always hurried away when he came? Your cheeks used +to be so rosy, and you so merry and full of fun. Now they are white, and +you are so sad and lifeless. Do you think I have not divined your grief? +You love him, as I do. Do not conceal it any longer. Tell the truth. Do +not have any secrets longer from a dying girl, who to-morrow will be a +spirit, knowing all that is in your spirit. Do not wait for my +disembodied soul to come nightly to disquiet you, asking, as a spectre, +the answer to the question you refused me in life. Confess that you love +Aleko!" + +As she heard these words Bethsaba's heart felt nigh to bursting, and +with open lips and upturned eyes she fell unconscious to the ground. + +"Lift her up and lay her by me on the bed," said Sophie, tranquilly. +"Now you have two dead brides to choose between. Only one will wake to +life again, for she has not been killed. You can have no doubt now but +that she loves you. Leave her unconscious. It is better that she does +not hear what I have to say to you. But you keep every word in your +heart of hearts and do as I bid you, for you know that girls who die +during their betrothal change into spirits whom it is not good to anger. +So listen. You are not to leave Bethsaba's side again. I know why I say +this. If you let her go home, she will never look on God's free heaven +again; she will be confined for life in St. Katherine's Convent." + +Now Pushkin began to divine what had happened. + +At the mention of St. Katherine's Convent, in Moscow, there flashed +across him all the scandalous adventures he had heard the officers of +the guards boast of at their mess dinners, outdoing even the scandals of +Paris life. The convent had a reputation only equalled by the very worst +convents of Montmartre. Young lieutenants wore the rosaries of the nuns +of St. Katherine's as bracelets, and only that year a terrible case had +happened which had been hushed up by the authorities. The last +descendant of a noble family had disappeared suddenly from society in +Moscow, and after a month of vain searching his body was discovered cut +to pieces in one of the wells at St. Katherine's. And thither her +godmother intends to send Bethsaba, where not only her happiness for +this world, but for the next, is to be lost forever. And Princess +Ghedimin was thoroughly capable of it. + +"So, no indecision, no sentiment," continued Sophie. "On the day of my +death you must marry Bethsaba; if not, she is lost. True, the world will +say, 'The scoundrel! the very day he closed the coffin on his betrothed +he could open his heart to another.' But you will be in possession of my +will, dictated to you by me, and signed with my shaking hand; lay it +upon your heart, and it will give you peace. And if your conscience +acquits you, what matters the judgment of the world? Be daring! The +Patriarch of Solowetshk will be waiting in the Czar Peter's castle on +Petrovsky Island. He is charged to marry a young girl to an officer in +the guards without previous publication of banns. He does not know them +or their names. Two witnesses will be necessary; I have provided for +that. Zeneida can be one, Helenka's husband, old Ihnasko, the other; +both are trusty friends. And while the one gondola, to the voices of the +chanting choristers, glides gently along with my flower-bedecked coffin +to the lovely willow-shaded vault on this bank of the Neva, you in the +other gondola will be rowing across to the other bank of the Neva to +catch your troika, which will be in waiting. And now, God be with you!" + +Pushkin paced the room in wildest excitement, tearing his dishevelled +hair. + +Sophie, meanwhile, set about restoring her friend to consciousness, and, +unfastening her bodice, sprinkled her face with water. Dying, she still +thought of others. + +At length Bethsaba began to revive; but as she opened her eyes she +buried her face in the cushions. + +"I have arranged everything with Aleko," said the dying girl, in a low, +contented voice. "You have only to do exactly what he tells you. I leave +you my pink dress and the platinum diadem. You will soon know when you +are to wear them. Why, Pushkin, how can you be so useless? Why have you +not written it all down in my will? Now, do not forget the pink +wedding-dress and platinum diadem. Old Helenka, too, I bequeath to you; +she has always been a good, faithful nurse to me. You may trust her +through thick and thin. Now, Aleko, give Bethsaba pen and paper. She +must write to tell the Princess not to expect her, as she is not coming +back at present. Now write, dear one: 'Your Highness, my honored +godmother,--Sophie is ill and in sore need of my care. I must stay here +until the Lord take pity upon her. Your godchild, Bethsaba.' Now, dear +Aleko, send off this note to the Princess, that she may not be uneasy. +And as soon as you are ready give me my will, that I may sign it." + +Sophie read it through. + +"How many blots there are!" she whispered, and a smile lit up her +death-like face. Those blots were Pushkin's tears. Sophie made merry +over them, and wanted Aleko and Bethsaba to join in her merriment. She +wrote her name in large, clear handwriting, and gave back the pen to +Pushkin. Then she put both her arms round his neck and drew him down to +her. + +"To-day you still belong to me! Let me look once more into those eyes +which have been so long a sweet home to me! Oh, it was a Paradise on +earth! I thank you that you let me know such exquisite happiness! I +thank you for the truth and tender love with which you blessed me!" + +And she kissed him countless times. Then, letting her arms sink, she +motioned him away. It was the last caress. + +"Aleko! Bethsaba! I want to see you embrace each other--now at once, +while I am still alive and can see it! If you love me, if you would have +me know you to be sincere, if you place any value on my blessing, +embrace each other." + +And so across the dying girl's bed they laid their arms on each other's +shoulders. + +"Ah, that is right! And now, kiss each other--on the lips. Not like +that; you have hardly touched each other; it was such a cold kiss. Give +her a real one!" + +And, laying her hands on the bowed heads, she drew them together, until +their lips united in a kiss, her hands resting the while as if in the +act of blessing. Then, raising her transfigured face to heaven, and, +folding her hands, she breathed, scarce audibly: + +"Mother, I have saved you from sin!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +NOT ONLY A BULLET STRIKES HOME + + +The Czar was holding an extraordinary review. + +The usual parades took place on the 21st of May, the day of the patron +saint, Nicholas, and on the 20th of September; but this time it was a +special review of the household troops alone. They are distinct from the +rest of the army; each regiment has a different uniform. The Life Guards +wear white uniforms, with shining gilt breastplates; the Cuirassiers, +light-blue tunics, with white, plated cuirass; the uniform of the +Jerusalem Regiment is crimson-red, with gilt breastplate. The ranks, +from officer down to corporal, are all knights of the Order of St. John, +and even the common soldiers are all of the nobility. + +And every regiment boasts its past, its history, which passes on to the +successors as a tradition, and keeps up the glory of its name. + +The regiment of St. John of Jerusalem was so cut to pieces in two +battles that in one battalion only eighteen men were left. + +The Preobrazsenski Regiment has the proud distinction of having deposed +Czar Ivan and set Elisabeth in his place. Every man in the regiment +received his patent of nobility. + +The Ismailoffski Regiment bears on its colors the trophies of seven +conclusive battles. At Borodino half the troops remained on the +battle-field, and not a single man came home without a wound. These +regiments compose the aristocracy of the Life Guards. The rest of the +household troops, too, are characterized by a brilliant variety of +dress. Hussars in uniforms of the most varied colors, cuirassiers, +mounted grenadiers, pontoniers, Cossacks, Asiatic hordes with their +fantastic arms, Kirgisians, Kalmucks with their slender spears, their +arrow-laden quivers on their backs; Circassians in their scale-armor, +with their pointed helmets; and then the long row of cannon, the +ammunition wagons (painted green), the pontoons, the flotilla on +wheels--and the whole mass drawn up on a boundless plain in squares, in +geometrical lines, and advancing, charging, halting motionless as a +wall, at the word of command, like a machine. + +May he not rightly deem himself a god who with a gesture can set all +this in motion or make it stand? And they only need a second gesture to +charge and dye the ground beneath them with their blood. + +When the household troops advance from St. Petersburg it means that the +army is on a war footing and is taking the field. Then let every man +concerned summon all his strength. + +In the centre of the Field of Mars are pitched the sumptuous tents of +the Czar, the foreign ambassadors, and the members of the government; +but the Czar himself rides at the head of his suite, and passes the +assembled troops in review. As he thus rides past the separate regiments +they salute him with welcoming stanzas, in time like the chorus of a +giant theatre, with rifle, sword, and lance held rigid at present arms. +The Czar's face beams like a day in summer; every one sees again in him +the hero of Leipsic. The inspiration of the army has communicated itself +to him too. + +And in the ranks of these men presenting at the word of command are all +those who have been conspiring against him. In the sabretache of the +officers is to be found the _Catechism of the Free Man_. + +But the single word "Forward!" suffices to change the whole temper of +these men; the conspiring regiments will charge down on the foe with +shouts of "Long live the Czar!" When he shows them the battle-field they +forget all their complaints and grievances--forget that they are seeking +to kill him--and rush into the fight to give up their lives for him. + +So it is with the Russian people. Their striving after freedom is +silenced when there is hope of war. The private, freely shedding his +blood on foreign soil, believes that therewith he will fertilize his +native meadows. The priests have indoctrinated him with the belief that +he who falls in a strange land to the enemy's bayonet will live again in +his own country, where he will find parents, wife, and children once +more; and, if he was a serf before, will rise again a free man. + +After the review of the troops the Czar himself takes the command, and a +series of brilliant manoeuvres begins, thought out by himself. According +to the then science of war, they were intended to be a masterpiece of +the system of attack in close order. His aides-de-camp are dashing from +battalion to battalion with orders, their spirited horses flying off in +all directions. The orders are given by the Czar himself, who watches +their fulfilment through a field-glass. Suddenly an adjutant dashes up +to him. + +"Sire!" + +"What is it? Make short work of it!" + +The enemy's cannon are already thundering upon the attacking column. + +"Sire," says the officer, "Duchess Sophie Narishkin has just delivered +up her noble soul to Eternity." + +The Czar instinctively put his hand to his heart. It was there that he +was struck! And yet the cannon were only firing blank ammunition. + +The sword he was wielding sank in one hand--the Czar covered his face +with the other. + +"_It is the punishment for my faults!_" he uttered, in a faltering +voice. + +What a change had come over the brilliant hero--the semi-god! In his +place sat a bowed figure; a man bowed down to the earth by fate. + +However deafening the hurrahs--however much the earth may vibrate under +the tramp of warlike horses and horsemen--their leader's soul is +fettered by the words "Sophie is dead." + +Miloradovics, the general in command, sent to ask instructions from the +Imperial Commander-in-Chief for the next movement. + +"Call them back!" was the answer. "Send the troops back to barracks. The +review is over." + +And, turning his horse, the Czar rode back to his tent with bowed head. +They who saw him return hardly recognized his white face. The generals +of division had great work to disentangle their troops and get them +into position again. A murmuring arose among the men, as though a +battle had been lost. + +The Czar, not even awaiting the march past of the regiments, who were +wont to defile past him with pipe and drum, left the whole command to +the Grand Duke, and, throwing himself into his troika, drove back to the +Winter Palace. + +There he hastened to his study. On it were spread important, weighty +documents, containing epoch-making decisions for people and nations, +only awaiting his signature. The Czar's eyes rested sadly upon them, +reading in them, not what was written upon them in ordinary characters, +but the _Palimpsest_ with which fate ever crosses the carefully +thought-out plans of mankind. + +Then, seizing all the documents--painstaking labors of many a night--he +made them into a roll, and, throwing them on to the fire, watched them, +a prey to the flames. They were all to have been Sophie Narishkin's +dowry. + +Soon they were a heap of ashes. + +Then, sitting down, he wrote a letter. It contained but two words--"Come +back." + +The envelope was addressed to Araktseieff. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE RENDEZVOUS + + +There is something marvellous in the summer nights of the extreme North. +Foreigners find it harder to accustom themselves to them than they do to +the long winter nights with their cruel severity. The evening glow lasts +till midnight, and then begins the dawn. It seems endless until the +first stars appear in the still, clear sky, and under them the +brilliant planets Venus and Jupiter, burning in the firmament like +diamonds on the surface of a golden lake. The pale moon describes its +short orbit, a superfluous luminary; and on the Feast of Masinka the +half-hour of actual night is impatiently awaited, in order to let off +fireworks on the forty islands of the Neva. (For by daylight it is no +use to send up rockets!) Street lamps are not lit in St. Petersburg at +all during this month. Nor in the apartments of Korynthia's villa are +lights needed on the evening of this 20th of June. The sky diffuses +light enough until 11 P.M., and a little twilight will not seriously +disturb those of whom we are about to speak. + +Korynthia, in some agitation, has strayed--who can tell how often in the +course of that evening?--on to her veranda, and let her eyes rove over +the surface of the mighty river below. It, too, is golden in the evening +light, and, like the Russian pictures of saints, on a golden ground is +reflected in its sheen the capital, with its rows of palaces, the dome +and columns of St. Isaac's, the florid architecture of the Exchange, the +bridge of Holy Trinity, the scattered islands from amid whose wooded +heights the varied forms and shapes of country-houses peep, with roofs +red, blue, green, gilded, and pagoda-like. And among the islands are +darting boats, gondolas, canoes, of every kind and description. Some +rowed by twelve boatmen, others by a solitary dreamer; the one flashing +along at lightning speed, the other letting himself drift on with the +stream. The song of the boatmen is in the air. + +In the uncertain light their figures stand out like black silhouettes. +Korynthia asks herself which of the gondolas is bringing to her him she +is expecting--which is the silhouette of his figure? + +To the watcher the last half-hour seems longest. Korynthia turns from +the balcony to the interior of her room, and gazes once more at herself +in her mirror. You are beautiful, very beautiful, says her mirror; that +white costume lends you quite a youthful appearance, leaving, as it +does, the rounded marble of the arms bare to the shoulder. Your wealth +of fair hair is not stiffly arranged, but floats in two thick tresses. +No ornament of any kind, bracelet or earring, enhances your charms. The +confident champion enters the battle-field without helmet or shield. +Even the wedding-ring is absent. You are beautiful indeed--says her +mirror. + +And beside the mirror hangs a picture, set in a thick gold frame. It +is the picture of a young girl in the garb of a mythical +shepherdess--tender and delicate as a dream. Korynthia had received it +some years ago, a present from the Czar. She may possibly have divined +even then that it was no fancy picture, but a portrait; she may even +have guessed whom it represented. Within the last few days she knows for +certain. She has met the original. It was the portrait of Sophie +Narishkin. + +Certainly she might long since have known it from Bethsaba--have seen +portrait and original often enough, had she asked her. But although +lying was foreign to the nature of the Circassian king's daughter, she +knew how to be silent, and had that much Armenian blood in her veins not +to answer when not directly questioned. + +So the reflection in the mirror and the portrait in the frame were in +close proximity. And comparison left the living reflection victor. + +You pale child with your dreamy eyes, your lips seeming to open in +lament; your tender, shadowy frame, how can you think to rival the +divine presence of a woman? What power can you have, melancholy +dream-picture of another world, against this earthly woman whose beauty +arouses and quenches passion, kills and inspires life? Do you possess an +Aleko, he chooses himself a gypsy maid; and that is not you. Is he not +himself a true gypsy, leading a vagabond, adventurous life? In a word, +is he not a poet? + +Time went on slowly. Korynthia opened the windows looking on to the +park. A concert of nightingales came from the bushes. A butterfly--the +night peacock's eye--flew in at the open window; taking her for a +flower, it flew about her, not about the portrait. Then flew in another +night moth, differing from others in that it emits a sound--an +unpleasant, shrill, yet melancholy hum. Its name is _Sphinx Atropos_. +Why has it been called by the name of that one of the Parcć which severs +the thread of life? Because its back and head are the exact counterpart +of a death's-head. Ss--h! The lady brushes away the weird moth; but it +had found a refuge; it had flown across to the picture and had settled +in a corner of the frame. + +At length the twilight deepens. A few impatient employés let off the +first rockets from the pleasure gardens in the islands. Bengal lights +are beginning to show on Kreskowsky Island. + +Ah, of course! It is Zeneida's birthday. The court calendar has found a +place for her among the saints; there are great doings to-night in her +palace. And something more, perhaps--a sitting of the Szojusz +Blagadenztoiga. Under every possible guise and excuse, it holds its +meetings at the singer's house. + +When Prince Ghedimin left home that evening he had told his wife that he +was commanded to the Czar, and would be away all night discussing +important matters of state. It is therefore certain that he will be +spending the night at Zeneida's, and Korynthia need not fear to be +disturbed; it is a case of tit for tat. Any moment may now bring +him--the one so impatiently expected. + +For as soon as the fireworks on the islands begin they attract all the +servants and watchmen yet awake. There is no one to keep guard on the +winding paths of the park. The great clock strikes eleven; every quarter +of an hour four bells ring a carillon. At the last stroke of the clock +she seems to hear the sound of approaching footsteps on the gravel. Who +else can it be? An aristocrat's step is so different from that of a +mujik. She is right. + +The new-comer, stopping at the door of the garden veranda, opens it with +a key. His footsteps now announce his coming, as they hurriedly ascend +the spiral staircase. Korynthia has studied the pose in which she will +be surprised. Leaning over the window-sill, her face resting on her +hand--a dreamy figure so absorbed in the song of the nightingales that +she does not perceive some one approach her, bend over her, and breathe +a soft kiss upon her lovely shoulder. + +The Princess seems to rouse from her reverie with a start, as, with an +air of smiling reproach, she turns to the stealer of the kiss, "Ah, how +late you are!" But as she sees him, she starts in reality. The kiss has +been no theft. The perpetrator had but taken what was his own. It was +her husband, Prince Ghedimin. Korynthia stammered out, "How early you +have come home!" + +"You just said how late I was." + +"I was dreaming. I did not know what I was saying. How did you get in?" + +"By the garden veranda. You know that I have the key." + +And now it occurs to Korynthia that that other, to whom she had given +the duplicate, may even now be coming. + +"Did you fasten the door?" + +"No, for in five minutes I must be off again." + +"But I beg you to fasten the door, and leave your key on the inside. You +know how terrified I am of thieves." + +"All right. I'll go back and close it." + +During his brief absence Korynthia wrapped herself in a thick shawl. She +did not need the pretext of cold; she was shivering with agitation. + +The Prince returned. + +"I must briefly tell you that I come from the Czar." + +"Indeed! And not from Fräulein Zeneida's soirée?" + +"No, my love. I come from the Czar and Czarina." + +"Of course, if you say so." + +"You will not doubt it when I tell you what I have witnessed." + +"Pray begin." + +Korynthia remains by the window to announce by the sound of voices to +that other that she is not alone. + +"His Majesty has for the past two days repeatedly commanded me to his +presence to deliberate certain matters of state; yet each time he has +either been shut up in his room, and I have not been admitted, or if he +has appointed me to go to him to Czarskoje Zelo, he has gone to the +Hermitage. This evening I was commanded to Monplaisir. I traversed every +room, right and left, until at length I found him on the upper veranda +with the Czarina. Three times, four times, I saluted the Czar, but he +took no notice of me. The Czarina signed to me to remain where I was. +The Czar stood leaning against the marble parapet, motionless as a +statue, his eyes fixed upon the Neva, the Czarina as fixedly, almost in +fear, watching his eyes. Hundreds of boats were gliding over the smooth +surface, crossing each other, shooting hither and thither. Suddenly a +large barge came in sight, going down-stream, rowed in slow, rhythmic +measure by eight boatmen. The barge was lighted by lamps fastened to +poles; in the centre was a coffin, draped with a light-blue satin pall. +In the open coffin lay a young girl in white funereal dress, a wreath of +myrtle on her head. Round it stood choristers singing a funereal chant, +which ascended to where the Czar stood: + + "'Ah, the day of tears and mourning, + From the dust of earth returning, + Man for judgment must prepare him.' + +There were none to follow the funereal barge. As it passed Monplaisir +one could read conspicuously on the lid, placed beside the coffin, the +name studded in gold nails--_Sophie Narishkin_. Yes, you may well draw +your shawl about you, madame! It is cold, is it not?" + +The Prince had no idea of the effect of his words; he was still seeing +what his memory had impressed upon him, not what was before him. He +continued: + +"Human language has no words to express the anguish at that moment +imprinted on the Czar's countenance. With glowing eyes, convulsed lips, +and gathered brows, he stood there clinching his hands; and, while with +his eyes he followed the barge, a gigantic struggle seemed working +within him. I have witnessed much sorrow in my life; never did I feel +such sympathy for a man as for this one! He dared not betray his +feelings, for the Czarina was standing by his side. She, too, studied +his face with great attention. Suddenly she bent towards him, and, +taking his hand in hers, cried, 'Why do you not weep? Why keep back your +tears? It is your own dear child who is being borne to her last +resting-place!' And, as if to open the font of his grief, she threw +herself upon the Czar's breast and burst into weeping. And then the +mighty ruler, before whom millions of men tremble, knelt before his +neglected, forsaken wife, embraced her knees, and, sobbing, kissed the +hem of her dress, she joining her tears to his. It was a scene I shall +never forget. The separated husband and wife were reunited in the hour +of their bitter sorrow; they had come together again, the past +forgotten. They leaned over the balcony, saluting the disappearing barge +with a last farewell! My eyes fill with tears as I think of it." + +The Prince did well to weep. It was meet that one or other of them +should shed tears at what had passed. + +"Then, pressing his hand to his heart, the Czar gasped, 'And there was +not a soul to follow her to the grave!' It was indeed a bitter thought. +Even a beggar has some poor wretch to follow and mourn for him. And she +had no one! Then a thought struck me, and I rushed to my gondola and +came to you. I am the Czar's Prime-Minister, you a Princess Narishkin. +How would it be were we to catch up the funeral barge in a light, +fast-rowing gondola, and act as Sophie Narishkin's mourners? What do you +think?" + +But the woman beside him had not depth of feeling enough to take her +noble-hearted husband's hand in hers, and giving her tears free course, +to say, "Yes, let us go; Sophie Narishkin is mine to mourn over!" No; +that woman had more power of self-control than had the Czar. Her woman's +pride, conquering the animal instinct--sometimes called maternal--within +her, she could answer coldly and calmly: + +"What are you thinking of? How should we account to the world for our +uncalled-for escort? And, then, it is too late; before I could put on a +mourning-dress the barge would have got beyond all possibility of our +reaching it. Besides, what do I care for Sophie Narishkin?" + +She could even speak thus at that supreme moment. How true was the +Muscovite scientist's classification--a degenerate cat. Even a normal +cat mourns its young. + +"What is Sophie Narishkin to me?" + +Prince Ghedimin shrugged his shoulders, and, taking out his +handkerchief, carefully brushed away traces of tears. It is certainly +not worth while to run the risk of making one's own nose red for the +troubles of other people. + +"All right. As it does not affect you, let us turn to something else. +One other reason brought me here, which may perhaps interest you more. +As I got into my gondola my steersman handed me a letter bearing on it +'Pressing.' The letter was from _Alexander Sergievitch Pushkin_." + +"Pushkin?" repeated Korynthia, in great agitation. + +"Yes; from Pushkin. And the purport of the letter being so extraordinary +that my understanding could not grasp it at all, I hastened to you to +beg you to solve the riddle." + +Korynthia felt the ground give way beneath her feet. + +"Pushkin!" she stammered. "What should I know of Pushkin's riddles?" + +"Listen. I will read the letter to you." + +And, in order to see better, the Prince now approached the open window, +while Korynthia, retreating to the farther side of the room, sought to +conceal her agitation. The Prince read: + + "'DEAR IVAN MAXIMOVITCH,--I find myself compelled with + penitent heart to make you a confession. I have + misused the high-minded confidence with which you laid + open to me the sacred privacy of your home. Not as my + excuse, but as a reason, I refer to my passion, which + was stronger than the respect I owed to you. _I have + stolen the dearest, most carefully guarded treasure of + your house!_'" + +"Is the man mad?" thought Korynthia. + + "'If you desire to demand reparation for the affront, + I shall be prepared to give you every satisfaction. + You will find me in my country-seat at Pleskow. + + "'Yours most sincerely, + + "'PUSHKIN.'" + +The Princess was amazed. The extent of the treachery never even dawned +upon her. + +"Well?" The Prince awaited an explanation. The best shield is +cold-bloodedness, the best weapon a lie. + +With a shake of the head, Korynthia made answer: + +"But how does Herr Pushkin concern me? What have I to do with his +mysteries?" + +"Naturally, our friend Alexander Pushkin's proceedings have no special +interest for you, nor should I desire it. But in this letter another was +enclosed, having on the outside, in what seems to be a lady's +handwriting, 'Princess Korynthia Alexievna Maria Ghedimin.' Probably in +this we shall find the solution of the mystery. On that account I must +beg you to break the seal and communicate its contents to me--if you do +not feel it desirable to keep them secret." + +It was now the Princess's turn to advance to the window, in order to +read. No sooner had she the letter in her hand than she exclaimed, in +surprise: + +"It is Bethsaba's handwriting!" + +"You know her handwriting? I have never seen it." + +Korynthia tore open the letter, and as she read her cheeks flamed. Then, +crushing it in her hand, she cried, with hysterical laughter: + +"Ha, ha, ha! He has run off with Bethsaba and married her!" + +Ivan Maximovitch took the matter as a joke. He had expected worse. +Indeed, he could rejoice in that Bethsaba had been carried off, destined +as she had been to St. Katherine's Convent. His wife's laughter still +further misled him, and he thought well to join in it. Now, if his tears +had met with but mediocre success, his laughter obtained him an open +attack. The Princess first flung the crushed-up letter at his head, +then, rushing at him like a fury, hissed out through her clinched teeth: + +"This was your work, wretch! This was connived between you!" + +"Who?" asked the Prince, in amazement. + +"You--and your sweetheart--that Witch of Endor! You spun the web in +which that girl was caught for Pushkin. You prepared the poison in which +this dagger is steeped." + +"Madame, I am at a loss to understand why the fact of Pushkin's marrying +Bethsaba Dilarianoff should excite you to such fury!" + +Korynthia saw that by her vehemence she had almost been led into +self-betrayal; so said, calmly: + +"You do not understand! This is no question of love, but of +high-treason! What would it matter to me if a Circassian Princess chose +to fall in love with my lowest groom? He would probably be too good for +her! But do you know why Pushkin has married this girl? In order to +discover the Czar's secrets, which he confided to his daughter, and +which were repeated to her friend Bethsaba. Now these secrets, through +Pushkin, will become the common property of the Czar's enemies! Thus, +you ruin yourself if you are on the side of the Czar; or the Czar, if +you conspire against him. And this is what you two have done!" + +Prince Ghedimin stood as if turned to stone. His wife had triumphed. Her +words bore so clearly the stamp of truth that defence was not to be +thought of. + +"Yes. It was a plot among you all!" continued his wife, furiously. "You +availed yourselves of the illness of the one to entice the other from +me. In order to detain me at home, and to prevent my watching over the +child intrusted to my care, you sent Pushkin to me with a poem, and, +instead of coming to receive his answer, the cowardly fellow steals away +with a foolish, inexperienced girl from the very death-chamber of her +friend. Out with such people! Such treachery, deceit, betrayal! You are +worthy one of another. A pack of actors and actresses! Out of my room! +Away with you!" + +When women take to abuse, men are nowhere. Their reasoning powers are +gone. Prince Ghedimin was a wise and good man, and innocent as a child +of this crime; which, after all, was no crime at all. Yet after this +torrent of abuse he felt a very criminal who had brought about an act of +the greatest, most irreparable evil with the coldest calculation, and, +in this frame of mind, was glad to be permitted to leave his home and +seek his gondola. + +We who are in the secret can aver that he did not even now know who +Sophie Narishkin's mother was. But this Korynthia did not believe. She +looked upon the whole scene as expressly got up to torture her--from the +appearance of her husband at the very hour of the rendezvous, when he +shed upon her love-lorn heart first the ice-drops of the funeral scene, +then poured in the poison of the faithlessness of the man she adored. + +It was a deadly poison, killing inwardly and outwardly. When Ghedimin +left her, Korynthia, clasping her two hands above her head, threw +herself on the ground, sobbing bitterly. Then, as there was no one to +raise her, she assumed a kneeling posture, her long plaits hanging like +serpents over her bosom; and, lifting three fingers to heaven, she +gasped out, with hideous vengeance: + +"Oh that I may repay you this some day!" + +Her lips parted; the gnashing of her clinched teeth was audible. She was +meditating something; her eyes flashed fire; she rose, and bared her +white, exquisitely formed arm to the shoulder. Then she pressed the +rounded muscle of the upper part of her arm between her teeth, and bit +into it until the blood flowed from it, and sucked the blood she had +drawn. It is the Russian superstition that whoever would insure the +fulfilment of his curse must, after uttering it, drink of his own blood. + + * * * * * + +The melancholy hum of the death's-head moth in the corner of the +picture-frame sounded like the murmur of a lost soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A DIVIDED HEART + + +Zeneida was celebrating three days of mourning in one. The first, +Sophie's funeral; the second, Pushkin's marriage; the third, her own +name-day. + +It had been Sophie's last wish that the wedding should precede her +funeral. + +Her soul in its ascent to heaven would see and hear the bliss of the two +she had loved so dearly on earth. + +According to Russian custom the lid was only screwed down on to the +coffin just before it was lowered into the grave; with face uncovered +the wanderer to the Hereafter is borne to his last resting-place. + +"Make the ceremony a short one!" Zeneida had said to the officiating +priest. + +The Patriarch of Solowetshk, whose feet had sufficient Russian +understanding to suffer from a severe attack of gout that day, had sent +a priest in his stead. Let his inferior have his beard shaved off if +things go amiss, and not him. For if a priest rashly marry a runaway +couple the marriage is legal, but _the priest's beard is shaved off_, +and he is forced to become a soldier. During the wedding ceremony, +according to custom, two doves were set flying over the heads of the +bridal pair. They fluttered for a time round the veranda, then let +themselves down on to the catafalque, at the head of the dead girl, +where the crucifix stood; there, the one on the right hand, the other +on the left, above the head of the "martyr to love," they billed and +cooed through the whole ceremony. + +The dead girl might well be content. All had been done as she had +directed; Bethsaba wore the pink silk wedding-dress; the platinum diadem +adorned her brow. + +"That is over," said Zeneida. "Now follows the other--quick, quick!" + +Bethsaba must now change the pink wedding-dress for a black one for the +consecration of the dead. Zeneida helped her to dress; Pushkin waited +without. + +Bethsaba wept on and on, whether clad in pink or black. + +Zeneida betrayed no tendency that day to sentimentality. Her utter +callousness bordered on cynicism. + +"But we shall see Sophie again in the next world, shall we not?" sobbed +Bethsaba. + +"Yes, yes," muttered Zeneida. "And to which of you will Pushkin belong +then?" + +That was the question. + +Bethsaba was startled. Her large eyes remained fixed on Zeneida. + +"And suppose he should belong to neither of you?" continued Zeneida, +drawing her strongly marked eyebrows together. "Or do you imagine that +in the hereafter there will still be a greater Russia crushing a lesser +Finland beneath its heel, so that even then a fool will be found to open +the gate of Paradise for some one else, while she herself goes into +perdition!" + +This outburst revealed Zeneida's secret to Bethsaba. Rigid with dismay, +she stammered out: + +"You, too, loved him?" + +"Do not ask. Rejoice that he is yours, and do not wish yourself in the +next world with him, but do your utmost to keep him to you in this." + +"And you, too, loved him?" repeated Bethsaba, sorrowfully. + +"As you have discovered it, make your discovery of some use," said +Zeneida, with seeming affectation. "Now, at least, you know from whom +you have to guard him. Take care to keep him away from me. Now you know +the sort of person I am. I take pleasure in enticing away the husbands +and causing the wives bitter tears. Your godmother was right. _I am a +very devil._ Do not bring your Aleko back to St. Petersburg." + +Bethsaba, throwing herself on Zeneida's bosom, embraced her. + +"It is not true--not true--not true! You cannot deceive me. Tell me why +you gave me Pushkin's heart, when you might so easily have kept it for +yourself? There must be some weighty reason that induced you to do it. +Tell it me; he is my husband now. I must know all about him. Even if it +be--that he loves me not." + +Zeneida, now looking down with gentle smile on the young bride in her +mourning-dress, took her in her arms, and in fond embrace drew her to +her heart. + +"So you do not think me so bad that you will need to guard your husband +from me? Well, then, I will tell you from whom you must guard him. There +is a lovely woman, more captivating than any you have ever seen--more +seductive, intoxicating, more insatiable. Her name is 'Eleutheria.' She +can entice the bridegroom from his bride at the very altar rails, and +the father of a family from his dear ones; and whom she once captivates +she keeps fast hold of till his last heart's blood is spent. His every +thought is hers. It is this dread woman who is your rival. Guard your +husband from all remembrance of her, for he is in love with her." + +"'Eleutheria!' that means Freedom." + +"She bathes in men's blood. It is that which makes her so beautiful. The +only presents she will accept are hecatombs; and of hearts and men she +only chooses such as are worth the price of gold and diamonds. The woman +who has such a diamond to call her own should guard him well. No +pleasure-seeker, no drunkard, no gambler follows his besetting sin so +readily as he whom Eleutheria has once enslaved. She has but to +proclaim, 'My service demands the lives of men,' and thousands upon +thousands of her worshippers answer, 'Here is mine; take it.' Beware +that Pushkin be not among them!" + +Bethsaba let the arms encircling Zeneida's waist sink until they +embraced her knees. + +"Oh, unapproachable saint! You who rejected his heart that you might +save his head. Speak, counsel me, how shall I set about doing that which +you have charged me to do. It is so difficult. How shall I carry it out, +that my work be successful?" + +And Zeneida, raising the young bride, began to whisper the sensible +advice to her that experienced women are wont to give their +inexperienced younger sisters. + +"Give up to him in everything. Do not contradict him. If he change his +mind seven times in a day, change yours with him. Divine his thoughts +and forestall his wishes. If you know one thought of his, you can guess +the others. If he be out of temper, do not irritate him with questions +as to the reason. In such a mood the dearest face is unwelcome. Requite +his love with your whole soul, and do not hide your joy from him. But do +not flatter him, for that would turn him from you. Do your utmost to +make his home pleasant to him. Let your house and his surroundings be +pure and peaceful, yourself be ever cheerful and loving; never let him +hear your voice raised harshly to your servants. If he desire to show +hospitality, see that you make a good hostess. Do not keep him back from +his manly pursuits. Never ask where he is going, whence he comes. Above +all, never betray jealousy. What woman is there who can sufficiently +stifle jealousy as not to feel it? Therefore must her heart, his +advocate, keep watch that it clear him, even if eyes and ears accuse +him. Never meet him with tearful eyes, but keep a strict watch over your +own actions. It is not necessary to play the prude with strangers and to +be always flying to your husband for protection; that would only render +him ridiculous, and lead to many disagreeables. But never, whether from +high spirits or feminine vanity, allow other men to pay you attentions +which might arouse your husband's jealousy. If anything annoy you, tell +it him gently and at once. Do not brood over it until it grows and he +reads the trouble in your face. Be easily pacified. Throughout, be +yourself, equable, ever the same; for, in an evil hour, some fatal +moment may suffice to recall his forsaken love, Eleutheria, to his mind, +and to throw him again into her arms." + +The little bride listened to her words as though they were the words of +Holy Scripture. + +"I will help you to keep him at home and from returning to St. +Petersburg. I will write you letters saying that the Czar is furious +that he whom he had chosen as his daughter's husband should have been +capable of marrying another on the very day of her funeral. It will not +be true, for I shall show the Czar Sophie's will, and it will disarm +him, but Pushkin must be made to believe that he is in disgrace, and +dare not return to St. Petersburg without special permission. And we +will expunge his name from 'the green book,' that he receive no more +invitations to meetings. Let him be hidden in your arms until better +times dawn or--what I far rather believe in--until the day of our +extinction. When all is over, then you may come back to the world. Until +then we must keep him in the belief that for him, exiled by his Czar, +vilified by his peers, there is no other world than his love and his +Olympus. And are they not, in themselves, two worlds--two heavens?" + +Pushkin entered. + +"Not ready yet?" + +"Leave us alone! I am just about to spoil your wife. I am advising her +how to keep you under her thumb. You are not to listen." + +"All very fine. The first hour we are together she will tell me all +about it." + +The choristers in the chamber of death now began their solemn chant. It +was a long ceremony, but it, too, came to an end. The priest, taking the +two candlesticks, held them over the cross while he spake the blessing, +walked three times round the coffin waving incense, then placed the +parchment containing the list of sins, at the end of which was inscribed +the absolution, into the dead child's hands as her passport into +eternity; after which the candles on the catafalque were extinguished. +The two doves upon the crucifix continued their billing and cooing. + +They carried out the coffin to the barge draped with funereal hangings. +Many blossoms from the garden accompanied it; it was covered with +wreaths. The blue, green, and red lights glared in the twilight. The +choristers continued their chant, the gentle plash of the oars marking +time to it. Long those left behind gazed after the departing boat, until +the next wooded island hid it from their view. + +"She has gone on her journey!" said Zeneida; there were no tears in her +eyes. "Now it is your turn. Quick! No leave-takings; they are so +wearisome. Be off with you! I have my guests to see to, a right merry +company. I must hurry back. One kiss is enough, Bethsaba; you may give +the others to your Aleko. Take quickly with you what is yours." + +"Alas! that is impossible," sighed Pushkin, who had the bad habit of +being unable to keep back what was in his mind. "One part she who is +gliding away in that gondola has taken with her; a second part you take; +to this poor child belongs only the remainder." + +"That is not true," returned Zeneida, with proud, radiant face. "She who +has gone back to heaven has bequeathed her part in you to your wife; she +who is here has, even now, given up to her that which she might have +possessed. Bethsaba knows all about it. You are hers, wholly, entirely. +And now, God be with you!" + +And she held out her hand to him. The allies of the new epoch did not +kiss in greeting. + +And as Pushkin pressed the hand she held out to him, a ray of joy passed +over Zeneida's countenance. Freemasons have a sign by which they +recognize each other in hand pressure. _Pushkin had not given the sign +this time._ + +Already he had forgotten his former love. To the new one, to whom he had +plighted his marital troth, he belonged wholly, entirely. + +It was as "she" had desired; and smilingly Zeneida waved her white +handkerchief to the vanishing gondola, which a troika awaited on the +opposite bank. Only when she could see it no longer did she hide her +face in the said white handkerchief, and whether it was bedewed with +tears or not that handkerchief alone can tell. She did not remove it +from her eyes until her gondolier addressed her. + +"If you please, madame, the rockets on Kreskowsky Island have begun." + +"Ah yes. You are right. The third funeral awaits me!" + +With that she hastened into her gondola, and within its closed curtains +sang, in a low voice: + + "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept; + For they that led us away captive required of us a song, + Saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. + If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +SPARKS AND ASHES + + +Zeneida's gondola glided quickly past the funeral barge back to +Kreskowsky Island. Her guests were entertaining themselves without her. +They were used to do so. + +The conspirators were largely represented; even Pestel, from far-off +Nikolajevsk, was there. To-night the conflicting parties were to measure +themselves; the decision was to be made which plan should be the +accepted one: the one which should give freedom by means of the Czar; or +that which, regardless of him, living or dead, should carry the work to +its completion. + +As the fireworks commenced, the Bojars withdrew from the gay scene to +the roulette chamber. + +There were three-and-twenty men and Zeneida. Prince Ghedimin alone was +still expected; he was to come direct from the Czar. + +He came. + +He had a long envelope, sealed with five seals, in his hand. + +In extreme agitation all awaited the opening of the document. The Prince +cut the seals with a pair of scissors, opened the envelope, and there +fell from it the ashes of some burned sheets of paper, as they had been +reclaimed from the fire. It was the anxiously awaited _charta_--reduced +to ashes. + +"I said so!" exclaimed Pestel, with triumphant countenance. "The whole +thing was a comedy. Scarce three months has it lasted. There's an end of +fine words. Now to dark deeds!" + +Nothing was left but to decide if _the deed_ should be consummated. + +They voted openly and by name. + +There were twelve ayes and twelve noes. + +"There is still one to give the casting vote," said Pestel. "Here is the +'Votum Minervć.' Here is Zeneida. Her vote shall decide it." + +Zeneida saw the deadly pallor which had overspread Ghedimin's face. + +With calm voice she said, "Aye." + +Thirteen to twelve the majority for the deed. But when? That was the +next question. + +Pestel said, "At once." + +Ryleieff moved that in September would be their best opportunity, at the +concentration of the army. + +"To-day," growled Jakuskin. "Not to-morrow!" + +Fresh votes had to be taken. + +"At once, or in September?" + +Once more the votes were twelve to twelve. Once more Zeneida was called +upon to give the casting vote. + +Upon her breath hung the decision whether the world at that very hour +should be shattered to its foundations. + +"In September," she said; and Ghedimin gave a deep breath of relief. + +Pestel shrugged his shoulders wrathfully. + +"Then it were better to put it off until May, to try the success of the +concentration of the army in Kiew. There in the South we are the +masters." + +"Shame upon us!" growled Jakuskin. "We are twelve to their twelve, and +dare not do the deed. Every one of us a Brutus! More than an Armada! +Were I alone I would do it myself." + +The concluding set piece of the fireworks was greeted by the crowd +without with clapping of hands. The golden rain fell like a shower of +stars from the sky. + +"Very well. The 20th of September," whispered the conspirators, as they +shook hands with each other. Loud peals of laughter were heard among the +gay company; the health of the lady of the house was drunk with acclaim. + +Upon the smooth surface of the Neva, under the shower of golden rain, +gently glided the funeral barge to its destination; the dead lay with +face serene; and amid the applause and hand-clapping of the spectators +arose the dirge: + + "Ah, the day of tears and mourning, + From the dust of earth returning, + Man for judgment must prepare him." + +The psalm and noisy crowd were silenced. The golden sparks died out, the +ashes were extinguished. Morning began to dawn. Not a soul was to be +seen on the Neva. Every one had gone home to sleep through the gray +morning hours; the forenoon in St. Petersburg is good for nothing else. + +Even morning here has its special characteristics. The sky is white, and +as it is reflected on the calm surface of the Neva it seems like one +plate of burnished silver, upon which the long streaks of cloud and the +heavy foliage of the trees stand out black as night. Pomp of death in +sky and earth! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +DAIMONA + + +The mistress of Grusino, who ruled Araktseieff as completely as he ruled +the empire, was neither young nor beautiful. She could not have laid +claim to beauty even in youth, and her stature was of manly proportions. + +There are plain women who can make themselves pleasant; who, aware that +they have not the advantages of good looks, lay themselves out to charm +by their manner. But Daimona wanted to be beautiful. Her complexion was +dark--she painted herself very red and very white; but as her +beautifying only extended to her face, leaving her neck its natural hue, +it gave her the appearance of wearing a mask. Having no eyebrows, but +desiring to obtain them by artificial aid--being, moreover, extremely +short-sighted--she usually contrived to paint first one, then the other, +higher or lower than its fellow. Her teeth were blackened from much +smoking and indulgence in sweets. In addition, she selected the most +ridiculous and garish of costumes and colors, always overloaded with +ribbons and jewels. When she spoke it was in a man's barytone, which, +when agitated, broke into a sobbing squeak. + +And this voice of hers, heard all day long without cessation, inspired +fear in all around her, for she only opened her mouth to scold and +abuse. In her communications to her household she made use of the most +singular punctuation; the cane formed a comma, a box on both ears a +colon, and the knout a full stop. + +And this woman was the delight, the goddess, the idol, of the +all-powerful court favorite. The whole land knew the infatuation of the +great statesman for her; whoever aimed at accomplishing any end in St. +Petersburg must first make his way to Grusino; for a good word from +Daimona outbalanced a whole wagon-load of letters of introduction and +whole sackfuls of merit. + +And that good word was never given for nothing. Daimona understood her +business; she had a carefully made-out tariff for favors desired: So +much for an official post; so much for a concession; so much for an +order; so much to be let off from an undesired expedition to Siberia, +with or without accompaniment of the knout on the way, on foot, or by +sledge. She could tell it all off by heart. + +The most aristocratic men and women did not esteem it beneath their +dignity, whenever they deemed it advisable, to present themselves with +friendly or deferential mien to the mistress of Grusino, who, wedded +neither in right nor left handed marriage to the favorite, was +originally the cast-off wife of a sailor condemned to Siberia, and +afterwards had served her time as a _vivandičre_ to the Ismailowsk +Regiment, who had given her the sobriquet of the "squinting Diana." + +And, withal, she had completely captivated the clever man before whom a +vast empire trembled. Araktseieff was only at his ease when, throwing +off the "iron mask," he could be himself again in the arms of the +chatelaine of Grusino. + +At court, in order to retain his influence, he had humbly, in cold +blood, to receive every affront and humiliation, to flatter, to be more +courtly and diplomatic in manner than any diplomat; the while raging +internally, filled with uncontrollable pride and savage revolt at +everything that opposed him. It was of itself a penance to him to have +always to converse in French, for it was the only language of the court, +and he who spoke Russian ran the risk of being looked upon as a +conspirator, or, worse, "member of a learned society." And he hated the +French with a deadly hatred! Their language, dress, manners, music, +drinks, diplomats, their drama and their philosophy! Then, too, he had +carefully to keep watch over every word he uttered and every glass he +put to his lips. Not only lest the contents of the glass should be +poisoned, but for fear of drinking too much! For he knew that the true +man spake in him when he was in liquor. Even worse, he had to ape the +ascetic; for women's charms were an arch snare, in which his enemies +would fain have trapped him. Thus he lived like a recluse, with the +appetites of a Sardanapalus. And when, flying court atmosphere for a +brief respite, he could seek refuge at home in his Eleusinian den, and, +throwing off the affectations of the French language, dress, and mask, +he was free to resume the despised native Russian costume, and talk the +good old true Novgorod dialect, in which the republican peasant of +those days abused Czar and yeoman alike, he felt himself happy. Then he +could vie with his well-mated companion in good round oaths, beat her in +the morning, kiss and make friends in the afternoon over the flogging of +the peasants, men-servants, and stewards who came in their way, and get +drunk together at night. Daimona was a match for him in every form of +excess. If he were violent, she incited him to increased violence; if he +would vent his wrath on some one, she found him a human object on which +to vent it, seconding him with all a woman's refinement of cruelty. + +When the master showed his face at Grusino there was a hurrying and +scurrying hither and thither, lamentations, groans, and blows; eating +and drinking to excess; music and dancing through the streets; battues, +dog-fights, mad revels of every description, and at least one _swacha_ +(girl market). For the Sultana provided her Padishah with his Feast of +Bairam. + +In fine, Prince Alexis Andreovitch found in the hideous Daimona his +other self; and this made her more precious to him than all the beauties +under the sun. + +One day that fine fellow Zsabakoff presented himself, with countless +bowings and cringings, before the mighty Daimona. Not this time in the +torn garments in which he slipped into Pushkin's quarters, but attired +as a man of position. He possessed different costumes for the different +parts he had to play. + +Herr Zsabakoff came to Daimona because he had learned that the Czar was +sending an army against the Turks. The fact was known to none, not even +to Araktseieff; only one man knew of it, and that was the Czar's groom +of the chambers, the same worthy individual who one evening had lent +young Araktseieff the Czar's Vladimir star. This worthy groom of the +chambers often did his friends a good turn. Thus, for instance, it was +solely to do Herr Zsabakoff a kindness that he gave a glance at the +Czar's papers while arranging them on his writing-table. What he there +saw, no one, not even the ministers, knew; nor did he proclaim it with +beating of drums, but he sold the information without more ado. There is +no reason for surprise at this. Other times, other manners. At that time +it had happened that university professors had been known to distribute +to students on one day answers to the questions to be put to them on the +next. But in this affair Herr Zsabakoff was not interested to speculate +as to whether the Hellenic champions of freedom would be able to hold +Missolonghi until the Russian army had advanced to their aid, but merely +whether the Czar's plan that every soldier, besides his customary kit, +should carry a flask as a necessary equipment in campaign--consequently +three hundred thousand metal flasks would be required. The contractor +would make his fortune. + +But the honest groom of the chambers had not only communicated this +secret intelligence to friend Zsabakoff, but also to many other similar +friends, who probably were hurrying on the production of flasks by day +and night, for in the course of a fortnight they must be ready. +Naturally it would not be the lowest contract which would obtain the +order, but he who best greased the wheels of the Intendant-General's +carriage. Herr Zsabakoff now came to the influential lady to entreat her +to use her powers with the potent Intendant-General to persuade the Czar +to have _wooden_ flasks made instead of the unwholesome metal ones. +Thus, at one fell swoop, would disappear all his metal-flask rivals; +Zsabakoff would remain in possession of the field, and could demand his +own price. In order to lend emphasis to his request he had brought a +little present with him which would exactly become its charming +wearer--an antique brilliant _ferronničre_, in the centre of which was +an exquisite solitaire of unusual fire. + +"Of course that is merely earnest-money," said the mistress of the +house. "You are aware that in the case of such a large transaction I go +shares in the profit." + +"Your Excellency has taken the very words out of my mouth. Depend and +rely on it, I am straightforward with you--I always speak the truth. I +always do the honest thing. Why, then, should I deny it? According to +the price of my contract I gain half a griva on every flask; of that I +will make over two copecks to your Excellency." + +"I tell you what, you make your contract so that it brings you in a +whole griva apiece, and give me four copecks on each." + +Herr Zsabakoff agreed to this proposition. But Daimona was none too +delicate of her guests' feelings. One of her slaves was a jeweller, and +expert in precious stones. Him she sent for, and, in Zsabakoff's +presence, had the ornament valued. This was her custom. She kept the +slave specially for that office. The expert valued it at one thousand +five hundred rubles; but had the centre stone been pure water instead of +yellow it would have been worth two thousand. + +"You don't understand anything about it!" screamed Zsabakoff. "Yellow +diamonds are unique; they are called 'fantaisie.' Besides, it is an +antique, and great people like antiques best." + +"Quite true. All the same, a pure-water solitaire would be worth five +hundred rubles more." + +"Do you hear?" quoth Daimona. "Don't forget next time to exchange it for +a handsomer and costlier one. And then I prefer it set in gold to this +silver setting." + +Zsabakoff promised to obey her behests, and took his leave with as much +kissing of hands and feet as though he had received instead of given. + +Some weeks later Zsabakoff came back more amiable and deferential than +the first time. + +"My word is as good as my bond," said he. "Instead of that worn-out old +_ferronničre_ I bring you a brand-new one. Look at this stone, your +Excellency. What a fire! how pure! a perfect Golconda brilliant! It +dazzles the eyes like sunlight." + +And he went on crying up the new ornament until Daimona gave him back +the old one for it. + +"You may have this examined. I am positive your goldsmith will value it +at three thousand rubles. And, in fact, it cost every penny as much. But +I don't grudge it you. All I ask is that you write his Excellency by +your special courier, post-haste, that the matter must be at once +decided. It is in your own interest. For every field-flask you make four +copecks. I am off; I have not a moment to lose." + +And once more recommending the flasks to her Excellency's immediate +attention, Herr Zsabakoff, rushing out, jumped into his carriage, drawn +by three horses, and drove off as if possessed. This time he did not +wait for Daimona to summon the jeweller. + +Daimona was in haste to write to Araktseieff anent the flasks. But +writing with her was a slow process; the pen did not readily obey her +untutored fingers. Only when the letter was finished did she submit the +jewels to her goldsmith. He, suspiciously examining the _ferronničre_, +begged permission to test it in his laboratory; then told her that, to a +jeweller, it would be worth about three rubles. The brilliants were only +Strasburg paste; the setting plated, not gold. + +Daimona, at first, was merely surprised; she could not believe the man +mad enough to deceive her in a matter concerning three hundred thousand +flasks. It was such a clumsy trick, such an unheard-of affront. A +trinket worth three rubles was only the kind of present that would be +given to a _vivandičre_. + +"Hi, Schinko!" screeched Daimona. Whereupon her factotum appeared, a +handsome, muscular fellow of the unmistakable gypsy type. "Take a horse +at once, take three mounted men with you, and follow the man who just +drove off with three horses abreast! Seize, bind, bring him back. See +you do not come back without him!" + +The next instant the gypsy was on a horse, without saddle, galloping for +his life. His three followers could scarce keep up with him. Daimona was +satisfied that Schinko would soon come up with Zsabakoff. + +But within scarce half an hour the three horsemen, with Schinko at their +head, came back the way they had gone, and behind them a troika in which +sat a man alone. But not as a prisoner did they bring him; it was the +other way about, he drove them before him. From time to time he kept +putting his head out of the carriage, threatening the galloping horsemen +so ominously with his stick that, as fast as their horses would go they +tore homeward, looking back now and again with scared faces. + +"What's the meaning of this?" shrieked Daimona, furiously pacing the +hall. "Schinko! You hounds! What, run away--you let yourselves be driven +back by one man?" + +Yes, when it is that "one" man! Arrived at the castle, and flinging back +the leathern apron of the troika, he sprang up from his seat, roaring +with all the power of his lungs after the runaways. + +"You fellows! Just you wait! I'll teach you to molest travellers in +broad daylight on the emperor's highway. A hundred lashes of the knout +for each of you! I'll have you all fastened to the handle of the pump. +Bojiriks, Bontshiks, thieves that ye are!" + +It was "he" the master--Araktseieff himself. Daimona was more furious +than ever. Rushing down the entrance steps into the courtyard beneath, +she stood, gasping for breath, before the new-comer. + +"Why did you hound back my people? They were pursuing a thief who had +robbed me! He brought me false stones and stole the real ones. I will +have him brought back--the thief." + +But the master of the house paid no attention to her. When he was +abusing some one, whoever it might be, he had no thought for anything +else. His face was crimson as he alighted from his carriage, holding in +one hand a stout knotted stick, in the other a flask by its strap. + +Daimona thought him informed of the whole affair, so, seizing him by the +collar of his cloak, she continued: + +"It was Zsabakoff--do you hear?--Zsabakoff! You surely have not given +him the flasks yet?" + +"Flasks?" retorted Araktseieff, amazed. "I've only got this one; and I +can't offer you anything from it, for it's empty." + +"Oh, the devil take you! The three hundred thousand flasks, I mean, that +the army are to have in the Turkish War." + +And now he was more astonished than ever. + +"Three hundred thousand flasks? War? Give yourself time to breathe. +What have you been drinking to-day?" + +The woman cursed and raved. In a medley of words she mixed up weeks and +months, copecks and flasks, diamonds worth two thousand rubles, +Missolonghi and Omer Brione Pasha, and stormed on so long that at length +her lord and master, in a fury, flinging his empty flask at her, pushed +her aside; whereupon Daimona, to recover her wounded feelings, fell upon +the jeweller, and struck his head with the _corpus delicti_, the paste +tiara. Why had he said that a yellow diamond was not as good as a white +one? It was all his fault that the thief had stolen the real one and +made off with it. + +And this was the affectionate reception of the weary statesman to his +home. Perhaps others have shared his experiences--who shall say? + +However, at supper they made it up again; and Daimona recounted to him +the history of the field-flasks. + +"Well, my dear hen"--this was his pet name for Daimona--"you know more +about it than I do, whose province it is, as Intendant-General, to see +to the fitting out of the army. I am on leave from court--ostensibly on +account of my health. This that scoundrel Zsabakoff knew, hence he got +back his present to you. He knew that I am 'very' ill just now." + +"But what's the matter with you?" + +"The matter is, that I am a follower of the Czar." + +"Try to get cured of that ailment." + +"I know that I shall soon be recalled, and very soon fall back into my +old ailment." + +"Bungler! If only you had kept the Czar's favor until the field-flask +contract had been delivered!" + +"Bah! Say no more about it. Sing me something nice. It's so long since I +heard a woman's voice." + +Alexis Andreovitch really meant it when he said he wanted to hear +Daimona sing. Now, the screech of a peacock was a swan's song compared +with Daimona's croak. Her voice was out of tune, throaty, and harsh; but +if it pleased her lord, what matter? And then the words of her song, +with its refrain, "Give him a taste of the knife!" In truth, an +extraordinary ditty to choose; and that it should just have come into +Daimona's head! Yet what so extraordinary in it, after all, for the +fallen favorite's _chčre amie_ to choose a revolutionary song, when he +had been dismissed from court by his imperial master, and when the +matter of the flasks was not settled? Surely reason enough that he who +yesterday kissed the dust from off the tyrant's feet to-day should throw +it back in his face! + +And the fallen favorite did not interrupt her. He listened to every +verse, enjoying the last so much that he chuckled with delight. + +"Where did you hear that ridiculous thing?" + +"You thick-head! Can't you guess? Didn't you yourself send the gypsy +girl to me to be educated? We have made a thorough success of it." + +"Right. Among the many pleasures that await me here is carrying on that +joke to the bitter end. She drove my son to Archangel! Not a word have I +heard from him yet. What have you been doing to the wench?" + +"Just what you directed. If you want some fun we'll have her in." + +"Nothing better just now." + +Daimona sent a man in search of Diabolka. Meanwhile she whispered +something to Alexis Andreovitch, her painted eyebrows dancing with +fiendish glee as she did so. + +Araktseieff seemed to enter fully into the joke; he laughed so loud that +he made himself quite hoarse, and, striking his fist on the table, +shouted: + +"Good! Excellent! By Jove! That'll be worth seeing!" + +Both were looking grave when the girl came in. She was hardly +recognizable. A young lady in a long dress, wearing mittens, on her head +the snood of a Russian maiden. She held both hands, in national style, +hidden in the long sleeves of her dress, only withdrawing them to kiss +the hand of her master and mistress. Her eyes she kept modestly fixed on +the ground. + +"Well, dear child, and how do you like being under your mistress's +protection?" + +In a low whisper the girl answered: + +"Thanks be to my gracious master for having sent me where I am so +happy." + +Araktseieff could scarce repress his laughter. + +"You speak like a book." + +"That is not my merit, but that of the reverend Herr Prokop, who has +spared no pains to give me the benefit of his instruction." + +"Ei, ei! You are quite a fine young lady, I see. You must sit down and +have supper with us. Come, don't be shy! Here, you long-legged fellow, +set a cover for the young lady! Here, you lout! Opposite me." + +"It will be a great honor to your unworthy maid-servant to be permitted +to sit at table with you; but I must ask forgiveness if I eat nothing. +Good Father Prokop has inflicted the penance on me of eating no supper +for a whole year." + +"For what sin?" + +The girl heaved a deep sigh. + +"Your Excellency! you know the great sin I have committed, and for which +I never can atone." And she sank her head remorsefully. + +Was she really penitent, or was it only hypocrisy? + +"And what do you do while others are having their meal?" + +"I read the Psalms to them." + +"What! you can read already? and the Psalms into the bargain! I should +like to hear that. Bring her a Psalm-book. Now sit here and read. Which +one is it?" + +The girl, sitting down as she was bid, rested the finger-tip of one hand +daintily on the table, while with the forefinger of the other she marked +the syllables as she read, "Lord, the hea-then are come in-to thine +in-her-i-tance." + +"Wonderful! But do you understand what you are reading about? Who are +the 'heathen'?" + +"The _Turks_!" The girl spat out the words, as beseems an orthodox +Muscovite. + +"Who is the 'Lord'?" + +Rising, the girl answered: + +"Our august master, the Czar." + +"And what is his 'inheritance'?" + +"Greece." + +"Very good," returned her master. "How well you have learned to read! +And can you write too? And so that you need no one to guide your hand, +as when you wrote your first letter? Ha, ha! That was a joke!" + +Then, turning to Daimona, he said, so that Diabolka should hear: + +"Why, you have made quite a lady of her." + +"And I mean to make a good Christian of her, too," responded Daimona. + +Diabolka, seeming not to hear, went on spelling out her psalm. + +"Come forward, Schinko!" Daimona commanded the man standing behind her +chair. "Now, have I not selected a good-looking husband for her?" + +"Ah! I sent him to you, too, my lady. Is he not a certain 'cousin' of +your ward's?" + +"That's why I treat him so well. A fine youth! I have no more faithful +servant than he. The peasantry fear him like the very devil. He is my +right hand." + +"Then I can guess how many floggings he has already administered to +them." + +"I will give them their wedding. Then I mean to make Schinko my +house-steward and Diabolka my confidential maid." + +"I will provide the wedding presents." + +Diabolka continued reading her psalm without interruption. Any other +girl at least would have simpered when she heard talk of her wedding in +presence of her bridegroom. + +"Now we'll finish up supper with a little singing and dancing," said the +mistress of the house, signing to Schinko. + +"Ah! Can Diabolka not only sing sacred songs, but dance too?" + +"She neither sings nor dances; she has another calling. There is some +one else to do that." + +Hereupon twelve pretty young peasant girls entered from a side-door, +each with a lute in her hand, their faces expressing more repressed fear +than pleasurable expectation. Behind them slid Schinko, a long whip in +one hand, the other leading a small, humpbacked dwarf on a chain, like a +bear, with a bagpipe under his arm. He was hideously ugly, with a hump +behind and before, his large bald head sunk between his high shoulders. +His face was the caricature of a man's face, and so distorted with +small-pox that it seemed as if the lineaments, being so grotesque, the +fell disease had tried to wipe them out; here and there remained a tuft +of beard and whisker; he had but one eye. He was revolting to look upon; +but when his cheeks distended with the bagpipe he was a perfect monster. +A worthier performer on the bleating goat-skin could scarcely be +imagined. + +"That's classical music," said the master; "but what about the dancing?" + +"Wait a minute. That's the best." + +Going out once more, Schinko returned with the _ballerina assoluta_, +gripping her by the nape of the neck that she might not bite his hand. +She was a deformity in woman's shape--a humpbacked dwarf, with long arms +reaching to the ground; her stump nose hardly visible; matted-hair +growing down to her eyebrows; her mouth awry with great protruding +teeth--add to this an evil, bestial stamp on all her features. Such was +the creature who was to perform a ballet for the amusement of the lord +of Grusino. She was clad in a dress of gold paper; therefore it did not +matter if she tore it. She had been taught to dance as monkeys are, and +knew she had to do it. + +"Blow away, Vuk! Dance, Polyka!" cried Daimona, clapping her hands; and +as the bagpipe began its melody the dancer began her parody of a +ballet-dancer, making such pirouettes that with her long arms, not her +feet, she chased away the chorus, accompanying the bagpipe with their +voices. + +"Hopsa! hopsa!" cried Schinko, every now and then, and touched up the +calves of the dancer's legs with the point of his whip, if she did not +spring high enough in the air, at which she made furious grimaces. + +Araktseieff and Daimona sank back in their chairs with laughter. The +great statesman, the pattern of astute diplomacy, drummed his spurs on +the table in his mirth; while Diabolka, without raising her eyes, ever +continued spelling out her psalm, as though nothing were going on about +her. + +At the close of this edifying performance the female monstrosity caught +hold of the male by the collar of his coat, and twirled him and his +instrument round in a waltz, Schinko cracking his whip the while, as +though he were in a circus. + +"Well, these two will make a pretty couple, too, I declare!" laughed the +master. "We will celebrate both weddings together." + +Upon which Daimona gave him such a sharp pinch on his arm that he cried +out. + +The very next day Diabolka's wedding-dress was put in hand. All +Daimona's female serfs were at work upon it. Diabolka now usually dined +at the minister's table when he entertained the notables of the +neighborhood, all of whom were welcome guests when they could prevail +upon themselves to kiss Daimona's hand. A dear repast, in truth! + +But his guests had still more to put up with. When Araktseieff had drunk +too much he would grow quarrelsome and come to blows with them. All the +same, they would come back again next day and meet the same fate. A +still costlier price to pay! + +Schinko was the chief flogger of the palace; he had to execute all the +scourging, whipping, and lashing with the knout. It was his office. He +had no choice but to carry out orders. If his master ordered him to +thrash corn, he must do it; if to thrash mujiks, he must thrash them. +Lucky that it was his part to administer, not to receive, the lash. +Moreover, he was a gypsy; and gypsies, it is known, have stronger nerves +than other men. + +The eve of the wedding-day Daimona commanded Diabolka to try on her gay +wedding-dress, and to show herself in it to the master. + +He admired it, and gave the girl a slap on the cheek. + +"Do you see? I am glad you have grown at last into a respectable young +woman. I raised you out of the mire into which you had sunk. Is it not a +good thing to have become a well-behaved girl?" + +And Diabolka, falling on her knees before him, kissed his feet. + +"Nice to be a bride, eh? Now you love your cousin Schinko, don't you?" + +The girl hid her face in confusion. + +"Well, show how you can give a kiss. Where's Schinko?" + +But Diabolka would not be kissed. Schinko might wait till he was +married. + +"A sensible girl," said her master, praising her. "Now take her to the +priest, that she may tell her prayers and confess. To-morrow morning her +bridesmaids and groomsmen shall fetch her back. You go with her, +Schinko!" + +After she had gone, Daimona sent for the other bridal couple. They were +worthy of each other, Vuk and Polyka. + +The humpbacked bridegroom was dressed in a handsome seal-skin coat +reaching down to his toes, his cap adorned with a pair of hare's ears; +while the bride, with mouth all awry, was attired as a Turkish +odalisque, making her more hideous than ever. + +"Upon my word, they're a handsome couple!" laughed Araktseieff. "I +wonder if that great hunch will prevent her kissing him?" + +"That doesn't matter," returned Daimona; "her arms are long enough to +pull out his hair." + +Nor did it need much encouragement for her to try it even before +marriage; a word would have sufficed to give proof of their connubial +tenderness. + +"It will be rare fun to-morrow!" said Daimona. + +"A splendid idea," chimed in her lord. + +"Are you satisfied with it?" + +"It's a masterwork." + +"Well, if you love me, do as I do." + +When was he not ready to do it? It was the reason the brutal pair loved +each other so well that there was nothing so mad devised by the one that +the other was not ready to join in. + +Song followed the carousal. Daimona began the _Knife Song_, and +Araktseieff joined in the chorus. + +For the sweetest of all the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge is +when a smooth courtier, whose wont is to flatter, to bow, and to scrape, +in the privacy of his chamber can tune up a revolutionary song, and +blacken his sovereign and fellow-courtiers to his heart's content. + +"Let's have it over again! Where's a glass?" He always dashed his empty +glasses against the wall. But instead of the glass, Schinko brought on +his silver salver a letter, which a mounted messenger had just +delivered. + +Araktseieff at once knew the handwriting on the cover. Releasing himself +from Daimona's arms, he sprang up from the divan, and, hastily wiping +his mouth, pressed the letter to his lips and forehead; then said, in a +hollow voice: + +"Give me the scissors." + +"What do you want with scissors? Break it open with your fingers." + +"Give me the scissors when I ask for them!" shouted he, angrily, and +snatched roughly at the pair hanging from Daimona's girdle. And as with +trembling hand he cut the seal, he said, feverishly, "One does not break +the Czar's seal." + +"The Czar's seal?" repeated Daimona, astounded. + +It did not take Araktseieff long to read his letter. Besides the +signature were two words only--"Come back!" + +"Bring water! Cold water!" he said, imperiously, to Schinko. And as he, +not knowing the wherefore, returned with a bucket of water, his master, +seizing the utensil with both hands, took a deep draught from it. + +Daimona's astonishment increased more and more. + +"What is the matter?" + +"I must set off this very instant!" gasped Araktseieff. "Hurry, Schinko; +let them put the horses to; twelve horsemen to accompany me with +torches; and one to ride on before to secure post-horses. Fly!" + +"You are going away?" asked Daimona, amazed. + +"Instantly! The Czar commands!" + +"And you hurry back at his request?" + +"As a Cossack pony answers to his master's whistle." + +"And will not be taking part in to-morrow's sport?" + +"I must deny myself the gratification." + +"You are going to leave me?" asked she, reproachfully. "You do not love +me any more?" + +"The Czar has deigned to write with his own hand," returned Araktseieff, +handing her the letter. + +"What do I care about his writing?" screamed Daimona; and, snatching at +the letter, she cut out a piece with her scissors, which so enraged +Araktseieff that he struck her violently on the hand. + +"You have struck me! You are going away, and have struck me!" And, +turning her face away, the woman wept bitterly. + +But Araktseieff had no time to pacify her now. + +"_Seisasz!_ This means that the crisis is past." + +Had there been an ocean before him he must have swam across it. How much +more, then, a few woman's tears! + +The celebration of a double wedding will come off, but he will not be +there to enjoy the fun. + +"Quick, quick, Schinko! Then come to my room to shave me." + +While at Grusino the minister was in the habit of letting his beard and +mustache grow to please Daimona; but always had it shaved off before +returning to St. Petersburg. + +"Take care you don't cut me with your razor," were his first words to +Schinko, as he began. Schinko was the only one there to whom he +intrusted his throat. "If you slash my face I'll shoot you dead." + +His two travelling-pistols lay close to his hand. Schinko was cautious, +and completed the operation without disfiguring his master's face. A +lucky thing for Araktseieff. For the gypsy was resolved at the slightest +slip of his razor to cut his master's throat, that he might not have the +chance to carry out his threat. Never had Araktseieff been nearer to his +grave. + +As he finished, the bells on the horses' necks were heard in the +courtyard below. + +Thrusting the Czar's letter into his breast-pocket, Araktseieff hurried +away to say good-bye to Daimona. + +She had locked herself up in the room. + +"I have gone to bed." + +"Then good-bye, my dear!" He had no time for more. + +Daimona, from her window, could see the carriage dash away, with its +escort of torch-bearers. + +It was pitch-dark, the rain coming down in torrents--weather in which +one would not have sent out a scullion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +IT'S NOT THE KNIFE ALONE THAT STRIKES TO THE HEART + + +Araktseieff, on arrival at the palace, was received by Chevalier Galban. + +"What has happened here?" he asked, as he changed his travelling-dress +for his uniform. + +"A startling change. Since his daughter's death the Czar has become +reconciled to the Czarina, and is with her constantly. Every diplomatic +action has been broken off. The Greek deputation has not been received, +the commanding officers of the various regiments of the guards have been +despatched back to their colonies." + +"And what do the women say to all this? That's the main point." + +"The women are deucedly hard to get at just now. Since the +reconciliation of the Czar and Czarina, domestic fidelity has become the +rage in St. Petersburg. Every man is seen driving out with his wife. +Even Princess Ghedimin ostentatiously parades everywhere on her +husband's arm, and conducts herself so prudishly that she scarce returns +my bow." + +"And Zeneida?" + +"Is in disgrace. The court chamberlain has intimated that it would not +give displeasure in high quarters if she were to pass the coming season +under a more genial clime. Upon which she at once sent back her +credentials as court singer. She is having a sale of her furniture, and +is preparing for immediate departure." + +"And the cause of disgrace?" + +"Pushkin. You are aware that he was to have married Sophie Narishkin?" + +"That is--it was a piece of medical jugglery. They proposed to prolong +the invalid's life and make it happier by her betrothal." + +"All the same, Pushkin was her husband elect, and the Czar was deeply +hurt that the very day of Princess Sophie's funeral Pushkin should go +and get married to the lovely Bethsaba, whom he ran away with from the +Ghedimins'!" + +"Hullo! So he ran away with the little Circassian princess!" + +"The Czar was very cut up at his heartlessness. Hence his displeasure +with Fräulein Ilmarinen." + +"But what had she to do with it?" + +"She was witness to the marriage." + +"What, she? And she who worshipped Pushkin! That is a dangerous woman!" + +"Fortunately she can't do much harm now. She begged an audience of the +Czar; but his Majesty answered that he would only receive her in your +presence." + +"Then it shall be a hot reception for her! Thanks for the good news!" + +And Araktseieff hastened off to the Hermitage, where the Czar was to be +found before noon. + +Alexander extended his hand with emotion to the returned favorite, who +had travelled night and day to obey his behest. + +"My only true friend!" he said, in a low voice. + +"Not the only one, sire. The Czarina stands first." + +"You are right. We have come together again, and I am only beginning to +learn that in her I have won back a whole world. I grudge the moments +which this pile of drafts causes me to spend from her." + +"I am at your orders, sire!" + +"That will greatly help. Just you look through this sheaf of papers, +which I can make nothing of, and execute everything according to your +own judgment." + +"I will not stir from here before I have gone through them all." + +"Among them you will find a petition for a farewell audience from +Fräulein Ilmarinen. Answer in my name that I am willing to receive her, +but solely in your presence. Now I am off to church, where I shall meet +the Czarina. We are holding a requiem mass for poor Sophie Narishkin." + +Araktseieff made feint to be hearing this for the first time; and in +consequence of the melancholy surprise went through a theatrical scene +of up-turned eyes and exclamations, ending up with, as he kissed the +hand of the Czar, "I feel that my heart is torn out of my body at this +mournful news, sire!" He was the only man in the world who secretly +exulted over the news of the unhappy child's death. + +The Czar left him alone in his study; and the favorite found many more +important matters to attend to than Zeneida's petition. From the +multitudinous papers it was plain to see that when the cat's away the +mice begin to play. Everything was tending to lead the Czar back to the +paths of liberalism. Here must the first clearance be made! + +A few days later Zeneida was surprised, in the midst of her packing, by +a visit from Jakuskin. + +"I have come to tell you how glad I am that you are leaving us." + +"A singular kind of farewell." + +"But comprehensible! It is well for you that you are going; and well for +us, too. The rôle you were playing is at an end, and I am glad of it!" + +"So it seems." + +"Araktseieff is returned, and his iron hand is wielded over our heads. +You, fair Madonna, had exiled him with your refined arts. Now it has +become evident that the refinement of intrigue does not pay in our +atmosphere. The old tyrant is back, and the Czar more completely in his +power than ever." + +"I know it. I have had intimation that a farewell audience will only be +accorded me in his presence." + +"And you are going?" + +"Decidedly. I must reconcile the Czar with Pushkin." + +"Is that your only reason?" + +"What else keeps me here?" + +"The wish to depose friend Araktseieff." + +"I have no power to do that." + +"Well, then, I have." + +"By violence?" + +"It is already done. To-morrow morning will no longer see him in St. +Petersburg. I have struck him to the heart, and not with a dagger. His +fate is already sealed. He is dead and buried already, though he has no +idea of it. Read this letter." + +Zeneida's face changed from ghastly white to fiery red as she hastily +perused the letter handed her by Jakuskin. Her lips parted with surprise +and horror as she read. + +"You are terrible men!" stammered she, as she gave it back. + +"We understand what we are about, eh?" + +"And he knows nothing of it?" + +"There is not a man about him who dares to make it known to him. +Diabolka wrote me herself. I have copied her letter and sent the whole +affair to the Czar through the Sophien post. May he learn it from the +lips of the Czar--or, what is still more probable, may it fall into his +own hands in opening the Czar's letters. Ah, Zeneida! If only he +received the letter at the very time that you were having audience! If +only you could see him then! Oh, I could fain envy you the satisfaction +of that moment!" + + * * * * * + +Zeneida's audience was appointed for the next day. It was the Czar's +usual habit, on leaving Monplaisir at five in the afternoon, to pass a +short time at the Hermitage, which stood near the Winter Palace and had +been a favorite resort of Catherine II. His library here, where he +transacted business, was furnished very simply. Hither were brought to +him the letters which came by the Sophien post. The apartment was now +reserved to Araktseieff's use, who sat there from morning to evening +settling, on his own responsibility, the affairs of the vast empire in +the name of the Czar. Matters of home and foreign policy, religion, +education, trade, finance, all were dependent on his sole will; +ministers and stadt holders alike his puppets. Alexander would take no +part in anything--signing, unread, whatever Araktseieff laid before him. +Those drafts laid aside by him were mere waste paper. + +To-day, too, found the favorite hard at work at the Czar's own +writing-table, Alexander restlessly pacing the room, for Fräulein +Ilmarinen alone had been granted audience that day. + +Zeneida presented herself at the appointed hour. She was dressed in deep +mourning, her golden hair forming a striking contrast to her sombre +attire. + +The Czar advanced to meet her, but received her with marked coldness. + +Araktseieff feigned not to see her; did not lift his eyes from the +papers before him. + +"Fräulein Ilmarinen," said Alexander, "you desired to speak with me +personally. You may speak." + +"Will your Majesty forgive the boldness of my request, but I have papers +to place before you which the owner intrusted to me on sole condition +that I delivered them personally into your own hands. These papers form +the diary of the late Princess Sophie Narishkin!" + +With a deep sigh the Czar exclaimed, "Poor child!" his voice trembling +with agitation. + +"It was her last wish, and I must fulfil it." + +"You were with her, then, in her last hours?" + +"And afterwards. She had sent for me." + +"It was you who closed her eyes?" + +Zeneida bowed her head silently. + +"I thank you," said the Czar, and, taking from her the white-bound +diary, he held out his hand to her--a soft, thin hand--but the action +was not a cordial one. + +Zeneida kissed the hand. + +"Have you any wish, Fräulein Ilmarinen?" + +"Only one, sire! That you should graciously please to read the last +three pages of Sophie's diary _in my presence_." + +The Czar glanced back, as though to ask Araktseieff's permission. Then +only did he resolve to accede to her wish, and, opening the diary, he +read. + +He bit his lips to conceal his emotion. But Zeneida well knew what it +was he was reading; she knew the whole contents of the diary, as well as +those last confused lines written by the convulsed hand of an unhappy +child, looking forward with yearning and dread to the cold embrace of +death. And the Czar, as he concluded the last page, looking up at +Zeneida, saw that her eyes were filled with tears. + +Mutely he nodded his head and sighed. + +"She wanted me to read this to exonerate Pushkin, did she not? She +wished it so. She had a great, noble soul!" + +"Indeed she had, sire!" + +"And it was at her desire; and Pushkin was only fulfilling her last +wishes in acting as he did?" + +"He could not have done otherwise." + +"I believe it. He could not have done otherwise. And yet I cannot +reconcile myself to the thought that he did it--that in the very same +hour that he had covered the face of one bride with the funereal veil he +could draw the bridal veil over the face of the other! He had to do it! +And yet it seems incomprehensible to human understanding how there can +be a whole eternity in one short hour of time; how, in one short hour, a +man can fly from the arctic pole to the equator; how, in one and the +same moment, a man can mourn over a dead love and marry a living one!" + +"But if he had loved her previously?" asked Zeneida, softly. + +"What did you say?" + +"If that which he experienced for her who was gone was but the +adoration and boundless reverence for a being of another world, whose +wings were already bearing her heavenward when first he knew her? If all +the affection, tenderness, devotion which led him to the feet of his +worshipped bride were but sacrifices offered at the shrine of a saint to +keep her in life?" + +Alexander struck his forehead with his hand. + +"You are right! I never inquired into it. Never asked him if the dream +of love were more than a sick girl's fancy? He suffered himself to be +bound by that dream. That was the whole of it. In his heart he loved +another, and would have sacrificed himself for her. It was all my doing, +my fault--for everything I do is faulty, and everything that goes wrong +is through me!" + +These words were spoken by the Czar of All the Russias, not in +bitterness, but with the deep melancholy of conviction. It moved the +heart to pity. + +Suddenly he turned to Zeneida. + +"Do you wish me, then, to grant Pushkin permission to return?" + +"No, sire. He is in good hands. Whoever is a true friend to him would +rather desire that he should live a happy life _far from St. +Petersburg_!" + +This surprised Araktseieff. He threw his pen down and scrutinized +Zeneida. + +"And for yourself, have you no wishes?" continued the Czar. + +"I am leaving St. Petersburg to-morrow, sire!" + +"And do you not wish that I should send you back your credentials?" + +Oh, how proudly she raised her head at the words! She, too, was a queen, +and she proved it. + +"Sire, where I am once shown that my presence is unwelcome I do not +remain!" + +It was an audacious speech, bordering on treason, and not the manner in +which to address the Czar of All the Russias! + +Springing from his chair, it was the favorite and not the melancholy +monarch who hastened to reply to the haughty singer. + +"Are you aware, young lady, that there are duties from which a feeling +of wounded pride does not exempt us? To them belongs the respect due to +the throne and ruler, to whom you owe your fame." + +Zeneida's bosom heaved; her nostrils dilated like those of a zebra +prepared for the fight with a wolf. Her great dark flashing eyes +threatened to annihilate the favorite; her lips quivered as if with +fever. + +"Your Excellency," she gasped, "there are men who have carried gratitude +to their benefactors to the other ends of the earth with them, and who, +though they had the misfortune to lose the favor of their august +protectors, _have not gone home to sing the 'Knife Song'_!" + +This was such a smart slap in the face to Araktseieff that he went back +to his seat as though thinking it not worth his while to reply to the +insinuation. Did she really know about it? Had she her secret +spies--perhaps Diabolka?--the gypsy girl could write now! + +Instead of his silenced favorite, the Czar now took up the lance. It was +but fair. If the squire defends his lord, surely his lord should defend +the squire. + +"Your bitter remarks are in the wrong place, Fräulein Ilmarinen. If +there is one man in Greater Russia who deserves to be looked upon as a +perfect pattern of fidelity and loyalty, that is the man! He who has +been at my side in every battle; has shared with me every danger, yet +never claiming part in my glory; who watches, that I may sleep; who +defies the world, to defend me; who forsakes me never, when all else +desert me; that man is Araktseieff! What hard proofs of loyalty has he +not withstood! How often have his enemies prevailed to banish him! And +yet, as often as I have called, he has returned, without a word of +reproach to me! I struck him a vital blow in exiling his son, yet he +could kiss my hand and say I had done right, and remain loyal to me. +Such is Araktseieff!" + +But the favorite could not glory in this imperial recognition of his +services, for, as he resumed his seat and, in order to mark his +contemptuous indifference, opened the Sophien post-bag, the very letter +Jakuskin had mentioned to Zeneida came to hand, and absorbed his +attention to such a degree that he actually became deaf to the sound of +his own praises from the lips of the Czar. + +Zeneida saw how his face was working with demoniacal torture; how, +convulsed by nameless horror, it had changed to the semblance of a +maddened spectre; she saw his hair stand on end, his lips become blue, +his eyes start from their sockets. + +"Oh, woe is me!" he suddenly roared out, in a tone so brutalized that +the Czar turned round in affright. Araktseieff beat his breast with the +letter, as a man tries to heal his wound with the hair of the dog that +bit him, or of a scorpion with its dead body; then, up from his seat, +"Oh, woe! oh, woe! that I came back! Why was I not there at the time?" +And he flung out of the room like a madman. + +The Czar, thinking that a sudden fit of mania had seized the favorite, +endeavored to hold him back. + +"Alexis Andreovitch! What is the matter--where are you rushing?" + +"Pardon, your Majesty; I must go back to Grusino." + +"You will not leave me now? Affairs of state--the country?" + +Zeneida, placing herself directly in front of Araktseieff, with arms +crossed on her breast, gave him one look. + +That look sobered him for an instant. Compelling his countenance to +resume its cold exterior, while the Czar laid his hand soothingly on his +arm, his official self fought the real Araktseieff for the mastery. But +this time the man conquered. Striking his forehead with the crushed +letter still held in his hand, he burst out: + +"What do I care for Russia? What do I care for all this miserable +earth--for the Czar--for all the gods, when they could let such things +happen? Oh, woe is me!" + +And, pushing away the Czar's hand, he rushed screaming from the room +like one struck to death. The letter to the Czar he took with him. + +"What can have come to the man?" exclaimed the Czar in amazement. + +He had but now been investing him with virtues such as had never been +possessed save by that one man, and here this very man suffers himself +to indulge in so coarse and violent an outbreak as would not be ventured +upon before a petty prince, let alone a Russian Czar. + +Was there some witchcraft in Zeneida's gaze that could madden the +soberest men, until, flinging down the seals of office at the feet of +their sovereign, they should say: + +"What is your country to me? What care I for you and your gods?" + +The eyes of the Czar strove to read the secret from Zeneida's face. + +The artiste would have withdrawn. + +"Stay!" + +"If your Majesty commands, I will stay altogether and not leave St. +Petersburg." + +"Do you know what ails this man?" + +"I do." + +"Then speak." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE TRAGI-COMEDY AT GRUSINO + + +The double wedding was to be celebrated. The whole of the tenantry had +been commanded to attend. The courtyard of the castle had been thronged +with wondering serfs from early dawn. Two couples--one handsome, the +other loathsome--were to be married that day. + +The preparations were on a magnificent scale. For three whole days the +castle cooks had been engaged in making the national dishes. Long floral +walks had been erected in the courtyard; the gateway had been converted +into a triumphal arch by means of wreaths and colored transparencies. In +the centre of the great courtyard was a stage erected, covered with +gay-hued carpets of goat's hair. Upon it stood a table bearing an image +of the Virgin Mary, the covered plate in which were the wedding-rings, a +goblet, bread and salt--in fine, everything required for the ceremony +preceding the marriage service. For there is much to be gone through +before a bridal couple reaches the church portion of the ceremony--much +to be gone through at the hands of the bystanders, the groomsmen, +bridesmaids, and wedding-mother. + +The wedding-mother has an important part to play. Until they arrive at +the church doors she is the principal personage. + +Daimona is the wedding-mother in this instance. She is marrying one of +her serfs to her slave; she is mother to both. The high-backed chair +upon the tribune is for her. At first sound of the bells the ceremony +begins. From the priest's house the bridesmaids bring the bride in her +bridal array. Diabolka's dress glistens with heavy gold embroidery; a +costly girdle encircles her slender waist, on her neck hangs a fivefold +necklace of gold coins; her head-dress is of precious stones. One might +think she was a princess. From the opposite side resounds a horn, and +the bridegroom, Schinko, is seen advancing with his supporters and +groomsmen; his coal-black, curly hair, falling on to his shoulders, +betraying, despite the national costume, the bridegroom's Indian +descent. + +The groomsmen welcome the approaching bride with song, and follow the +bridal pair to the altar. From out the stables the second couple are now +brought. Wild screeches and the squeak of the bagpipe accompany them in +their progress. The pomp of wedding garments only serves to make them +more ridiculous. They are received with mocking rhymes, which seem to +please them highly. Both are very drunk; they kiss every one who comes +in their way; but as they near each other they cut hideous grimaces at +one another; and as they go up to the altar steps the bride gives the +bridegroom a good pinch on the arm, while the bridegroom deals her out a +smart kick with his foot. + +This couple is also placed at the table, so that bridegrooms and brides +stand one at each corner. + +At the second peal of bells the wedding-mother descends with her whole +retinue from the castle. The retinue is composed of twelve female +slaves, clad in white, who line the steps on either side. The +wedding-mother mounts the tribune alone, and takes her seat upon the +throne. + +She is dressed like a queen, and wears a purple mantle; her cap of +marten-skin is embroidered with gold and pearls; her face painted white +and red. She begins the ceremony. + +"Schinko, what do you bring the bride for your wedding present?" + +And Schinko details what he brings her: + +"Two gay-colored beds, a cloak of Karassia cloth lined with fox, a +breastplate with silver buttons, a kokosnik set with pearls, two pair of +red boots, an embroidered linen shirt, twelve zinc plates, a dish, and a +gold-embroidered head-dress and veil--if she behaves well!" + +All these gifts were brought round by the bridegroom's supporters, and +severally shown to the guests. + +The bride, on her side, gives the bridegroom clothes, ornaments, +household utensils, and, last, a bundle of birch rods, "with which he is +to chastise me when I do not behave well." + +Now it is the turn of the second couple. + +"Well, Polyka, and what do you bring your bridegroom?" + +But this well-assorted couple are not content that one should speak +before the other; one interrupts the other, and they splutter out: + +"I, a ragged cloak." + +"I, a pot with a hole in it." + +"I, a footless stocking in which ten cats could not catch one mouse." + +"I, an empty jug that once had brandy in it." + +"I, a bed sacking, with no blankets, and that lacks feathers." + +The wedding guests laughed themselves ill over this dialogue of the +bridal couple. + +"And then twelve pair of 'dubina'!" shouted the bridegroom, with a loud +laugh. + +"With two ends to them," returned the bride, with a giggle. + +The word "dubina," so soft-sounding in Russian, signifies in the +barbaric English tongue--stick! The sack has found a mouth, the vinegar +jar a stopper, and he his match, grinned the wedding guests. + +"Now exchange rings," says Daimona to the couples. "They are in this +covered plate. Those of the one couple are of gold and silver; the gold +one is the bride's; the silver, the bridegroom's. The rings of the +second couple are of copper and lead." + +The wedding-mother, removing the silken cover from the plate, signed to +Diabolka to set the example. + +Diabolka, taking the gold and silver ring, placed the gold one on her +own finger, and was handing the silver one to Schinko. + +Daimona seized Diabolka's hand. + +"Not so! You will give the silver ring to Vuk; and Schinko the copper +one to Polyka. _For your bridegroom is Vuk, and Schinko's bride is +Polyka._ That is the arrangement." + +A burst of loud laughter followed upon these words. Now there would be +some real fun. Diabolka and Vuk, Polyka and Schinko. The wedding-mother +had the right to marry her serfs as she chose. Her serfs belonged to +her, hand and foot, as did her horses and her asses. She can pair her +serfs as she chooses. + +The laughter of the assembled guests grew louder as the two drunken +monsters, at Daimona's words, threw themselves on the handsome prey +given over to them. + +Their laughter was only stopped when Diabolka, before them all, gave Vuk +such a blow on the chest with both hands that he went backwards off the +table, and, rolling from the tribune, fell among the people. + +Things were indeed going badly. + +Daimona, springing towards the table like a fury, struck her fist +violently upon it. At that sound the spectators' laughter suddenly +ceased. The grin was still on their faces, but every sound died away on +their laughing lips. + +It was fun no longer. + +"You will not take the husband I have chosen for you?" shrieked Daimona, +in fury. + +"No," returned the girl, stamping her foot, "no!" + +"Dog! gypsy devil! You dare to oppose me--me, who raised you from a +dung-heap!" + +"Then let me go back to the dung-heap." + +"So you shall! If you will not have the bridegroom I have given you, +then take off the bridal dress I gave you, and be off in the gypsy rags +you came in. But they want something to complete them--the addition of a +thrashing for your audacity. Schinko! Here!" + +He himself, her elder brother, her lover, her bridegroom! + +Schinko was wearing, as bridegroom, the symbol of his office hanging +from his girdle--the short-handled whip. At his mistress's command he +raised the whip. + +"Strike!" ordered Daimona. + +The girl, white with fear, held her face between her hands. + +"Brother, can you strike me?" + +She had even got so far as to fear the lash. Or was it the thought that +it was Schinko's hand which was to strike that made her shrink back? The +gypsy's heart was not hard enough to let him strike the blow. He threw +the whip away. + +"Dog, pick up that whip; or shall I have you and her tied together to +the tail of a wild horse? Go on. Slash away until I say enough; fifty +lashes for me, fifty for Junker Jevgen." + +Schinko picked up the whip. + +Despairing, the girl, flinging herself at Daimona's feet, clasped her +knees, and, sobbing, implored for mercy. + +"Ah, you abomination, that's the place for you!" cried Daimona through +her clinched teeth; and seizing the girl at her feet by her long plaits, +she shrieked to Schinko, "Now, have at her!" + +With one spring the gypsy, like a panther, was upon them, and, seizing +Daimona by the throat with his left hand, with his right he whipped out +his dagger. Terrified, Daimona released her hold of Diabolka and +defended herself with one arm; the serf's dagger had pierced her +shoulder, the blood spouted high from it. + +"Heh! varlets! seize him! help!" stormed the woman. + +But not a person stirred among the crowd. Daimona saw that she was left +to herself. She was a powerful woman who knew how to fight; so, freeing +herself from the gypsy's grasp, she pushed him from her, sprang off the +tribune, and rushed towards the castle steps, Schinko after her. + +Nor did a hand stir to hinder the serf. The crowd, the whole body of +servants, looked on, and saw Schinko dash after the mistress and wound +her afresh. The woman, turning upon him, began to wrestle with her +pursuer; his dagger was plunged again and again into her breast. Once +more she succeeded in pushing back her adversary, and, darting into the +midst of her women servants, shouted, "Help! protect me!" The women put +their hands to their ears that they might not hear her cries. They all +hated her. Then she was seen flying down the long corridor, screaming +and shrieking, her murderer close upon her heels. Still no one went to +the rescue. + +At the extreme end of the corridor was the picture of a saint. Thither +she fled, and fell down before it in beseeching attitude. But the saint +did not stir a hand to protect her. Then rushing to the parapet of the +balcony, she attempted in vain to spring from it. + +The murderer slowly comes down the stone steps into the courtyard. A +path is made for him. He ascends the bridal tribune. There, her face to +the ground, lies a girl motionless with terror, shame, and despair. +Close to her the wedding garments. The murderer wipes the blood off his +dagger with the bridal veil, and, taking the girl by the hand, raises +her to her feet. They look each other in the eyes. One look, like a +couple of wild wolves. No need for speech! Then they run, hand in hand, +into the steppe, into the woods--anywhere. No one seeks to hold them +back. They were never seen again. + +Who would attempt to find two wolves escaped from captivity, in their +native lair, amid the dwellers of the endless steppes, whether in forest +or jungle? Only once did the two call a halt, where Diabolka, having +reached her gypsy encampment, wrote the letter to Jakuskin, in which she +related the tragi-comedy of Grusino, and of which a copy fell into the +hands of the Czar's favorite, acquainting him with the horrors that had +taken place. The starosts of Grusino had not had the courage to give +him the tidings. + +Zeneida acted wisely in having personally related the events to the +Czar; for those who later informed him of what had occurred at Grusino +made a point of causing it to appear that this murder was in connection +with St. Petersburg secret societies. Many were set upon finding the +motive for the deed in high circles, where it was a matter of interest +to keep the favorite from the person of the Czar, and where it was +hoped, by the banishment of the son, to have effected a rupture of the +close bond uniting Czar and favorite. Schinko and Diabolka were hired by +the conspirators. + +Was there any truth in this? No one has ever cleared up the mystery. But +if any hand had prepared the blow, it had struck home. + +Araktseieff was to be seen tearing through the streets of St. +Petersburg, hatless, with hair wildly streaming. Your orthodox Russian, +when he mourns, goes in sun and snow with head uncovered. + +On the day of his flight two great wagon-loads of state papers were +despatched from the favorite's palace to the Hermitage. His orders, his +sword, his keys of office, he sent by his house-porter to the Lord +Chamberlain. And, at the moment of his departure, the thunder of "Holy +Christopher" startled the inhabitants of St. Petersburg out of their +rest. This father among cannons is only fired when a general dies. The +court favorite had himself gone to the commandant of the fortress and +ordered the cannon to be fired. The commandant had no choice but to +obey. Araktseieff was commander-in-chief of the artillery. When the +firing was over the commandant asked: + +"What was the name of the deceased general?" + +"Alexis Andreovitch Araktseieff!" + +Some days later the Czar had terrible news of Araktseieff. His reason +had entirely left him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE HERMIT + + +Only when Araktseieff had left the Czar did the emperor realize how +completely alone he was in the world. + +There was not a man in whom he could place confidence; in every one he +saw an enemy, a conspirator; and his true friends, if he still possessed +any, he had imbittered by Araktseieff's recall. His generals were +disaffected by his not supporting the Greeks. Secret treaties were +directed against him. Those who were already apprised of his declaration +of war, and had sufficient energy to act counter to him, had left the +field at the beginning of operations. + +On Araktseieff's return to Grusino he had hurried without delay to the +mausoleum, and, barring the door behind him, had cast himself down +beside Daimona's coffin, and for two whole days nothing was heard within +but his bitter sobs. He would eat nothing, would make no answer to words +or entreaties. "Daimona" was the only sound he uttered. + +He had loved that woman as only giant beasts love their mates; when the +hunter has shot the female he may shoot the male, for it will not leave +its dead. For two whole days Araktseieff's household in vain besieged +the door of the mausoleum; Chevalier Galban's representations also that +he should come out and take care of his valuable life were fruitless; he +paid no heed to his faithful followers. In vain they called him their +sweet, good master, "sweet friend," "Alexis Andreovitch"; he was deaf to +their voices. + +On the third day Photios, the Archimandrite of the Monastery of St. +George, came to the mausoleum. He is the holy man, to receive whose +blessing hundreds of thousands make the yearly pilgrimage to the +monastery from all parts of Russia. The decree of the saint is as much +esteemed as is a papal bull. + +When Czar Alexander I. gave into the hands of Prince Galitzin, the +freethinker, the portfolio of Public Instruction, the Archimandrite, +going up to the Czar, exclaimed threateningly: + +"If you take the ancient faith from your people you will shake your +empire to its foundations." + +Whereupon the Czar dismissed Prince Galitzin, and the education of the +people was left in the hands of the Sacred Synod. Russians always have +their "living saints," some of them miraculous. + +Photios, standing at the door of the mausoleum, called to Araktseieff +within, in language unmistakably plain. + +"Abandoned criminal, come out!" + +The cries within were silenced. + +"Come out from there!" + +Araktseieff staggered out. He was scarcely recognizable. His beard, +untouched for several days, stood out in gray bristles round his face; +his eyes were bloodshot with weeping; his lips swollen; his hair lay +wildly matted on his forehead; his general's uniform was streaked with +green mould. + +"What seek you in that grave?" + +"Death." + +"Of course you will die, we all shall do so, as penalty for our sins. +But do you desire to crown your evil deeds by dying unrepentant? Do you +desire to die beside the coffin of her for the loss of whose soul you +are guilty? You were the cause of her sin; will you drag her down to +hell? Instead of thinking of repentance, would you follow her to +condemnation? Defiantly would you burst the barriers of that fearful +next world instead of entreating admission with bended head? Of course +you will die, but not when it pleases you; rather when it pleases your +Maker to grant you death as a reward for penance. + +"Your place is in the deep catacombs," continued Photios; "not by the +side of your concubine. Under the rays of the burning sun, in storm, in +the roar of the tempest, under drenching rain, shall you seek +repentance! Stand up! follow me!" + +Araktseieff crawled towards him on his knees. + +"Now eat!" commanded Photios, throwing him a couple of turnips. + +Picking them up, Araktseieff obeyed. + +"Now put on these!" And he threw a dilapidated monk's dress towards him, +faded out of all color by sun and rain. Araktseieff, taking off his +general's uniform, put it on. And as saints on this earth do not drive +in carriages, he followed the saint on foot and barefooted to the gates +of the Monastery of St. George. + +St. George's is one of the wealthiest monasteries in all Russia. It is +situated near Grusino, at the end of the long peninsula formed by the +river Volkhov and Lake Ilmer. Its gilded cupolas, green from the +verdigris which centuries have brought out on the copper, tend to +spread its fame far and wide. But entrance within the walls of the +monastery oppresses the spirits. Silver dais upon silver dais reach to +the dome; the organ towers aloft, with its pipes of gold; there are +pictures of saints dazzling with rubies; mosaics composed entirely of +precious stones. Upon the elaborately decorated altars lie costly Bibles +bound in silver, and enamelled books of the mass. Over one of the altars +is a picture of St. George in beaten silver. But it is only when we come +to the "treasure chamber," with its priceless store of mitres, crooks, +crowns, pearl-embroidered stoles, golden monstrances, that we realize +how rich is Heaven's vicegerent--the Church. While the priests who guard +all these treasures wander in among them in coarse cassocks and bare +feet, that the world may see how poor is man. + +But the most jealously guarded of all the treasures stood before the +altar. It was a granite pillar enclosed within silver rails. + +On the granite was engraven: "Upon this spot knelt Czar Alexander, +attended by his faithful servants, the Archimandrite Photios and Alexis +Andreovitch Araktseieff, in the year 1818." + +Thither Photios brought the statesman, that he might see his name +perpetuated beside that of the Czar. + +"So high you had raised yourself. Now come and see how low you have +sunk!" + +The Archimandrite led the penitent back to the cloister and showed him +his, the Archimandrite's, cell. It was a space six feet broad by eight +feet long. But there was one luxury in it: it had a window through which +sunshine penetrated. His bed was a coffin roughly put together; his +_prie-dieu_ a stone hollowed out by constant kneeling; a jug and a bowl +for the daily _kwas_ the sole furniture of the cell. Yet all this was +luxury compared with what awaited the penitent. + +In the catacombs of the cloister were caves hewn out of solid rock, just +large enough to contain a man kneeling or recumbent; a small hole in the +heavy iron door let in air. Total darkness reigned. These caves were +inhabited by the whilom great, powerful aristocrats, masters over +hundreds of thousands, now no longer masters of their own souls. It is +not tyranny, not the power of the sacred hierarchy which holds them +bound here, but their own blind zeal. Despising, hating the world, they +are self-condemned to the awful imprisonment. The catacombs of the +cloisters of St. George and of Solowetshk ever harbor numbers thus +self-condemned to a living death. + +It pleased Araktseieff. + +Lying upon his straw he passed days and weeks. His door was kept locked +by day, only to be opened at sound of the vesper bell, when he went to +seek for food, for food is not brought to penitents. Only at dusk may +they steal into the cloister garden to seek for mangel-wurzel, samphire, +potatoes, and such like produce of the earth, their sole sustenance. One +day Araktseieff came across a still more remarkable penitent than +himself. + +He, too, had once been a distinguished bojar; but none knew what his +real name was. Here he was only known as "Little Father Nahum." + +Nahum did not even allow himself the luxury of a ragged cassock. His +sole covering is a rush mat woven by himself, his white hair and gray +beard flow wildly down over his dirt-begrimed limbs. Nahum does not +allow himself lodging in a cave. In summer he sleeps in pools, in +winter he creeps into a dung-heap. To kneel day after day in his cave is +not humiliation enough for him; he prostrates himself across the +threshold of the church door, that those who enter may walk over him, +kick him, spit on him. To gather fresh roots out of the earth and eat +them Little Father Nahum looks upon as sinful gluttony. He seeks his +evening meal from the dust-heap; what is thrown there is his sustenance. + +Araktseieff had been doing penance three weeks in the catacombs when, +one evening, as he was returning with a bundle of leeks in his hand, he +came upon Nahum feasting off his self-laid dinner-table, the dust-heap. + +"Ah," said Little Father Nahum, accosting the new-comer, "I have found +so much to eat here to-night I can share with a friend." + +"What has Providence provided for you?" + +"Mouldy cheese." + +"All right. Give me some." + +"Here it is. Take it all," returned Nahum. "He who hankers after a +penitent's food should have it all given up to him." + +And he handed him the mouldy cheese, with the paper in which it had been +wrapped and thrown upon the dust-heap. Truly, loathsome food! But +Araktseieff's attention was not so much arrested by the contents as by +the paper in which the cheese was enclosed. It was a letter, and in it +Araktseieff at once recognized the handwriting of the Czar. His blood +surged within him. The Czar's writing a cover for stale cheese! And then +the contents! It was a letter addressed to Photios. + +"Call him to you. Speak to him in the name of holy religion; strengthen +him in the faith. Admonish him to preserve his life for the good of his +country, which is beyond all other considerations. Thus will you +preserve to the empire a servant of inestimable loyalty, and to me a +faithful friend whom I sincerely honor and esteem." + +And this was the paper chosen as a cover for mouldy cheese and thrown +upon a dust-heap! + +"Well, eat away, man," murmured Little Father Nahum, and, taking up the +cheese which Araktseieff had let fall on the dust-heap, offered it him +in the flat of his dirty hand. + +Thrusting his fellow-penitent aside, Araktseieff hastened to Photios. + +Photios was in the act of reading vespers. Araktseieff did not suffer +him to come to an end. + +"Was this letter from the Czar addressed to you?" + +"To me." + +"And you threw it on the dust-heap?" + +"That you might find it there." + +"I have found it. My penance is over. I return to St. Petersburg." + +"Just what I wished to accomplish." + +"You have accomplished it. But you do not yet know what you were doing +when you brought Alexis Araktseieff forth from the grave? You +constrained him back to life and the world, once more to prove the stuff +that is in him. Well may you tremble before a resuscitated Araktseieff!" + +"A blessing be upon all your actions!" stammered the Archimandrite, and +continued his vespers. + +Araktseieff left the monastery that very hour. He left it with the same +wild frenzy of destruction with which he had entered it, only that then +his desire was for self-destruction; now had returned the old desire +for the destruction of others. + +When Araktseieff, after those three weeks, was seen again in St. +Petersburg, every one started back in terror at his appearance. His face +was emaciated, his hair had turned quite white. It was plain to see that +he had risen from the grave. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +DISCORDS + + +Zeneida was strolling alone through the shady winding paths of her park +in the twilight of evening. Nightingales were singing; from a pond close +by came the sound of croaking frogs; ever and anon the song of a boatman +on the Neva broke the stillness, or the distant sound of a violin or +clarinet in an inn, or the howl of a chained-up dog. Again would come +the tones of the passing-bell, announcing a death, or from the vicinity +of Monplaisir a sharp "Who goes there?" "Halt!" sometimes followed by a +shot. Why that shot? Then again the song of nightingales, the croak of +frogs, sounds of clarinet and passing-bell. These discords found +answering echo in her heart. + +Araktseieff's second return was hurrying on the crisis. No sooner had +the Czar passed over the cares of government again to his favorite's +shoulders than he had secluded himself completely in the solitude of +Monplaisir. Just as he had formerly avoided his consort, so now did he +devote himself exclusively to her. He seemed as if he could not live an +hour without her, as though he were endeavoring to atone by this +devotion for his fourteen years of neglect. Now first he recognized the +treasure he possessed and had neglected; now first he perceived that the +wife he loved was ill, that her protracted sorrows, her secret grief, +had undermined her strength. And he trembled to think he might lose her. + +But the Czarina was happy. She blessed the sickness which had given her +back her husband. The Czarina's physician, Dr. Stoffregen, had +recommended a milder climate for her through the severity of winter, +perhaps that of Venice; but Elisabeth had answered, "A Russian empress +should not die anywhere else than on Russian soil." And it was this +thought alone which absorbed the soul of the Czar. + +Of the devastations wrought by Araktseieff, armed as he was with +unfettered power, none told the Czar. Of all that was passing on the +other side of the poplars of Monplaisir he was ignorant. He was not +informed that Araktseieff's first step was to have the entire household +of Grusino, who had been witnesses to the murder, consisting of ten men +and twelve maid-servants, brought to St. Petersburg to the pillory and +lashed until they were half-flayed, for not having gone to Daimona's +rescue. He was ignorant that the severity he had previously practised as +a system was now, by his thirst for vengeance, increased to gross +cruelty; that he had dismissed high officials of every kind from their +posts without any other reason than simply because they did not please +him; that he was filling the dungeons on mere suspicion; that he had +even cruelly oppressed the poor Finns. Possessing nothing more that he +could take from them, he punished them through that which he "gave" +them, his latest edict being that their toasts at public dinners must +be given in Russian. All this had strained disaffection and discontent +to its utmost limit. Of all this Alexander knew nothing. No. He was +absorbed in devising how to procure fresh air without draught in his +beloved patient's room; how to keep out the gnats; and, among the +flowers for her apartment, how to select those that would not give her a +headache. + +And Zeneida well knows what is looming in the distance. Secret societies +are no longer holding meetings; they are agreed what is to be done. The +only question now is--"When?" + +The outbreak must be general throughout the empire. The threads are in +Zeneida's hands. The artiste has retired from the stage. Moreover, the +opera is closed during the summer months in St. Petersburg, and she will +not again appear as a member of the Imperial Opera Company, but will +give a concert for a charitable purpose in the course of the autumn. The +day was to be publicly announced in official papers ten days previously. +When the announcement, therefore, appeared that "Fräulein Ilmarinen +would sing for the benefit of the Orphanage" on such and such a date the +conspirators would know that this was the day fixed for the rebellion. +The government organ would itself spread the word throughout the empire. +Thus in her hand are the shears which shall sever the fatal thread; and +the grave foreknowledge of all that it must bring with it is oppressing +her spirit. The rebellion is unavoidable; no one will longer bear the +heavy burden; from ragged mujik to titled magnate, all are yearning to +burst the yoke, and the Kalevaines have more reason to weep than their +fellows. But what is to happen to the imperial pair in the outbreak? +Both have been such kind protectors to Zeneida. The palace had been a +home to her. How will it be possible to save their lives without proving +a traitor to their cause? + +And then a second trouble--Pushkin. True, he had promised her he would +withdraw his name from "the green book"; but, when giving the promise, +he had thought he would have the daughter of the Czar to wife. That is +over now, and Pushkin has no further reason to withdraw from the +Northern Union. He, too, is in possession of the conspirators' plans; +there is not a doubt but that as soon as he reads the announcement that +Zeneida will sing for the benefit of the Orphanage he will appear that +day in St. Petersburg, even he must leave Paradise itself to be there. + +How is she to hinder this without casting the slur of cowardice upon +Pushkin? The delights of love alone would not be strong enough to hold +him back--a yet stronger motive must be found. And she paces backward +and forward under the trees in the dusk; in her soul reign the same +discords which disturb the brilliant night, and she seeks in vain some +quieting thought. + +The Czar has grown melancholy; the Czarina is sick unto death; they live +but for each other; have shut themselves up from the world. Their +example is contagious. Even Prince Ghedimin has become reconciled to his +wife, and no longer visits Zeneida. St. Petersburg society has scattered +itself among the forty islands of the Neva. Every one lives to himself; +all social life is extinct. Every visitor is looked upon suspiciously by +the host as one of Araktseieff's spies. There is an oppressive calm over +everything. People do not even write to each other any more. They +tremble at the black inquisition. + +Pushkin gives no news of himself. He sits at home in his desert at +Pleskow. If he keeps silent about his happiness, he has a hundred good +reasons for that silence. It is possible that Bethsaba has written more +than once to Zeneida; but letters are an uncertain medium of +communication. Who knows into whose hands they may fall? + +This great calm, this isolation, this striving to keep up the spirits, +began to be oppressive. Chevalier Galban received orders to go from +villa to villa and organize some amusements among the aristocracy. +Husbands were no longer to be tied to their wives' apron-strings. + +It was rumored that the lovely Princess Ghedimin would break the ice and +bring society together again by means of a great reception on the day of +the Feast of Masinka, and, in order to make the reconciliation of the +Prince and Princess more publicly known, that Zeneida would be included +among the Princess's invited guests. + +The haughty Princess sending an invitation to the equally haughty Queen +of Song, whom the world credited with having been one of the Prince's +flames! It is hard to say which woman has the greater courage, the one +who sends or the one who accepts the invitation. + +But Korynthia has made a still more difficult decision. She means to +send Bethsaba an invitation, accompanied by a coaxing, forgiving, +affectionate letter, written by her own hand. And in order to insure the +young wife's acceptance, the Princess intends to offer the prospect of +the imperial pardon. Bethsaba shall have the opportunity of soliciting +forgiveness from the Czar for her own bold step, and the return of +imperial favor towards her husband, banished by the Czar's displeasure +to Pleskow. This bait would be irresistible. + +All this had Zeneida gathered from Chevalier Galban. + +What did Korynthia hope to achieve by this? What does she aim at in +getting hold of Bethsaba? + +It is next to impossible that the young wife should be tempted to leave +her home during her honeymoon, and alone, without her husband, who may +not leave the precincts of his estate. And yet, did she do so, what +would be the consequences? + +Zeneida thought she had found in the person of Bethsaba the missing link +in the chain. Now it is her work to fit that link in its place. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +HOW TO ROB A MAN OF HIS WIFE + + +It must be a poor toy that cannot amuse children. And there can be no +greater children than a newly married couple who are deeply in love with +each other. + +There is kite-flying in the park at Pleskow; Bethsaba is in high glee at +her kite always flying straight up and remaining aloft, while +Alexander's is always coming to grief. Her kite, too, is much handsomer +than his. In the form of a dragon, it has two large eyes, a mouth, nose, +and movable ears; while Alexander's is just a commonplace thing, made +out of old scraps of manuscripts pasted together. The wide expanse +affords the two grown-up children room enough to run with their kites. +No eyes to see them but those of the stag on the edge of the forest. + +A post-chaise rolls quickly along the highway skirting the park walls; +the postilion blows his horn cheerily. + +"I think that post-chaise must have stopped at our gate," observes +Bethsaba. + +"So it has. It means either a guest or a letter." + +"Oh, I hope no guest," sighed the little wife. + +Newly married folk are not hospitable, as a rule. Still, somebody +appeared to have come. The dvornik came out towards them from the +castle. They hastily let down their kites; they must not be caught at +such childish amusements. In the hurry the dragon caught in the withered +bough of a pine-tree and lost one eye. + +"What a pity!" murmured Bethsaba, in vexation. "Now my dragon has only +got one eye. Have you a scrap of paper about you to repair the damage?" + +"Where should I get it from? Haven't you already seized upon every +vestige of paper to make your dragon with?" + +"Do look! Perhaps you'll find some old bill or other." + +Meanwhile the dvornik had come up to them. + +"Well, Tanaschi, what is it?" + +"A letter." + +"To whom?" + +Bethsaba seized the letter from the dvornik. + +"Oh, oh! A woman's handwriting! Take it. A love-letter. Some former +flame writing to reproach you. Read it. Of course it is to make an +appointment." + +"You are right enough. It is a woman's handwriting, but addressed to +you, not to me, my dear." + +"To me?" cried Bethsaba, in surprise. "Who can have written to me? +Perhaps Zeneida?" + +"No, it's not Zeneida. I know her handwriting." + +"Perhaps too well. But who else could have written to me?" + +And they began guessing who the writer could have been while the letter +passed from one to the other. At last Alexander proposed that the best +way to see who had written the letter would be to open it. + +As they saw the signature both simultaneously cried, "My godmother!" +"Your godmother!" + +"What can she have written about?" + +Presently, as if it were intended for a joke, Bethsaba laughed heartily +over the letter. + +"Ha, ha, ha! She wants me to go to the Masinka Fęte! Alone! Without +Alexander! 'It is to be a grand affair; the Czar and Czarina and several +foreign princes will be there; I shall have an opportunity to entreat +the Czar to grant Alexander permission to go back to St. Petersburg!' +Ha, ha, ha! Did you hear that, Alexander Sergievitch? My godmother sends +me an invitation to a ball without you! The letter could not have come +at a more opportune moment--I just wanted it!" + +And with these words she seized the precious epistle; it just covered +the damage the dragon had sustained, and a couple of pins fixed it in +place--the black seal just forming the pupil of the eye. (The court had +gone into mourning for six weeks after Sophie's death, and society used +black sealing-wax during the period.) + +"A large case also arrived by post-chaise," said the dvornik. + +"Put it on one side. I have no time now to look at it." + +What more incomprehensible than that one of the fair sex should have no +time to look at a ball-dress sent direct from the capital? The dragon +was mended, and ready now to resume its flight in the air. + +Laughing and shouting, Bethsaba ran along with the tail of her kite +dragging after her; the second child stood looking on, laughing, while +the dragon disapprovingly waggled its foolish-looking head. While +starting a kite, the flyer has to run back with head turned upward. +Bethsaba, therefore, was not aware that she was running directly against +some one coming towards her from the English garden; and was startled +to find herself suddenly embraced from behind, and a long kiss impressed +upon her face. Then she gave a loud, joyous cry, and the next instant +her arms were round the intruder's neck; and, not content with hanging +upon that neck, she pulled its owner on to the grass, and, rolling over, +kissed her enthusiastically, interposing the most endearing epithets: +"You love!--you darling!--you precious!" Pushkin was fain to go to the +rescue, and help them both up again. + +It needed no extraordinary acumen to guess who the guest, so +affectionately welcomed, could be. + +"Do not quite strangle me, you little goose!" exclaimed Zeneida. "Look; +your dragon has meanwhile flown away." + +"Let it fly out into the wide world, and my godmother's letter with it. +Do you know I have had a letter from my godmother? Do you know she has +invited me to the Masinka Fęte without Alexander? Do you know what I did +with her letter? My dragon had a slit, and I mended the slit with it. +How dear and good of you to come and see us!" + +"It is the correct thing. Six weeks after marriage it is the +wedding-mother's duty to come and look after the young couple and see +that they are happy together--and if they really care for each other. +Has your husband beaten you yet?" + +"Oh, dreadfully," said Bethsaba, pretending to complain. "The last time +it was here!" And she secretly rubbed a place on her arm until she had +made it red; but a redness, Zeneida detected, which had come from no +blows. + +"And you, Pushkin, have you been writing many fine verses?" + +"Not a line! You know my muse is never active in fine weather. It +requires storm, rain, and snow." + +"And your sky has remained sunny?" + +"As you see. I have not written a word." + +This was very possible. There are times in his life when a poet only +feels poetry, does not write it. + +"Why, we have not a sheet of paper in the house," said Bethsaba, whose +woman's instinct whispers to her it is her greatest boast when a poet's +wife can say that it has been through her that the poet has been +faithless to his muse. "We really have not. I had to use my godmother's +letter to make my dragon's eye." + +"Indeed! Is that how you treat your correspondence? That is a good thing +to know. I will never write to you then, but, when I have anything to +tell you, will rather come myself." + +"That will be nice." + +"Or I will take you with me." + +To this the same response, "That will be nice," did not come. Clinging +to Alexander's arm she looked up to him, saying: + +"You will not let me go, will you?" + +Zeneida answered for him: + +"To that we shall not ask Alexander Sergievitch. His business it is when +his little wife wants to go visiting to order out the carriage and +horses, and to take care of the house in her absence." + +"But I could not go anywhere if I wished it. Do you not see how I am +dressed? It is the Pleskow costume! Alexander tells me it was also the +costume of the first Russian Christian, Princess Olga. And I like it so +much. Admire this sarafan with its many buttons, the pearl-embroidered +povojnyik on my head, my red boots and striped silk stockings!" And with +childish _naďveté_ she lifted up her dress to her knees. "How people +would stare if I were to appear among them in this costume! I have no +other dress; this is what pleases my Alexander to see me in!" + +She told the truth. The ball-dresses sent her were not her own property +yet; she had not accepted the present. + +Alexander drew his little nestling wife closer to him. + +"We have become thorough peasant farmers." + +"Heaven grant that you may remain so!" thought Zeneida to herself. "I +fear, however, that some day you will be leaving wife and village, and +it will no longer be the pearl-embroidered cap upon your wife's head you +will then consider the greatest adornment, but the Phrygian cap you will +be running after!" + +That which Dante omitted among the tortures of hell was that a woman +should be condemned to see the man she loves, who might have been hers, +revelling in the love of another woman, and she his wife. Had Zeneida's +love been that of ordinary women, it would have mattered little to her +that the man, round whom her fetters had been cast, should, sooner or +later, be dragged by these very fetters to the grave. The joys of the +present would have outweighed the tortures of the future, the dread +secrets of eternity. But so dearly had she loved Pushkin that she sought +for him a happiness in which she had no part. It was an unnatural +situation, and one requiring a nobler courage than most possess. But is +not the woman who devotes herself to play a part in politics an +unnatural, abnormal creation? Upon the altar of politics the heart is +the lamb of sacrifice. In the service of a Moloch sensual passion may +exist, but not love. Those who become political leaders have no longer +father or mother, brother or sister, lover or friend; they recognize no +difference between honesty and roguery, between the laws of God and the +expediencies of man. Hence the pursuit of politics is an unnatural +occupation for women, with whom love and justice are ruling principles. +The Amazon who went forth to war had first rooted out the gentler +feelings. + +The possibility of women taking up such a part is only comprehensible in +countries where oppression is so unbearable, so utter, that the thirst +for freedom extends from the starved hearts of the men to those of the +women. The poet-laureate might love the court prima donna, but not the +plenipotentiary of the Szojusz Blagodenztoiga. Between those two lay +"the green book"--a far more efficient obstacle than the green ocean. + +But, all the same, the anchorites of St. George's Monastery had not +carried their self-torture to greater perfection than had this woman who +had forced herself to come as a guest to the house where she would be +witness to the happiness denied her, and which she had voluntarily given +to another. And now she has come to guard that happiness against the +storms of the future. And she is not only witness to their happiness +when they are together, but even when his farm-yard or stables tear +Pushkin for a short hour from Bethsaba's side, the young wife can talk +of nothing but to boast of her happiness. No peacock is so proud of +spreading his tail as is a fond wife of telling of her happy lot. She +has so many things to tell. Her husband is a perfect model of virtue and +perfection! And to all this Zeneida must listen with utmost composure; +to see, if the husband were absent over the expected half-hour, how +uneasy and distraught the young wife grows; to read from her face: "Oh, +you dear benefactress mine, my good fairy, my goddess, how gladly, were +you not with me, would I run out to seek him!" And this, too, must she +bear with a smile on her face! Oh, this Moloch! + +"Listen, child: my sole object in coming was to steal you away from +Alexander Sergievitch for a time." + +"Ah! If you want to steal either, take both of us. Alexander would not +mind being run off with by you." + +"Only, as it happens, he is neither invited, nor may he come. You must +accept your godmother's invitation." + +"What! The invitation to her ball!" + +"There you will meet the Czar and Czarina; they will speak to you." + +"I--there--without Alexander?" + +"Upon you it depends that Pushkin may be free to go where you go. Your +marriage with him has entirely marred his career. He does not feel it +now, but in the course of a year or two he will remember that formerly +every step he took was accompanied by the clank of spurs. The soul of a +man is not to be confined in a cage like a tame bird, especially when he +has eagle's wings. Be it your task to implore forgiveness from the Czar +for your husband, that Pushkin may proceed on his interrupted career. +Now the meadows are still green; in another month they will be covered +with snow, and the couple condemned to fireside and indoor life will not +be so light-hearted as the one flying their kites in the open meadow." + +"Then it is your wish that I should intercede for Alexander's return to +St. Petersburg?" + +"Not for all the world! No; a thousand times rather entreat the Czar to +give him a mission that shall take you and him to your own people and +country. Describe to the Czar and Czarina the land in which you were +born, as it lives in your memory, with its genial climate, its aromatic +woods, its fruit-bearing trees. Tell them all the lovely and beautiful +things of it that your memory can recall, and entreat the Czar, as an +act of mercy to yourself, to send your husband there." + +"Oh, the tempting thought!" sighed Bethsaba. + +"But he will never consent that I should leave him and go away, and stay +days and weeks away from him." + +"It would only be one week." + +"But that is a century! Oh no! Alexander would never consent to it." + +"You leave that to me; I will talk him over." + +"Oh, if you succeed in that you will be a real fairy. But what an odd +fairy! Had you wanted to carry off Alexander from me, I could have +understood it; but me from Alexander--that I cannot understand." + +"See! here he comes through the garden. Place yourself here at the +window and watch. I will go and meet him. You listen how I am going to +bewitch him!" + +"That I am curious to hear." + +One intrenchment was already taken. Zeneida hastened to besiege the +second. + +Pushkin, crossing the lawn, was astonished to see Zeneida hurrying +towards him. + +"Turn back, and let's have a little talk," said she, putting her hand on +Pushkin's arm. "Are you quite happy?" + +"One can never be too happy." + +"My object in coming is to ask you to spare me a portion of your +happiness. I want to run away with your wife for a week." + +"My little wife! What to do with her? Already she loves you ever so much +better than she does me." + +"Do not fear. She loves you above everything in heaven and earth, and +all that lies between them. She positively must accept the invitation to +Princess Ghedimin's ball." + +The girl wife, watching at her window, sees how her husband vehemently +draws away his arm from Zeneida's retaining hand. Zeneida does not +shrink; she takes possession of his arm again. + +"Hot head! She will not be staying with the Princess, but with me; I +will be her chaperon. Since I gave up the stage my house has become +strictly proper; I have held no more frivolous gatherings; since the +Szojusz Blagadenztoiga made its final decision I have had no more +conspirators coming near me; no need for masquerades or riotous +meetings; I live a quiet, secluded life. The Czar has sent me the Order +of the Cross as an amend for my recent dismissal; and, _noblesse +oblige_, the bestarred Zeneida no longer consorts with Diabolkas. So, +have you not the courage to trust your wife to me if I keep vigilant +watch over her?" + +"But to what purpose? If you want to beg some favor of the Czar for +me--you little know me!" + +The woman at the window saw Pushkin fiercely slash off the heads of the +asters at his feet. + +"I know you perfectly well. You have made up your mind to stay on here +at Pleskow, see the grass grow, hunt hares, shoot wild duck, smoke the +house out, play ombre, and discourse of dogs and horses. It will be your +ambition to keep a good cellar, be known as a good dancer, to +occasionally slash an officer or two in duels, and to leave your papers +and periodicals uncut. You would have just strength and energy for such +a life! But there are others interested in your wife's coming." + +"Who?" + +"First the Szojusz Blagadenztoiga; then the Czar." + +"At my little Bethsaba's coming?" + +"Do not interrupt me; I must speak quickly. You are aware that this +second return of Araktseieff has made it impossible to stave off +rebellion. His violent measures have had so imbittering an effect that +no one any longer attempts to defend the life of the Czar save I alone. +Perhaps because I am a woman; yet there have been illustrious examples +enough to show that women can be as cruel in the matter of +blood-shedding as men, and even in a more cold and calculating fashion. +Any outbreak initiated by Kubusoff's air-guns or Kakhowsky's infernal +machine, or, as Jakuskin has planned, by an opportune ball, giving the +signal for attack upon the entire imperial family, would have no +beneficial result. It would simply bring about the overthrow of the +empire, the war of the knife and the axe _versus_ bayonet, the war of +rags _versus_ gold lace, inaugurating a reign of chaos which would make +the country bless the return of despotism, and welcome a peace, even +though accompanied by their old fetters. Now the Czar and Czarina must +not be hurt! This reason, not sentiment, dictates. + +"My plan is as follows: The Czarina's physician has advised her being +taken to a milder climate. But her Majesty will not hear of leaving the +Russian dominions, and the Caucasus she looks upon as a wilderness in +which it is impossible to live. She gives no heed to the naturalists who +describe the country, saying they are mere flattering official +reporters. But if a young, unsophisticated little bride, presenting +herself to the imperial pair, were to petition as a special favor to be +allowed to go back with her husband to her beautiful native land, +describing this native land with enthusiasm of early and tender +recollection, it is possible that though this request may be refused, +yet the Czarina herself might be attracted to the idea of going to that +lovely land. The Czar worships his consort to such a degree that he +would accompany and stay with her there; with this result, that those +who want to inaugurate the outbreak with the violent death of the Czar +would be constrained to devise some other nobler, more humane, more +politic plan of action. On the Black Sea the Czar will live his life +without cares; here we should have the imperious favorite only to bring +to judgment. The constitution would be proclaimed in St. Petersburg +without blood-shedding; the army would declare in its favor; and Czar +Alexander will be free to choose either to fulfil the universal wish of +his people, and come back as their beloved monarch, or, if he prefer it, +to embark on board a ship in the Black Sea and sail away to seek the +hospitality of--say, the Sultan of Turkey, if he wish it. Anyway, his +life would be preserved." + +The young wife at the window sees her husband kiss the hand of his +guest. He is won over already. Zeneida has succeeded in carrying off the +wife from the husband. + +"Those whom you love are loved indeed, even when they are tyrants!" said +Pushkin, deeply moved. + +"It is the holy cause, not the Czar, I wish to save!" + +"Both! Come, I will trust my wife to you! Take her with you! Let her, +with her lark's song, bid the storm to cease!" + +Bethsaba standing at the window sees her husband and Zeneida come +quickly back to her. "Truly you are an enchantress!" she thinks. + +Pushkin comes in to his wife. + +"Only think! your kite has been brought back from the far end of the +town! Here is your godmother's letter, as kind as can be. You must do as +she wishes. How could you refuse an invitation so worded, especially as +Zeneida undertakes to be your chaperon?" + +Bethsaba looked at each in amazement, and then raised a threatening +finger and shook it at Zeneida. + +"You are a fiend, after all, then. Well, then, come along, and let's see +what kind of ball-dress my godmother has sent me." + +This may be called a thorough capitulation. + +The box was brought in and opened, the most exquisite of ball-dresses +produced, and, with Zeneida's aid, duly tried on. In it Bethsaba showed +herself to her husband. + +"Shall I look lovely? Shall I turn many men's heads?" + +"Every one of them!" + +"Oh, take care, take care! You must not embrace me; you will crush my +lace!" + +This is the way in which a man is deprived of his wife in the very midst +of his honeymoon. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +THE FEAST OF MASINKA + + +The Assumption of the Virgin Mary is, according to the Russian calendar, +at the end of August, thus twelve days later than according to the +astronomical calendar. By this we see that the Czar of Russia has power +to command even the sun. As, according to the Russian calendar, every +four hundredth year is short of three days, in the course of twenty +thousand years it will be summer in the winter quarter, and winter in +the summer quarter, in Russia. The Czar can even effect this. + +However, now it is the beginning of autumn, the best time of all the +year in St. Petersburg. The days are shorter and not so hot; the nights +are moonlight; and, one-third of Russian women being named Mary, there +is a festive tone in all houses; and at night, when fireworks begin, +there are more stars to be seen on the earth than in the sky. + +Korynthia, too, was a Mary; hence had every right to celebrate the day. + +The summer palace of Prince Ghedimin on the island of the Neva rivalled +in magnificence the Imperial Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The +ballroom was large enough to hold a thousand people. + +Among those invited were the Czar and Czarina, the Grand Dukes and Grand +Duchesses, their relatives then staying at the Russian court, the Czar's +brother, the Grand Duke and Duchess of Weimar, the Prince and Princess +of Orange. All combined to add brilliancy to Prince Ghedimin's ball. And +yet Maria Alexievna Korynthia was far more anxious to know if Zeneida +and Bethsaba were coming than about any other of her guests. + +Fräulein Ilmarinen and Frau Pushkin had certainly written in most +courteous and gushing terms the day before, stating that they would be +there. Russian women, by-the-way, surpass even French women in the art +of writing flowery notes--especially if they hate each other. But every +one knows the value of such promises. No one can write the day before, +"I shall be having a headache to-morrow," but an hour before the ball +any one can send a note of excuse by the footman, "I am in despair at +being unable to come. I have such a violent headache." Of such excuses +women possess a perfect arsenal. + +To the Princess's great content, however, instead of the expected letter +of excuse, both ladies put in an appearance; and in good time, before +the dance music had begun, it being etiquette to arrive before the +imperial guests. Zeneida always knew what was the right thing to do. + +Fräulein Ilmarinen was wearing for the first time that evening the order +conferred upon her by the Czar; Bethsaba, the ball-dress sent her by her +godmother. She was strikingly lovely; even the close vicinity of Zeneida +did not detract from her charms. + +Korynthia, rising, advanced to meet them; first she greeted Bethsaba as +the married woman, then she turned to Zeneida. Zeneida forestalled her +greeting. + +"You forestall me!" exclaimed the Princess. "Of course, _queens_ ever +give the first greeting." + +"Not so, Princess; but they who desire to offer their congratulations on +their hostess's name-day." + +And the two ladies shook hands. They knew that every eye was upon them, +wondering how they would meet. + +Both were well-seasoned warriors. + +The ballroom was so arranged that all about were small groves of +exotics, with openings just large enough for a couple to retreat into, +and talk scandal or flirt, as the case might be. Little tables were +there placed, and footmen went in and out handing refreshments. + +Korynthia drew Zeneida into one of these floral retreats, and, as they +sat down together, whispered laughingly into her ear: + +"You understood me. I expected no less from your clever intellect." + +Zeneida, adopting her tone, replied in equally laughing voice. + +"That I have brought you the dove out of her nest?" + +"Just so--that we have thus become allies?" resumed the Princess. + +"An alliance _ad hoc_, in the language of diplomacy," interpreted +Fräulein Ilmarinen. + +"For the object of discomfiting a third adversary," filled in Korynthia. + +"And meanwhile England and Russia have signed defensive and offensive +alliance--" + +"In order, as allied powers, to conquer Paris," laughed Korynthia. + +"The same Paris who keeps the golden apple, in order to give it +to--whom?" exclaimed Zeneida, with a peal of silvery laughter. + +"You are a demoniacal woman!" + +"That I know. Your Highness has said it already." + +"How you remember everything! But, to change the subject, three of your +admirers are here to-night. We will soon settle the third of them. See, +your little _protégée_ is already absorbed. Her former admirer, +Chevalier Galban, has caught her like a spider in his web. Do not be +uneasy about her; she will not go back heart-whole. We will see to that. +We understand one another!" + +"Perfectly, Princess." + +"No harm to her! All loss is gain to her, but I do not think it will be +her last conquest. For any one who has _begun_ as has my goddaughter, it +requires no great sagacity to prophesy how she will _go on_. No need +for us to grieve about her." + +"Nor in such a case can we show any mercy." + +"So, for the present, peace is concluded between us! After that, war to +the knife." + +"I first pull down my flag." + +"Oh, that is only tactics, Fräulein Ilmarinen. Women never capitulate. +That we both know too well. Do you know, I have never had opportunity to +see you so close, though I have been so curious to get a good view of +you. Tell me, do you dye your hair with saffron to make it such a lovely +gold color?" + +The golden hue of Zeneida's hair was a natural beauty, but she whispered +confidentially to the Princess: + +"No; saffron has too pungent a smell. I dye my hair with berberis roots +in which purple snails have been steeped." + +"And I never could understand how you get that exquisite complexion. Do +you use violet roots?" + +Zeneida laughed; the blush which heightened her complexion should have +been answer enough--could she have told the truth. But she had come here +to lie; therefore answered, in laughing accents: + +"Oh, Princess, the preservation of this complexion is a perfect science. +I have an old book, published in the times of Poppća, which contains the +receipt." + +"Oh, among other things does that receipt advise laying a slice of beef +upon one's face on going to bed?" + +"Yes, that and other things. I could send you the book; though, in +truth, you do not need it. It would be the Graces clothing Anadyomene." + +"Oh, you are as magnanimous an adversary as that French naval captain +who shared his powder with the Englishman and let himself be shot by +him. To that I can only answer as did the Persian king to the +Armenians: 'What use is it to send me your sword if therewith you do not +send me your arm also?' Of what use the secret of the cosmetic if you do +not make me an adept in that bewitching smile which none may resist?" + +"Princess, you are just like Napoleon, who had the art of raising a +fallen foe." + +"This time we are not foes, but allies." + +The common foe (Bethsaba) here interrupted the amicable warfare by +coming up to put the naďve question if she might dance the first +polonaise with Chevalier Galban? She was heartily laughed at. + +"You may do whatever you like. You are a married woman now." + +What is known as a polonaise in the court balls of St. Petersburg is a +promenade round the ballroom in short dance step, performed by the whole +company according to the fancy of the first couple. We are therefore not +to understand under that appellation the wild mazurka of former days, +when the floor groaned under the stamp of the dancers. That was the +dance of a period when every Polish nobleman was as good as the king; +this is the dance of a time when every Polish nobleman is equal to--a +peasant. + +In former times both Czar and Czarina had headed the dance; and it +happened to have been a polonaise in which Alexander had wounded the +feelings of Elisabeth for the sake of the beautiful Korynthia +Narishkin--an insult the former had never forgotten. + +The arrivals of the great, greater, and greatest personages put an end +to conversation. Once arrived, people formed themselves into a circle +and waited for the august couple to make the round of the ballroom, +after which the polonaise began. + +Zeneida was presented to all the foreign princes, and received so much +homage that in its intoxicating atmosphere she might well have lost +sight of the one intrusted to her care. She was, however, a tried +general in such campaigns, and knew how to keep the whole field well +under supervision, even to the slightest detail. Attentively her eyes +follow Bethsaba. She sees Chevalier Galban, with languishing expression, +whisper in her ear; sees the young wife hasten up to her godmother with +glowing cheek; sit down by her and then listen, surprised and startled, +betwixt laughter and tears, to what her godmother is saying to her. She +even divined what it was that was being said to her. She also saw the +Czarina address Bethsaba, and enter into conversation with her with +gracious condescension. And she saw, moreover, that these thousand +guests here assembled to discourse sweet nothings, to jest, to trifle +away the hours with orgeat, sorbet, and punch, were often the bitterest +enemies, full of deadly hatred, ready at the first opportunity to give +vent to their true feelings; that the men in their uniforms, stiff with +gold lace, their breasts liberally sown with orders, who, hat under arm, +bowed low to the Czar or to each other, were thinking, "To-day or +to-morrow either you or I will be giving each other a 'How d'ye do?' +with our heads, instead of our hats, under our arm"; that she, the +singer, had but to say, "I am singing for the benefit of the Orphanage," +and in an instant every sword would be out of its scabbard, and the men +now dancing _vis-ŕ-vis_ to each other would be running their swords +through each other's bodies, and the crowned chairs on the dais be +overturned, no one asking themselves, "Who is sitting on those chairs?" +or, worse still, that same dais be turned into a scaffold. Conspirators +and oppressors, murderers and executioners, all assembled in one +ballroom; every one knowing who everybody is so well that when the +master of ceremonies, in mistake, called out, "_Coup de main!_" instead +of "_Tour de main!_" there was a shout of laughter. Only the Czar asked, +"Why are the gentlemen so merry?" + +All this Zeneida saw. The secret of every man there lay in her hands. +Ah, she saw, too, very well, what motive the gracious lady of the house +had in giving this brilliant entertainment. In order to seduce a young +wife from her truth? Oh no! But in order to discover the key to a secret +which he to whom it was intrusted had not divulged to any one--not even +to his well-beloved wife. + + * * * * * + +With the departure of the court from the ballroom the whole assemblage, +as etiquette dictated, at once broke up. No one, moreover, was inclined +to stay for the sake of enjoyment on that occasion. + +Zeneida, taking Bethsaba under her protecting wings, went off with her +to Kreskowsky Island. In the gondola the young wife was very silent, and +Zeneida purposely abstained from asking her how she had enjoyed herself. +Even after the two women had divested themselves of their ball-dresses +Bethsaba remained dreamy and melancholy. The chill of the river made hot +tea a necessity before going to bed--in the paradise reclaimed from the +marshes lurked ague. When they were alone together, wrapped in warm +dressing-gowns and drinking their steaming tea, Bethsaba broke her +melancholy meditations with: + +"But tell me then, is this, too, a part of religion?" + +"What?" + +"That a Christian wife, should another man choose to say to her, 'I am +wretched, dying for love of you, I will shoot myself if you remain cruel +to me,' be bound to turn her love from her husband, and give it to that +other, that he may not be unhappy--may not be forced to misery and +suicide." + +"And they have told you that such is a woman's duty?" + +"Yes. And if religion requires that woman's love should resemble that of +St. Martin, who, when he met a shivering beggar, tore off half his +mantle to give it him, I will return to my heathen belief, in which I am +not required to distress myself about the welfare of any one but of my +husband." + +"And all this was new to you?" + +"I could have cried outright when I heard it. I thought my eyes would be +burned out of my head; I felt contaminated at listening to such words. +The mere separation from Alexander had already made my heart as heavy as +if I were mourning my dead; the very touch of another man's hand in the +dance had pained me as if, in taking it, I were killing a dove; when I +laughed my heart accused me as if I were committing a theft; and with +the laugh came the thought, 'And he has nothing now to cheer him. He is +sighing for me, he is lonely, while I am merry!' And all the time an +evil curiosity was urging me on to hear more, to sound to the very +depths the quagmire from which I was shrinking; and so I feigned to +listen willingly." + +"In that you did well." + +"It would not have been good manners to run away, would it?" + +"You would simply have been lost. A woman should never let it be seen +that a man's seductive arts terrify her; a demonstrative repulse makes +her at once his prey. I was watching you--you behaved admirably. Your +expression was that of a woman who does not understand what is being +said to her, who takes it all as a joke; and by so doing you led him on +to speak still more explicitly." + +"That is just what he did. Only think, impertinent fellow! He actually +had the audacity to tell me that for love of me he had bought an estate +but half a day's distance from Pleskow, where he means to be spending +the winter and to be visiting us constantly. I was inclined to say, 'Oh, +please, do not come!'" + +"You did well not to say it; rather you should have replied, 'Alexander +Sergievitch will always be glad to see you.'" + +"That is what I did say. But then he sighed so deeply: 'Oh, if you will +only tell me one day Alexander Sergievitch is going from home +to-morrow!' I should so have liked to give him a box on the ears for +saying it!" + +"But, instead of doing that, with naďve, unconscious expression you +asked, 'What good would that be? You surely would not be coming to see +me when my husband was not at home? All the world would know of it.' To +which he made reply, 'You are right. But you could come to my castle.'" + +"How _do_ you know that?" + +"From what you have told me and from what I saw. It was then that you +felt inclined to cry." + +"He said still more. 'You would have an excellent excuse to leave home +while Alexander Sergievitch is away. Your mother, the Queen of +Circassia, is in St. Ann's Convent in Novgorod. You would only have to +say, "I am going to my mother, who has not seen me since I was a child, +to tell her of my marriage, and ask her blessing upon it."' So even my +poor mother he dragged into this infamy!" + +"And upon that, leaving him, you took refuge with your godmother?" + +"Did you notice that, too?" + +"In doing so you had gone to the right place, and could tell all your +troubles to sympathetic ears." + +"Oh, if only you had heard what she did say!" + +"I saw." + +"How saw?" + +"By your face. Every word of hers was reflected on your face. Did she +not say, 'Poor Galban! If only you knew how much he has suffered on your +account! He has actually been on the point of making away with himself. +Then he wanted to bury himself in the catacombs of Solowetshk. It would +but be giving a copper to a starving man out of your wealth. It should +be kept secret; no one should know. It is the way all we women act; +there is not a single exception among us. Besides, it is only paying +back in the same coin. Every one of us is deceived by our husbands; you +and I, and all of us. At the moment that Galban made his confession to +you, you may take it for granted that Pushkin was vowing his love to +some other woman, who would not be so scrupulous as you.'" + +"So he really did say; and yet more. This man--whose name my lips can +never more utter--is capable, for sake of me, of exiling himself from +St. Petersburg, of renouncing his brilliant position, merely that he may +live near me! He is capable, in his despair, of killing Alexander, me, +himself, if I torture him longer. Oh, how he has terrified me! As soon +as I get home I will tell it all to Alexander, and, taking his hand in +mine, will implore him to run away to the other end of the earth with +me." + +"By so doing you would attain just the contrary to what you desire. Just +this: that Pushkin would be aroused, and, not having been conceded +permission to return to St. Petersburg, would challenge Galban to go to +him, and their duel would end fatally. Do not be afraid of him! Fight +him yourself!" + +"I? I fight him? Galban? I, a weak, foolish, cowardly little creature, +who tremble at every word he utters?" + +"You tremble and are fearful because you believe your heart in danger. +But how if you knew that the net is not thrown out to catch your heart, +but Pushkin's head--that it is his life against which every mesh has +been woven? Then you would not be a coward." + +"What do you say?--that it is against Alexander's life their plots are +directed?" + +"Silence! Question no further! When we have retired to bed, when we are +quite alone, and there is no ear to overhear us, I will tell you all, +and will teach you what you have to do. And now put your hair in +curl-papers. The day after to-morrow we have to attend the grand +farewell ball at Peterhof. There you may tremble; there show what a +weak, innocent, timid little wife is capable of when her husband's life +is at stake!" + +"If that be so I will not be afraid; I will be bold and sly as a cat! I +have not the courage of myself to pin a butterfly, but the man who +threatens my Alexander I could pierce to the heart. Mashallah! _I am the +daughter of my mother!_" + +Zeneida then instructed Bethsaba in a part which she played to +perfection to the end. At present, however, we may not divulge the plot +of the play. + +The link had been successfully forged into the chain. At the brilliant +farewell ball given by the Czar to his royal guests at Peterhof, the +Russian Versailles, Bethsaba had the honor conferred on her of being +presented to the Czarina. The Czar had long known her as Sophie's +playfellow. It was he who led the Georgian princess to tell the Czarina +of the land of her birth. Bethsaba, the little Scheherezade, half +closing her eyes that she might not see those around her, began to tell +of the land where winter is unknown. Who could fail to be eloquent when +speaking of his native land? Of sky clear as crystal, of air aromatic +with balsamic fragrance, of woods where the leaves of the trees neither +wither nor fall, of rivers which never freeze, of fields always gay with +flowers, of the mighty ice-covered mountains which shut in the laughing +valleys; and where vital power and buoyancy are diffused in grass, +trees, water, and air, and the dwellers in that sunny clime know neither +sickness nor decay? + +That to which all the most learned doctors in the world had been +powerless to persuade the Czarina--the change to another climate--was +brought about by the enchanted chatter of simple, childlike lips. + +Taking her husband's hand, the Czarina uttered: + +"I should like to see that sunny land." + +Those words, "I should like," are often more powerful than any mere word +of command. + +Courtiers and conspirators, who at this dazzling entertainment had +grouped themselves about the superb fountains of the Sampson Springs, +had not the slightest conception that in the course of a short ten +minutes one delicate woman, with her rosy, childlike lips would effect +such a complete revolution--that one peal of silvery laughter would +blow to the winds their cannon, their army, their plan of campaign. The +fairy tale of the Circassian king's daughter had this pre-eminence over +all other fairy wonders, that it extinguished the impending outbreak of +a volcano by a drop of water. + +This drop of water had shone in the Czarina's eyes when she said: + +"I should so like to go there! There I should get well again!" + + * * * * * + +That same evening Chevalier Galban met Bethsaba again. She was afraid of +him no longer; she had learned from Zeneida how it beseemed her mother's +daughter to act. + +At the close of the ball the Princess and Zeneida met in the vestibule. +They were waiting for their carriages. From Peterhof to St. Petersburg +people go by road. + +The Princess accosted Zeneida with: + +"It is settled. I thank you for your co-operation." + +(Bethsaba was under the escort of Chevalier Galban.) + +"We are quits now." + +"The little goose has confessed all. She has gone thoroughly astray. She +even acknowledged that you had helped her on." + +"The chatterbox!" + +"I fancy that she will be making somebody very, very unhappy." + +"So do I." + +"Then the fight between us can begin afresh." + +"I think not. I renounce any claim to console the unhappy." + +"Oh, you do not want to make me believe that you are acting without +personal feeling." + +"Certainly not. But what will result from this evening's work will be a +monster needing two mothers. The one revenge; the other love." + +"And you choose revenge?" + +"I give you the second, Princess." + +"I have not yet forgotten the diplomatic saying that two only make a +compact together in order that one may deceive the other." + +Meanwhile Prince Ghedimin had come up to conduct his wife to her +carriage. Seeing Zeneida, he started. + +"Do just see," exclaimed the Princess, in an affected tone, "how +low-spirited he is! He has grown quite melancholy. For days together I +cannot drive him from my side; he will not stir from me. If only he had +something to talk about! But all he can do is to knit his brows and +ruminate. I do beg of you, Fräulein Ilmarinen, in consideration of our +alliance, to do me a favor. You are a perfect enchantress--just say one +word to him. I am convinced it will cheer him." + +"Do you really desire it?" + +The look Prince Ghedimin cast upon Zeneida expressed both fear and +uneasiness. He was "the chosen dictator." If Zeneida uttered the words +"I sing," he must forthwith draw his sword out of its scabbard, +exclaiming "I fight!" + +Zeneida attempted the magician's feat of curing the Prince's melancholy +with one word. + +"The summer has quite left us, Prince, has it not? Winter is upon us." + +A sufficiently commonplace remark! Imagine talking about the weather! + +Prince Ghedimin acquiesced. + +"And I fear we shall have a very unpleasant winter if we 'too' do not go +to the Crimea or the Caucasus to luxuriate in a second summer." + +A very ordinary speech! But that little word "too" had electrified the +Prince. He seemed a changed man. His face brightened, his figure grew +elastic; surely a miracle had happened to him! + +"Come, my love," he said to the Princess, and, to her amazement, began +humming an air from the overture of the _Czarenwalzers_ as they went +down the stairs. + +That woman is surely the devil in person! She says the most commonplace +nothings, and, doing so, brings a dead man back to life. + +And yet the Princess has carefully weighed every word spoken by Zeneida. +Which can have been the magical one? There was none. The little word +"too" had escaped her attention. + +And it was from that one word that the Prince knew that the Czarina +would go to the Crimea, and with her the Czar. His breast was relieved +of a heavy load. + +Chevalier Galban escorted the ladies to their carriage, and Bethsaba, +leaning out of the carriage-window, looked back at him. + +"I have caught her!" thought Chevalier Galban to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +UNDER THE COMETS + + +In the summer of the year 1825 no oil was needed for the streets of St. +Petersburg, the nights were so light. The first lighting of the lamps +falls on the day the court leaves Peterhof for the Winter Palace. The +lighting of the lamps, on this occasion, was looked forward to by many. + +A great plan was in course of operation among the lower strata of +society, which they had imparted neither to the _matadores_ of the +_Szojusz Blagodenztoiga_ nor to the _Szojusz Spacinia_. + +A succession of gloomy, rainy days came with the new moon. When on the +fourth day a keen north wind blew away the clouds from the sky, people +were astonished to see near the silver sickle of the moon yet another +wonder, like a fiery sword--a comet. So quickly had it come that it was +only perceived when in its full blaze of glory. + +What is a comet? + +Scientific men themselves do not know; how, then, can poor ordinary +mortals? + +A comet is the herald of pest, of war, of downfall! Let him who does not +believe this show reason why he is unbelieving. In wine-growing +countries it is true that a comet year is said to promise a good wine +year. But that does not affect the people of St. Petersburg, where they +only make brandy. And a comet has no influence upon the increase of +brandy. On the contrary, when there is any trouble brewing in the empire +there is always but little brandy consumed. It is a peculiarity of the +Russian that he does not drink when in great trouble. When the head of +the police learns that in St. Petersburg, instead of a daily consumption +of five thousand casks of brandy, only two thousand are being consumed, +he redoubles the patrols. + +The appearance of the comet only heightened the general feeling of +excitement. A comet is the prophet's material symbol concerning which he +can cry, "Look! the fiery sword has appeared too in the heavens!" + +When Czar Alexander was leaving Peterhof he gave orders that the Lord +Chamberlain should precede the Czarina, to see that her apartments were +in order on her arrival. + +It was evening when the Czar, with a small retinue, neared the capital. +Arrived at Alexander Nevski Monastery, he called a halt, and, going into +the church, commanded that a mass for the dead should be read the next +day. As he left the church, standing on the terrace, he cast one long +look at the capital, lying before him veiled in mist. The distant sounds +came up to him like the roar of the sea; the traffic in the streets, the +murmur of voices mingled together like the buzz of a beehive. + +He stood there a long time, lost in meditation. The giant conflicts of a +quarter of a century rose before his eyes out of the sea of mist, and he +experienced that agony almost beyond human endurance--the consciousness +of an approaching end, the mighty tasks of his life still +unaccomplished. He had risen so high that he had half thought himself a +god; he had fallen so low that there was not a man who would have +changed places with him. Napoleon and he had been the dominating +personalities of that quarter of a century. + +Nor did that lonely figure on St. Helena look with other feelings on the +ocean surrounding him than does Czar Alexander on the mist falling +thickly over his capital. This mist is vaster than the ocean, because it +is formed by the breath of man; and as many breaths, so many curses +against him--against him, once so idolized. + +The only difference between them is that Napoleon's people ardently +yearn to have their conquered hero back, while this conquering hero has +become a weariness to his country. + +And that comet in the sky is like an illuminated pen with which an +invisible hand is writing the fate of empires and their rulers amid the +stars. Alexander's spirit was ever inclined to mysticism. He was filled +with forebodings and terrors. He was a believer in fate and its +portents. Comet and moon had both sunk beneath the horizon of the thick +sea of mist. + +The Czar had an old coachman, known to every one by his long, gray +beard, which reached down to his girdle. This coachman always drove the +Czar long distances; he was the most faithful servant he had. As, on +returning to his three-horsed troika, Alexander asked: + +"Ilias, did you see the comet?" + +"I saw it, your Majesty." + +"Do you know that the comet is the forerunner of misfortune and +mourning? Ah, well! The Lord's will be done!" + +And he gave orders to drive to the noisy city. + +People told each other that the Czar was about to take a long journey; +whither was not known. He intended taking the Czarina away from the +inclement climate of the capital to more genial skies; whither he had as +yet told no one. He was himself going first, to secure quarters. +Whenever he undertook a long journey it was his custom to hear the _Veni +Sancte_ in the Church of the Holy Virgin of Kasan. It was his own +church; he had built it, and had had it consecrated, and from its +threshold he would get into his travelling carriage. The entire body of +the clergy would await him there betimes, wearing their richest +vestments; his favorite choir, too, would be in attendance, to sing the +collects. And the murmuring capital whispered to itself, when once +priests, Czar, and Grand Dukes were collected together in the Church of +the Holy Virgin of Kasan: suddenly, at the invocation, "Come, Holy +Ghost!" a determined man would start up from the crypt below, and, +presenting a loaded pistol, would say, "Come down, then, to him!" And +straightway church, holy images, Czar, Grand Dukes, priests, and +choristers would be blown into the sky. An awful thought! + +Perhaps to be realized. Perhaps already for days past some bold +spirit--one of the Irreconcilables--has been crouching below in the +crypt, the coffins filled with gunpowder, waiting for the signal of the +bell which calls the faithful together to carry out the awful deed which +shall overturn a mighty empire. The fatality was prevented--forbidden by +the ashes of the dead. + +The next day, at early morning, the Czar was not driven to the Church of +the Holy Virgin of Kasan, where the richly clad Metropolitan awaited +him, but to the Chapel of Alexander Nevski, where an ascetic attired in +black, the "Simnik," advanced to conduct him to the mass for the dead. + +An official paper has categorically described this ceremony. How the +Czar knelt before the Icons; how the protopope Seraphim placed the New +Testament upon his head, lying prostrate in the dust; how the Ruler of +All the Russias did penance in the poor Simnik's cell, and how the +Simnik told him of the degeneracy of the people. The account being +authentic, it, of course, does not contain a single word that is not +true. + +A very different reason was it that had brought the Czar within those +walls. Here rested the ashes of his three dead daughters, side by +side--for he had had Sophie's remains brought here secretly. And it was +these three children, deep down in the earth as they were, who combined +to save their father, calling him to their calm, secure resting-place. + +What had the father to say to his dead? The walls alone can make reply. +Official report is silent. + +As the Czar left the church, in which he had heard the mass for the +dead to the end, the sun was just rising, its reddish rays gilding the +towers of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul, and the cupolas and cross of +the Isaac Cathedral, through the sea of mist, the hollow tones of the +early bells vibrating long in the stillness. + +All sounds were hushed as Czar Alexander looked upon the capital of his +vast empire for the last time. And as the troika, drawn by its fiery +team, rolled rapidly away, the Czar turned to gaze, the better to +impress the scene upon his memory, a scene which the rising mist was +slowly, slowly shutting out from his view. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +THE MAN WITH THE GREEN EYES + + +There was alarm, almost panic, in the capital when the news became known +that the Czar had started by the Sea of Azof and the Crimea to the +Caucasus! Now people understood the meaning of the comet! It was the +agent which had upset the calculations of wise men and fools alike. + +Fearful curses echoed through the catacombs of the Church of the Holy +Virgin of Kasan when it became known that the Czar had changed his plans +and gone to Alexander Nevski Chapel! The plots, the fulfilment of which +was to shake the world, had been a failure! The Czar had left St. +Petersburg and betaken himself to a remote spot nineteen hundred versts +away, nearer by thirteen degrees to the equator. He had betaken himself +to a land where conspiracies do not flourish; he had escaped the giant +trap laid for him. The plot of the "Free Slavs" had come to naught, +which was to have begun the work of freedom with the immediate murder +of the Czar. Now the plot formed by the "Northern Union" came to the +fore, which was to carry out the constitution planned by "the green +book," either by forcing the Czar to initiate it or by his exile. In +either case, without violence to the crown. + +The Czar started on September 13th, seven days before the date fixed for +the grand review. By this means the net of the military conspiracy was +also rudely torn asunder. + +The members of the Szojusz Blagadenztoiga hastened to confer at +Zeneida's palace, not waiting invitation. What was to be done now? + +Twenty-three among the twenty-four said the whole thing must be begun +afresh. The four-and-twentieth was Jakuskin, who said: + +"If all of you fall away, I remain firm. Discuss as you choose; I act." +And with these words he left the meeting. + +Hence the chase had begun. As the hungry wolf pursues the hare through +steppes, forests, marshes, so Jakuskin pursued his prey. + +The Czar had a six hours' start of his enemy, who fully expected to get +over the ground quickly enough to come up with him. He had a strong +Caucasian mare accustomed to do its twenty hours a day and then graze on +any grass at hand. The rider was worthy of his horse; he, too, could +content himself with a piece of bread and bacon, and take his four +hours' sleep under any shrub by the wayside. + +But the pursued went fast. Every day the Czar covered one hundred and +fifty kilometres--_i.e._, a twenty hours' post--only allowing himself +four hours' sleep. He was also accompanied by a large escort; but that +was no impediment to Jakuskin's plan. + +Once to stand face to face with him was all he needed. He knew the way +in which the Czar travelled. First a picket of Cossacks, well in advance +of the rest of the cortege, that the Czar might not be incommoded by the +dust of their horses' feet. Then in the first carriage the Czar, easily +to be recognized by his coachman, Ilias, his long beard fluttering like +a couple of flags on either side the carriage. With him is his adjutant, +Count Wolkonsky. The Count is a small, undersized man; the Czar a man of +splendid physique--tall, athletic, with a head small in proportion to +his size. Impossible not to recognize him. + +If only Jakuskin could get in advance of his intended victim! But this +he could not do. The pursuer's worst hinderance was the moonlight, +which, turning night into day, enabled the imperial cortege to travel +continuously, and thus prevented his stealing a march. Fortunately, on +the seventh day, when they reached Kursk, the sky suddenly clouded over +and stormy weather set in. The moon no longer replaced the sun, and +driving by night was impossible--but not riding. + +This gave hopes of overtaking the Czar. But these hopes also were doomed +to be frustrated. + +He was to experience that nothing is impossible to the great of the +earth. When the Czar is in haste even darkness must yield. Once when +Jakuskin, galloping in the pitch darkness over breakneck paths, had got +nearly up with the escort, it was but to see that the Czar's way was +illuminated. Men carrying lighted torches were riding on either side of +the imperial carriage. + +"All the better!" thought Jakuskin to himself. But when he reached the +high-road, he saw that as far as the eye reached, at a distance of +three hundred paces, were fagot heaps, serfs standing beside them with +lighted matches; and as the Czar approached, one fagot heap after +another, blazing up, lighted the way. This went on till break of day. +The Czar rattled over the ground by artificial light. + +Thus the wolf hangs back, gnashing his hungry teeth, when he sees +fire-light. These bonfires along the highway destroyed his calculations. +He must give up the pursuit; now he might allow himself time for sleep. + +He did not move from the hut in which he had taken shelter for a whole +week, till the second cortege came up with the Czarina. She travelled +more slowly; that which had taken the Czar twelve days she accomplished +in twenty-four. Jakuskin followed on her track. The journey came to an +end at Taganrog. + +Taganrog is a seaport on the Sea of Azof. It is a modest little town +which has twice been entirely deserted by its inhabitants, having once +been made over by the Russians to the Turks; the next time, at +conclusion of peace, by the Sultan of Turkey to the Czar. At present it +is inhabited by Greeks. It was only due to the chance throw of a knife +that it did not form the site of the capital of the empire. When Czar +Peter conceived the idea of founding a new capital on the sea he was in +doubt whether to build it in the Finnish marshes or the Tartar steppes. +The throwing of a knife decided it. If it had fallen point downward +Taganrog would now be St. Petersburg, and the cupolas of Isaac Cathedral +would be reflected in the Sea of Azof instead of in the Neva. + +Jakuskin knew beforehand that the Czarina would not be staying here. +There was not a single garden in the whole town. No one planted a tree +lest his neighbor should gather the fruit. The first cutting wind that +blew would teach the Czarina's physicians that a place is not Italy +because it happens to be a certain latitude. The Czar would seek some +place in his vast empire for his beloved invalid to rest where the trees +are green all the year round. He has two places to choose between, +Georgia and the Crimea--both countries a paradise to the Russians, who +for eight months in the year are accustomed to see nothing but icicles +about them. + +Hardly had the Empress Elisabeth installed herself in the castle at +Taganrog when the Czar started upon his voyage of discovery. He set out +in the direction of Novocserkask. + +Jakuskin concluded that he would go on to the Caucasus. All preparations +were made to that end--post-horses and escorts bespoken as far as +Tiflis. Easy to choose a point where to lie in ambush. + +But the Governor of the Crimea, Prince Woronzoff, came, and had so much +to tell of the lovely climate and surroundings of the Crimea that the +Czar, suddenly altering his itinerary, turned back; and Jakuskin only +first knew of the change when he had got on a day's journey before the +Czar. + +Once more he posted after him until he reached the marshes of the Dead +Sea, where the evil spirits of malaria await the traveller. He did not +catch up with the Czar until his arrival at Simpheropol, reaching it at +the very moment when the whole city was blazing with illuminations in +honor of its illustrious guest. + +But the Czar did not go out again to enjoy the brilliant sight. Tired +out, he had gone to bed. Jakuskin learned that the horses were ordered +early next morning; the Czar was going to visit Prince Woronzoff's +far-famed palace in Jusuff. + +Jakuskin caught up the carriages at Bagdar; they were empty. Leaving his +carriage to pursue its way along the high-road, the Czar, on horseback, +accompanied by his escort, had taken the steep mountain-path of Tsatir +Dagh, a distance of some five-and-thirty versts. + +The Czar's whole journey was conducted in as capricious a manner as if +it had been dictated by some one knowing that he was being pursued, and +as if this zig-zag progress from valley to valley by impassable paths +were intended to deceive. + +And how many favorable opportunities had Jakuskin missed! The Czar had +felt so free from care among the simple Mohammedan populace that he had +wandered for hours on foot and on horseback among the exquisite gardens +and woods. As he strolled along the lovely valley of Oriander, in full +bloom, he had said, meditatively, "Here I would fain spend the rest of +my days!" Torturing care, melancholy's dark phantom, found no place +here; they were as effectually scared away as were the conspirators. At +his physician's earnest entreaty, at length leaving the sea-coast, he +turned to the interior of the peninsula, to the whilom capital of the +Tartar Sultan, Bakcsi Seraj; and in the palace of the former Ghiraids +passed the night. + +All through that night and the following day there sat at the gate of +the palace, beneath the cypresses which have made Bakcsi Seraj so +famous, a dervish. That dervish was Jakuskin. + +At length he had found the Czar. Wrapping himself in his burnous, he sat +and waited until the Czar should come forth. He is certain of his +object. In his girdle glistens a good sharp dagger. His hand does not +tremble. + +And yet once more the Czar escapes him. He passed close to him; his +dress brushed him by, and yet Jakuskin does not recognize him; for, +dressed as a Tartar chief, the Czar had gone out of the palace quite +alone, without attendant of any kind. Had he but been attended by a +single person Jakuskin must have detected him; but one man alone escapes +notice. The Czar had wished to visit the "Valley of Tears," about which +the bridegroom of his favorite child had written. This romantic fancy +had saved him from the assassin's knife. Thence he went, still in the +same dress, to a Mohammedan mosque and stayed through a Moslem service. +After which, not returning to the palace, he met his retinue at the +Stadtholder's castle. There he found a despatch containing news of the +death of King Maximilian of Bavaria, brother-in-law to the Czarina. + +Alexander was alarmed. Should this news have reached his wife it might, +in her delicate state of health, have seriously affected her. So, giving +command to start instantly, he did not return to the palace. + +The dervish sitting at the gate awaited his prey in vain. When at length +he heard that the Czar had gone, the latter had already got a +considerable way towards the other side of the isthmus. + +And now the pursuit began once more, and with it came to his mind the +saying, "For him who has been chosen by the man with the green eyes it +is in vain to whet the knife." He was growing superstitious--his +imagination filled with green-eyed spectres. + +The Czar pursued his way by the Dnieper, thence through the Nogai +Steppe, and over the silk-growing plains of Mariopolis to the shores of +the Sea of Azof, where his beloved consort was awaiting him. + +Jakuskin followed close upon his track. As he crossed a bridge, after +passing Orekhov, his horse, stumbling, broke his leg. Jakuskin had to +proceed on foot. It was not far from the post-house; thither he went. A +horse he must have at any price. + +The postmaster led him to the stable. + +"Look, my lord, I have not a horse left. The Czar has just passed +through; every horse I had has been taken for himself and retinue." + +"And that one in the corner?" + +"That horse is not mine. It belongs to a courier just arrived from Kiew, +who went at once to bed and is fast asleep." + +"A courier who can allow himself to sleep on the way cannot have any +very urgent business. Perhaps I can persuade him, for some good gold +pieces, to sleep on until I have reached Mariopolis on his horse, whence +it shall be sent back to him." + +"You can try it, my lord!" It was not such an unheard-of thing in Russia +for a courier to sell his horse from under him. + +"If he will not lend me his horse I'll put a bullet through him," +muttered Jakuskin to himself as he entered the guest-chamber. + +A young officer of a lancer regiment lay on the bed wrapped in his +cloak. + +"Good-day, comrade," said Jakuskin. + +"Don't talk of good days," returned he, his teeth chattering. "I am +shivering all over. That confounded Caucasian fever has laid hold of me +on the road. It's all up with me. And I had a despatch to deliver into +the hands of the Czar himself wherever I might come up with him. General +Roth sent me--delay is most serious. And I cannot sit my horse! I say, +my dear fellow, do me a good turn and take charge of this despatch. +Take my horse. The Czar has gone to Taganrog Hasten after him! Give him +this despatch--into his own hands. Those were my orders! As for me, I +shall only be able to report myself to him in the next world. Lose no +time, I entreat you." + +Nothing could have been more welcome to Jakuskin. A despatch which must +be delivered into the Czar's own hands--the Czar! + +"Heaven be with you, comrade! You may die with an easy mind. I will +faithfully carry out your commission; and if you have a betrothed I will +write her where you breathed your last, and will send your mother your +watch and chain. You could not have found a better substitute." + +The officer probably died and was buried in that picturesque steppe. +Jakuskin, mounting his horse, placed the despatch intrusted to him in +his breast-pocket. + +But the horse given over to him was a sorry jade, and not accustomed, as +his other had been, to the steppes. He could make but few miles a day, +and whenever he came to a bridge his rider had to dismount and drag the +animal across. He would not go over a bridge. + +Owing to such a bad mount he did not reach Taganrog until four days +after the arrival of the Czar. + +One day Jakuskin found out that the Czar intended going from Alapka to +Mordinof. Now there was but one road to it, and that only a +bridle-path--a path called by the natives "the ladder." It well merited +its cognomen, rising so steeply up the mountain-side that sometimes the +horse has to force its way through narrow clefts in the rock. + +Jakuskin hired a Tartar guide, who was to lead him through the forest to +the summit of "the ladder." + +Before dawn, in the dead of night, he made his start, to be there before +the Czar. He was dressed in the costume of a Tartar huntsman, a +double-barrelled gun slung over his shoulder. Emerging from the thick +forest, he saw the steep mountain path before him. Over a spring, +gushing from out the rocky wall, grew a bush some ten feet distant from +the path. The path itself was intercepted here by a cleft in the rock, +across which a narrow bridge had been thrown, only wide enough for one +horseman to pass at a time. + +The most favorable spot possible for an ambush. + +"Hi, lad! How green your eyes are!" + +The man laughed a hollow, low laugh, as though out of an empty cask. + +"You're right; my eyes are green." He spoke, and disappeared in the +thick underwood. + +Bethsaba's tale came into Jakuskin's mind. He drew back behind the tree, +loaded his gun, and waited. + +A vulture flew over him with hoarse scream; he took the waiting man for +a corpse, so motionless was he. + +At length was heard the long-expected signal. The path groaned beneath +the tramp of horses. The horsemen must perforce pass quite close to him. +He could aim as slowly as he pleased. + +Only when the horsemen came up did he see how he had been the sport of +fate. They were only outriders; the company passed; the Czar was not +among them. + +Where could he be? + +"Confound you, you fellow, with your green eyes!" said Jakuskin, with an +oath. "You will be making me into a superstitious fool!" + +There was no sign of the Czar. He had escaped. + + * * * * * + +It is a delicious autumn day, such as is only to be met with in the +enchantingly beautiful mountains of Tauris. The air is so pure that the +distant ranges are brought near; silvery threads of gossamer flutter +from every branch; the autumnal tints are an exquisite mixture of gold +and red; the turf is strewn with pink anemones. That little spot of +earth is the orchard of the world. There is a perfect forest of +fruit-trees here, groaning under their ripe loads. Fallen apples and +pears cover the ground. Blackbirds sing their praises to the owner of +the woods, who grudges of his plenty neither to the wanderer nor to the +birds of the air. The giant trees, which in other countries only bring +forth wild pears, are here laden with luscious fruit sweet as honey. +What can be gathered with the hand is the passer-by's; the rest is the +property of the owner. + +Czar Alexander was delighted with the wealth of fruit in this +fairy-land. He began to believe in Bethsaba's fairy stories. + +In one place, where the path led up through two rocky walls, the sound +of bells came wafted down below. + +The Czar, accosting a Tartar who was coming down the rocky path towards +him, asked: + +"Where are those bells which are ringing?" + +"In St. George's Monastery," was the answer. + +"Who built a monastery in this wilderness?" + +"It is the former Temple of Diana. Among its ruins the black monks, who +came here from Mount Athos, have settled." + +"So this is, then, the famous Temple of Diana in Tauris?" returned the +Czar, suddenly recalling to memory the tradition of the lovely priestess +of Artemis, Iphigenia, of whom poets from Euripides down to Goethe have +sung. "And is this temple a monastery now?" + +The Czar never passed by a church without entering it. And here was an +attraction over and beyond his yearning for the sacred building. It was +a piece of historical antiquity, a relic of classic times, as well as a +Christian asylum in a Mohammedan province. + +"How does one get to the monastery?" he asked the Tartar. + +"By a footpath which forks off from the ascent and leads round past the +monastery to the regular path again. The horses would have to be sent +on; the way can be only accomplished on foot. It is somewhat difficult +to find. I could guide you." + +The Czar was now more than ever anxious to see it; so, alighting from +his horse, he ascended the path with the guide to the Temple of Diana. +It led through a thick forest. On either side picturesque groups of +trees lined the way; wild vines festooned the branches, forming a green +roof overhead, from which hung bunches of little round grapes, called in +Tartar language "kacsi." Other fruit-bearing trees abounded; among them +towered two thorn-bushes bearing plums--the one rosy red, the other +waxen yellow. The yellow plum has a large stone; the red one grows in +the form of a grape, like cherry-plums. + +"What do you call this fruit?" the Czar asked his guide. + +"The yellow is called 'alirek,' the red 'isziumirek.'" + +"Gather me some. I should like to taste them." + +The guide, hastily breaking off some blackberry leaves, formed them into +a basket and filled it with red and yellow plums. + +The Czar was heated from the mountain ascent, and thirsty. The ripe, +juicy fruit, with its pleasant acid, was very grateful to him. He left +none. Only on returning the empty basket to his guide was he struck by +something in the man's appearance. + +"Countryman, what peculiar green eyes you have!" + +"Yes, so people say. I have never seen my own eyes." + +After an hour's walking the Czar and his attendant reached the classic +ruins, now the monastery. He was wet through with perspiration from the +exertion of the long climb on a hot autumn day; still overheated, he +passed through the subterranean passages, visited the caves at one time +appropriated to youths destined for sacrifice, and those secret +hiding-places cut out of the rock whence Orestes had formerly stolen the +golden statue of Artemis. After which he visited the chapel and remained +some time in prayer. + +On leaving the monastery he sent to seek his guide, but he was nowhere +to be found. No one had noticed when he left them. The monks themselves +conducted the Czar through the woods on the way to "the ladder," where +his horse and horsemen awaited him. + +Thus the Czar avoided passing the yew-tree where Jakuskin lay in wait +for him. + +That same day the Czar was forced to confess to his physician that he +was feeling a strange languor in all his limbs, accompanied by attacks +of shivering. But he would not be persuaded to take any remedies, saying +it would pass off of itself, and continued his journey. + +He visited the ancient Akhtia, which now bears the high-sounding name of +Sebastopol, was present at the launch of a man-of-war, and inspected the +Pontus fleet. Despite the recurrence of fever, he was untiringly +occupied throughout the day; late in the evening he again went into the +church to pray. + +When Jakuskin took the despatch from the dying messenger and placed it +in his bosom the thought flashed through his mind that it might carry +infection; but he dismissed it with: + +"Bah! How ridiculous to fear a scrap of folded paper!" + +And yet Jakuskin would have done himself and his friends better service +had he taken to his bosom one of the horned serpents which lie in wait +for the traveller by the side of ditches, or in coach-tracks, rather +than that piece of paper. + +He thought to himself, "Let the despatch contain what it may, as long as +I deliver it to the man for whom it is intended!" + +The story of the despatch was this: + +In the Southern Army all preparations had been made for the proclamation +of the Constitution. Pestel--called the Russian Riego--had up to now won +over one thousand officers, including even generals, to the conspiracy. +Pestel himself had been chosen as the future Dictator, who, with the +Southern Army, was to hasten to aid in proclaiming the Greek Republic; +while Ghedimin, as civil governor, was to construct the new republic +within the empire. It had been planned that on January 1st, 1826, the +"Viatka" regiment commanded by Pestel should march into the headquarters +of Tultsin. And that very day every officer not among the conspirators +should be slaughtered. From Tultsin they were to rush on to Kiew, take +the commandant of the First Army Corps, General Osten-Sacken, prisoner; +proclaim the Republic; incite the Poles to rebellion, and declare the +abdication of the Czar. Entire regiments of infantry, hussars, and +artillery had been won over to this scheme, the commandants never even +dreaming what was going on about them. Privates were won over by being +told that the "German" officers were to be massacred. To massacre the +Germans is naturally always a popular idea. The generals at the head of +the army, Osten-Sacken, Wittgenstein, Roth, Diebitsch, were all Germans. + +The whole of this bold plot had been wrecked by the weakness of one man. +One among a thousand, a certain Captain Mairoboda, could not act against +his conscience, and confided to his commandant, General Roth, the whole +details of the conspiracy, giving the names of the superior officers, +the leaders of the whole affair. + +General Roth had written fully to the Czar, sending his report by an +officer to his imperial master at Taganrog. + +The officer was seized by fever on the way, which quickly turned to +typhus; he was unable to press on to Taganrog. Fate brought Jakuskin +that way, that he might be the one to replace the broken wheel of its +chariot. Such were the contents of the despatch he had undertaken to +deliver. With it in his bosom he was himself converted into a witness +against his fellow-conspirators. + +When at last he pulled up his poor staggering horse at the gates of the +imperial castle at Taganrog, his first question to the officer on guard +was if the Czar were here? + +The answer was that the Czar was here, and had not left his room for +some days past. It was understood that the Czar was ill, but scarce four +hours since an imperial messenger had been despatched to carry the +joyful news to the Czar's mother that last night his illness had +suddenly taken a favorable turn and he was recovering. + +"Heaven be thanked!" sighed Jakuskin, while his hand sought his dagger. + +Every circumstance combined to favor his awful scheme. The guard of +honor of the imperial palace happened to have been taken from the +"Viatka" regiment, both officers and men of whom had been won over to +the conspirators. Well-known faces on all sides gave him secret looks of +intelligence. + +With determined tread he hastened up the staircase. The two grenadiers +on guard at the door of the Czar's room, saluting, let him pass. + +In the anteroom was the officer on duty, who greeted him by name as a +friend. + +"I seek the Czar, with an urgent despatch." + +"Go through. You will find there Adjutant Diebitsch, who will announce +you." + +Jakuskin opened the door. At the same time the door was opened from the +inside, and the man coming out and the one going in met on the +threshold. + +Jakuskin trembled. The face before him had _green eyes_. Or was it only +his fancy? The man was wearing a Tartar costume; his expression at once +so singular, awe-inspiring, defiant, arrogant! Contempt, scorn, and +sorrow mingled in his look; his eyes glittered like green beetles. As he +pushed by, an icy shudder passed through Jakuskin. + +Jakuskin staggered. + +"I say!" he exclaimed to the officer, as he pointed to the man passing +through, "who is that fellow?" + +"Some messenger or other." + +"Did you not notice what green eyes he has?" + +"'Pon my word, no. What the deuce do his green eyes concern you?" + +Jakuskin passed on to the inner room. Here he found Diebitsch sitting at +a table writing. He seemed in haste, for he did not raise his head. + +"Am I permitted to go in to the Czar?" + +"You are." + +"Is he alone?" + +"Alone." + +"What is he doing?" + +"Sleeping." + +"I am the bearer of an urgent despatch to him. May I wake him?" + +"Wake him." + +The general did not look up from his writing--did not observe to whom he +was speaking. Jakuskin resolutely approached the door of the adjoining +room. It seemed remarkable that the man he had addressed had not +perceived, by the wild beating of his heart, what he was meditating! A +door only separated him from his victim--and that door stood open! + +The Czar was already very ill on his return to Taganrog. Still he would +hear of no remedies. It is a characteristic trait of Russian czars to +defy illness. They will not believe that Death (their chief agent), who +has been so long in their service, who at their word of command has mown +down rows of men like ears of corn, should ever--brandishing his scythe +backward--cut down his lord and master. They are far too proud to +concede that the pale spectre should ever see their weakness, hear their +groans, limit their wills. Even Death, when he knocks at their door, +they would bid to "wait." + +Or, was it not so? Was it that the great colossal figure which, like a +second Atlas, had so long borne the whole world on its shoulders, had +grown weary of the burden? That he who had been accustomed to hear his +praises echoed from the four corners of the earth now shrank from +hearing the murmurs born of revenge and bitterness, and that his soul +yearned for the rest of the grave? Earth has nothing more for him to +do. He feels that he stands in the way of history. He has lost all that +his heart held dear; his last ray of sunshine, his sick wife's smile, is +but a fading light in the sky of evening. Is it not possible that the +giant, weary of life, and becoming aware of a call to another world, +should, far from shutting out that call, open wide the doors, saying, +"Here am I--let us go"? + +That day he had so far recovered that his illness seemed entirely to +have disappeared. Even his physician was deceived by the outward +symptoms; and late that evening a courier had been despatched to the +Dowager Czarina in St. Petersburg with the glad news, "Alexander out of +all danger. No further fears for him." (None further than some hundred +thousand attempts at assassination.) + +But the next morning the benevolent spirit, which comes alike to kings +and beggars to ease them of their burdens, had appeared to him, saying, +"Come home." For three days and nights Elisabeth had not left her sick +husband's room. She was his constant nurse, her wifely affection his one +consolation. + +And to the Czar of All the Russias was granted the happiness--at the +moment when every arm was turned against him, when the altar itself at +which he prayed was undermined, when a whole vast empire was about to +crumble to pieces about him--that for the last time, by the rays of the +rising sun, with the life-giving warmth of the day-star bathing his +brow, he could yield up his soul to Him who gave it with the words "_Ah, +le beau jour!_"--the happiness of having tender hands to close his eyes, +and to cross his arms upon his breast. + +Then the sick wife's strength broke down entirely, and she sank +swooning to the ground. The two physicians, hastening to her, lifted +her, and carried her to her apartment. The third man, who had been +witness to the dying scene, hastened back to the study to send off the +despatch to the Czarina-mother announcing the death of the Czar, giving +the messenger instructions to make all speed in order to overtake the +courier of the previous night, and, if possible, precede him. After +which his next care was to send off a letter to the Grand Duke +Constantine, in Warsaw. + +At that moment Jakuskin had entered. + +Diebitsch hastened on with his writing, his mood that of Russian cynical +humor. "What is the Czar doing?" "Sleeping." "Dare I wake him?" "Wake +him if you like!" + +Or had there been something in Jakuskin's face which betrayed his plans, +and was that why the adjutant's utterances had been framed so +sarcastically? + + * * * * * + +The conspirator advanced into the room. At that moment no one else was +there. The Czar was alone. Jakuskin saw him whom he had been seeking +lying before him--silent, motionless, with eyes closed, his arms folded +on his breast. + +A mighty man--invulnerable--dead. Jakuskin dared not draw nearer. Before +the dead Czar he trembled. + +He rushed staggering back into the adjacent room, holding the despatch +still in his hand. + +"The Czar--" he stammered. + +"Is dead!" + +"When?" + +"In this very hour." + +"Why did I not arrive one day sooner, in order to deliver up this +despatch to him!" + +The adjutant thought this exclamation somewhat odd. + +"I give you a piece of advice," said he to Jakuskin. "Make this letter +into a bullet, and shoot yourself through the head, and you will +overtake him yet." + +In truth, no bad piece of advice! Jakuskin would have done better had he +followed it; instead, he dashed the despatch on the table, and flung +from the room, uttering curses on his fate. + +At the gate of the palace he again came across the man of the green eyes +in the act of mounting his horse. Looking at him with his cat-like eyes, +he laughed. + +"You came too late, eh?" cried he, and, driving his spurs into his +horse's sides, dashed away. + +Jakuskin shivered and trembled in every limb. + +Elisabeth, as soon as she had recovered from her swoon, went back to her +dead, and wrote the following letter to the Czarina-mother from the +chamber of death: + + "BELOVED MOTHER,--Our angel is already in heaven, and + I still am left on earth. Who would have thought that + I, the invalid, should have outlived him? Mother, do + not forsake me, who now stand alone in this world of + care and suffering. Our beloved has recovered all his + sweetness of expression in death; the smile upon his + face shows that he is looking upon more lovely things + in the next world than here on earth. My one + consolation is that I shall not long survive him, and + shall soon be reunited to him." + +Her presentiment was a true one. Next spring brought her to that land +where Czar and serf alike are happy and there is no difference between +them. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE HERALD + + +The science was not then discovered by which man can compel lightning to +convey his messages, and by means of which any linen-draper nowadays can +flash to the other half of the world the news that a son is born to him, +or extend an invitation to his partner at the other end of the kingdom +to attend the christening next day. + +At that period it took eight days before so important a matter as the +death of Czar Alexander could be transmitted, by means of the fleetest +Ukraine pony and its rider, from the remote end of the Russian dominions +where it had occurred to the capital. The first messenger bringing the +news of the Czar's recovery, in fact, arrived before the second. He was +spurred by the good tidings; sorrow went a more leaden pace. + +Upon the arrival of the good news, ten members of the imperial house of +Romanoff--the eleventh, Grand Duke Michael, being then at Warsaw with +the Grand Duke Constantine--assembled to early mass in the chapel of the +Winter Palace, the highest ecclesiastical dignitary being the celebrant. +The chapel was crowded with high officials, magnates, and officers of +rank. The choir intoned the collect, "God preserve the Czar!" + +As the protopope was in the act of opening the jewelled book upon the +altar, and with trembling voice was about to begin intoning the prayer +for the Czar's recovery, suddenly, in the devotional stillness, a harsh +voice, like the sharp stroke of a bell, called out: + +"He is dead already!" + +The terrified congregation mechanically made a passage for the +new-comer, whose light-green beshmet was streaming with the mud of many +a Russian province--the black mud of the Nogai steppes, the yellow mud +of Moscow, the chalky clay of Novgorod, and the greeny slime of +Czarskoje Zelo. In his hand the messenger held a letter, with which he +pressed forward through the throng direct to the Grand Duke Nicholas. It +was the Czarina's letter to the Dowager Czarina. + +The Grand Duke, taking the letter, opened it himself. + +Then, hurriedly going up to the protopope, whispered something in his +ear. Upon which the protopope, covering the crucifix he held in his hand +with crape, advanced to the Czarina Marie, saying: + +"Thy son is dead!" + +And, the choir breaking off their _Te Deum_, in another minute the +burial hymn mournfully resounded through the chapel: + +"Lord! send him eternal peace!" + +The service which had begun as a _Te Deum_ had ended as a requiem. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +"BEATUS ILLE ..." + + +What, on this earth, is true happiness? + +To be able to dissociate one's self from the tussle and tangle of the +political arena. + +There is no such happy man on this earth as your landed proprietor, who +only learns what is going on in the political world from the columns of +his daily paper. + +In the morning he goes out coursing; starts three hares, two of which +are caught by his terriers; this is a real triumph. The third they let +run; this is a disgrace. But on the way home his dogs seize and throttle +a wildcat; that makes up for the former vexation. His horse stumbles +over a stone; that is a great misfortune. But neither man nor horse are +any the worse for it; and that is a piece of good-luck. + +Within easy distance live some men--jolly fellows--to whom he can detail +the morning's doings, and who, in return, give their adventures. + +At noon the wife awaits her husband's return to a well-spread board, and +she hospitably presses his friends to stay. Cabbage with fried sausages +is very acceptable after such an active morning! After dinner they find +they are just enough for a game of tarok, and the husband can boast next +day how he has conquered against long odds. + +The only political allusion made was when Pushkin named the "fox" +Araktseieff; but even at that the postmaster shook his head +disapprovingly. Why disturb the harmony of the evening by such +reference? + +Then, as the company is about to separate, the postmaster suddenly +remembers that he has forgotten to give Pushkin his newspaper, which he +had brought in his coat-pocket. + +The paper was opened. Old-fashioned newspapers used to be sent out in +envelopes. What news? + +"A military review." + +No one reads that. + +Well, then, France: The French are content. How satisfactory! Turkey: +Peace concluded with the Greeks. Evident enough! England: The Channel +Fleet returned to Dover. And a good thing too! In Russia nothing of +interest has transpired. Heaven be praised! + +After which each, lighting his lantern, repairs home. The master of the +house seeks his wife's room. The good little woman has had time for her +first sleep, and is not angry with his friends for staying so long at +cards. Good little wife! Next day they rise late, because the snow has +fallen so deep in the night that their windows are blocked and they +cannot see out. What matter! One is not merely a Nimrod, but a Tyrtćus +as well. If one cannot go forth to Diana, one can toy with the muses at +home; they are good friends, too. + +A man lights his pipe, paces the room, and poetizes, pausing at every +comma and full stop to give his dear little wife a kiss; she, the while, +busied in doing her hair in becoming fashion. If a rhyme be hard to +find, he takes his wife on his knee and looks into her eyes, and--the +rhyme is soon found. + +In the afternoon the friends turn up again--the postmaster, a gentleman +farmer, and a landed proprietor. They have not been deterred by the +heavy snow. Two had driven over; for the third, Bethsaba had sent the +sledge, that the party might be complete. She set out the card-table. + +"It is paradise--perfect paradise!" + +But once the serpent succeeded in wriggling into paradise. + +At the end of the game, when the long score had to be reckoned up, in +order to see how many copecks had been won, the postmaster was fain to +turn out all his pockets to scrape together enough small coin wherewith +to pay his debts. In so doing he extracted several letters. + +"No news to-day?" the gentleman farmer asks him. + +The only newspaper in that part came to Pushkin, so the neighbors always +came to him to hear the news. + +"What are you twaddling about? Did I not bring a paper yesterday? Do you +think a press correspondent can afford to lie every day? Quite enough to +have to do it three times a week. Poor devil! he must bless the +intermediate days. If you must have a paper, read yesterday's." + +"So we have, from beginning to end." + +"I bet you've not read about the review." + +"Right you are. Hand it over." + +And it repaid the trouble of reading. For it stated that each regiment +of guards quartered in St. Petersburg had severally taken the oath of +allegiance in the chapel of the Winter Palace. And why not, if they +liked to do so? It would do the soldiers no harm. Ah, but it was to Czar +_Constantine_ that they had sworn allegiance. + +"Czar _Constantine_? Who ever heard of a Czar Constantine?" + +In the great confusion the press had _entirely forgotten_ to officially +announce the death of Czar Alexander. + +"It's a slip of the pen," quoth the postmaster. "Perhaps the +correspondent was drunk. Why should they not get drunk, poor devils, +just once a year?" + +So the matter dropped. The writer of the article in question had been +celebrating his name-day too freely, had got mixed, and had written, +instead of Alexander, Constantine. + +In the next number, under _errata_, the mistake would be rectified. + +But the next number brought no correction; rather the "error" was +repeated twofold, threefold--all edicts being published in the name of +"His Majesty Czar Constantine." + +The death of Czar Alexander was never officially announced. + +The worthy news-reading public only saw from their Sunday papers what +was going on. These papers gave full details of the funeral services +held in all the churches of St. Petersburg, and the official odes to the +dead, which sang the fame of the deceased Czar in Russian, Latin, and +Greek. + +After that no one wondered that future edicts were promulgated in +Constantine's name; he was the Czarevitch, and, according to Russian +laws of succession, heir to the throne. That the people did not love him +did not affect the question. What had the people to do with it? The +soldiers had sworn him allegiance, and the soldiers are the empire. + +And what matters all this to those "happy folk" in the country-house? +Their home was dear to them in Czar Alexander's time; that Constantine +now reigns in his stead only makes that home dearer. + +The Winter Palace has got a new inmate more unwelcome than the last. The +former, as he wandered silent and melancholy among his courtiers, was +hard to serve; how much more the new one, who knouts, kicks, breaks +men's bones, and swears! His cheerful moods excite more terror than did +the other's depression. + +On these accounts the officer of the guards, among whose private papers +was a ukase, "by command of the Czar" forbidding him to leave Pleskow +beyond a day's journey, might well be called a lucky fellow. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +THE TEMPTER + + +One stormy winter's day, on which not even his neighbors dared venture +out of their houses to make their customary visit to Pushkin, a sledge, +amid the tinkling of many bells, drove into the courtyard, and from out +the midst of his fur wrappings and high felt boots emerged Chevalier +Galban. + +A host stifles all inimical feeling towards his guest, the more so when +he comes in such vile weather. The road was invisible from snow-drifts; +it was impossible to see where one was driving. + +Pushkin welcomed Galban cordially. The pipe of peace was lighted in the +warm, cosey room. Bethsaba prepared the tea. + +"But, in the name of all that's wonderful, what brought you out of St. +Petersburg in such weather?" + +"H'm! My dear fellow, that your own experience can give you a good +inkling of! Your windows do not look on to Nevski Prospect either! You, +too, have your reasons for being here." + +"Right you are," said Pushkin, blowing the smoke in blue rings into the +air, which rings gathered together over Bethsaba's head, as an aureole +over the head of a saint; and, ostentatiously drawing his wife towards +him, he put his arm round her waist as he said, "This is my reason!" + +Galban laughed. "Well, I certainly cannot lay claim to such a reason! As +far as I am concerned, it is _Veteres migrate coloni_" (Old cottagers +take to wandering). "The world is topsy-turvy. The old set have to fly +for their lives. Even Araktseieff is smoking his pipe at Grusino." + +"That surprises me. Czar Constantine was his ideal. And I know that +there is no one Araktseieff loves better than Czar Constantine." + +"Yes; if Constantine were the Czar, I, too, should have known what I was +about; but he is not." + +"Not Czar?" said Pushkin, amazed. "But the papers give his name in all +proclamations." + +"But, my dear Alexander Sergievitch! You a writer yourself, and yet are +naďve enough to believe what is in the papers?" + +"The devil! But one must believe them when they announce that the Senate +has proclaimed Constantine to be Czar, and that the household troops +have sworn the oath of allegiance to him." + +"All the same, Constantine is not Czar. We live, my friend, in an age of +miracles and absurdities. Official papers do not publish everything; +still, in St. Petersburg people pretty well know what is happening. When +Constantine was proclaimed Czar, and from Grand Dukes to guards all had +duly sworn the oath of allegiance to him, the President of the Senate, +Lapukhin, produces a sealed packet, upon which was inscribed, in the +late Czar's handwriting--'To be opened in cabinet council after my +death.' The seals were broken, and within was found a document in which +Grand Duke Constantine, the Czarevitch, renounced his succession to the +throne in favor of his younger brother, Grand Duke Nicholas. A second +document contained in the packet was Alexander's will, wherein he +states that he had accepted Constantine's renunciation of the throne, +and naming Grand Duke Nicholas as his heir." + +"So, then, Constantine is not Czar, but Nicholas. That is plain." +Pushkin said this in a tone from which it was easy to infer that it was +a matter of indifference to him. + +"Not quite so plain as you think. Grand Duke Nicholas refuses to accept +the succession. He is a follower of the old régime, which suffers no +changes, and now the war of high-mindedness runs high between St. +Petersburg and Warsaw. Grand Duke Michael, the third brother, acting as +intermediary, goes from one brother to the other with the request that +he should accept the crown." + +"Anyway, a display of great brotherly love, unexampled in the world's +history. Up to now princes have been more apt to dispute a crown!" + +"And what makes the farce complete is that two accomplished facts, +contradictory to each other, have to be surmounted. It is an +accomplished fact that Constantine has been proclaimed Czar and cannot +relinquish the throne; and, equally so, that he has taken to wife +Johanna Grudzinska, a Pole, a Catholic, and only of aristocratic birth, +three circumstances which render it impossible for her husband to wear +the crown. And so, on the one hand, Constantine _cannot_ relinquish the +throne; on the other, he _cannot_ ascend it." + +"For all I care, let him stay where he is." + +"You, in your Tusculum, can afford to make cheap jokes; but what are all +the poor devils about the court to do in such an imbroglio?" + +"Especially as his wife is more to the Czarevitch than his crown!" + +"No more of that! With that overdrawn conjugal love we do not throw sand +into other people's eyes. I had opportunity of putting that love to the +proof. I assure you that it needed no magic to have led Frau Johanna to +forget her Grand Ducal lover for a _knightly_ one. At that time she had +not the right to call him husband. Ah! had not a more powerful feeling +swayed my heart"--a suppressed sigh and secret side-glance at Bethsaba +here explained his words--"truly in my hands would have lain the power +to present Grand Duke Constantine the nineteen crowns of Russia--even a +twentieth. It only needed me to have stayed one day longer in the +gardens of the lovely Lazienka." + +Pushkin was disgusted at this bragging. He knocked the ashes out of his +pipe. Galban's boasting he valued at the same rate as those ashes. + +"I happen to know, however, that the Czarevitch and his wife are so +devotedly attached to each other that Constantine would not exchange +Johanna's head-dress for Rurik's crown." + +"But what if that is not due to Johanna's head-dress, but is the fault +of Rurik's crown? A sensible man does not shelter from the storm under a +fir-tree if he means to keep dry, and of all fir-trees the crown of a +Russian fir is the most dangerous in a storm. Every one knows--even the +sparrows twitter it--that the late Czar was only saved by the kind +agency of Caucasian fever from the fatality which awaits every Russian +czar. There are many rumors, even, about his end. People talk of poison. +The _bon-mot_ of Talleyrand is going the round: 'It is really time that +Russian czars changed their manner of dying.' One shudders to say it, +how assassination, treachery, conspiracy, await him who sits upon +Rurik's throne. The very kneeling-chair, the altar, the church wherein +he prays, are undermined. Is not this explanation enough why one brother +vies with another in refusing the throne? The most open expression of +feeling was that which caused the Czarevitch to explain the reason of +his hesitation to the Queen Dowager of Saxony in these words: 'Russian +czars need to have very strong necks, and I am not fond of having my +neck tickled.'" + +So outspoken! Only _agents provocateurs_ venture to say such audacious +things. + +Pushkin shoved the amber mouth-piece so far into his mouth that he could +not bring out a word. Bethsaba saw that her husband was on thorns, and +left the room. She had divined his wish, and ordered three sledges to be +horsed and despatched to fetch their neighbors, hindered from coming by +the snow-storm. + +Galban, meanwhile, continued the conversation. + +"You know very well who I was and what I am. My whole life long I have +been a courtier. I loved to serve, to obey, to intrigue. Never did I +have the least inclination to join a league of conspirators. I tell the +truth. But under the present circumstances a man's ordinary loyalty is +of no account whatever. The whole country is at sixes and sevens. Even +political leagues are disrupted. By the death of the Czar the ground has +been cut from under their feet. There is no Czar. Against whom should +they conspire? They have split up into two parties. If Constantine take +the crown, Nicholas will immediately be proclaimed Czar as well; if +Nicholas, Constantine will be set up against him. The soldiers are ready +to fire upon each other; each party will fight for their legitimate +head. Under the counter battle-cry, 'Long live the Czar!' we shall have +a fine revolution breaking out. Nor can one tell who will come out +conqueror. If Constantine's party win the day, Nicholas's followers will +be the rebels; if Nicholas's party gain the upperhand, it will be +Constantine's followers who will suffer. The position of a man like +myself is simply terrible. Whichever side I take to-day, how am I to +tell if, with all my loyal devotion, I shall not to-morrow be proscribed +as a rebel? Under such circumstances a wise man cannot do better than to +leave the chaos to take care of itself and flee to the woods to hunt +wolves. And, I trust, Alexander Sergievitch, that we shall often join in +that healthful pursuit together." + +"I am not allowed to go a day's journey from Pleskow." + +"Well, then, my estate lies within your boundary--just a short winter +day's distance. Let us get all the enjoyment out of it we can as long as +this chaotic world endures." + +Pushkin promised to return the visit shortly. + +"Then, now we are friends and companions," continued Galban, +garrulously. "You may imagine the lamentations under the tsinovniks in +St. Petersburg. Next March Czar Alexander was to have celebrated his +five-and-twentieth year of accession. Every man about the court was +congratulating himself on the prospect of ascending a step on this +ladder of rank; instead of being 'vasé blagorodié' that he would become +'vasé vomszkoblagorodié.' Numbers of them had had their uniforms made +beforehand, and had prepared their answers for the forthcoming +examinations. You are aware that all of us, when we get preferment, have +to undergo an examination? Luckily for us the professors give out the +papers in good time; a golden key lets them out the sooner. And now all +this has come to naught. I myself stood on the list, in the third rank +of nobility, as director of the St. Petersburg Theatre, and you figured +in it in the rank of major. Three thousand aspirants! most of whom had +paid pretty heavily for their chances into Daimona's fair hands. Money +thrown away now." + +This dangerous conversation was brought to an end by the noisy entrance +of the three neighbors. Never had doors opened to more welcome guests. +They had not, moreover, come to quarrel over involved questions of +succession, but to play tarok; and it is an acknowledged axiom--tarok +before everything! + +Chevalier Galban excused himself on the plea that he only played hazard, +and that for high stakes. + +"Well, then, sit down and have a game of chess with my wife. But look to +your laurels; Bethsaba plays a good game." + +Thus Chevalier Galban settled to a game that is the greatest hazard in +all the world, and is played for the highest stakes of all. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +THE MOUSE PLAYS WITH THE CAT + + +The men flung their cards upon the table as though they meant to make it +suffer, and after every game set to quarrelling. "This card should have +been played, not that, for we were winning!" + +The men said things to each other which, had not the cards been in their +hands, must have led to affairs of honor. In the opposite corner of the +room things went much more quietly. Here they only spoke in whispers, as +is customary at chess. + +"Sun of my life, now you can see of what a wounded heart is capable! Who +other than a man made a very fool by his love would be paying visits at +such a time?" + +"Then you have not fled, in the political chaos, from the capital?" + +"I? It is my element, in which I live as a fish does in water. It is my +natural element. There has not been a change of sovereign throughout +Europe at which I have not assisted. When Mars armed himself for the +battle-field I was the Mercury who bore his message. It is in order to +win your smile that I have rent a career in sunder, have thrust a +princely crown from me." + +"And if I do not smile?" + +"I should go mad." + +"Oh, you are going back on your words! The last time we met you vowed +you were mad for love of me; and now are you only beginning to take +precaution against it?" + +"Every day I begin to get mad afresh." + +"That proves that every day your madness is cured." + +"Does not my presence here prove that I am incurable?" + +"It was only the snow-storm that brought you here." + +"The storm befriended me! It gave me the right to come." + +"Oh, our house is always open to guests." + +"Our house! What torture in those two words!" + +"Shall I say, 'My husband's house'?" + +"That is preferable! That manner of speaking in the plural only beseems +kings, not even queens." + +"Russian women are no queens; they serve a praiseworthy custom of +antiquity." + +"But your province is to make slaves." + +"I have heard tell that the Turks once conquered a citadel which they +had been permitted to enter as guests. Do you not perceive that you are +misusing the rights of hospitality?" + +"Show me by one look that my presence here is obnoxious to you, and +neither storm nor night will exist for me. I will have my horses put to, +and, despite snow-drifts, despite the howling of wolves, I will set out +on my way." + +"You are perfectly aware that you could find no reasonable pretext for +such a step--that Pushkin would not suffer it." + +"I knew how it was! Check to your king! You will soon have lost the +game. Then you will jump up indignantly, complain of the smoky +atmosphere, and retire to your own room. I shall sit down behind +Alexander Sergievitch's chair and criticise his play. That is the way +the best of friends fall out. One word leads to another. I am +hot-headed, so is he. Finally, I let myself be turned out of doors. Now +do you understand my game?" + +"Not yet. I can still castle my king. I will not allow you to leave our +house." + +"If you say 'our' house again I will leave it on the spot. The very +thought that the same roof covers me, my happiness, and the robber of +that happiness makes even this paradise into purgatory to me. Check to +your king and queen!" + +"Then we shall be compelled to exchange queens. I take yours, you mine. +I will not have you leave me. Who knows, after all, if the angel be as +white as she is painted?" she added, with a fascinating glance at the +Chevalier. Zeneida had thus taught her. "You overlooked this move. +Checkmate!" + +"By Jove! you have won!" + +"Shall we begin another game?" + +"The conqueror has the first move." + +"Have you heard anything since of my poor, dear mother?" + +"It is well that you have touched on the theme yourself. I assure you, +had you not asked me I would not have started it. And yet it was +principally that which brought me here. The queen wishes to see you." + +"Really? Since I was parted from her I have only seen her twice, in the +Winter Palace, on New-year's day." + +"Now you will be seeing your mother face to face. I have managed to +obtain permission for you to visit the queen in her convent." + +"Have you got it with you?" + +"Do you want to show it to Alexander Sergievitch?" + +"Oh no. It must be kept secret from him." + +"Then leave the permit in my keeping. It is in very good hands. Pushkin +dare not accompany you himself; it were an act of misdemeanor. As soon +as you have opportunity to use it, you can obtain the permit from me." + +"Yes. If Pushkin were leaving home for a few days." + +"You send to me and I will forward it to you at once." + +"But with this sending backward and forward two whole precious days will +be lost. Would it not be better if I were to come and fetch it myself?" + +Clever little woman! + +"Were this happiness to fall to my lot I would set fire to all four +corners of my castle instantly upon your departure, that, after you, no +other guest should be received there." + +"Checkmate! I led you on beautifully! I merely went on chattering to +take your attention off the game. It was a thorough stalemate. And now +you can retire to rest, Chevalier. Good-night!" + +Bethsaba left the room. Chevalier Galban, however, rose from the +chess-table with a full sense of triumph; he was convinced that he had +won the game. As a rule he was accustomed to win two out of every three +games he played. The third he usually lost. + +The tarok-players had perceived nothing of what had passed. It had been +a fearful battle that had been fought at this table. Alexander +Sergievitch had lost a "solo" with Quint Major, _tous les trois_. It was +a thorough defeat. + +"Two kings in my hand, and both taken--a hundred thousand devils!" swore +Alexander Sergievitch. + +"Yes, those kings," boasted the postmaster, proud of his achievement. +"We beat every one of those kings!" + +"What!" began Chevalier Galban. "You beat kings? Upon my word! A +thorough republican movement!" + +The postmaster's interest in the game was so sensibly diminished by this +speech that he proposed adjourning, and the exciting game came to an +end. + +Pushkin accompanied his guests to their sledges, then returned to +Chevalier Galban. + +"Well, how did your game go with my little one?" + +"I was thoroughly thrashed. She played with me like a cat with a mouse. +From whom did she learn to play such a capital game?" + +"What, chess? Our dear Sophie Narishkin was her teacher. They used to +play together every day." + +But that was not the case. It was not Sophie, but Zeneida, who had +taught the "little one" this game. This time it had been the mouse +playing with the cat to her heart's content. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +THE ANTIDOTE + + +Lovely, sunny December days followed on the past arctic weather, with +its snow-storms. Chevalier Galban returned home, having received a +promise from Pushkin to make him a return visit very soon. Post traffic +was resumed; that is, communication by means of sledging was once more +practicable. + +The official newspaper outdid itself in dulness. But at the end of the +so-called news of the day was an announcement to the effect that "_on +December 26th Fräulein Ilmarinen would sing in the Imperial Exchange for +the benefit of the Orphanage_!" + +The concert was announced eight days in advance, in order that all who +desired to attend should have due notice. + +Pleskow to St. Petersburg is two good days' journey. Allowing for the +time for post to reach, Pushkin had six days' notice. + +Bethsaba, too, read the announcement, and said: + +"Oh dear! How I should like to be there, to hear my dear Zeneida sing!" + +Her heart was filled with dread. She, too, knew full well--Zeneida had +told her--what this concert and this singing heralded. + +From that moment Pushkin was utterly changed--morose, melancholy. +Bethsaba read in his face as in an open book. Had she not had the key +to the hieroglyphics from Zeneida? She knew exactly what Pushkin was +brooding over; she knew perfectly well that "Eleutheria" was the name of +his old love. And she concentrated all her love upon him to hold him +fast. + +Was it such an unheard-of thing for men, renowned statesmen, to forget, +in their domestic happiness, an appointment they had made with friend or +enemy on the battle-field? How often it had happened that great men, +when once they had learned to know "the little world of love," had been +fain to think how good it was to be "little" men! What happy people +Lilliputians must be! + +Vain endeavor! + +For two whole days Pushkin fought with himself; then told Bethsaba that +he must leave home on December 24th. + +Bethsaba never asked whither, nor for how long; she only said, "And you +are not taking me with you?" + +"No, love. It would be impossible for you to travel in this cold +weather; the roads are so bad." + +"But not too bad for you! Can you not put off this journey?" + +"Impossible!" returned Pushkin, irritably. + +The tone in which he spoke forbade further question. Bethsaba saw that +the hour of the dreaded danger had come. The poison was already working +in his veins. An antidote must be administered. + +Going to her room, she wrote to Chevalier Galban: + + "Alexander Sergievitch is making preparations for a + journey very shortly. I await your answer." + +This significant letter she gave to a footman, with instructions to +convey it to its address as fast as a sledge would take him. + +After their conversation, Pushkin, seeing that his moroseness betrayed +him, forced himself to be in high spirits. His friends said they had +never seen him so merry. Bethsaba alone was not deceived. + +At last came the morning of the dreaded day. Both rose early, that +Pushkin might not be late in starting. Just as he was getting into his +fur coat, Bethsaba, throwing herself on his breast, said, tremblingly: + +"I cannot let you go without confessing a sin which I have committed +against you." + +"Against me? What can that be?" + +"I have been jealous." + +"About this journey?" + +"Yes." + +"You are a little goose! Are you always going to be jealous when I go +away for a day or two?" + +"Only this time. I had been told that you were going to visit your old +love, and that is why you wanted to go alone." + +"Was it Galban who gave you this information?" + +"He said so when he was here. I asked him the lady's name. He answered +me he would tell it me _if I asked it again_. When I saw you making +ready for departure, jealousy revived in me in all its strength. I lost +my judgment. Kill me! Trample me underfoot! I wrote to Galban, +entreating him to tell me the name of her for love of whom my husband +was leaving me, and asked him to prove to me in writing the statement he +had made by word of mouth. Read what he answers." + +And she gave him Galban's letter. + +As Pushkin read the letter to the end the world seemed to swim in blood +before his eyes. + + "ADORED LADY,--If you would possess the desired + document, deign to visit my modest dwelling; I cannot + intrust it to strange hands. + + Your ever-faithful slave, + + "GALBAN." + +Pushkin looked in amazement at Bethsaba. + +Trembling, his wife fell on her knees. + +"Oh, forgive me! I did not know what I was doing! Do not beat me; I am +punished enough by the shame I have brought upon myself! I am forever +disgraced!" + +Pushkin gently raised his wife. + +"Do not cry. You have been a foolish child, that is all. In my eyes you +are purer than the angels. And I swear by Heaven that no shame shall +ever attach to you for this. Kiss me, and take comfort." + +"And you forgive me?" + +"I have nothing to forgive. A woman has the right to demand that her +husband is as true to her as she to him. Such truth I will preserve to +you. Now embrace me, and take good care of your dear little self. On my +return I will tell you who she was at whose invitation I am undertaking +this journey." + +Bethsaba knew her well--"Eleutheria." + +Pushkin, taking his weapons, sprang into his sledge, giving his coachman +instructions where to drive. + +The jemsik shook his head. They would never reach St. Petersburg by that +road. + +It was evening before Pushkin arrived at Galban's castle. It was an +old-fashioned building, standing in the midst of extensive pine woods--a +hunting-box. + +The antidote was working splendidly. + +Happiness had never succeeded in causing Pushkin to overlook an +appointment; but jealousy is a strong antidote. There are men enough +ready to give up love, happiness, means, rank, for freedom; but the +world has not yet seen the man who would sacrifice honor for it. Place +in one scale all the workings of passion, in another those of +jealousy--the latter would weigh heavier. No tyrant in the world is +hated so intensely as is a rival. + +Had Brutus been told on the Ides of March that Casca had paid court to +his wife, it would have been Casca, not Cćsar, who would have died. + +Zeneida had laid the train cleverly. She knew the whole position. + +For months past the two parties had been playing with open cards. Their +plans had long been known to one another by means of secret agencies; +their very names known. But each hesitated to begin the attack. The +members of the constitutional party were to be found among the highest +statesmen, and even generals. That a collision would take place all were +convinced, but none knew when. But there was a key to the exact period +of the outbreak; that key was the day of Pushkin's leaving home. The day +he left Pleskow to appear against his edict of banishment in St. +Petersburg was the signal. Chevalier Galban, Princess Ghedimin, and the +followers of Araktseieff were on the watch for it. + +Knowing this, Zeneida had planned the intrigue which would effectually +keep Pushkin out of the charmed circle on the eventful day. + +Among certain nationalities her little game might easily have ended +dangerously. Jealousy has often led to fatal results. But in Russia +social opinion is different. At that time duels were almost unknown +there. We saw from Jakuskin's experience that the challenger was simply +despatched forthwith to the Caucasus. Bethsaba risked nothing more than +that her husband should be sent to Georgia, in the event of his +challenging Galban, for Galban was certain not to fight. At the worst, +it would only lead to fisticuffs, and there the strong-wristed country +gentleman would be more than a match for the effeminate courtier. + +In order that the noise of his approaching sledge might not attract +attention, Pushkin left it in the road, and, taking his case of pistols +and whip in his hand, walked to the house. + +It had a deserted appearance; not even a dog barked in the courtyard. It +was after some time that Pushkin at last succeeded in getting a dvornik +to open the door in answer to his repeated knocking. + +"Where is Chevalier Galban?" + +"Ah, little master, that I can't tell. He went away yesterday." + +"Tell me no lies, or you shall have a taste of my whip! Go and tell him +that some one from Pushkin's is here." + +"Ah, soul of mine, you have come, then, at the right time, for the +Chevalier left a letter for the Pushkins. True, he said it would be a +lady who came for it; but I suppose it's all the same if I give it to +you?" + +So saying, he drew out a letter from the leg of his boot. No matter if +the scent of patchouli became slightly mixed with the smell of leather. + +Pushkin, tearing open the letter, read: + + "MADAME,--I ask you ten thousand pardons; but this + time it was not your heart but your husband's head I + was after. I hasten to meet him beside the lovely + woman whose name is 'Scaffold.' + + "GALBAN." + +"Drive back!" growled Pushkin to his jemsik. "Drive as hard as your +horses will go to St. Petersburg!" + +It was too late. A day had been lost. Pushkin could not possibly arrive +at the scene of action on December 26th. A woman's intrigue had +succeeded admirably. If all else were lost, the poet's head was saved. + + + + +CHAPTER L + +"DEREVASKI DALOI" + + +Things had never gone so quietly in St. Petersburg as during those three +months preceding the 26th of December. Night noises, public-house +gatherings, had ceased entirely. In the kabas, instead of the daily +three thousand pots of drink, not more than two hundred were given out. +It is a serious outlook when the Russian people do not drink. + +For five-and-twenty days Russia had been without a Regent. What had +occurred during those five-and-twenty days? + +The vast empire had had two heads and two hearts: one at Warsaw, the +other at St. Petersburg. In St. Petersburg, the Viceroy of Warsaw had +been proclaimed Czar; in Warsaw, the Grand Duke Nicholas. + +Their youngest brother, Michael, was on a visit to Constantine when the +news of Alexander's death at Taganrog reached him--two days earlier than +it was received at St. Petersburg. A grand gala was going on at the +time, which was stopped at once on receipt of the melancholy +intelligence. Constantine begged his brother to return instantly to St. +Petersburg and repeat his declaration of renunciation of the succession. +The Grand Duke Michael crossed the deputation sent from St. Petersburg. +At the same time that he reached the capital with his brother's fresh +repudiation, Labanoff arrived at Warsaw with documents stating that +Constantine had been chosen, and containing the oaths of fealty of the +army, and the people's address to him bearing a hundred thousand +signatures. Every one had been required to affix his signature, on the +previous Sunday, on leaving the churches; such as could not write had +their hands guided. But Johanna Grudzinska's power was still victorious. +The sealed document bore the inscription, "To His Imperial Majesty." + +"I know the contents," said Constantine. "I am to separate from my wife +and espouse the imperial throne. Much obliged! This document is not +addressed to me; I am no 'Imperial Majesty.' Take it back to those who +sent it." + +And with seals unbroken he sent back the documents. + +The Grand Duke Michael's mission met with similar success. The letter of +Constantine was addressed to Czar Nicholas. He would not receive it. +Constantine had already been elected; the army had sworn allegiance to +him; the people had signed an address; important state papers were being +prepared in his name. It was unalterable. + +Michael had to return once more to Warsaw and endeavor to move +Constantine. This time he met the returning deputation at Dorpat, taking +back the bull with seals unbroken. + +Thus Russia had no Czar. The republicans said: "All right. If they can't +settle with one, let them try two." + +Suddenly came news in St. Petersburg that a seditious rising had been +detected in the Southern Army. + +Now neither party could hesitate any longer. Pestel and ten leaders of +battalions were arrested; but this, far from suppressing the +insurrection, only hurried it on. + +Late in the evening of the 25th of December Nicholas decided to accept +the crown. This brought things to a crisis. + +The manifesto of his accession was drawn up at two o'clock in the +morning, thus could not be made public then and there. On the following +morning the regiments were to swear the oath to the new Czar, without +knowing what had happened to the one to whom they pledged allegiance but +a fortnight before. The conspirators passed the night deliberating what +should be done. + +"All is ready for the war of freedom," said enthusiastic Ryleieff. + +"But one thing is wanting," answered Zeneida Ilmarinen; "and that is +that the people do not know what freedom is." + +"True!" said Ghedimin. "The people do not understand our views. We ought +to have begun by teaching them what is freedom." + +"We must begin by freeing the people from their tyrants," broke in +Jakuskin, "then they will soon learn the meaning of freedom." + +War was declared. The conspirators, going back to their regiments, took +possession, with their mutinous troops, of the square in front of the +Winter Palace in the mist of early morning. Their watchword was +"Derevaski daloi" (throw away your touchwood). In ordinary gun practice +touchwood was used. Now all hastened to change this for steel and flint. +Then came the cry, "Hurrah, Constantine!" Only Constantine then; and no +word of freedom? But that had been provided for. The mutinous soldiers +set up the shout, "Long live the Constitution!" They had been made to +believe that "Constitucia" _was the wife of Grand Duke Constantine_, and +thus waxed enthusiastic for freedom as the Czar's wife. + +Freedom itself lay deep, deep under the snow like a buried acorn, +needing the rays of the sun to awaken it to vitality. On the morning of +his accession, the first day of his rule, the Czar was greeted by the +tumult of a revolution. They were the household troops, the crack +regiments, that rose against him. Their hurrahs resounded from Czar +Peter's Platz to the Winter Palace, which Nicholas had exchanged for the +little, quiet, old-fashioned Anikof Palace, where he formerly resided. +Pale with terror, his generals rushed up to tell him of the danger of +the rebellion. Nicholas had seen one like it before, five-and-twenty +years ago. Then, a little boy, he was sleeping peacefully in his bed, +when his mother, suddenly rushing into the room, snatched him up in her +arms, and ran the length of the dark apartments crying for help. One of +the doors she was passing opened, and a pale man emerged from it. From a +neighboring room came the sounds of a furious struggle--some one within +was fighting for his life. That some one was his father. The pale man, +Count Pahlen, tore the mother and her trembling burden away from the +scene of terror. This episode Nicholas had never forgotten. He, too, now +had a little son, still slumbering in his bed. And he, too, snatching up +the child in his arms, dashed with it down the stairs of the palace. But +before handing over his son to the soldiers he took his wife into the +chapel. There, kneeling side by side, they swore to die in a manner +worthy of rulers of the empire. That moment of terror gave the Czarina a +palsied movement of the head which she never lost in after-life. Then +the Czar, taking his son up in his arms, went out with him into the +courtyard. The battalion on guard at the Winter Palace chanced to be of +a Finnish regiment. Kalevaines, despised as Tschuds by the Suomalai +tribes--they were no Russians--what interest had they in Rurik's empire? + +The new Czar, going up to them, his son in his arms, tore open his +uniform, and, presenting his bare breast to the bayonets, said: + +"If you have cause against me, fire at my defenceless breast!" + +And Pushkin was right. + +The feeling of humanity is stronger than the thirst for freedom. It +protects the serf when the Czar persecutes him, and protects the Czar +when persecuted by the serf. + +"Fear not. We will protect you!" cried Zeneida's countrymen. + +"_Then to you I intrust my child; take care of him. If I fall, he is +your future Czar._" And he threw his pale little successor, Alexander +II., into the arms of the most heavily oppressed of all his subjects. + +He knew the hearts of men. By this action he had turned their weapons +from his own bosom upon his assailants. + +That one Finnish battalion defended the Winter Palace from the morning +to the evening against the whole revolutionary force. + +Nicholas, however, springing on his horse, dashed through the gates, +followed by his generals. + +In front of the palace surged a dense mass of the lowest of the low, +roaring out _The Song of the Knife_--its harvest-time had come. Riding +into their very midst, Nicholas said: + +"What are you doing here, dear children? This is no place for you." + +The people looked at one another. + +"Eh! He is a kind man! He calls us his dear children, and tells us so +kindly to go away from here. Let's go home!" + +And they dispersed. + +Outside the Admiralty he was received by some well-affected battalions. +At their head he marched to the vast Czar Peter's Platz, where was the +insurgents' camp. One-half of the square was occupied by them; the other +half by the troops loyal to him. Betwixt the opposing armies was the +colossal statue on its granite pedestal, with hands outstretched, no one +knows whether to command or bless. One party of insurgents stormed the +castle on the other side of the frozen Neva; the other pressed on +towards the gates of the Winter Palace, Nicholas wandering, meanwhile, +undecidedly up and down the great square, weighing on which cast of the +die hung the fate of his imperial house and empire. He had first +endeavored by every means in his power to avoid the conflict--had sent +the most popular leader of the army, General Miloradovics, to parley +with the insurgents and move them to submission. A ball had struck him +from his horse before he could speak; it was Kakhowsky who had shot him. +The heroic general died in the Czar's arms. Then he had sent the highest +Church dignitary of the country, the metropolitan Seraphim, in full +canonicals, to parley with his enemies. + +What cared they now for priests? Seizing the venerable man by his +snow-white beard, they had roared in his ears: + +"If you are a priest, read your breviary, and don't meddle to your hurt +in military matters!" + +The insurgents received unexpected support. The marines and half the +grenadier regiments joined them. Their numbers grew and grew; the +square echoed with the cry, "Long live the Constitution!" + +Then the Czar himself rode up to them. The rebels saw him coming. It was +a temptation to them to see him ride up unattended. A cavalry officer +galloped up to him, a loaded pistol in his hand. + +"What is your business?" the Czar asked, threateningly, as he came near. +There was such a spell in his cold look that the foolhardy man, hiding +his face, turned away his head and galloped back. + +It was only by force that his followers could tear the Czar away from +the scene of revolt. + +It began to grow dusk. + +The armies of Gog and Magog went on ever increasing, and darkness added +its terrors to the rest. With night, axe and knife would begin their +work; seventy thousand mujiks would decide who should be Russia's future +ruler! + +The generals entreated the Czar to give the signal to attack. He still +hesitated. First, he tried to disperse the insurgents by means of a +feigned attack upon the square of the enemy, and gave the Horse Guards +orders to this effect. They were received by a salvo of artillery, and +the Horse Guards retreated decimated. At that critical moment drums +beating to attack were heard advancing from Morskoje Street, and Grand +Duke Michael appeared at the head of the Moscow regiment. He had just +returned from Moscow, and, hastily summoning those of his own regiment +who had remained faithful to him, advanced against the rebels, and the +fight began. + +The noisiest of the insurgents, the heroes of the Bear's Paw, cleared +out of the square at the first volley; the soldiers alone stood fire. +The heroes of freedom fought heroically. The poor soldier, however, who +fell without knowing why or wherefore, perhaps learned in his +death-agony that she for whom he had fallen was a living goddess, who in +some future time would make his descendants happy--the goddess of +Freedom. + +Until late in the night they held the square and repulsed the attacks of +the imperial troops. + +Then, in the deep darkness, a division of artillery suddenly approached +up Nevski Prospect. This broad, radial street opens in such a manner on +to the great square, which lies between the Admiralty, the Winter +Palace, and Isaac Cathedral, that it commands both sides of the square. + +The fire of the approaching cannon might as easily be directed against +the Czar's army as against the rebels' camp; and nearly all the officers +in the artillery were in league with the insurgents! They were received +by the latter with cheers as they unlimbered their guns at the corner of +the street. Of course, they had come to the aid of the rebel army! At +that critical moment Grand Duke Michael, dashing up to the foremost gun, +snatched the fuse from the gunner's hand, sighted on to the mass of the +insurgents, and the first thunder of cannon belched forth into their +ranks a fire of destructive grape. + +That first cannon-shot decided the fate of the day and of the epoch. +Others followed. The whole division turned their destroying force upon +the insurgent army. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +THE NAMELESS WIFE OF A NAMELESS MAN + + +But, meanwhile, what had become of the Dictator--the leader--the active +spirit of the whole movement? He had been seeking all day for a man he +could not find--himself. + +How should he find him, when he was running away from himself? + +The task he had undertaken was neither suited to him physically nor +morally. At the very first step he had become conscious of the awful +chasm into which the whole affair he had undertaken must drag himself +and all concerned in it. + +Instead of an enthusiastic people, excited to heroic resolves by the +baptism of fire, he found a mob of soldiers, fooled by the pretext that +their leaders wanted to steal away from them their former Czar, whom, +by-the-way, they hated, but to whom they had sworn allegiance; a +senseless band of soldiery clamoring for "Constitucia," whom they +believed to be the wife of the Czar! What would be the consequence did +they gain the victory to-day? To-morrow some new lie must be fabricated +for them, that they might not find out that it was Freedom for which +they had fought. What was Hecuba to them, they to Hecuba? What had +Freedom and Life Guards in common with each other? How would +"Constitucia" better their condition? + +True, their commanding officers had promised them that "Constitucia" +would double their monthly pay; but the people must be doubly taxed if +the soldiers were to get double pay. Is that freedom? And what would +ensue if he for whom they had been fighting, Constantine, were to come +among them? Might he not come from Warsaw at the head of the army he had +brought with him, and say, "You wanted me; here I am. The constitution I +bring with me is not my wife, but a stout stick!" What would follow +then? + +And the people? These poor wretches, resigned to rags and misery, +working day by day to keep body and soul together. Seventy thousand +mujiks, representatives of the oppressed of the four corners of the +earth--not the Russian people, but the dregs of all imaginable Slav +races--Finnish, Lithuanian, Lapp, and Wallachian--who do not speak each +other's tongues, who are only united by their common misery. And their +leaders? A set of runaway French adventurers. What do they understand by +Freedom? The wrecking of a brandy-store or plundering palaces and shops. +A mutinous word sets them on fire like straw, and a charge of grape-shot +scatters them like chaff before the wind. + +His soul could find no guiding thought. He went hither and thither, and +could rest on no single idea. In the course of his wanderings he came +upon Ryleieff, in whose face were reflected his own feelings. The poet +sadly grasped his hand. + +"The time was not ripe," he whispered in his ear, and hurried away. + +In another street he met Colonel Bulatoff in mufti. Bulatoff had been +chosen as military leader of the rebellion, and here was he, going +abroad in frock-coat and tall hat. They did not wish to recognize each +other, so passed hurriedly by, one on one side, the other on the +opposite side of the street. + +Less than all had he the courage to go to Zeneida's palace. He dreaded +more to look into her face than into the mouth of a cannon. She defied +danger, while he, who had dragged her into it, fled from it. At last, +however, he could no longer delay seeking her. He must cross Moika +bridge. But the toll-keepers would see him; the canal was frozen, so, +descending the steps of the stone quay, Ghedimin prepared to cross the +ice in order to reach the other side. + +Scarce had he gone two steps before he heard his name whispered behind +him. Startled, he turned. From under one of the arches peeped a +well-known face--that of Duke Odojefski, a bloodthirsty braggart, who +but that morning would have mown men down right and left; now all his +courage had oozed out, and he was hiding under the arch of a bridge! + +"Don't venture near Zeneida's! Her palace is surrounded!" whispered he, +and crept back into his hiding-place again. + +What a sight! Odojefski in hiding! The colonel, whose battalion is even +now fighting on Isaacsplatz; the duke, whose palace is among the +grandest of the capital, whose family name is renowned in history, who +himself has claimed a place between Brutus and Riego--in hiding behind a +snow-drift! And what is he about there? Scarring his face with a stick +of caustic to render himself unrecognizable. + +Ghedimin lost his head completely. Turning back by the other bank, he +hurried home. There arrived, he wrote on a visiting-card, "I entreat +you, for Heaven's sake, to come across to my grandmother's house. I have +important secrets to confide to you." + +This card he sent up by his house-porter to Korynthia. He himself then +repaired to his grandmother's. It was his last refuge. + +Without it was already night. The roar of cannon did not cease. The +watch-fires were the only lights in the imperial capital. + + * * * * * + +Good old Anna Feodorovna was still alive among her fortune-telling +cards, her purring cats, and her faithful Ihnasko, with whom she counted +the days still remaining before the New-year. + +"Another New-year! What will it bring with it? Who will live through +it?" + +It is the day after Christmas day. If two tapers of equal length are +lighted on that evening, one can tell who will die first, the husband or +the wife, by seeing whose taper is the first to burn out. + +This time it was the wife's taper. + +"Well, God's will be done," sighed the old woman, "if I must go first. +And it is time; I have lived long enough! But I cannot but pity the poor +old man, whose life will be so lonely without me. He must not be told +that I am dead. Let him think I am still alive. And see that every +birthday and name-day he gets one of the red nightcaps I always give +him. Do you hear, Ihnasko?" + +"Oh, don't keep on talking so much about dying, your Highness," +ejaculated the old man, with chattering teeth. "All my bones are +shaking, without that, from the thunder of those cannons." + +"Because you are a coward, and because you have never been a soldier. +The idea of being frightened at the sound of cannon that are only +inviting people to join the great Christmas procession! The Czar is now +giving a gala banquet to the court and a display of fireworks to the +people. Do you hear those reports? They are rockets. Now the great set +piece is going off! And when six such volleys are fired, one after +another, it means that the Czar is raising his glass for a toast. Oho! +how often have I attended such festivities! Not one took place without +me. Ah, I was beautiful as a young woman, and my voice was musical as +silver. Czar Paul was constantly asking me to sing him his favorite +song--_When by Evening's Latest Rays_. It is a pretty song still. But I +have no one now to sing it to." + +At that very moment came some one who liked to listen to the "pretty" +song. + +"Blessed be the Lord of all!" cried Anna Feodorovna, clapping her hands. +"Has her nest-bird remembered his old grandmother? What? You have left +the Czar's brilliant banquet in the lurch, to come and pay a visit to +your poor old grandam on this second Christmas day? Now that is really +very good of you, Ivan Maximovitch. But you must be going back. Don't on +my account do anything to excite the Czar's displeasure. For the favor +of the Czar is like a virgin's innocence; there must not be a breath +upon it. If he has happened to notice that you have left before the +time, seek an audience with him. Confess to him that you came away early +in order to visit your old grandmother. He knows me, and used to be very +fond of me as a little boy. Ah! I was quite a young woman then!" + +The old lady was talking of Czar Alexander, only twenty-seven years +younger than herself. + +"How often have I hushed him on my lap when, to please his father, I +sang the song he was so fond of--_When by Evening's Latest Rays_. Don't +you know it? Come; I will sing it. Sit down on my footstool and rest +your head on my hands." + +Ivan sat at his grandmother's feet. How restful it was to be a child +once more! And the old lady began her song. True, her voice sounded like +some old harpsichord hidden away and forgotten in some king's palace for +five-and-twenty years, out of tune, and with some of the strings broken; +but, all the same, she sang to her grandson: + + "'When by evening's latest rays + Thou art resting 'neath the trees, + And a silent peaceful form + Wakes thee out of sweetest dreams, + Thy true friend it is who nears-- + Seek, oh, seek, not to avoid him; + For he thinks of you and brings + Joy, true joy, upon his wings.'" + +Ivan kissed his grandmother's hand for her sweet song. + +"But you are so sad to-day, Ivan! Tell me, what is troubling you? Are +you going, perhaps, on some journey--a long, far journey?" + +"A very far journey." + +"Ah, I can guess whither!" she said, laughing. "You are going to see +your father, my beloved Maxim." + +She had guessed truly! + +"You are right, dear granny. That is where I am going." (To the other +world.) + +"Then take him these kisses--and a hundred more! See, I cannot cry. Old +eyes are forever weeping--that is, when one does not want to weep; when +one fain would, there are no tears to shed." + +Ivan Maximovitch wept in her stead. He was such an "affectionate boy." + +"Now, you see, you are going away and leaving me here. And going without +having married, without being able to leave me your wife here in your +stead." + +"But I have married, granny dear," returned Ivan. "And I came purposely +to-night to present my wife to you." + +"Oh, what a happy day! You are married--you have a little wife! A dear, +charming little angel of a wife! And I shall see her soon? That I call +indeed a Christmas present!" + +But then the old lady must needs temper the joyful news with a little +reproach. + +"But why have you kept this to yourself until after your wedding, when I +have so often told you that I specially wished that your wife should +receive her bridal tiara from my hands? That was not right of you! I +hope she is of noble blood." + +"She is a Princess Narishkin." + +"I suppose you sought the Czar's permission to your marriage?" + +"He granted it, grandmother." + +"Then I cannot guess why you should have kept it secret from me. Perhaps +she did not know Russian when you married, and you were obliged to teach +it her first, that she might be able to speak to me, for I know no other +language--I am a Muscovite." + +Ivan let her suppose that to have been the reason. It was nothing +unusual. The St. Petersburg princesses know but little Russian--as +little as, at that period, the great ladies of Hungary knew Hungarian. + +The sound of the bell at the outer door interrupted their talk. The +rustle of a silk dress was heard in the adjoining room. Then Korynthia +had fulfilled her husband's wish; she had come, at his entreaty, to meet +him at his grandmother's. There were good reasons why Ivan had not gone +to her instead of begging her to come here to him--reasons his wife knew +well. In society they were to be seen, she leaning on his arm, all +affection. But did the husband knock at his wife's door the answer was +"You cannot come in." So it had been ever since the night of the 21st of +June. Korynthia was unusually pale; her expression cold and resolute. + +"Thank you for coming," said her husband to her, in a whisper; and, +taking her hand, led her to his grandmother. "My wife, grandmother." + +Korynthia bent one knee to Anna Feodorovna, then presented her cheek to +the kiss of the "mummy." To-day she was bent on doing all that was +required of her. Even the old lady's hand--that hand so withered and +parchment-like--she kissed. + +The good old woman was beside herself with happiness. + +"What a splendid creature! How charming, how lovely she is! How +beautifully brought up! And what an exquisite ball-dress she is wearing. +It is easy to see that she has come from the Czar's ball." + +Good old lady! She took Korynthia's gown for a ball-dress. In her day +silk dresses, trimmed with the delicate lace Korynthia wore upon her +dressing-gown, were only worn at court balls. The grandmother had not +seen a fashion-book or interviewed a dressmaker for the past +five-and-twenty years. So she thought it was a ball-dress. + +"I do not know how the tiara I have been keeping for you will suit that +dress. Ihnasko, bring me my jewel-case." + +The old lady looked out the antique ornament set with pearls and +brilliants, almost worth an earl's ransom, and was in sore perplexity +how to place it upon Korynthia's giraffe-like mode of wearing her hair, +not arranged to support it. Yet she must, at any price, see it worn. + +Korynthia suffered herself to be adorned. + +"Ah! now you are handsomer than ever! Wearing that tiara, you can well +take her back to the Czar's ball, to be the envy of all." + +"No, grandmother, we are not going back," said Ivan. "If you will allow +us we will stay with you and pass our Christmas evening here." + +"But what will the Czar say to that?" + +"He knows that we are here, and has given us permission to remain." + +"Oh, if you have his permission, that is quite another thing, and I +shall be glad to have you here. But how can I amuse you? Can your wife +play ombre?" + +"Oh yes." + +"But my cards I play with every day are soiled. I should be ashamed to +bring them out." + +"My wife will see about getting a fresh pack. Give me permission to tell +her where she will find some." + +"Of course, dear boy. Ihnasko, you meanwhile can be getting the +card-table ready. Dear me! How long it is since I had a game of ombre! +Never since the little dark duchess and the general's wife have been +unable to mount the stairs. Then put out tea and cakes. Now some logs on +the fire. We will see who will be the first to get sleepy when once we +have warmed to our game. I know I shall not!" + +Meanwhile Ivan began speaking in French to his wife, constraining his +face to wear as calm an expression as though he were merely explaining +whereabouts in his room she would find the cards. + +"I am lost. The insurrection which has broken out to-day, and which, I +believe, is already quelled, was secretly instigated by me. Prince +Trubetzkoi was the _nominal_ Dictator; in reality it was I. I was the +guiding hand, he only the mask. Trubetzkoi has already washed his hands +of it; he has been to the commander-in-chief and taken the oath of +allegiance to the Czar. This leaves me alone in the post of danger. The +leadership falls upon me. Nor would I put it back upon his shoulders. +The poor fellow has a young wife who is devotedly fond of him. That I +have taken no part in to-day's revolt helps me not in the slightest, +for, all the same, I was Dictator. If the papers connected with this +movement are discovered I am irrevocably lost, and with me thousands of +the highest in the land whose names are inscribed in a book we call 'the +green book.' This book must be destroyed!" + +"Will you intrust that to me?" + +"To whom else? All that I have I possess in common with you. My name, my +wealth, my rank are yours; my honor, too, is yours. All this is now at +stake; and you can help me--none other." + +"Command what shall I do." + +"Oh, do not speak so! It is not command, but entreaty. For what I now +ask of you I crave as ardently as a man craves forgiveness from his +Maker for his sins. That book is in Zeneida Ilmarinen's keeping." + +"Ah!" + +"I know that you hate her; but without reason, I swear to you! But of +what value is the oath of a desperate man? No feeling has ever bound me +to that lady that could in any way hurt your woman's pride. It was +another tie--far more dangerous to me--but innocuous to you. But you do +not believe me. Nor do I ask it. What I do implore is that in this hour +of supreme danger you should show yourself magnanimous. If you have had +cause of anger against me, forget it for the sake of the honor of the +Ghedimin escutcheon, and lose no time in going to Fräulein Ilmarinen's +house with this key, which unlocks the hiding-place. I well know the +sacrifice I ask of you in begging you to cross that threshold. But I +dare not go myself, for were I to be seen in the vicinity of that house +I should be at once arrested. But no one will suspect you. See Fräulein +Ilmarinen without delay, and tell her of the imminence of the danger, of +which she may know nothing. She may have been informed, and, in that +case, would certainly have destroyed 'the green book' were it not locked +away in a place of safety, only to be broken open with great strength +and much loss of time. Throw the book on the fire, and wait until you +have seen it reduced to ashes; then hasten back to rescue me from my +desperate situation!" + +"I will act as beseems a Princess Ghedimin." + +"My life and honor I give into your hands." + +"I know it." And, taking the key, Korynthia hurried away. + +"What a hurry the child is in!" said the old lady. + +"She will soon be back." + +"With the cards?" + +"Yes; with the cards." + +"Then, meanwhile, I will make myself smart, that she does not find me +looking so untidy." + +The smartness consisted in the old lady's having her new cap--fashioned +in 1807--brought to her with its large yellow ostrich feather. This she +duly put on, and with it her two false curls. Her hair was white, the +curls black. + +A full hour went slowly by. + +"What a long time the child is finding the cards! She will be changing +her dress, taking off her grand ball-dress, and slipping into a cotton +morning-wrapper. Wait a minute; it will be such fun. How it will make +her laugh! I will sing the Matrimonial Ditty. It is really very pretty. +Bring me my guitar, Ihnasko. Ah, how well I used to play it!" + +And the good matron took the ancient instrument, and, encouraged by her +previous success, set about amusing her little nest-bird with a cheery +old song--he sitting there, the drops of cold perspiration on his brow. + +"Listen-- + + "'It is a good wife's part + To honor and obey, + In gossiping and dress + Time ne'er to pass away. + By daybreak she is up, + His breakfast to prepare; + Then a good roast and wine + With him at noon to share.' + +Isn't it pretty? This is the second verse: + + "'A husband's part it is + With her wishes to comply, + And whatsoe'er she ask + In no case to deny. + Through fire itself to go, + If but her hand to kiss, + And ever to be slow + To mark what's done amiss.' + +Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the good old grandmother, in praise of her own +merry ditty, and quite disposed, had Ivan expressed but the slightest +word of entreaty, to repeat it for his benefit. "I only hope your little +wife will soon come back to hear it." + +But Ivan was no longer paying attention to her--a sound was audible from +without. There had been time for Korynthia to have gone to Zeneida's +and to have returned. He hurriedly opened the door. + +But it was not the expected Korynthia who entered, but one whom of all +others he desired least to meet with in this sublunary world--Galban. + +The Chevalier was not alone; four grenadiers of the Finnish regiment +stood behind him. + +The Chevalier, without taking off his hat in presence of the lady of the +house, or in any way saluting her into whose apartment he was thus +forcing an entrance, exclaimed: + +"Ivan Maximovitch Ghedimin, you are my prisoner! Surrender your sword!" + +Without a word, Ivan, unbuckling his sword, handed it to him. + +Anna Feodorovna was furious. + +"What does this fellow mean by breaking into my apartment and presuming +to take away my grandson's sword, the sword of a Duke Ghedimin? Who is +this gentleman?" + +"Who I am, madame, it is absolutely unnecessary for you to know; but I +will tell you who your grandson is. He is the _Dictator of yonder +mutinous rebels_ who attempted to murder the Czar and have been +defeated." + +"Ihnasko! Ihnasko!" shrieked the matron, "come here, and laugh instead +of me! I cannot; help me to laugh. Look at this carnival buffoon who is +performing here. He says that my nest-bird is the Dictator of the +rebels! Where have you crept to? Laugh--laugh!" + +Ivan said in a low voice, and in French, to Galban, "I can exculpate +myself to the Czar. There is no proof against me." + +"How about 'the green book?'" + +"I know nothing of it." + +"Do not build up vain hopes, Ivan Maximovitch! You are thoroughly +undone. Your wife has betrayed you. No sooner did you give over into her +hands a certain key which, as you are aware, opens a certain +roulette-bank at Fräulein Zeneida's than she went directly to the +President of Police and placed that key in his hands. 'The green book' +is now in good keeping." + +Ghedimin felt his knees totter at these words, as though the stars had +fallen from the skies upon his head. His head sank upon his breast. +Horror so illimitable numbed his power of thought. The next moment, +however, the blood within him took fire; he trembled with rage and +indignation. + +"No, no! It is impossible that a woman should betray her own husband, +and sacrifice her honor, her means, by so doing! Such a monster the +world has never known! Nor have I ever committed such grave sins as to +demand such sore punishment at God's hands!" + +"You have a short memory, Ivan Maximovitch," whispered Galban in his +ear. "Remember the night on which you conveyed to Korynthia the news of +Sophie Narishkin's death, and with it the news of Bethsaba's flight with +Pushkin. Did you not know that Sophie Narishkin was her daughter, and +that even then she was awaiting Pushkin and not you?" + +This disclosure was a heavier blow to Ghedimin than even his disgrace. +With rigid, wide-open mouth he gasped for breath; his hands convulsively +grasped at some invisible phantom, his heart was nigh to bursting. + +"But do not disturb yourself with jealousy, either on account of Pushkin +or of your wife. Pushkin will have a ball through his head when and +wherever he is found. Your wife will receive back her wealth and rank, +and husband also, in compensation. You will perform your little walk to +the scaffold; but your fine possessions and titles--most probably your +wife into the bargain--will be inherited by one who knows better how to +value them than you have done--possibly by Chevalier Galban!" + +At these words Ivan's arms sank helplessly to his side. He saw and heard +no further. Chevalier Galban's next duty was to finish the condemned +man's "toilet." + +First he tore the orders from his breast, then the epaulettes from his +shoulders; finally cut off every regimental button bearing the imperial +arms. + +The grandmother did not understand the subject of their talk, but when +she saw her grandson being stripped of every vestige of his military and +civil rank, and of all his orders, she found herself endowed with +strength, if not to rush to his assistance, still to rise from her +chair, and, supporting herself by the table, to cry to the audacious +intruders: + +"You murderer! Godless man! how dare you assail my grandson? Stop! +Insult him no further. Your accusations are lies! I will go myself to +the Czar; he will hear me. He has ever been gracious to me. Ihnasko, +give me my mantle; I will go myself to the Czar! Leave off your +mutilations, you executioner! You shall not put a convict's dress upon +my grandson, my Ivan! A convict's dress! Before my very eyes! You +varlets! And cut off his hair! Where is the Czar? I will go to the +Czar--to Czar Alexander, to implore mercy!" + +Her strength of will worked miracles. Her infirm, paralyzed body seemed +to be galvanized into life like a walking ghost. She succeeded in +staggering up to where Galban stood, and seized his hands. + +"To Czar Alexander," she breathed, "for pardon!" + +"He has already gone to heaven," said the Chevalier, brutally. + +"Then I will go after him," sighed the venerable lady, and fell where +she stood. She had said truly. + +She had gone after him--thither where even the Czars of All the Russias +do not grant, but must entreat, pardon. + + * * * * * + +The last locks of hair were severed from the head of Ghedimin, no longer +a prince. This is the tonsure of those condemned to death. He stood +alone. He had no one to mourn his fate. The old servant, concealed +behind the stove, sobbed uninterruptedly over the shameful operation. + +Ivan was not even permitted to raise his dead grandmother from the +ground. A condemned rebel has henceforth no family either among the +living or the dead. + +They fettered him hand and foot with the heavy iron fetters, of which +the Counsellor of Enlightenment was wont to say, "Never you fear, you +won't have to pay for them!" And, being an officer of high rank, he had +received as distinction a heavy ball fastened to the end of his chain, +which he was compelled to drag along at every step. + +"Now, shoulder arms! The prisoner in the middle! Forward--march!" + +But in the doorway their advance was hindered by some one with the +words: + +"In the name of the Czar!" + +It was Zeneida Ilmarinen. + +Chevalier Galban looked at her in astonishment. + +"Ah, Fräulein, you still at large?" + +"As you see. I come from the Czar." + +"How could you get to him?" + +"Did not my countrymen, the Kalevaines, take the son, mother, and wife +of the Czar under their protection to-day?" + +"I see; it was they who gave you admission to the Czar. And then?" + +"The Czar has pardoned Ivan Maximovitch Ghedimin. Here is his pardon." + +"Ah! you have saved Ivan Ghedimin from the scaffold?" + +"And also from the mines. The Czar is graciously pleased to exile him to +Tobolsk among the sable-hunters, whither he will go at once." + +"On foot, it is to be hoped." + +"Not so--in his own sledge, and alone!" + +"And all this has been effected by your dark eyes, fair lady? But allow +me, an instant. At the time that the Czar signed this pardon he was not +aware that 'the green book' had been discovered." + +"What 'green book?'" + +"Ah, my charming _diva_, you are playing the unconscious innocent! But +the part does not suit you. This time I fear I shall have to hiss. Do +you not know that the key to your secret roulette-bank is in the hands +of the police?" + +"I know; and then?" + +"And this time the police will not be fooled as I once was, when Michael +Turgenieff said, '_Je suis un président sans phrase. Messieurs, faites +vos jeux._' 'The green book' has been found!" + +"As far as I know a _yellow_ book has been found." + +"And in it the conspirators had signed their names to the Constitution, +and the several schemes of rebellion were traced." + +"In it were the names of those gentlemen who remained debtors to the +banker of the roulette-table and those whose debts of honor were +unredeemed." + +"You act comedy well, exceedingly well, Fräulein; but, all the same, +you will be hissed off the stage. _Written characters_ must witness +against you." + +"They will witness against no one. Knowing that roulette is a forbidden +game, being unable to open the safe, I took the precaution to pour +aquafortis through the keyhole; and they into whose hands the 'yellow' +book has fallen have not found a single name inscribed upon its pages, +for they are all effaced. I was present when it was produced; there was +no writing to be seen." + +At these words there was a loud clanking of chains, Ivan striking +together those which fettered his hands. + +Chevalier Galban was wild with rage. + +"You are truly an imp of Satan, Zeneida Ilmarinen. By this demoniacal +act you have deprived Siberia and the scaffold of ten thousand +conspirators!" + +"Let us add their families, and reckon it at a hundred thousand." + +"Only a woman could be capable of such an abomination. And you dare to +tell it to me?" + +"What have I to fear from you? I have in my possession a letter from the +Czar, authorizing me to leave this unhappy country and to go wherever I +like." + +Chevalier Galban, seeing that she was thus outside the pale of his +castigation, wished to return to his tone of studied French courtesy. + +"The world of St. Petersburg, madame, will deeply regret its loss after +this 'farewell' performance of yours to-day. And where may you be going, +if I may take the liberty of asking, that I may instruct the police to +allow you to pass unmolested?" + +"Where else than where my _master_ leads--to Tobolsk?" + +"What! You are going with Ghedimin to Siberia?" + +"Why not? I am not his wife, to separate from him when misfortune +overtakes him. I am only his friend; I cannot desert him." And, going to +the chained prisoner, she took the heavy ball hanging to his feet in her +hands; it was her bridal dowry. "We can go now, master." + +At this moment Ivan proudly raised his head, a glow upon his face. The +attitude of the shaven head was what it should have been before--that of +a hero--the statuesque head of one fighting for his country's freedom. +With his fettered hands he raised Zeneida's to his lips and cried, in +the full metallic tones of his manly voice: + +"I thank thee, O my God! Thou hast made me richer now than ever I was +before!" + +Zeneida, nestling up to him, put her arms about him. + +"Now you may hiss to your heart's content, Chevalier Galban. The play is +over!" + +But Galban had no desire to do so. Even his despicable heart was touched +by so much nobility of spirit. The four grenadiers, too, stood with +sunken heads, against all military discipline. + +"But, Fräulein," stammered the Chevalier, "only consider what is in +store for you if you seriously carry out this tremendous determination." + +Zeneida looked at Ivan Maximovitch, her whole soul in that look. + +"I will be a _nameless wife_ to this _nameless man_. Let us go." + +The heavy chains clanked at each step. In the deserted room the only +sound now heard was the sobbing of the faithful old serving-man; but on +the face of the dead, stretched upon the floor, all lines had been +smoothed away. She smiled. + +Similar figures, sketched in with equally grand lines, were abundant in +that great historic epoch. Thus the young wife of Trubetzkoi, the +nominal Dictator, accompanied him to Siberia; so did the wives of the +two Muravieffs and Narishkins. Ryleieff's widow haughtily refused to +accept the pension assigned her by the Czar. A young governess, who had +had the strength to shut up within her own heart her love for a Russian +prince while his rank raised him so high above her, confessed her +feelings for him to his parents when he was degraded and sentenced to +serfdom in Siberia. She became his wife and went with him into exile. + +But the dark side of the picture stood out also in grewsome detail. The +Prince Odojefski, who hid himself under the bridge, was betrayed by his +own relatives; and one might form a long list of those who, on the same +melancholy day that their people were setting out for Siberia, crossed +hands with Korynthia Ghedimin in a country-dance at the Winter Palace. + + + + +EPISODES + +THE RESCUED POET + + +The revolution was entirely suppressed. The last body of insurgents, +under the leadership of Jakuskin, had thrown themselves into a palace +and defended it with the heroism of despair until it had been attacked +on all sides. This ended the St. Petersburg attempt. + +Equally disastrous was the Southern insurrection. The two brothers +Muravieff Apostol,[1] being taken prisoners, were rescued by some +officers belonging to the republican "League of United Serfs." Then, +placing themselves at the head of the Southern Army, they proclaimed a +republic in Vasilkov, its priest blessing their arms. But the blessing +bore no fruit. The soldiers had nothing to urge against a republic; but +_who would be its Czar_? For a republic must necessarily have a Czar! +Upon the hills of Ustinoskai they lie buried, where they were shot down +in whole companies and trodden under the horses' feet. Upon the grave +which covers their remains a gallows has been erected as their memorial. + +[Footnote 1: Apostol was the family name.] + +The dead of the Northern Union did not even receive a memorial such as +that. From the beginning of the fight they were hustled under the ice of +the Neva, and the Neva retains its coating of ice for five whole months. +Jakuskin was taken prisoner; but in his prison he dashed his brains out +against the stone walls of his cell. + +Pushkin was miraculously saved. The hearts of two women accomplished the +miracle--two women who united so perfectly in their love for him that to +both, equally, he owed his life. + +The digression he had made in going first to Galban's delayed his +arrival on time at St. Petersburg on the eventful day. Before he had +even reached Czarskoje Zelo his horses had broken down under the strain +of the long journey, on the road he met Battenkoff, fleeing from the St. +Petersburg slaughter, and learned from him that all was lost, that +Prince Ghedimin was exiled to Siberia, whither Zeneida was voluntarily +accompanying him. + +Pushkin was free to turn back to his wife. There was no longer an +Eleutheria. She was dead and buried. + +There was no one to accuse him of having belonged to the League of the +Partisans of Freedom. His name had been inscribed among that ten +thousand whom the "demoniacal" whim of an actress had saved from the +scaffold and from banishment to Siberia. + +After that came enough of the hard times beloved by Pushkin's muse. + +And, that he might belong entirely to his muse, Bethsaba, too, forsook +him. + +She went--to rejoin Sophie. She could no longer endure this cold +prison-world of ours. And Pushkin then remained alone in his desolate +castle, with no other confidante than old Helenka. To her he read his +verses. + +In the spring of the following year he received a command from Czar +Nicholas to present himself at St. Petersburg. + +His imprisoned friends at that time were to be executed. + +That, too, was a tragic episode! It would need the pen of a Victor Hugo +to describe how, at the very moment of execution, the whole bloody +holocaust broke down, and condemned, executioners, and officers of +justice were alike buried beneath it. + +It was then that the Czar commanded Pushkin in audience before him. +Pushkin was wearing mourning. + +"For whom do you mourn?" the Czar asked. + +"For my wife, sire." + +"So, not for your dead friends? Now, confess. _On which side would you +have stood had you been here in St. Petersburg?_" + +Pushkin felt the cold edge of the executioner's sword at his throat. +Dare one answer such a question with a lie? According to the world's +ethics, one may--one does. The conspirator is not in duty bound to +accuse himself, to make confession of what cannot be proved against him, +is not required to open out the secrets of his heart. And yet Pushkin +could not bring a lie to his lips. Reason dictated it, but his proud +heart went counter to it. + +"_Had I been present_," he answered the Czar, "_I should have taken my +place by the side of my friends._" + +"I am glad that you have answered me thus," returned the Czar. "I am +about to have the period of Peter the Great written, and seek a man for +the purpose who can poetize, but who cannot lie. That man I have found! +I commit the writing of that epoch to you. Go back to your home and +begin; and to all that you from henceforth write I will myself be +censor." + +Thus did one of Russia's greatest poets and personalities escape the +fatal catastrophe. + +At the Bear's Paw they certainly proscribed him as a traitor; for +although all other secret societies had paid for their opinions with +their blood, that of the Bear's Paw still existed, and did not cease +even then to thirst for Freedom. + + + + +GHEDIMIN AND ZENEIDA + + +Ghedimin was no longer a prince, but became, in Tobolsk, the happiest of +men. + +Five children, all sons, were born to him there, not one of whom has +become a prince. One is a tanner, another a furrier; but they are +prosperous, and know nothing of the ancestral palace in St. Petersburg. + +This, it is true, is a prosaic ending; but we may not observe silence +upon it, for it is true to history, and, moreover, no exceptional case. +How many a descendant of princely families tans and works the skins of +that ermine once worn by his ancestors! + +The eldest of the three brothers Turgenieff, Michael, who presided at +that memorable "green-book" conference, was, although absent in a +foreign country at the time of the insurrection, condemned to death, and +his property confiscated. The news of this sentence broke the heart of +his younger brother Sergius. His other brother, Alexander, followed the +condemned man into exile and shared his own fortune with him. + +Such hearts as these, too, the fatherland of ice can bring forth! + + + + +THE ROMANCE OF CONSTANTINE + + +Krizsanowski was perfectly right when he maintained that the Poles had +no reason to unite their fate with any schemes of Russian aspirants +after freedom. + +The Polish people needed no explanation of the meaning of +"Constitution." + +But this, too, is true--that to a Pole the wife of Constantine was +wellnigh the equivalent. She was their Providence--turning evil into +good, wrath into gentleness, remitting punishments--a Providence +bringing blessings in its train. + +The famous _Nie pozwolim_! ("I will not have it!") had certainly never +so often swayed the wills of the kings of Poland as had the gentle "I +should so like it" the will of the Viceroy. + +And when time and opportunity were ripe, and the necessary strength had +been attained, the whole nation rose in its might--five months after the +flight of the French king, Charles X. + +One night the Polish youths broke open the gates of Belvedere and +pressed, armed to a man, to the Grand Duke's bedchamber. But first they +had to break into Johanna's room. + +She started from sleep as the dagger was already pointed at her heart. + +"Keep silence! Not a sound!" + +"What!" she cried, "a Pole turning assassin! Infamous!" And, springing +from the other side of her bed, she rushed into her husband's room, not +even feeling the dagger-thrust in her back. Hastily bolting the +tapestried door through which she had passed, she flew to the heavily +sleeping Viceroy. + +"Wake! we are surprised!" + +"What! Assassins?" exclaimed the Viceroy, seizing his weapons. + +"Not assassins," returned his wife, proudly concealing her indignation, +"but heroes of liberty! The Polish people have risen against you. Fly!" + +"What! The Polish people risen? And you, a daughter of Poland, not +siding with your own people? You protecting me? Is it a miracle?" + +"Husband, I love you! I will save you!" + +And with these words, pressing a spring in a corner of the room, she +disclosed the secret passage by which the veteran Krizsanowski had come +to her, and of which Constantine knew nothing. + +"We must be quick! These stairs lead down to the garden gate." + +The tapestried door was backed with iron; the assailants could not force +it. Johanna threw a cloak about her, not mentioning her wound, and +seizing her husband's hand led him hurriedly through the familiar +passage until they had reached the gate of the subterranean way under +the garden. + +They were saved. But only for a brief period. From the adjacent city of +Warsaw resounded the clang of alarm-bells: the insurrection had +triumphed. + +Outside the walls of Lazienka they met with a mounted lancer. Calling to +him, the Viceroy bade him dismount and give him his horse, and, +springing on to it, he lifted Johanna behind him and galloped away. + +But the lancer making haste to inform the insurgents of the Viceroy's +flight, he was quickly followed. + +A division of lancers reached the fugitives in the forest of Bjelograd. +The double burden was too much for the horse. The leader of the troops +was Krizsanowski himself. + +As they came up to her husband Johanna encircled him with her arms. + +"Only through my body do you reach his!" + +Krizsanowski replaced his sword in its scabbard. + +"Good! So let it be! There's not a man who could injure _your_ husband! +We will form Constantine's escort." + +And the troop of Polish cavalry gave escort to the fugitive Viceroy +until he had reached the encampment just assembled for manoeuvres. + +An enemy protecting a fugitive! + +Magnanimity is sometimes contagious, not always; but occasionally people +are carried away by it. + +It was only in camp that Constantine knew that Johanna, in saving his +life, had been wounded. It touched him to the heart. Only such deep +emotion as he then experienced makes it intelligible that a Russian +Grand Duke, viceroy and field-marshal, could rise to the unexampled +magnanimity of uttering in camp such words as these to the troops ranged +before him in battle-array: + +"He who is a Pole, and loves his fatherland more than he does me, may +step forth from the ranks and go free." + +And, with arms and banners, he suffered every Polish regiment under his +command to march out, and then with his remaining Russian troops +withdrew from Poland, and, at their head, returned to Russian territory. + +Could such immense magnanimity be forgiven? + +Never! + +Upon arrival at Minsk the Grand Duke Constantine died suddenly. + +By whose hand? + +No other than that of _the man with the green eyes_. Only that this time +it was not he of the Tsatir Dagh, but he of the banks of the +Ganges--cholera. + +It was said, too, that he was buried--that his coffin had been lowered +into the vault in the Church of Peter-Paul at St. Petersburg. But the +people would not believe it. + +Tradition has it that he was taken prisoner and conveyed to "Holy +Island." + +Not many years after there was a peasant rising, and it was rumored that +their leader was Constantine. The rising was suppressed, but the leader +was not captured; the people had hidden him too securely. + +And to this day the belief is that Grand Duke Constantine is still +alive. + +The fishermen of Lapland, when at nights their boats beat about off +Solowetshk Monastery, often see the figure of a tall, gray-headed man +wandering about the bastions. It is attended by two armed sentinels; and +ever and anon the spectre raises its clasped hands to heaven, as if in +supplication. + +Then they whisper to one another that the mysterious prisoner of Holy +Island is none other than the vanished Constantine, though forty years +have passed since his disappearance. + + * * * * * + +Snow lies deep all around--so deep that no roads are visible. A gray, +leaden firmament spans the horizon. All is intense silence. + +But beneath the deep snow something is still growing, and the roots of +which will never die. + + +THE END + + + + +Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the +original edition have been corrected. + +In Chapter V, "Another was 'Szojus Spacinia'" was changed to "Another +was 'Szojusz Spacinia'", and "a fourth 'Szojus Blagadenstoiga'" was +changed to "a fourth 'Szojusz Blagadenztoiga'". + +In Chapter VI, "faithful Ihuasko" was changed to "faithful Ihnasko", and +"Count Paklem's conspiracy" was changed to "Count Pahlen's conspiracy". + +In Chapter VIII, a quotation mark was removed after "before going to +bed". + +In Chapter IX, a quotation mark was added after "the yoke that is bowing +down its neck", and "Krizsanowski, the delegate of the Polish +'Kosyniery'" was changed to "Krizsanowski, the delegate of the Polish +'Kosynyery'". + +In Chapter X, "Commandant Diebitsh prisoners" was changed to "Commandant +Diebitsch prisoners". + +In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was removed after "put a good face on +it", and a quotation mark was added after "paid them twice over in +interest". + +In Chapter XXIV, a question mark was changed to a period after "I can +understand their being angry with him". + +In Chapter XXVI, a quotation mark was added before "Relate again". + +In Chapter XXVII, "Araktsejeff vied" was changed to "Araktseieff vied". + +In Chapter XXVIII, "Banish Araktsejeff" was changed to "Banish +Araktseieff". + +In Chapter XXXI, "Helenka's husband, old Ihnasco" was changed to +"Helenka's husband, old Ihnasko". + +In Chapter XXXIII, a quotation mark was added after "desirable to keep +them secret". + +In Chapter XXXVI, a quotation mark was added before "Just what you +directed". + +In Chapter XXXVIII, "wrote the letter to Jukuskin" was changed to "wrote +the letter to Jakuskin". + +In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was removed after "Who knows into whose +hands they may fall?", and "the Kalevains have more reason to weep" was +changed to "the Kalevaines have more reason to weep". + +In Chapter XLI, "as Jukuskin has planned" was changed to "as Jakuskin +has planned", and "plenipotentiary of the Szojusz Blagodenztoga" was +changed to "plenipotentiary of the Szojusz Blagodenztoiga". + +In Chapter XLII, a quotation mark was added before "No harm to her!", +"their breasts literally sown with orders" was changed to "their breasts +liberally sown with orders", and "with naive, unconscious expression" +was changed to "with naďve, unconscious expression". + +In Chapter XLIII, "the _matadores_ of the _Szojusz Blagodenztoga_" was +changed to "the _matadores_ of the _Szojusz Blagodenztoiga_". + +In "The Romance of Constantine", "Outside the walls of Lazienska" was +changed to "Outside the walls of Lazienka", and "off Solowesk Monastery" +was changed to "off Solowetshk Monastery". + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Green Book, by Mór Jókai + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREEN BOOK *** + +***** This file should be named 34503-8.txt or 34503-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/0/34503/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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