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When only twenty-one years of age he +entered the civil service in the department of foreign affairs. +Lord Byron's writings and efforts for Greek independence exercised +great influence over Pushkin, whose "Ode to Liberty" cost him his +freedom. He was exiled to Bessarabia [A region of Moldova and +western Ukraine] from 1820 to 1825, whence he returned at the +accession of the new emperor, Nicholas, who made him historiographer +of Peter the Great. Pushkin's friends now looked upon him as a +traitor to the cause of liberty. It is not improbable that an +enforced residence at the mouth of the Danube somewhat cooled his +patriotic enthusiasm. Every Autumn, his favorite season for literary +production, he usually passed at his country seat in the province +Pekoff. Here from 1825 to 1829 he published "Pultowa," "Boris +Godunoff," "Eugene Onegin," and "Ruslaw and Ludmila," a tale in +verse, after the Manner of Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso." This is +considered as the first great poetical work in the Russian language, +though the critics of the day attacked it, because it was beyond +their grasp; but the public devoured it. + +In 1831 Pushkin married, and soon after appeared his charming novel, +"Marie," a picture of garrison life on the Russian plains. Peter +and Marie of this Northern story are as pure as their native snows, +and whilst listening to the recital, we inhale the odor of the +steppe, and catch glimpses of the semi-barbarous Kalmouk and the +Cossack of the Don. + +A duel with his brother-in-law terminated the life of Pushkin in +the splendor of his talent. The emperor munificently endowed the +poet's family, and ordered a superb edition of all his works to be +published at the expense of the crown. His death was mourned by +his countrymen as a national calamity. M. H. de Z. + +Chicago, Nov. 1, 1876. + + + + + +MARIE. + + + +I. THE SERGEANT OF THE GUARDS. + + +My father, Andrew Peter Grineff, having served in his youth under +Count Munich, left the army in 17--, with the grade of First Major. +From that time he lived on his estate in the Principality of Simbirsk, +where he married Avoditia, daughter of a poor noble in the +neighborhood. Of nine children, the issue of this marriage, I was +the only survivor. My brothers and sisters died in childhood. + +Through the favor of a near relative of ours, Prince B---, himself +a Major in the Guards, I was enrolled Sergeant of the Guards in the +regiment of Semenofski. It was understood that I was on furlough +till my education should be finished. From my fifth year I was +confided to the care of an old servant Saveliitch, whose steadiness +promoted him to the rank of my personal attendant. Thanks to his +care, when I was twelve years of age I knew how to read and write, +and could make a correct estimate of the points of a hunting dog. + +At this time, to complete my education, my father engaged upon a +salary a Frenchman, M. Beaupre, who was brought from Moscow with +one year's provision of wine and oil from Provence. His arrival +of course displeased Saveliitch. + +Beaupre had been in his own country a valet, in Prussia a soldier, +then he came to Russia to be a tutor, not knowing very well what +the word meant in our language. He was a good fellow, astonishingly +gay and absent-minded. His chief foible was a passion for the fair +sex. Nor was he, to use his own expression, an enemy to the bottle +--that is to say, _a la Russe_, he loved drink. But as at home wine +was offered only at table, and then in small glasses, and as, +moreover, on these occasions, the servants passed by the pedagogue, +Beaupre soon accustomed himself to Russian brandy, and, in time, +preferred it, as a better tonic, to the wines of his native country. +We became great friends, and although according to contract he was +engaged to teach me French, German, and _all the sciences_, yet he +was content that I should teach him to chatter Russian. But as each of +us minded his own business, our friendship was constant, and I desired +no mentor. However, destiny very soon separated us, in consequence +of an event which I will relate. + +Our laundress, a fat girl all scarred by small-pox, and our dairymaid, +who was blind of an eye, agreed, one fine day, to throw themselves +at my mother's feet and accuse the Frenchman of trifling with their +innocence and inexperience! + +My mother would have no jesting upon this point, and she in turn +complained to my father, who, like a man of business, promptly +ordered "that dog of a Frenchman" into his presence. The servant +informed him meekly that Beaupre was at the moment engaged in +giving me a lesson. + +My father rushed to my room. Beaupre was sleeping upon his bed the +sleep of innocence. I was deep in a most interesting occupation. +They had brought from Moscow, for me, a geographical map, which +hung unused against the wall; the width and strength of its paper +had been to me a standing temptation. I had determined to make a +kite of it, and profiting that morning by Beaupre's sleep, I had set +to work. My father came in just as I was tying a tail to the Cape +of Good Hope! Seeing my work, he seized me by the ear and shook me +soundly; then rushing to Beaupre's bed, awakened him without +hesitating, pouring forth a volley of abuse upon the head of the +unfortunate Frenchman. In his confusion Beaupre tried in vain to +rise; the poor pedagogue was dead drunk! My father caught him by +the coat-collar and flung him out of the room. That day he was +dismissed, to the inexpressible delight of Saveliitch. + +Thus ended my education. I now lived in the family as the eldest +son, not of age whose career is yet to open; amusing myself teaching +pigeons to tumble on the roof, and playing leap-frog in the stable- +yard with the grooms. In this way I reached my sixteenth year. + +One Autumn day, my mother was preserving fruit with honey in the +family room, and I, smacking my lips, was looking at the liquid +boiling; my father, seated near the window, had just opened the +_Court Almanac_ which he received every year. This book had great +influence over him; he read it with extreme attention, and reading +prodigiously stirred up his bile. My mother, knowing by heart all +his ways and oddities, used to try to hide the miserable book, and +often whole months would pass without a sight of it. But, in revenge +whenever he did happen to find it, he would sit for hours with the +book before his eyes. + +Well, my father was reading the _Court Almanac_, frequently shrugging +his shoulders, and murmuring: "'General!' Umph, he was a sergeant +in my company. 'Knight of the Orders of Russia.' Can it be so long +since we--?" + +Finally he flung the _Almanac_ away on the sofa and plunged into deep +thought; a proceeding that never presaged anything good. + +"Avoditia," said he, brusquely, to my mother, "how old is Peter?" + +"His seventeenth precious year has just begun," said my mother. +"Peter was born the year Aunt Anastasia lost her eye, and that +was--" + +"Well, well," said my father, "it is time he should join the army. +It is high time he should give up his nurse, leap-frog and pigeon +training." + +The thought of a separation so affected my poor mother that she let +the spoon fall into the preserving pan, and tears rained from her eyes. + +As for me, it is difficult to express my joy. The idea of army +service was mingled in my head with that of liberty, and the +pleasures offered by a great city like Saint Petersburg. I saw +myself an officer in the Guards, which, in my opinion was the +height of felicity. + +As my father neither liked to change his plans, nor delay their +execution, the day of my departure was instantly fixed. That +evening, saying that he would give me a letter to my future chief, +he called for writing materials. + +"Do not forget, Andrew," said my mother, "to salute for me Prince B. +Tell him that I depend upon his favor for my darling Peter." + +"What nonsense," said my father, frowning, "why should I write to +Prince B.?" + +"You have just said that you would write to Peter's future chief." + +"Well, what then?" + +"Prince B. is his chief. You know very well that Peter is enrolled +in the Semenofski regiment." + +"Enrolled! what's that to me? Enrolled or not enrolled, he shall +not go to Saint Petersburg. What would he learn there? Extravagance +and folly. No! let him serve in the army, let him smell powder, let +him be a soldier and not a do-nothing in the Guards; let him wear the +straps of his knapsack out. Where is the certificate of his birth +and baptism?" + +My mother brought the certificate, which she kept in a little box with +my baptismal robe, and handed it to my father. He read it, placed it +before him on the table, and commenced his letter. + +I was devoured by curiosity. Where am I going, thought I, if not to +Saint Petersburg? I did not take my eyes from the pen which my father +moved slowly across the paper. + +At last, the letter finished, he put it and my certificate under the +same envelope, took off his spectacles, called me and said: + +"This letter is addressed to Andrew Karlovitch, my old friend and +comrade. You are going to Orenbourg to serve under orders." + +All my brilliant dreams vanished. In place of the gay life of Saint +Petersburg, ennui awaited me in a wild and distant province of the +empire. Military life seemed now a calamity. + +The next morning a kibitka was at the door; my trunk was placed on +it, and also a case holding tea and a tea-service, with some napkins +full of rolls and pastry, the last sweet bits of the paternal home. +Both my parents gave me their solemn benediction. My father said, +"Adieu, Peter. Serve faithfully him to whom your oath is given; +obey your chiefs; neither seek favor, nor solicit service, but do +not reject them; and remember the proverb: 'Take care of thy coat +whilst it is new, and thy honor whilst it is fresh.'" + +My darling mother, all in tears, told me to take care of my health; +and counseled Saveliitch to guard her child from danger. + +I was wrapped up in a short touloup lined with hare-skin, and over +that a pelisse lined fox-skin. I took my seat in the kibitka with +Saveliitch, and shedding bitter tears, set out for my destination. + +That night I arrived at Simbirsk, where I was to stay twenty-four +hours, in order that Saveliitch might make various purchases entrusted +to him. Early in the morning Saveliitch went to the shops, whilst +I stayed in the inn. Tired of gazing out of the window upon a +dirty little street, I rambled about the inn, and at last entered +the billiard-room. I found there a tall gentleman, some forty years +of age, with heavy black moustaches, in his dressing-gown, holding a +cue and smoking his pipe. He was playing with the marker, who was +to drink a glass of brandy and water if he gained, and if he lost +was to pass, on all-fours, under the billiard table. I watched +them playing. The more they played the more frequent became the +promenades on all-fours, so that finally the marker stayed under +the table. The gentleman pronounced over him some energetic +expression, as a funeral oration, and then proposed that I should +play a game with him. I declared that I did not know how to play +billiards. That seemed strange to him. He looked at me with +commiseration. + +However, we opened a conversation. I learned that his name was +Ivan Zourine; that he was a chief of a squadron of Hussars stationed +then at Simbirsk recruiting soldiers, and that his quarters were at +my inn. He invited me to mess with him, soldier-fashion, pot-luck. +I accepted with pleasure, and we sat down to dinner. Zourine drank +deeply, and invited me to drink also, saying that I must become +accustomed to the service. He told stories of garrison life which +made me laugh till I held my sides, and we rose from the table +intimate friends. He then proposed to teach me how to play billiards. +"It is," said he, "indispensable for soldiers like ourselves. For +example, suppose we arrive in a town, what's to be done? We can +not always make sport of the Jews. As a last resort there is the +inn and the billiard-room; but to play billiards, one must know +how." These reasons convinced me, and I set about learning with +enthusiasm. + +Zourine encouraged me in a loud tone; he was astonished at my rapid +progress, and after a few lesson he proposed to play for money, were +it only two kopecks, not for the gain, merely to avoid playing for +nothing, which was, according to him, a very bad habit. I agreed. +Zourine ordered punch, which he advised me to taste in order to +become used to the service, "for," said he, "what kind of service +would that be without punch?" + +I took his advice, and we continued to play; the more I tasted of +my glass the bolder I grew. I made the balls fly over the cushions; +I was angry with the marker who was counting. Heaven knows why. +I increased the stake, and behaved, altogether, like a boy just +cut free, for the first time, from his mother's apron-strings. The +time passed quickly. At last, Zourine glanced at the clock, laid +down his cue, and said that I had lost a hundred roubles to him. + +I was in great confusion, because my money was all in the hands of +Saveliitch. I began to mumble excuses, when Zourine exclaimed, "Oh! +well! Good God! I can wait till morning; don't be distressed about +it. Now let us go to supper." What could I do? I finished the +day as foolishly as I began it. + +Zourine never ceased pouring out drinks for me; advising me to +become accustomed to the service. Rising from table, I could +scarcely stand. At midnight Zourine brought me back to the inn. + +Saveliitch met us at the door, and uttered a cry of horror when he +saw the unmistakable signs of my "zeal for the service." + +"What has happened to thee?" said he, in heart-broken accents; +"where have you been filling yourself like a sack? Oh! heavenly +father! a misfortune like this never came before." + +"Silence! old owl," said I, stammering, "I am sure you are drunk +yourself; go to bed, but first put me there." + +I awoke next morning with a severe headache; the events of the +evening I recalled vaguely, but my recollections became vivid at +the sight of Saveliitch who came to me with a cup of tea. + +"You begin young, Peter Grineff," said the old men, shaking his head. +"Eh! from whom do you inherit it? Neither your father nor grandfather +were drunkards. Your mother's name can not be mentioned; she never +deigned to taste any thing but cider. Whose fault is it then? That +cursed Frenchman's; he taught three fine things, that miserable dog-- +that pagan--for thy teacher, as if his lordship, thy father, had not +people of his own." + +I was ashamed before the old man; I turned my face away saying, "I +do not want any tea, go away, Saveliitch." It was not easy to stop +Saveliitch, once he began to preach. + +"Now, Peter, you see what it is to play the fool. You have a headache, +you have no appetite, a drunkard is good for nothing. Here, take some +of this decoction of cucumber and honey, or half a glass of brandy to +sober you. What do you say to that?" + +At that instant a boy entered the room with a note for me from Zourine. +I unfolded it and read as follows: + +"Do me the favor, my dear Peter, to send me by my servant the hundred +roubles that you lost to me yesterday. I am horribly in want of money. +Your devoted. ZOURINE." + +As I was perfectly in his power, I assumed an air of indifference, and +ordered Saveliitch to give a hundred roubles to the boy. + +"What? why?" said the old man, surprised. + +"I owe that sum," said I, coolly. + +"You owe it? When had you time enough to contract such a debt?" said +he, with redoubled astonishment. "No, no, that's impossible. Do what +you like, my lord, but I can not give the money." + +I reflected that if in this decisive moment I did not oblige the +obstinate old fellow to obey me, it would be impossible in the +future to escape from his tutelage. Looking at him therefore, +haughtily, I said, "I am thy master; thou art my servant. The +money is mine, and I lost because I chose to lose it; I advise +thee to obey when ordered, and not assume the airs of a master." + +My words affected Saveliitch so much that he clasped his hands and +stood bowed down mute and motionless. + +"What are you doing there like a post?" I cried out, angrily. + +Saveliitch was in tears. + +"Oh! my dear master Peter," stammered he, with trembling voice, "do +not kill me with grief. Oh my light, listen to me, an old man; write +to that brigand that you were jesting, that we never had so much +money. A hundred roubles! God of goodness! Tell him thy parents +strictly forbade thee to play for any thing but nuts." + +"Silence," said I, with severity, "give the money or I'll chase you +out of the room." + +Saveliitch looked at me with agony, and went for the money. I pitied +the good old man, but I wanted to emancipate myself, and prove that I +was no longer a child. Saveliitch sent the money to Zourine, and then +hastened our departure from that cursed inn. + +I left Simbirsk with a troubled conscience; a secret remorse oppressed +me. I took no leave of my teacher, not dreaming that I should ever +meet him again. + + + + +II. THE GUIDE. + + +My reflections during the journey were not very agreeable. According +to the value of money at that time my loss was of some importance. +I could not but admit to myself that my conduct at the inn at +Simbirsk had been very silly, and I felt guilty toward Saveliitch. +The old man was seated on the front of the vehicle in dull silence; +from time to time turning his head and coughing a cough of ill humor. +I had firmly resolved to make friends with him, but I did not know +which way to begin. At last I said to him, "Come, come Saveliitch, +let us put an end to this; I know I was wrong; I was a fool +yesterday, and offended you without cause, but I promise to listen +to you in future. Come, do not be angry, let us make friends!" + +"Ah! My dear Peter," said he with a sigh, "I am angry with myself. +It's I who was wrong in every thing. How could I have left you +alone at the inn? How could it have been avoided? The devil had +a hand in it! I wanted to go and see the deacon's wife, who is my +god-mother, and as the proverb says: 'I left the house and fell +into the prison.'" + +What a misfortune! what a misfortune! How can I appear before the +eyes of my masters? What will they say, when they shall hear that +their child is a drunkard and a gambler. To console dear old +Saveliitch, I gave him my word, that for the future I would not +dispose of single kopeck without his consent. Little by little +he became calm, which did not, however, prevent him from grumbling +out, now and then shaking his head: "A hundred roubles! It is easy +to talk!" + +I drew near the place of my destination. Around me extended a desert, +sad and wild, broken be little hills and deep ravines, all covered +with snow. The sun was setting. + +My kibitka followed the narrow road, or rather trace, left by +peasants' sledges. Suddenly my coachman, looking at a certain +point and addressing me, "My lord," said he, taking off his cap, +"do you not command us to retrace our steps?" + +"What for?" + +"The weather is uncertain. There is some wind ahead; do you see it +drive the snow on the surface?" + +"What matter?" + +"And do you not see what is over yonder?" pointing with his whip +to the east. + +"I see nothing more than the white steppes and the clear sky." + +"There! there! that little cloud!" + +I saw indeed upon the horizon a little white cloud that I had at +first taken for a distant hill. My coachman explained to me that +this little cloud foretold a _chasse-neige_--a snowdrift. I had +heard of the drifting snows of this region, and I know that at +times, storms swallowed up whole caravans. Saveliitch agreed with +the coachman, and advised our return. + +But to me the wind did not seem very strong. I hoped to arrive in +time for the next relay of horses. I gave orders, therefore, to +redouble our speed. The coachman put his horses to the gallop, +and kept his eyes to the east. + +The wind blew harder and harder. The little cloud soon became a +great white mass, rising heavily, growing, extending, and finally +invading the whole sky. A fine snow began to fall, which suddenly +changed to immense flakes. The wind whistled and howled. It was +a _chasse-neige_--a snowdrift. + +In an instant the somber sky was confounded with the sea of snow which +the wind raised up from the earth. Every thing was indistinguishable. + +"Woe, to us! my lord," cried the coachman, "it is a whirlwind of snow!" + +I put my head out of the kibitka--darkness and storm. The wind blew +with an expression so ferocious that it seemed a living creature. + +The snow fell in large flakes upon us, covering us. The horses went +at a walking pace, but very soon stood still. + +"Why do you not go on?" I said to the coachman. + +"Go where?" he replied, as he got down from the kibitka. "God knows +where we are now! There is no road; all is darkness." + +I began to scold him. Saveliitch took up his defense: + +"Why did you not listen to him," said he, angrily; "you could have +returned, taken some tea and slept till morning; the storm would +have been over, and we could then have set out. Why this haste? +as if you were going to your wedding?" + +Saveliitch was right. What was to be done? The snow continued +to fall; it was heaped up around the kibitka; the horses stood +motionless, now and then shivering. The coachman walked around +them adjusting their harness, as if he had nothing else to do. + +Saveliitch grumbled. + +I strained my eyes in every direction, hoping to see signs of a +dwelling, or of a road, but I could only see the whirling of the +snow-drift. All at once I thought I saw some thing black. "Halloo! +coachman," I cried out, "what is that black thing yonder?" + +The coachman looked attentively where I indicated. "God knows, my +lord," he replied, re-mounting to his seat; "it is not a kibitka, +nor a tree; it seems to be moving. It must be a wolf or a man!" + +I ordered him to go in the direction of the unknown object which was +coming toward us. In two minutes we were on a line with it, and I +recognized a man. + +"Halloo! good man!" shouted my coachman; "tell us, do you know the +road?" + +"This is the road," replied the man. "I am on solid ground, but what +the devil is the good of that." + +"Listen, my good peasant," said I; "do you know this country? Can +you lead us to a shelter for the night?" + +"This country! Thank God, I have been over it on foot and in +carriage, from one end to the other. But one can not help losing +the road in this weather. It is better to stop here and wait till +the hurricane ceases: then the sky will clear, and we can find the +way by the stars." + +His coolness gave me courage. I had decided to trust myself to the +mercy of God and pass the night on the steppe, when the traveler, +seating himself on the bench which was the coachman's seat, said +to the driver: + +"Thank God, a dwelling is near. Turn to the right and go on." + +"Why should I turn to the right?" said the coachman, sulkily, "where +do you see a road?" + +"Must I say to you these horses, as well as the harness, belong to +another? then use the whip without respite." + +I thought my coachman's view rational. + +"Why do you believe," said I to the new-comer, "that a dwelling is +not far off?" + +"The wind blows from that quarter," said he, "and I have smelled +smoke--proof that a dwelling is near." + +His sagacity, the delicacy of his sense of smell, filled me with +admiration; I ordered my coachman to go wherever the other wished. +The horses walked heavily through the deep snow. The kibitka +advanced but slowly, now raised on a hillock, now descending into +a hollow, swaying from side like a boat on a stormy sea. + +Saveliitch, falling over on me every instant, moaned. I pulled down +the hood of the kibitka, wrapped myself up in my pelisse, and fell +asleep, rocked by the swaying of the vehicle, and lulled by the chant +of the tempest. + +The horses stopped. Saveliitch was holding my hand. + +"Come out, my lord," said he, "we have arrived." + +"Where have we arrived?" said I, rubbing my eyes. + +"At the shelter. God has helped us; we have stumbled right upon +the hedge of the dwelling. Come out, my lord, quick; come and +warm yourself." + +I descended from the kibitka; the hurricane had not ceased, but it +had moderated; sight was useless, it was so dark. The master of the +house met us at the door, holding a lantern under the flaps of his +long coat, the Cossack cafetan. He led us into a small, though no +untidy room, lighted by a pine torch. In the centre hung a carabine +and a high Cossack cap. + +Our host, a Cossack from the river Iaik, was a peasant of some sixty +years, still fresh and green. + +Saveliitch brought in the case containing my tea-service; he asked +for fire to make me a few cups of tea, of which I never had greater +need. The host hastened to serve us. + +"Where is our guide?" I asked of Saveliitch. + +"Here, your lordship," replied a voice from above. I raised my eyes +to the loft, and saw a black beard and two sparkling black eyes. + +"Well, are you cold?" + +"How could I help being cold in this little cafetan full of holes. +What's the use of concealment? I had a touloup, but I left it +yesterday in pledge with the liquor-seller; then the cold did not +seem so great." + +At this moment our host entered with the portable furnace and boiler, +the Russian _Somovar_. I offered our guide a cup of tea. Down he +came at once. As he stood in the glare of the pine torch his +appearance was remarkable. A man about forty years of age, medium +height, slight but with broad shoulders. His black beard was turning +grey; large, quick, restless eyes, gave him an expression full of +cunning, and yet not at all disagreeable. He was dressed in wide +Tartar pantaloons and an old jacket. His hair was cut evenly round. + +I offered him a cup of tea. He tasted it and made a grimace. + +"Do me the favor, my lord, to order me a glass of brandy; tea is not +the Cossack's drink." + +I willingly granted the request. The host took from the shelf of a +closet a bottle and a glass, and going up to him, looking him full +in the face, said: + +"Ah! ah! here you are again in our district. Whence has God brought +you?" + +My guide winked in the most significant fashion and replied by the +well-know proverb: "'The sparrow was in the orchard eating flax-seed; +the grandmother threw a stone at it, and missed.'" And you? how are +all yours?" + +"How are we?" said the host, and continuing in proverbs: "'They began +to ring the bell for Vespers, but the priest's wife forbade it. The +priest went visiting, and the devils are in the graveyard.'" + +"Be silent, uncle," said the vagabond. + +"'When there shall be rain, there will be mushrooms, and when there +shall be mushrooms, there will be a basket to put them in. Put thy +hatchet behind thy back, the forest guard is out walking.'" + +"To your lordship's health." Taking the glass, he made the sign of +the cross, and at one gulp swallowed his brandy. He then saluted +me and remounted to his loft. I did not understand a word of this +thief's slang. It was only in the sequel that I learned that they +spoke of the affairs of the army of the Iaik, which had just been +reduced to obedience after the revolt of 1772. Saveliitch listened +and glanced suspiciously from host to guide. + +The species of inn where we were sheltered was in the very heart of +the steppes, far from the road and every inhabited spot, and looked +very much like a rendezvous of robbers. But to set off again on our +journey was impossible. The disgust of Saveliitch amused not a +little; however, he finally decided to mount upon the roof of the +stove, the ordinary bed of the Russian peasant. The warm bricks of +the hot-air chamber of the stove diffused a grateful heat, and soon +the old man and the host, who had laid himself on the floor, were +snoring. I stretched myself upon a bench, and slept like a dead. +Awaking next morning quite late, I saw that the hurricane was over. +The sun shone out, the snow extended in the distance like a sheet of +dazzling white damask. The horses were already at the door, harnessed. +I paid our host, who asked so small a pittance that even Saveliitch +did not, as usual, haggle over the price. His suspicions of the +evening before had entirely disappeared. I called the guide to thank +him for the service he had done us, and told Saveliitch to give him +half a rouble. Saveliitch frowned. + +"Half a rouble," said he; "What for? Because you yourself deigned +to bring him to the inn? Your will be done, my lord, but we have +not a rouble to spare. If we begin by giving drink money to every +one we shall end by dying of hunger." + +It was useless to argue with him; my money, according to my promise, +was entirely at his discretion. But it was very unpleasant not to +be able to reward a man who had extricated me from danger, perhaps +death. + +"Well," said I, coolly, "if you will not give him half a rouble, +give one of my coats--he is too thinly clad; give him the hare- +skin touloup." + +"Have mercy on me! My dear Peter," said Saveliitch, "what does +he want with your touloup? He will drink its price, the dog, at +the first inn." + +"That, my good old man, is none of your business," said the vagabond; +"his lordship following the custom of royalty to vassals, gives me +a coat from his own back, and your duty as serf is not to dispute, +but to obey." + +"You have not the fear of God, brigand that you are," said Saveliitch, +angrily; "you see that the child has not yet attained to full reason, +and there you are, glad to pillage him, thanks to his kind heart. +You can not even wear the pelisse on your great, cursed shoulders." + +"Come," said I, "do not play the logician; bring the touloup quickly." + +"Oh, Lord!" said the old man, moaning--"a touloup of hare-skin! Quite +new,--to give it to a drunkard in rags." + +It was brought, however, and the vagabond began to get into it. It +was rather tight for me, and was much too small for him. He put it +on, nevertheless, but with great difficulty, bursting all the seams. +Saveliitch uttered something like a smothered howl, when he heard +the threads crack. As for the vagabond, he was well pleased with my +present. He re-conducted me to my kibitka, and said, with a profound +bow: "Thanks, my lord, may god reward you. I shall never forget your +goodness." + +He went his way,--I set out on mine, paying no attention to the +sullenness of Saveliitch. I soon forgot the hurricane and the +guide, as well as the touloup of hare-skin. + +Arrived at Orenbourg, I presented myself at once to the General. He +was a tall man, bent by age, with long hair quite white. An old, worn- +out uniform, recalled the soldier of the times of the Empress Anne, +and his speech betrayed a strong German accent. + +I gave him my father's letter. + +Reading my name, he glanced at me quickly. "Mein Gott," said he, +"it is so short a time since Andrew Grineff was your age, and now, +see what a fine fellow of a son he has. Ah! time! time!" He opened +the letter and began to run it over with a commentary of remarks. + +"'Sir, I hope your Excellency,'--What is this; what is the meaning +of this ceremony? discipline, of course before all, but is this the +way to write to an old friend? Hum--'Field-marshal Munich--little +Caroline--brother.' Ah! then he remembers--'Now to business. I +send you my son; hold him with porcupine gloves.' + +"What does that mean?" said he, "that must be a Russian proverb." + +"It means," said I, with an air of innocence, "to treat a person +mildly, to give one liberty." + +"Hum!" said he, reading, "'and give him no liberty.' No," he +continued, "your proverb does not mean liberty. Well, my son," +said he, having finished the letter, "every thing shall be done +for you. You shall be an officer in the --- regiment, and not to +lose time, go tomorrow to the fort of Belogorsk, where you will +serve under Captain Mironoff, a brave and honest man. There you +will see service and learn discipline. You have nothing to do here +at Orenbourg, and amusements are dangerous to a young man. Today I +invite you to dine with me." + +From bad to worse, thought I. What was the use of being a Sergeant +in the Guards almost from my mother's womb? To what has it led? To +the regiment of ---, and an abandoned fortress on the frontier of the +steppes! + +I dined at the General's in company with his old Aid-de-camp. Severe +German economy reigned at table, and I think the fear of having an +occasional guest the more had something to do with sending me to a +distant garrison. + +The next day I took my leave of the General and set out for Belogorsk. + + + + +III. THE FORTRESS. + + +The fortress of Belogorsk is situated forty versts from Orenbourg. The +route from this city is along the high banks of the river Iaik. The +stream was not yet frozen, and its lead-colored waters took a black +tint between banks whitened by the snow. Before me lay the Kirghis +steppes. I fell into a moody train of thought, for to me garrison life +offered few attractions. I tried to picture my future chief, Captain +Mironoff. I imagined a severe, morose old man, knowing nothing outside +of the service, ready to arrest me for the least slip. Dusk was +falling; we were advancing rapidly. + +"How far is it from here to the fortress?" said I to the coachman. + +"You can see it now," he answered. + +I looked on all sides, expecting to see high bastions, a wall, and +a ditch. I saw nothing but a little village surrounded by a wooden +palisade. On one side stood some hay-stacks half covered with snow; +on the other a wind-mill, leaning to one side; the wings of the mill, +made of the heavy bark of the linden tree, hung idle. + +"Where is the fortress?" I asked, astonished. + +"There it is," said the coachman, pointing to the village which we had +just entered. I saw near the gate an old iron cannon. The streets +were narrow and winding, and nearly all the huts were thatched with +straw. I ordered the coachman to drive to the Commandant's, and almost +immediately my kibitka stopped before a wooden house built on an +eminence near the church, which was also of wood. From the front door +I entered the waiting-room. An old pensioner, seated on a table, was +sewing a blue piece on the elbow of a green uniform. I told him to +announce me. + +"Enter, my good sir," said he, "our people are at home." + +I entered a very neat room, furnished in the fashion of other days. +On one side stood a cabinet containing the silver. Against the wall +hung the diploma of an officer, with colored engravings arranged +around its frame; notably, the "Choice of the Betrothed," the "Taking +of Kurstrin," and the "Burial of the Cat by the Mice." Near the window +sat an old woman in a mantilla, her head wrapped in a handkerchief. +She was winding a skein of thread held on the separated hands of a +little old man, blind of one eye, who was dressed like an officer. + +"What do you desire, my dear sir?" said the woman to me, without +interrupting her occupation. I told her that I had come to enter the +service, and that, according to rule, I hastened to present myself to +the captain. In saying this, I turned to the one-eyed old man, whom I +took for the commandant. The good lady interrupted the speech which I +had prepared in advance: + +"Ivan Mironoff is not at home; he is gone to visit Father Garasim; +but it is all the same; I am his wife. Deign to love us and have us +in favor! Take a seat, my dear sir." She ordered a servant to send +her the Corporal. The little old man gazed at me curiously, with his +only eye. + +"May I dare to ask," said he, "in what regiment you have deigned +to serve?" + +I satisfied him on that point. + +"And may I dare to ask why you changed from the Guards to our +garrison?" + +I replied that it was by the orders of authority. + +"Probably for actions little becoming an officer of the Guards?" +resumed the persistent questioner. + +"Will you stop your stupidities?" said the Captain's wife to him. +"You see the young man is fatigued by the journey; he has something +else to do besides answering you. Hold your hands better! And you +my dear sir," continued she, turning to me, "do not be too much +afflicted that you are thrust into our little town; you are not the +first, and will not be the last. Now, there is Alexis Chabrine, who +has been transferred to us for a term of four years for murder. God +knows what provocation he had. He and a lieutenant went outside the +city with their swords, and before two witnesses Alexis killed the +lieutenant. Ah! misfortune has no master." + +Just then the Corporal entered, a young and handsome Cossack. "Maxim," +said the Captain's wife, "give this officer a clean lodging." + +"I obey, Basilia," replied the Cossack; "shall I lodge him with Ivan +Pologoff?" + +"You are doting, Maxim, he has too little space now; besides, he is +my child's godfather; and, moreover, he never forgets that we are his +chiefs. What is your name, my dear sir?" + +"Peter Grineff." + +"Then conduct Peter Grineff to the quarters of Simeon Kieff. That +rascal let his horse into my vegetable garden. Is all right, Maxim?" + +"Thank God, all is quiet, except that Corporal Kourzoff quarreled with +the woman Augustina about a pail of warm water." + +"Ignatius," said the Captain's wife to the one-eyed man, "judge between +the two--decide which one is guilty, and punish both. Go, Maxim, God +be with you. Peter Grineff, Maxim will conduct you to your lodgings." + +I took my leave; the Corporal led me to a cabin placed on the high bank +near the river's edge, at the end of the fortress. Half of the cabin +was occupied by the family of Simeon Kieff, the other was given up to +me. My half of the cabin was a large apartment divided by a partition. +Saveliitch began at once to install us, whilst I looked out of the +narrow window. Before me stretched the bleak and barren steppe; nearer +rose some cabins; at the threshold of one stood a woman with a bowl in +her hand calling the pigs to feed; no other objects met my sight, save +a few chickens scratching for stray kernels of corn in the street. And +this was the country to which I was condemned to pass my youth! I +turned from the window, seized by bitter sadness, and went to bed +without supper, notwithstanding the supplications of Saveliitch, who +with anguish cried aloud: "Oh! he will not deign to eat! O Lord! what +will my mistress say, if the child should fall ill!" + +The next morning I had scarcely begun to dress, when a young officer +entered my room. He was of small size, with irregular features, but +his sun-burned face had remarkable vivacity. "Pardon me," said he in +French, "that I come so unceremoniously to make your acquaintance. I +learned yesterday of your arrival, and the desire of seeing at last a +human face so took possession of me that I could wait no longer. You +will understand this when you shall have lived here some time!" + +I easily guessed that he was the officer dismissed from the Guards for +the affair of the duel--Alexis Chabrine. He was very intelligent; his +conversation was sprightly and interesting. He described with impulse +and gayety the Commandant's family, society, and in general the whole +country round. I was laughing heartily, when Ignatius, the same old +pensioner whom I had seen mending his uniform in the Captain's waiting- +room, entered, and gave me an invitation to dinner from Basilia +Mironoff, the Captain's wife. Alexis declared that he would accompany +me. + +Approaching the Commandant's house we saw on the square some twenty +little old pensioners, with long queues and three-cornered hats. These +old men were drawn up in line of battle. Before them stood the +Commandant, a fresh and vigorous old man of high stature, in dressing- +gown and cotton cap. As soon as he saw us, he approached, addressed me +a few affable words, and then resumed his drill. We were going to stay +to see the manoeuvering, but he begged us to go on immediately to the +house, promising to join us at once; "for," said he, "there is really +nothing to be seen here." + +Basilia received us kindly, and with simplicity, treating me like an +old acquaintance. The pensioner and the maid Polacca were laying the +table-cloth. + +"What is the matter with my dear Ivan Mironoff, today, that he is so +long instructing his troops?" said the mistress. "Polacca, go and +bring him to dinner. And where is my child, Marie?" Scarcely had she +pronounced this name, than a young girl about sixteen entered the +room;--a rosy, round-faced girl, wearing her hair in smooth bandeaux +caught behind her ears, which were red with modesty and shyness. She +did not please me very much at the first glance; I was prejudiced +against her by Alexis, who had described the Captain's daughter to me +as a fool. Marie seated herself in a corner and began to sew. The +soup was brought on the table. Basilia, not seeing her husband coming, +sent the maid a second time to call him. + +"Tell the master that his inspection can wait; the soup is cooling. +Thank God! the drills need not be lost; there will be time enough yet +to use his voice at his leisure." + +The captain soon appeared with his one-eyed officer. + +"What's this, my dear," said Basilia; "the table has been served some +time, and no one could make you come." + +"You see, Basilia, I was busy with the service, instructing my good +soldiers." + +"Come, come, Ivan Mironoff, that's boasting. The service does not suit +them, and as for you, you know nothing about it. You should have +stayed at home and prayed God, that suits you much better. My dear +guests, to table." + +We took our places for dinner. Basilia was not silent a moment; she +overwhelmed me with questions: Who were my parents? Were they living? +Where did they reside? What was their fortune? When she learned that +my father owned three hundred serfs, she exclaimed: + +"You see there are some rich people in the world--and we, my dear sir, +in point of souls, we possess only the maid Polacca. Yet, thank God, +we live, somehow or other. We have but one care, that is Marie, a girl +that must be married off. And what fortune has she? The price of two +baths per annum. If only she could find a worthy husband. If not, +there she is, eternally a maid." + +I glanced at Marie; she blushed, tears were dropping into her soup. +I pitied her, and hastened to change the conversation. "I have heard +that the Bashkirs intend to attack your fortress?" + +"Who said so," replied Ivan Mironoff. + +"I heard it at Orenbourg." + +"All nonsense," said Ivan, "we have not heard the least word about it; +the Bashkirs are an intimidated people; and the Kirghis have also had +some good lessons. They dare not attack us, and if they should even +dream of it, I would give them so great a fright that they would not +move again for ten years." + +"Do you not fear," I continued, addressing Basilia, "to stay in a +fortress exposed to these dangers?" + +"A matter of habit, my dear," she replied, "twenty years ago, when we +were transferred here from the regiment, you could not believe how I +feared the pagans. If I chanced to see their fur caps, if I heard +their shouts, believe me, my heart was ready to faint; but now I am so +used to this life, that if told that the brigands were prowling around +us, I would not stir from the fortress." + +"Basilia is a very brave lady," observed Alexis, gravely. "Ivan +Mironoff knows some thing about it." + +"Oh, you see," said Ivan, "she does not belong to the regiment of +poltroons." + +"And Marie," I asked of her mother "is she as bold as you?" + +"Marie?" said the lady. "No! Marie is a coward. Up to the present +she has not heard the report of a gun without trembling in every limb. +Two years ago Ivan had a pleasant fancy to fire off his cannon on my +birthday; the poor pigeon was so frightened that she almost went into +the next world. Since that day the miserable cannon has not spoken." + +We rose from the table. The captain and his wife went to take their +siesta. I went with Alexis to his room, where we passed the evening +together. + + + + +IV. THE DUEL. + + +Several weeks elapsed, during which my life in the fortress became not +only supportable, but even agreeable. I was received as a member of +the family in the Commandant's house. The husband and wife were +excellent people. Ivan Mironoff, from being the adopted child of the +regiment, rose to officer's rank. He was a plain, simple, uneducated +man, but thoroughly good and loyal. His wife governed him, and that +suited his natural indolence. Basilia directed the affairs of the +garrison, as she did her household, and commanded through the fortress +as she did in her own kitchen. Marie soon lost her shyness, and as we +became better acquainted I found that she was a girl full of affection +and intelligence. Little by little I became deeply attached to this +good family. + +I was promoted, and ranked as an officer. Military service did not +oppress me. In this fortress, blessed by God, there was no duty to +do, no guard to mount, nor review to pass. Occasionally, for his +own amusement, the Commandant drilled his soldiers. He had not yet +succeeded in teaching them which was the right flank and which the +left. + +Alexis had some French books, and in my idleness I set work to read, so +that a taste for literature awoke within me. I read every morning, and +essayed some translations, even metrical compositions. Almost every +day I dined at the Commandant's, where, as a general thing, I spent the +rest of the day. In the evening, Father Garasim came with his wife, +Accoulina, the greatest gossip of the place. Of course Alexis and I +met daily, yet gradually his society displeased me. His perpetual +jokes upon the Commandant's family, and above all his biting remarks +about Marie, rendered his conversation very disagreeable to me. I had +no other society than this family in the fortress, and I desired no +other. All predictions to the contrary, the Bashkirs did not revolt, +and peace reigned around us. + +I have already said that I busied myself somewhat with literature. +One day I happened to write a little song, of which I was proud. It is +well known that authors, under pretext of asking advice, willingly seek +a kindly audience. I copied my little song and took it to Alexis, the +only one in the fortress who could appreciate a poetical work. After +preluding a little, I drew my pages from my pocket and read my verses +to him. + +"How do you like that?" said I, expecting praise as a tribute due me. +To my great annoyance, Alexis, who was generally pleased with my +writings, declared frankly that my song was worth nothing. + +"What do you mean?" said I, with forced calmness. He took the paper +out of my hand and began to criticize without pity, every verse, every +word, tearing me up in the most malicious fashion. It was too much. +I snatched the paper from him, declaring that never again would I show +him any of my compositions. + +"We shall see," said he, "if you can keep your word; poets need a +listener as Ivan Mironoff needs a decanter of brandy before dinner. +Who is this Marie to whom you declare your tender feelings? Might it +not be Marie Mironoff?" + +"That is none of your business," said I, frowning. "I want neither +your advice nor supposition." + +"Oh! oh! vain poet; discreet lover," continued Alexis, irritating me +more and more, "listen to friendly counsel: if you want to succeed do +not confine yourself to songs." + +"What do you mean, sir? Explain!" + +"With pleasure," he replied. "I mean that if you wish to form an +intimacy with Marie Mironoff, you have only to give her a pair of +earrings instead of your lackadaisical verses." + +All my blood boiled. "Why have you this opinion of her?" I asked, +with much effort restraining my anger. + +"Because," said he, "of my own experience." + +"You lie, wretch," I cried, with furry, "you lie, shamelessly." + +Alexis was enraged. + +"That shall not pass so," he said, grasping my hand. "You shall give +me satisfaction." + +"When ever you like," I replied, joyfully, for at that moment I was +ready to tear him to pieces. I ran at once to see Ivan Ignatius, whom +I found with a needle in his hand. According to orders from the +Commandant's wife, he was stringing mushrooms which were to be dried +for winter use. + +"Ah! Peter Grineff, be welcome. Dare I ask on what business God sends +you here?" + +In a few words I told him of my quarrel with Alexis, and begged him, +Ignatius, to be my second. Ignatius heard me to the end with great +attention, opening wide his only eye. + +"You deign to say that you want to kill Alexis, and desire that I +should witness the act? Is that what you mean, dare I ask?" + +"Precisely." + +"Ah! what folly; you have had some words with Alexis. What then? A +harsh word can not be hung up by the neck. He gives you impertinence, +give him the same; if he give you a slap, return the blow; he a second, +you a third; in the end we will compel you to make peace. Whilst if +you fight--well, if _you_ should kill _him_, God be with him! for I do +not like him much; but if he should perforate you, what a nice piece +of business! Then who will pay for the broken pots?" + +The arguments of the prudent officer did not shake my resolution. + +"Do as you like," said Ignatius, "but what's the use of having me as a +witness? People fight--that's nothing extraordinary--I have often been +quite close to Swedes and Turks, and people of all shades of color." + +I tried to explain to him the duties of a second; Ignatius would not, +or could not understand me. "Follow your own fashion," said he, "if +I were to meddle in this affair, it would be to announce to Ivan +Mironoff, according to rule, that a plot is being made in the fortress +for the commission of a criminal action--one contrary to the interests +of the crown." + +I was alarmed, and begged Ignatius to say nothing to the Commandant. +He gave me his word that he would be silent, and I left him in peace. +As usual I passed the evening at the Commandant's, forcing myself +to be calm and gay, in order not to awaken suspicions and to avoid +questioning. I confess that I had not the coolness of which people +boast who have been in a similar position. I was disposed to +tenderness. Marie Mironoff seemed more attractive than ever. The +idea that perhaps I saw her for the last time, gave her a touching +grace. + +Alexis entered. I took him aside and told him of my conversation +with Ignatius. + +"What's the good of seconds," said he, dryly. "We can do without +them." + +We agreed to fight behind the haystack the next morning at six o'clock. + +Seeing us talking amicably, Ignatius, full of joy, nearly betrayed us. +"You should have done that long ago, for a bad peace is better than a +good quarrel." + +"What! what! Ignatius," said the Captain's wife, who was playing +patience in a corner, "I do not quite understand?" + +Ignatius, seeing my displeasure, remembered his promise, became +confused and knew not what to answer. Alexis came to his relief: +"He approves of peace." + +"With whom had you quarreled?" said she. + +"With Peter Grineff--a few high words." + +"Why?" + +"For a mere nothing--a song." + +"Fine cause for a quarrel! a song! Tell me how it happened." + +"Willingly: Peter has recently been composing, and this morning he sang +his song for me. Then I chanted mine: + + + 'Daughter of the Captain, walk not forth at midnight.' + + +As we were not on the same note, Peter was angry, forgetting that every +one is at liberty to sing what he pleases." + +The insolence of Alexis made me furious. No one but myself understood +his allusions. From poetry the conversation passed to poets in +general. The Commandant observed that they were all debauchees and +drunkards, and advised me, as a friend, to renounce poetry as contrary +to the service, and leading to nothing good. + +As the pretence of Alexis was to me insupportable, I hastened to take +leave of the family. In my own apartment I examined my sword, tried +its point, and went to bed, having ordered Saveliitch to wake me in the +morning at six o'clock. + +The next day at the appointed time I was behind the haystack awaiting +my adversary, who did not fail to appear. "We may be surprised," he +said; "be quick." We laid aside our uniforms, drew our swords from the +scabbards, when Ignatius, followed by five pensioners, came out from +behind a haystack. He ordered us to repair to the presence of the +Commandant. We obeyed. The soldiers surrounded us. Ignatius +conducted us in triumph, marching military step, with majestic gravity. +We entered the Commandant's house; Ignatius opened the folding doors, +and exclaimed with emphasis: "They are taken!" + +Basilia ran toward us: "What does this mean? plotting an assassination +in our fortress! Ivan Mironoff, arrest them! Peter Grineff, Alexis, +give up your swords to the garret. Peter, I did not expect this of +you; are you not ashamed? As for Alexis, it is quite different; he +was transferred to us from the Guards for having caused a soul to +perish; and he does not believe in our blessed Saviour." + +Ivan Mironoff approved increasingly all that his wife said: "You see! +You see! Basilia is right, duels are forbidden by the military code." + +Meantime Polacca had carried off our swords to the garret. I could not +help smiling at this scene. Alexis preserved all his gravity, and said +to Basilia: "Notwithstanding all my respect for you, I must say you +take useless pains to subject us to your tribunal. Leave that duty to +Ivan Mironoff; it is his business." + +"What! what! my dear sir," said the lady, "are not man and wife the +same flesh and spirit? Ivan Mironoff, are you trifling? Lock up +these boys instantly; put them in separate rooms--on bread and water, +to expel this stupid idea of theirs. Let Father Garasim give them a +penance on order that they may repent before God and man." + +Ivan Mironoff did not know what to do. Marie was extremely pale. The +tempest, however, subsided little by little. Basilia ordered us to +embrace each other, and the maid was sent for our swords. We left the +house, having in appearance made friends. Ignatius re-conducted us. + +"Are you not ashamed of yourself," I said to him, "to have denounced +us to the Commandant, after having given me your word you would not +do so?" + +"As God is holy, I said nothing to Ivan Mironoff. Basilia drew it all +from me. She took all the necessary measures without the knowledge of +the Commandant. Thank God it finished as it did." He went to his +room; I remained with Alexis. + +"Our affair can not end thus," I remarked. + +"Certainly not," replied Alexis. "You shall pay me with your blood for +your impertinence, but as undoubtedly we shall be watched, let us feign +for a few days. Until then, adieu!" + +We separated as if nothing had happened. I returned to the +Commandant's, and seated myself as usual near Marie. Her father was +absent and her mother busy with household duties. We spoke in subdued +tones. Marie reproached me gently for the pain my quarrel with Alexis +gave her. "My heart failed me," she said, "when I heard you were going +to fight with swords. How strange men are! For a word, they are ready +to strangle each other, and sacrifice, not only their own life, but +even the honor and happiness of those who-- I am sure you did not +begin the quarrel? Alexis was the aggressor?" + +"Why do you think so?" + +"Because he is so sarcastic. I do not like him, and yet I would not +displease him, although he is quite disagreeable to me." + +"What do you think, Marie, are you pleasing to him or not?" + +Marie blushed. "It seems," said she, "that I please him." + +"How do you know?" + +"Because he made me an offer of marriage." + +"He made you an offer of marriage! When?" + +"Last year, two months before your arrival." + +"You did not accept?" + +"Evidently not, as you see. Alexis is a most intelligent man, of +an excellent family and not without fortune, but the mere idea that +beneath the crown, on my marriage day, I should be obliged to kiss +him before every one! No! no! not for any thing in the world." + +Marie's words opened my eyes. I understood the persistence of Alexis +in aspersing her character. He had probably remarked our mutual +inclination, and was trying to turn us from each other. The words +which had provoked our quarrel seemed to me the more infamous, as +instead of being a vulgar joke, it was deliberate calumny. The +desire to punish this shameless liar became so strong that I waited +impatiently the favorable moment. I had not long to wait. The next +day, occupied composing an elegy, biting my pen in the expectation +of a rhyme, Alexis knocked at my window. I put down my pen, took my +sword, and went out of the house. + +"Why defer?" said Alexis, "we are no longer watched, let us go down to +the river-side; there none will hinder us." + +We set out in silence, and having descended a steep path, we stopped at +the water's edge and crossed swords. Alexis was more skillful than I +in the use of arms, but I was stronger and bolder. Mons. Beaupre, who +had been, amongst other things, a soldier, had taught me fencing. +Alexis did not expect to find in me an adversary of so dangerous +a character. + +For some minutes neither gained any advantage over the other, but +at last noticing that Alexis was growing weak, I attacked him +energetically, and almost drove him backward into the river, when +suddenly I heard my name pronounced in a high voice. Turning my +head rapidly, I saw Saveliitch running toward me down the path. As +I turned my head, I felt a sharp thrust in the breast under the right +shoulder, and I fell, unconscious. + + + + +V. LOVE. + + +When I came to myself, I neither knew what had happened nor where I +was. I felt very weak; the room was strange, there was Saveliitch +standing before me, a light in his hand, and some one arranging the +bandages that bound my chest and shoulder. Gradually I recalled my +duel, and easily divined that I had been wounded. The door at this +instant moaned gently on its hinges. + +"Well, how is he?" whispered a voice that made me start. + +"Still in the same state," sighed Saveliitch, "now unconscious four +days." I wanted to turn on my bed, but I had not the strength. "Where +am I?" said I, with effort, "who is here?" Marie approached, and +bending over me said, gently, "How do you feel?" + +"Thank God, I am well. Is that Marie? tell me--?" I could not +finish. Saveliitch uttered a cry of joy, his delight showing plainly +in his face. "He recovers! he recovers! Thanks to thee, O God! +Peter, how you frightened me!--four days! It is easy to talk--!" + +Marie interrupted him: "Do not, Saveliitch, speak too much to him; he +is still very weak." She went out, shutting the door noiselessly. I +must be in the Commandant's house, or Marie could not come to see me. +I wished to question Saveliitch, but the old man shook his head and +put his fingers in his ears. I closed my eyes from ill-humor--and +fell asleep. + +Upon awaking, I called Saveliitch; instead of him, I saw before me +Marie, whose gentle voice greeted me. I seized her hand and bathed it +with my tears. Marie did not withdraw it, and suddenly I felt upon my +cheek the impression, humid and delicious, of her lips! A thrill shot +through my whole being. + +"Dear, good Marie, be my wife, and make me the happiest of men!" + +"In the name of heaven be calm," she said, withdrawing her hand, "your +wound may reopen; for my sake be careful." + +She left the room. I was in a daze. I felt life returning. "She will +be mine!" I kept repeating, "she loves me!" I grew better, hour by +hour. The barber of the regiment dressed my wounds, for there was no +other physician in the fortress, and thank God, he did not merely play +the doctor. Youth and nature completed the cure. + +The Commandant's whole family surrounded me with care. Marie scarcely +ever left me. I need not say that I took the first favorable moment +to continue my interrupted declaration. This time Marie listened with +more patience. She frankly acknowledged her affection for me. And +added that her parents would be happy in her happiness; "but," she +continued, "think well of it? Will there be no objection on the part +of your family?" + +I did not doubt my mother's tenderness, but knowing my father's +character, I foresaw that my love would not be received by him +favorably, and that in all probability he would treat it as one of my +youthful follies. This I avowed plainly to Marie, but nevertheless I +resolved to write to my father as eloquently as possible, and ask his +blessing on our marriage. I showed the letter to Marie, who thought +it so touching and convincing that she did not doubt of success, and +abandoned herself, with all the confidence of youth and love, to the +feelings of her heart. + +I made peace with Alexis in the first days of my convalescence. Ivan +Mironoff said, reproaching me for the duel: "You see, Peter, I ought +to put you under arrest, but indeed you have been well punished without +that. Alexis is, by my orders, under guard in the barn, and his sword +is under lock and key in Basilia's keeping." + +I was too happy to harbor spite, so I entreated for Alexis, and the +kind Commandant, with his wife's permission, consented to set him at +liberty. Alexis came at once to see me. He expressed regret for all +that had happened, confessing that the fault was all his, and begged me +to forget the past. Being naturally incapable of revenge, I pardoned +him, forgiving both our quarrel and my wound. In his calumny I now +saw the irritation of wounded vanity and despised love. I generously +forgave my unfortunate rival. As soon as completely cured I returned +to my lodging. I awaited impatiently the reply to my letter, not +daring to hope, yet trying to stifle all sad presentiments. I had not +yet had an explanation with Basilia and her husband, but my suit could +not surprise them. Neither Marie nor I had concealed our feelings, +and we were sure in advance of their consent. + +At last, one pleasant day Saveliitch came to my room, letter in hand. +The address was written in my father's hand. This sight prepared me +for something grave, for usually my mother wrote me, and he only added +a few lines at the end. Long I hesitated to break the seal. I read +again and again the solemn superscription: + + "To my Son, + Peter Grineff, + Principality of Orenbourg, + Fortress of Belogorsk." + +I tried to discover by my father's writing his mood of mind when he +wrote that letter. At last I broke that seal. I saw from the first +lines that our hopes were crushed! Here is the letter: + + +"MY SON PETER: We received the 15th of this month the letter in which +you ask our paternal benediction and consent to your marriage with +Mironoff's daughter. Not only have I no intention of giving either my +consent or benediction, but I have a great mind to go to you and punish +you for your childish follies, notwithstanding your officer's rank, +because you have proved that you are not worthy to bear the sword which +was given you for the defense of your country, and not for the purpose +of fighting a duel with a fool of your own stamp. I shall write +instantly to Andrew Karlovitch to transfer you from the fortress of +Belogorsk to some still more distant place. Upon hearing of your wound +your mother was taken ill, and is still confined to her bed. What will +become of you? I pray God to reform you, but can scarcely hope for so +much from his goodness. Your father, A.G." + + +The harsh expressions which my father had not spared, wounded me +sorely; the contempt with which he treated Marie seemed to me as unjust +as it was undignified. Then the mere idea of being sent from this +fortress alarmed me; but above all, I grieved for my mother's illness. +Saveliitch came in for a share of my indignation, not doubting but that +he informed my parents of the duel. After having paced up and down my +little chamber, I stopped suddenly before the old man and said: "It +seems that it is not enough that you caused my wound, and brought +me almost to the brink of the grave, but that you want to kill my +mother too!" + +Saveliitch was as motionless as if lightning had struck him. "Have +mercy on me! my lord," said he, "what do you deign to tell me? I +caused your wound? God sees that I was running to put my breast +before you, to receive the sword of Alexis. This cursed age of mine +hindered me. But what have I done to your mother?" + +"What have you done? Who charged you to write an accusation against +me? Were you taken into my service to play the spy on me?" + +"I write an accusation?" replied the old man, quite broken down, "O +God! King of heaven! Here, read what the master writes me, and you +shall see if I denounced thee." At the same time he drew from his +pocket a letter which he gave me, and I read what follows: + +"Shame upon you, you old dog, that notwithstanding my strict orders +you wrote me nothing regarding my son, leaving to strangers the duty +of telling me of his follies. Is it thus you do your duty and fulfill +your master's will? I shall send you to keep the pigs, for having +concealed the truth, and for your condescension to the young man. +Upon receipt of this letter inform me immediately of the state of his +health, which is, I hear, improving, and tell me precisely the place +of his wound, and whether he has well attended." + +Evidently Saveliitch was not in the wrong, and I had offended him by my +suspicions and reproaches. I asked him to forgive me, but the old man +was inconsolable. "See to what I have lived!" he repeated; "see what +thanks I have merited from my masters for all my long services! I am +an old dog! I am a swine-herd, and more than all that, I caused your +wound. No, no, Peter, I am not in fault, it is the cursed Frenchman +who taught thee to play with these steel blades, and to stamp and +dance, as if by thrusting and dancing you could defend yourself from +a bad man." + +Now, then, who had taken the pains to accuse me to my father? The +General, Andrew Karlovitch? He did not trouble himself much about +me; moreover, Ivan Mironoff had not thought it worth while to report +my duel to him. My suspicions fell on Alexis. He only would find +some advantage in this information, the consequence of which might +be my dismissal from the fortress and separation from the Commandant's +family. I went to tell every thing to Marie. She met me on the +doorstep. + +"What has happened to you? how pale you are!" + +"All's over," I replied, handing her my father's letter. + +It was her turn to blanch. Having read the letter she returned it, +and said in a trembling voice: "It was not my destiny. Your parents +do not wish me in their family; may the will of God be done! He knows +better than we what is best for us. There is nothing to be done in +the matter, Peter; you, at least, may be happy." + +"It shall not be so," I exclaimed, taking her hand. "You love me, I +am ready for any fate. Let us go and throw ourselves at your parents' +feet. They are simple people; they are neither haughty nor cruel; they +will give us their benediction; we will marry; and in time, I am sure, +we will soften my father. My mother will intercede for us, and he will +pardon me." + +"No, Peter, I will not marry you without the benediction of your +parents. You would not be happy without their blessing. Let us submit +to the will of God. If you meet another bride, if you love her, may +God be with you! I, Peter, I will pray for both of you." Tears +interrupted her, and she went away; I wished to follow her into the +house, but I was not master of myself, and I went to my own quarters. +I was plunged in melancholy, when Saveliitch came to interrupt my +reflections. + +"There, my lord," said he, presenting me a sheet of paper all covered +with writing, "see if I am a spy on my master, and if I try to embroil +father and son." + +I took the paper from his hand; it was his reply to my father's letter. + +I could not help smiling at the old man's letter. I was in no +condition to write to my father, and to calm my mother his letter +seemed sufficient. + +From that day, Marie scarcely spoke to me, and even tried to avoid +me. The Commandant's house became insupportable, and I accustomed +myself, little by little, to remain alone in my room. At first +Basilia reasoned with me, but seeing my persistency she let me alone. +I saw Ivan Mironoff only when the service required it. I had but +rare interviews with Alexis, for whom my antipathy increased, because +I thought I discovered in him a secret enmity which confirmed my +suspicions. Life became a burden; I gave myself up to a melancholy +which was fed by solitude and inaction. Love burned on in silence +and tortured me, more and more. I lost all taste for reading and +literature; I let myself become completely depressed; and I feared +that I should either become a lunatic or rush into dissipation, when +events occurred that had great influence on my life and give a strong +and healthy tone to my mind. + + + + +VI. POUGATCHEFF. + + +Before beginning the recital of the strange events of which I was +witness, I ought to say a few words about the situation of affairs +toward the end of the year 1773. The rich and vast province of +Orenbourg was inhabited by a number of tribes, half civilized, who had +just recognized the sovereignty of the Russian Czars. Their continual +revolts, their impatience of law and civilized life, their inconstancy +and cruelty, demanded on the part of the government a constant +watchfulness to reduce them to obedience. Fortresses had been erected +in favorable places, and Cossacks, the former possessors of the shores +of the Iaik, in many places formed a part of the garrisons. But these +very Cossacks, who should have guaranteed the peace and security of +their districts, were restless and dangerous subjects of the empire. +In 1772 a riot occurred in one of their chief towns. This riot was +caused by the severity of the measures employed by General Traubenberg +to bring the army to obedience. The only result of these measures was +the barbarous murder of Traubenberg, a change of Imperial officers, +and in the end, by force of grape and canister, the suppression of +the riot. + +This happened shortly before my arrival at the fortress of Belogorsk. +Then all seemed quiet. But the authorities had too easily believed in +the feigned repentance of the rebels, who nursed their hate in silence, +and only awaited a propitious moment to recommence the struggle. + +I return to my story. Once evening, it was in the month of October, +1773, I was alone in the house, listening to the whistling of the +Autumn winds, and watching the clouds gliding rapidly before the moon. +An order came from the Commandant, calling me to his presence. I went +that instant. I found there Alexis, Ignatius and the Corporal of the +Cossacks, but neither the wife nor daughter of the Commandant. My +chief bade me good evening, had the door closed, and every one seated, +except the Corporal who remained standing; then he drew a paper from +his pocket and said to us: + +"Gentlemen, important news! Listen to what the General writes." He +put on his spectacles and read: + +"To the Commandant of the Fortress of Belogorsk, Captain Mironoff. +_Confidential_. I hereby inform you that the deserter and turbulent +Cossack of the Don, Imiliane Pougatcheff, after having been guilty of +the unpardonable insolence of usurping the name of the deceased Emperor +Peter III, has assembled a troop of brigands, disturbed the villages +of the Iaik, and has even taken and destroyed several fortresses, at +the same time committing everywhere robberies and assassinations. +Therefore, upon the receipt of this, you will, Captain, bethink you +of the measures to be taken to repulse the said robber and usurper; +and if possible, in case he turn his arms against the fortress +confided to your care, to completely exterminate him." + +"It is easy to talk," said the Commandant, taking off his spectacles, +and folding the paper; "but we must use every precaution. The rascal +seems strong, and we have only 130 men, even adding the Cossacks, upon +whom there is no dependence, be it said without reproach to thee, +Maxim." The Corporal of the Cossacks smiled. "Gentlemen, let us do +our part; be vigilant, post sentries, establish night patrols; in case +of an attack, shut the gates and call out the soldiers. Maxim, watch +well your Cossacks. It is necessary to examine the cannon and clean +it; and above all to keep the secret, that no one in the fortress +should know any thing before the time." + +Having given his orders, Ivan Mironoff dismissed us. I went out with +Alexis, speculating on what we had heard. "What do you think of it? +How will this end?" I asked him. + +"God knows," he replied, "we shall see. At present there is no +danger." And he began, as if thinking, to hum a French air. + +Notwithstanding our precautions the news of the apparition of +Pougatcheff spread through the fortress. However great the respect of +Ivan Mironoff for his wife, he would not reveal to her for anything in +the world a military secret. When he had received the General's letter +he very adroitly rid himself of Basilia by telling her that the Greek +priest had received from Orenbourg extraordinary news which he kept a +great mystery. Thereupon Basilia desired to pay a visit to Accouline, +the clergyman's wife, and by Mironoff's advice Marie went also. Master +of the situation, Ivan Mironoff locked up the maid in the kitchen and +assembled us. + +Basilia came home without news, and learned that during her absence +a council of war had been held, and that Polacca was imprisoned in +the kitchen. She suspected that her husband had deceived her, and +overwhelmed him with questions. He was prepared for the attack, and +stoutly replied to his curious better-half: + +"You see, my dear, the women about the country have been using straw +to kindle their fires; now as that might be dangerous, I assembled my +officers, and gave them orders to prevent these women lighting fires +with anything but fagots and brushwood." + +"And why did you lock up Polacca in the kitchen till my return?" Ivan +Mironoff had not foreseen that question, and muttered some incoherent +words. Basilia saw at once her husband's perfidy, but knowing that +she could extract nothing from him at that moment, she ceased her +questioning, and spoke of the pickled cucumbers which Accouline knew +how to prepare in a superior fashion. That night Basilia never closed +an eye, unable to imagine what it was that her husband knew that she +could not share with him. + +The next day, returning from mass, she saw Ignatius cleaning the +cannon, taking out rags, pebbles, bits of wood, and all sorts of +rubbish which the small boys had stuffed there. "What means these +warlike preparations?" thought the Commandant's wife? "Is an attack +from the Kirghis feared? Is it possible that Mironoff would hide from +me so mere a trifle?" She called Ignatius, determined to know the +secret that excited her woman's curiosity. Basilia began by making +some remarks about household matters, like a judge who begins his +interrogation with questions foreign to the affair, in order to +reassure the accused, and throw him off his guard. Then having paused +a moment she sighed and shook her head, saying: "O God! what news! +what news! What will become of us?" + +"My dear lady," said Ignatius, "the Lord is merciful; we have soldiers +and plenty of powder; I have cleaned the cannon. We may repulse this +Pougatcheff. If the Lord is with us, the wolf will eat no one here." + +"Who is Pougatcheff?" asked the Commandant's wife. + +Ignatius saw that he had gone too far, and he bit his tongue. But it +was too late. Basilia constrained him to tell her all, having given +her word to keep the secret. She kept her word, and indeed told no +one except Accoulina, whose cow was still on the steppe and might be +carried off by the brigands. Soon every one talked of Pougatcheff, the +current reports being very different. The Commandant sent out the +Corporal to pick up information about him in all the neighboring +villages and little forts. The Corporal returned after an absence of +two days, and declared that he had seen on the steppe, sixty versts +from the fortress, a great many fires, and that he had heard the +Bashkirs say that an innumerable force was advancing. He could not +tell anything definitely, having been afraid to venture farther. + +Great agitation was soon after this observed amongst the Cossacks of +our garrison. They assembled in groups in the streets, speaking in a +low tone amongst themselves, and dispersing as soon as they perceived +a dragoon or other Russian soldier. Orders were given to watch them. +Zoulac, a baptized Kalmouk, made a very grave revelation to the +Commandant. According to the Kalmouk, the Cossack made a false report; +for to his comrades the perfidious Corporal said that he had advanced +to the rebel camp, had been presented to their rebel chief, had kissed +his hand and conversed with him. The Commandant ordered the Corporal +under arrest, and replaced him by the Kalmouk. This change was +received by the Cossacks with visible discontent. They openly murmured +and Ignatius, when executing the Commandant's order, heard them say, +with his own ears, "wait, garrison rat, wait!" + +The Commandant decided to examine the Corporal that same day, but he +had escaped, no doubt, by the aid of his brother Cossacks. Another +event increased the Captain's uneasiness. A Bashkir was seized bearing +seditious letters. Upon this occasion, the Commandant decided to +call at once a council, and in order to do so, wished to send away +his wife under some specious pretext. But as Mironoff was the +simplest and most truthful of men, he could think of no other device +than that already employed. + +"You see, Basilia," said he, coughing several times, "Father Garasim +has, it is said, been to the city--" + +"Silence! silence!" interrupted his wife; "you are going to call +another council and talk in my absence of Imiliane Pougatcheff, but +this time you can not deceive me." + +The Captain stared; "Eh! well! my dear," said he, "since you know all, +stay; we may as well speak before you." + +"You cannot play the fox," said his wife; "send for the officers." + +We assembled again. The Commandant read, before his wife, +Pougatcheff's proclamation, written by some half-educated Cossack. +The brigand declared to us his intention of marching directly upon our +fortress, inviting the Cossacks and soldiers to join him, and advising +the chiefs not to resist, threatening, in that case, extremest torture. +The proclamation was written in vulgar but energetic terms, and must +have produced an impression upon simple-minded people. + +"What a rascal!" exclaimed the Captain's wife. "Just see what he +proposes. To go out and meet him and lay our flags at his feet. +Ah! the son of a dog! He does not know that we have been forty years +in service, and that, thank God, we have seen all sorts of military +life. Is it possible to find a Commandant cowardly enough to obey +this robber?" + +"It ought not to be," replied the Captain, "but it is said that the +villain has taken possession of several fortress." + +"It appears he is quite strong," said Alexis. + +"We shall instantly know his real force," continued the Commandant; +"Basilia, give me the key of the garret. Ignatius, bring the Bashkir +here, and tell Zoulac to bring the rods." + +"Wait a little, my dear," said the Commandant's wife, leaving her seat; +"let me take Marie out of the house, or else she will hear the screams +and be frightened. And, to tell the truth, I am, myself, not very +curious about such investigations. Until I see you again, adieu." + +Torture was then so rooted in the customs of justice, that the humane +Ukase of Catherine II, who had ordered its abolition, remained long +without effect. It was thought that the confession of the accused was +indispensable to his condemnation, an idea not only unreasonable, but +contrary to the most simple good sense in matters of jurisprudence; for +if the denial of the accused is not accepted as proof of his innocence, +the confession which is torn from him by torture ought to serve still +less as proof of his guilt. Even now I sometimes hear old judges +regret the abolition of this barbarous custom. But in the time of our +story no one doubted the necessity of torture, neither the judges nor +the accused themselves. For this reason the Captain's order did not +astonish any of us. Ignatius went for the Bashkir, and a few minutes +later he was brought to the waiting-room. The Commandant ordered him +into the council-room where we were. + +The Bashkir crossed the threshold with difficulty, for his feet were +shackled. He took off his high Cossack cap and stood near the door. I +looked at him and shuddered, involuntarily. Never shall I forget that +man; he seemed at least seventy years of age, and had neither nose nor +ears. His head was shaved; a few sparse gray hairs took the place of +beard. He was small of stature, thin and bent; but his Tartar eyes +still sparkled. + +"Eh! eh!" said the Commandant, who recognized by these terrible signs +one of the rebels punished in 1741. "You are an old wolf, I see; you +have already been caught in our snares. This is not your first +offense, for your head is so well planed off." + +The old Bashkir was silent, and looked at the Commandant with an air +of complete imbecility. + +"Well! why are you silent?" continued the Captain; "do you not +understand Russian? Zoulac, ask him, in your tongue, who sent him +into our fortress." + +The Kalmouk repeated in the Tartar language the Captain's question. +But the Bashkir looked at him with the same expression and without +answering a word. + +"I will make you answer," exclaimed the Captain, with a Tartar oath. +"Come, take off his striped dressing-gown, his fool's garment, and +scourge him well." + +Two pensioners commenced to remove the clothing from the shoulders of +the old man. Then, sore distress was vividly depicted on the face of +the unfortunate man. He looked on all sides, like a poor little animal +caught by children. But when one of the pensioners seized his hands to +turn them around his neck and lift up the old man on his shoulders; +when Zoulac took the rods and raised his hand to strike, then the +Bashkir uttered a low, but penetrating moan, and raising his head, +opened his mouth, where, in place of a tongue, moved a short stump! + +We were still debating, when Basilia rushed breathlessly into the room +with a terrified air. "What has happened to you?" asked the Commandant, +surprised. + +"Misfortune! misfortune!" replied she. "A fort was taken this morning; +Father Garasim's boy has just returned. He saw how it was captured. +The Commandant and all the officers are hanged, all the soldiers made +prisoners, and the rebels are coming here." + +This unexpected news made a deep impression on me, for I knew the +Commandant of that fortress. Two months ago, the young man, traveling +with his bride coming from Orenbourg, had paid a visit to Captain +Mironoff. The fort he commanded was only twenty-five versts from ours, +so that from hour to hour we might expect an attack from Pougatcheff. + +My imagination pictured the fate of Marie, and I trembled for her. + +"Listen, Captain Mironoff," said I to the Commandant, "our duty is to +defend the fortress to our last breath; that is understood, but the +safety of the women must be thought of; send them to a more distant +fortress,--to Orenbourg, if the route be still open." + +Mironoff turned to his wife. "You see my dear! indeed it would be +well to send you somewhere farther off until we shall have defeated +the rebels." + +"What nonsense!" replied she. "Where is the fortress that balls have +not reached? In what respect is our fortress unsafe? Thank God, we +have lived here twenty and one years. We have seen Bashkirs and +Kirghis; Pougatcheff can not be worse than they." + +"My dear, stay if you will, since your faith is so great in our +fortress. But what shall we do with Marie? It will be all well if we +can keep off the robber, or if help reach us in time. If the fortress, +however, be taken--" + +Basilia could only stammer a few words, and was silent, choked by +her feelings. + +"No, Basilia," continued the Commandant, who remarked that his words +made a deep impression on his wife, perhaps for the first time in his +life, "it is not advisable that Marie stay here. Let us send her to +Orenbourg, to her god-mother's. That is a well-manned fortress, with +stone walls and plenty of cannon. I would advise you to go there +yourself; think what might happen to you were your fortress to be +taken by assault." + +"Well! well! let us send Marie away," said the Captain's wife, "but +do not dream of asking me to go, for I will do nothing of the kind. +It is not becoming, in my old age, to separate myself from thee and +seek a solitary grave in a strange place. We have lived together; +let us die together." + +"You are right," said the Commandant. "Go, and equip Marie; there +is no time to lose; tomorrow, at the dawn of day, she shall set out; +she must have a convoy, though indeed there is no one to spare. Where +is she?" + +"She is at Accoulina's," said his wife. "She fainted upon hearing that +the fortress had been taken." + +Basilia went to prepare for her daughter's departure. The discussion +still continued at the Commandant's, but I took no further part in it. +Marie reappeared at supper with eyes red from tears. We supped in +silence and rose from the table sooner than usual. Having bade the +family good night, each one sought his room. I forgot my sword, on +purpose, and went back for it; I anticipated finding Marie alone. +In truth she met me at the door and gave me my sword. + +"Adieu, Peter," she said, weeping, "they send me to Orenbourg. Be +happy. Perhaps God will permit us to meet again; if not--" + +She burst into tears. I folded her in my arms. + +"Adieu, my angel!" I said, "adieu my cherished, my beloved; what ever +happens, be sure that my last thought, my last prayer, will be for +thee." Leaning of my breast, Marie wept. I kissed her and rushed out. + + + + +VII. THE ASSAULT. + + +I could not sleep during the night, and did not even undress. I +intended to be at the fortress gates at day-dawn to see Marie set out, +and bid her a last adieu. I was completely changed. Excitement was +less painful than my former melancholy, for with the grief of +separation there mingled vague but secret hope, impatient expectation +of danger, and a high ambition. Night passed quickly. I was on the +point of going out, when my door opened, and the Corporal entered, +saying that our Cossacks had deserted the fortress during the night, +forcing with them Zoulac, the Christian Kalmouk, and that all around +our ramparts, unknown people were riding. The idea that Marie had not +been able to get off, froze me with terror. I gave, in haste, a few +instructions to the Corporal, and ran to the Commandant's. + +Day was breaking. I was going down the street swiftly when I heard my +name called. I stopped. + +"Where are you going, dare I ask?" said Ignatius, catching up with +me; "the Captain is on the rampart and sends me for you. Pougatcheff +is here." + +"Is Marie gone?" I said, shuddering. + +"She was not ready in time; communication with Orenbourg is cut off; +the fortress is surrounded. Peter, this is bad work." + +We went to the rampart--a small height formed by nature and fortified +by a palisade. The garrison was there under arms. The cannon had been +dragged there the evening before. The Commandant was walking up and +down before his little troop--the approach of danger had restored to +the old warrior extraordinary vigor. On the steppe, not far from the +fortress, there were some twenty horsemen, who looked like Cossacks; +but amongst them were a few Bashkirs, easily recognized by their caps +and quivers. The Commandant passed before the ranks of his small army +and said to the soldiers: "Come, boys, let us fight today for our +mother the Empress, and show the world that we are brave men and +faithful to our oath." + +The soldiers, with loud shouts, testified their good will. Alexis was +standing by me examining the enemy. The people on the steppe, seeing, +no doubt, some movement in our fort, collected in groups and spoke +amongst themselves. The Commandant ordered Ignatius to point the +cannon upon them, he himself applying the light. The ball whistled +over their heads without doing them any harm. The horsemen dispersed +at once, setting off on a gallop, and the steppe became deserted. At +this moment Basilia appeared on the rampart, followed by Marie, who +would not leave her. + +"Well," said the Captain's wife, "how is the battle going? Where is +the enemy?" + +"The enemy is not far off," replied Ivan, "but if God wills it, all +will be well; and thou, Marie, art thou afraid?" + +"No, papa," said Marie, "I am more afraid by myself in the house." She +glanced at me, and tried to smile. I pressed my sword, remembering +that I had received it from her on the preceding eve, as if for her +defense. My heart was on fire. I fancied myself her knight, and +longed to prove myself worthy of her trust. I awaited the decisive +moment impatiently. + +Suddenly coming from behind a hill, eight versts from the fortress, +appeared new groups of horsemen, and soon the whole steppe was covered +by men armed with lances and arrows. Amongst them, wearing a scarlet +cafetan, sword in hand, could be distinguished a man mounted on a +white horse. This was Pougatcheff himself. He halted, was surrounded +by his followers, and very soon, probably by his orders, four men +left the crowd and galloped to our ramparts. We recognized among +them our traitors. One of them raised a sheet of paper above his cap +and another carried on the point of his lance Zoulac's head, which he +threw to us over the palisade. The poor Kalmouk's head rolled at the +feet of the Commandant. + +The traitors shouted to us: "Do not fire, come out and receive the +Czar. The Czar is here." + +"Fire!" shouted the Captain as sole reply. + +The soldiers discharged their pieces. The Cossack who held the letter, +tottered and fell from his horse; the others fled. I glanced at Marie. +Petrified by horror at the sight of the Kalmouk's head, dizzy from the +noise of the discharge, she seemed lifeless. The Commandant ordered +the Corporal to take the letter from the hand of the dead Cossack. +Ignatius sallied out and returned, leading by the bridle the man's +horse. He gave the letter to Ivan, who read it in a low voice and +tore it up. Meantime the rebels were preparing for an attack. Very +soon balls whistled about our ears, and arrows fell around us, buried +deep in the ground. + +"Basilia," said the Captain, "women have nothing to do here; take away +Marie; you see the child is more dead than alive." Basilia, whom the +sound of the balls had rendered more yielding, glanced at the steppe +where much movement was visible, and said: "Ivan, life and death are +from God; bless Marie; come, child, to thy father." + +Pale and trembling, Marie came and knelt, bending low before him. The +old Commandant made three times the sign of the cross over her, then +raising, kissed her, and said in a broken voice: "Oh! my dear Marie! +pray to God, he will never abandon thee. If an honest man seek thee, +may God give you both love and goodness. Live together as we have +lived; my wife and I. Adieu! my dear Marie! Basilia, take her away +quickly." + +Marie put her arms around his neck and sobbed. The Captain's wife, in +tears, said: "Embrace us also; adieu, Ivan; if ever I have crossed +you, forgive me." + +"Adieu! adieu! my dear," said the Commandant, kissing his old +companion. "Come! enough! go to the house, and if you have time dress +Marie in her best; let her wear a sarafan, embroidered in gold, as is +our custom for burial." + +Ivan Mironoff returned to us, and fixed all his attention upon the +enemy. The rebels collected around their chief and suddenly began to +advance. "Be firm, boys," said the Commandant, "the assault begins." +At that instant savage war-cries were heard. The rebels were +approaching the fortress with their accustomed fleetness. Our cannon +was charged with grape and canister. The Commandant let them come +within short range, and again put a light to his piece. The shot +struck in the midst of the force, which scattered in every direction. +Only their chief remained in advance, and he, waving his sabre, seemed +to be rallying them. Their piercing shouts, which had ceased an +instant, redoubled again. "Now, children," ordered the Captain, "open +the gate, beat the drum, and advance! Follow me, for a sortie!" + +The Captain, Ignatius and I were in an instant beyond the parapet. +But the frightened garrison had not moved from the square. "What +are you doing, my children?" shouted the Captain; "if we must die, +let us die; the imperial service demands it!" + +At this moment the rebels fell upon us, and forced the entrance to +the citadel. The drum was silent; the garrison threw down their arms. +I had been knocked down, but I rose and entered, pell-mell, with the +crowds into the fortress. I saw the Commandant wounded on the head, +and closed upon by a small troop of bandits, who demanded the keys. +I was running to his aid when several powerful Cossacks seized me and +bound me with their long sashes, crying out: "Wait there, traitor to +the Czar, till we know what to do with you." + +We were dragged along the streets. The inhabitants came out of their +houses offering bread and salt. The bells were rung. Suddenly, shouts +announced that the Czar was on the square, awaiting to receive the +oaths of the prisoners. + +Pougatcheff was seated in an arm-chair on the steps of the Commandant's +house. He was robed in an elegant Cossack cafetan embroidered on the +seams. A high cap of martin-skin, ornamented with gold tassels, +covered his brow almost to his flashing eyes. His face seemed to me +not unknown. Cossack chiefs surrounded him. Father Garasim, pale and +trembling, stood, the cross in his hand, at the foot of the steps, and +seemed to supplicate in silence for the victims brought before him. + +On the square itself, a gallows was hastily erected. When we +approached, the Bashkirs opened a passage through the crowd and +presented us to Pougatcheff. The bells ceased; the deepest silence +prevailed. "Which is the Commandant?" asked the usurper. Our Corporal +came out of the crowd and pointed to Mironoff. Pougatcheff looked at +the old man with a terrible expression, and said to him: "How did you +dare to oppose me, your emperor?" + +The Commandant, weakened by his wound, collected all his energy, and +said, in a firm but faint voice: "You are not my emperor; you are a +usurper and a brigand." + +Pougatcheff frowned and raised his white handkerchief. Immediately the +old Captain was seized by Cossacks and dragged to the gibbet. Astride +the cross-beam of the gallows, sat the mutilated Bashkirs who we had +questioned; he held a rope in his hand, and I saw, an instant after, +poor Ivan Mironoff suspended in the air. Then Ignatius was brought up +before Pougatcheff. + +"Take the oath to the emperor, Peter Fedorovitch." + +"You are not our emperor," replied the Lieutenant, repeating his +Captain's words, "you are a brigand and a usurper." + +Pougatcheff again made a signal with his handkerchief, and the kind +Ignatius hung beside his ancient chief. It was my turn. I looked +boldly at Pougatcheff, preparing to repeat the words of my brave +comrades, when to my inexpressible astonishment I saw Alexis amongst +the rebels. He had had time to cut his hair round, and exchange his +uniform for a Cossack cafetan. He approached Pougatcheff and whispered +to him. "Let him be hung," said Pougatcheff, not deigning to look at +me. A rope was put around my neck. I uttered a prayer to God in a low +voice, expressing sincere repentance for my sins, and imploring him to +save all those dear to my heart. I was led beneath the gibbet. A +shout was heard, "Stop! Stop!" The executioners paused. I looked. +Saveliitch was kneeling at Pougatcheff's feet. "O my lord and master," +said my dear old serf, "what do you want with that nobleman's child? +Set him free, you will get a good ransom for his life; but for an +example, and to frighten the rest, command that I, an old man, shall +be hung." + +Pougatcheff made a sign. They unbound me at once. "Our emperor +pardons you," they said. At the moment I did not know that my +deliverance was a cause for joy or for sorrow. My mind was too +confused. I was taken again before the usurper and made to kneel at +his feet. Pougatcheff offered me his muscular hand. "Kiss his hand! +Kiss his hand!" cried out all around me. But I would have preferred +the most atrocious torture to a degradation so infamous. "My dear +Peter," whispered Saveliitch, who was standing behind me, "do not +play the obstinate; what does it cost? Kiss the brigand's hand." + +I did not move. Pougatcheff drew back his hand: "His lordship is +stupefied with joy; raise him up," said he. I was at liberty. Then +I witnessed the continuation of the infamous comedy. + +The inhabitants began to take the oath. They went one by one to kiss +the cross and salute the usurper. After them came the garrison +soldiers. The company's tailor, armed with his great blunt-pointed +shears, cut off their queues; they shook their heads and kissed the +hand of Pougatcheff, who declared them pardoned and received into his +troops. This lasted for nearly three hours. At last Pougatcheff rose +from his arm-chair and went down the steps, followed by his chiefs. A +white horse richly caparisoned was led to him; tow Cossacks helped him +into the saddle. He signified to Father Garasim that he would dine +with him. At this moment wild heart-rending shrieks from a woman +filled the air. Basilia, without her mantle, her hair in disorder, +1was dragged out on the steps; one the brigands had on her mantle; the +others were carrying away her chests, her linen, and other household +goods. "O good men," she cried, "let me go, take me to Ivan Mironoff." +Suddenly she saw the gibbet and recognized her husband. "Wretches," +she cried, "What have you done? O my light, Ivan! Brave soldier! no +Prussian ball, nor Turkish sabre killed thee, but a vile condemned +deserter." + +"Silence that old sorceress," said Pougatcheff. + +A young Cossack struck her with his sabre on the head. She fell +dead at the foot of the steps. Pougatcheff rode off, all the +people following. + + + + +VIII. THE UNEXPECTED VISIT. + + +I stood in the vacant square, unable to collect my thoughts, disturbed +by so many terrible emotions. Uncertainty about Marie's fate tortured +me. Where is she? Is she concealed? Is her retreat safe? I went to +the Commandant's house. It was in frightful disorder; the chairs, +tables, presses had been burned up and the dishes were in fragments. +I rushed up the little stairs leading to Marie's room, which I entered +for the first time in my life. A lamp still burned before the shrine +which had enclosed the sacred objects revered by all true believers. +The clothes-press was empty, the bed broke up. The robbers had not +taken the little mirror hanging between the door and the window. What +had become of the mistress of this simple, virginal abode? A terrible +thought flashed through my mind. Marie in hands of the brigands! +My heart was torn, and I cried aloud: "Marie! Marie!" I heard a +rustle. Polacca, quite pale, came from her hiding-place behind the +clothes-press. + +"Ah! Peter," said she, clasping her hands, "what a day! what horrors!" + +"Marie?" I asked impatiently, "Marie--where is she?" + +"The young lady is alive," said the maid, "concealed at Accoulina's, +at the house of the Greek priest." + +"Great God!" I cried, with terror, "Pougatcheff is there!" + +I rushed out of the room, made a bound into the street and ran wildly +to the priest's house. It was ringing with songs, shouts and laughter. +Pougatcheff was at table there with his men. Polacca had followed me; +I sent her in to call out Accoulina secretly. Accoulina came into the +waiting-room, an empty bottle in her hand. + +"In the name of heaven, where is Marie?" I asked with agitation. + +"The little dove is lying on my bed behind the partition. Oh! Peter, +what danger we have just escaped! The rascal had scarcely seated +himself at table than the poor thing moaned. I thought I should die +of fright. He heard her. 'Who is moaning in your room, old woman?' +'My niece, Czar.' 'Let me see your niece, old woman.' I saluted him +humbly; 'My niece, Czar, has not strength to come before your grace.' +'Then I will go and see her.' And will you believe it, he drew the +curtains and looked at our dove, with his hawk's eyes! The child did +not recognize him. Poor Ivan Mironoff! Basilia! Why was Ignatius +taken, and you spared? What do you think of Alexis? He has cut his +hair and now hobnobs with them in there. When I spoke of my sick +niece he looked at me as if he would run me through with his knife. +But he said nothing, and we must be thankful for that." + +The drunken shouts of the guests, and the voice of Father Garasim now +resounded together; the brigands wanted more wine, and Accoulina was +needed. "Go back to your house, Peter," said she, "woe to you, if you +fall into his hands!" + +She went to serve her guests; I, somewhat quieted, returned to my room. +Crossing the square, I saw some Bashkirs stealing the boots from the +bodies of the dead. I restrained my useless anger. The brigands had +been through the fortress and had pillaged the officers' houses. + +I reached my lodging. Saveliitch met me at the threshold. "Thank +God!" he cried. "Ah! master, the rascals have taken everything; but +what matter, since they did not take your life. Did you not recognize +their chief, master?" + +"No, I did not; who is he?" + +"What, my dear boy, have you forgotten the drunkard who cheated you +out of the touloup the day of the snow-drift--a hare-skin touloup?-- +the rascal burst all the seams putting it on." + +My eyes were opened. The resemblance between the guide and Pougatcheff +was striking. I now understood the pardon accorded me. I recalled +with gratitude the lucky incident. A youth's touloup given to a +vagabond had saved my neck; and this drunkard, capturing fortress, +had shaken the very empire. + +"Will you not deign to eat something?" said Saveliitch, true to his +instincts; "there is nothing in the house, it is true, but I will find +something and prepare it for you." + +Left alone, I began to reflect that not to leave the fortress, now +subject to the brigand, or to join his troops, would be unworthy of +an officer. Duty required me to go and present myself where I could +still be useful to my country. But love counseled me, with no less +force, to stay near Marie, to be her protector and champion. Although +I foresaw a near and inevitable change in the march of events, still I +could not, without trembling, contemplate the danger of her position. + +My reflections were interrupted by the entrance of a Cossack, who came +to announce that the "great Czar" called me to his presence. "Where is +he?" I asked, preparing to obey. "In the commandant's house," replied +the Cossack. "After dinner the Czar went to the vapor baths. It must +be confessed that all his ways are imperial! He can do more than +others; at dinner he deigned to eat two roast milk-pigs; afterward at +the bath he endured the highest degree of heat; even the attendant +could not stand it; he handed the brush to another and was restored to +consciousness only by the application of cold water. It is said that +in the bath, the marks of the true Czar were plainly seen on his +breast--a picture of his own face and a double-headed eagle." + +I did not think it necessary to contradict the Cossack, and I followed +him to the Commandant's, trying to fancy in advance my interview with +Pougatcheff, and its result. The reader may imagine that I was not +quite at ease. Night was falling as I reached the house. The gibbet +with its victims still stood, black and terrible. The poor body of our +good Basilia was lying under the steps, near which two Cossacks mounted +guard. He who had brought me, entered to announce my arrival; he +returned at once, and led me to the room where the evening before I had +taken leave of Marie. At a table covered with a cloth, and laden with +bottles and glasses, sat Pougatcheff, surrounded by some ten Cossack +chiefs in colored caps and shirts, with flushed faces and sparkling +eyes, the effect, no doubt, of the wine-cup. + +I saw neither of our traitors, Alexis or the Corporal, amongst them. + +"Ah! your lordship, it is you?" said their chief, on seeing me. "Be +welcome! Honor and place at the table!" + +The guests drew closer together. I took a place at the end of the +table. My neighbor, a young Cossack of slender form and handsome face, +poured out a bumper of brandy for me. I did not taste it. I was busy +considering the assembly. Pougatcheff was seated in the place of +honor, elbow on table, his heavy, black beard resting upon his muscular +hand. His features, regular and handsome, had no ferocious expression. +He often spoke to a man of some fifty years, calling him now Count, +again Uncle. All treated each other as comrades, showing no very +marked deference for their chief. They talked of the assault that +morning; of the revolt, its success, and of their next operations. +Each one boasted of his prowess, gave his opinions, and freely +contradicted Pougatcheff. In this strange council of war, they +resolved to march upon Orenbourg, a bold move, but justified by +previous successes. The departure was fixed for the next day. Each +one drank another bumper, and rising, took leave of Pougatcheff. I +wished to follow them, but the brigand said: "Wait, I want to speak +to you." + +Pougatcheff looked at me fixedly in silence for a few seconds, winking +his left eye with the most cunning, mocking expression. At last he +burst into a long peal of laughter, so hearty, that I, just from seeing +him, began to laugh, without knowing why. + +"Well, my lord," said he, "confess that you were frightened, when my +boys put the rope around your neck? The sky must have seemed to you +then as big as a sheep-skin. And if not for your servant, you would +have been swinging up there from the cross-beam; but at that very +instant I recognized the old owl. Would you have thought that the man +who led you to a shelter on the steppe was the great Czar himself?" +Saying these words, he assumed a grave and mysterious air. "You have +been very guilty," continued he, "but I have pardoned you, for having +done me a kindness, when I was obliged to hide from my enemies. I +shall load you with favors, when I shall have regained my empire. Do +you promise to serve me with zeal?" + +The bandit's question and impudence made me smile. + +"Why do you laugh?" said he, frowning, "do you not believe that I am +the great Czar? Answer frankly." + +I was troubled. I could not recognize a vagabond as the emperor; to +call him an impostor to his face was to doom myself to death; and the +sacrifice which I was ready to make under the gibbet that morning, +before all the people, in the first flush of indignation, seemed now +a useless bravado. Pougatcheff awaited my answer in fierce silence. +At last (I still remember with satisfaction that duty triumphed over +human weakness) I replied to Pougatcheff. + +"I will tell you the truth and let you decide. Should I recognize you +as the Czar, as you are a man of intelligence, you would see that I am +lying." + +"Then who am I? in your opinion." + +"God knows, but whoever you are, you are playing a dangerous game." + +Pougatcheff gave me a sharp, quick glance. "You do not believe that I +am the emperor, Peter III? Be it so. Have not bold men succeeded +before me and obtained the crown? Think what you please about me, but +stay with me. What matters it whom you serve? Success is right. +Serve under me, and I will make you a field-marshal, a prince. What +say you?" + +"No," said I. "I am a nobleman. I have taken an oath to her majesty, +the Empress; I can not serve with you. If truly you wish me well, send +me to Orenbourg." + +Pougatcheff reflected. "If I send you there, you will, at least, +promise not to bear arms against me?" + +"How can I promise that? If I am ordered to march against you, I must +go. You are now a chief; you desire your subordinates to obey you. +No, my life is in your hand; if you give me liberty, thanks; if you +put me to death, may God judge you." + +My frankness pleased him. "Be it so," said he, slapping me on the +shoulders, "pardon or punish to the end. You can go the four quarters +of the world, and do as you like. Come tomorrow, and bid me good-bye. +Now go to bed--I require rest myself." + +I went out into the street. The night was clear and cold; the moon and +stars shone out in all their brightness, lighting up the square and the +gibbet. All was quiet and dark in the rest of the fortress. At the +inn some lights were visible, and belated drinkers broke the stillness +by their shouts. I glanced at Accoulina's house; the doors and windows +were closed, and all seemed perfectly quiet there. I went to my room, +and found Saveliitch deploring my absence. I told him of my freedom. +"Thanks to thee, O God!" said he, making the sign of the cross; +"tomorrow we shall set out at daybreak. I have prepared something for +you; eat and then sleep till morning, tranquil as if in the bosom of +the Good Shepherd." + +I followed his advice, and after having supped, fell asleep on the bare +floor, as fatigued in mind as in body. + + + + +IX. THE SEPARATION. + + +The drum awoke me early the next morning. I went out on the square. +Pougatcheff's troops were there, falling into rank, around the gibbet, +to which still hung the victims of yesterday. The Cossacks were +mounted; the infantry and artillery, with our single gun, were +accoutred ready for the march. The inhabitants were also assembled +there awaiting the usurper. Before the steps of the Commandant's +house a Cossack held by the bridle a magnificent white horse. My +eyes sought the body of our good Basilia. It had been dragged aside +and covered with an old bark mat. At last Pougatcheff came out on +the steps, and saluted the crowd. All heads were bared. One of the +chiefs handed him a bag of copper coin, which he threw by the handful +among the people. Perceiving me in the crowd, he signed to me to +approach. + +"Listen," said he, "go at once to Orenbourg, and say from me, to the +Governor and all the Generals, that I shall be there in a week. +Counsel them to receive me with submission and filial love, otherwise +they shall not escape the direst torture. A pleasant journey to you." +The principal followers of Pougatcheff surrounded him, Alexis amongst +others. The usurper turned to the people, and pointing to Alexis, +said: "Behold your new Commandant; obey him in every thing; he is +responsible for you and for the fortress." + +The words made me shudder. What would become of Marie? Pougatcheff +descended the steps and vaulted quickly into his saddle without the +aid of his attendant Cossacks. At that moment Saveliitch came out of +the crowd, approached the usurper, and presented him a sheet of paper. + +"What is this?" asked Pougatcheff, with dignity. + +"Read, you will deign to see," replied the serf. + +Pougatcheff examined the paper. "You write very illegibly; where is +my Secretary?" + +A boy in corporal's uniform came running to the brigand. "Read aloud," +said he. I was curious to know for what purpose the old man had +written to Pougatcheff. The Secretary began to spell out in a loud +voice what follows: + +"Two dressing-gowns, one in percale, the other in striped silk, +six roubles." + +"What does this mean?" said Pougatcheff, frowning. + +"Command him to read on," replied Saveliitch, with perfect calmness. + +The Secretary continued: "One uniform in fine green cloth, seven +roubles; one pair of white cloth pantaloons, five roubles; twelve +shirts of Holland linen, with cuffs, ten roubles; one case containing +a tea-service, two roubles." + +"What nonsense is this?" said Pougatcheff. + +"What have I to do with tea-sets and Holland cuffs?" + +Saveliitch coughed to clear his voice, and began to explain: "That, my +lord, deign to understand, is the bill of my master's goods carried off +by the thieves." + +"What thieves?" asked Pougatcheff, with a terrible air. + +"Pardon me," said Saveliitch. "Thieves? No, they were not thieves; my +tongue slipped; yet your boys went through everything and carried off +plenty. That can not be denied. Do not be angry. The horse has four +legs and yet he stumbles. Command that he read to the end." + +"Well, read," said Pougatcheff. + +"One Persian blanket, one quilt of wadded silk, four roubles; one +pelisse of fox-skin, covered with red ratine, forty roubles; one small +touloup of hare-skin left with your grace, on the steppe, fifteen +roubles." + +"What?" cried Pougatcheff, with flashing eyes. + +I must say I feared for the old man, who was beginning new explanations, +when the brigand interrupted him: + +"How dare you annoy me with these trifles?" said he, snatching the +paper from the Secretary and throwing it in the old man's face. "You +have been despoiled! old fool! great harm! You ought to thank God +that you are not hanging up there, with the other rebels, both you +and your master. I'll give you a hare-skin touloup! Do you know +that I will have you flayed alive, that touloups may be made of you?" + +"As you please," replied Saveliitch; "but I am not a free man, and I +am responsible for my master's goods." + +Pougatcheff, who was evidently playing the magnanimous, turned his head +and set off without a word. Alexis and the other chiefs followed him. +The whole army left the fortress in good order, the people forming an +escort. I stayed alone on the square with Saveliitch, who held in his +hand the bill and considered it with deep regret. I could not help +laughing. + +"Laugh, my lord, laugh, but when the household is to be furnished +again, we shall see if it be a laughing matter." + +I went to learn of Marie Mironoff. Accoulina met me and told me a sad +piece of news. During the night a burning fever had seized the poor +girl. Accoulina took me into her chamber. The invalid was delirious +and did not recognize me. I was shocked by the change in her +countenance. The position of this sorrowing orphan, without defenders, +alarmed me as much as my inability to protect grieved me. Alexis, +above all, was to be feared. Chief, invested with the usurper's +authority, in the fortress with this unhappy girl, he was capable of +any crime. What ought I to do to deliver her? To set out at once for +Orenbourg, to hasten the deliverance of Belogorsk, and to co-operate +in it, if possible. I took leave of Father Garasim and Accoulina, +recommending to them Marie, who I already looked upon as my wife. I +kissed the young girl's hand, and left the room. + +"Adieu, Peter Grineff," said Accoulina. "Do not forget us. Except +you, Marie has no support or consolation." Choked by emotion, I did +not reply. Out on the square, I stopped an instant before the gibbet. +With bare head I reverently saluted the loyal dead, and took the road +to Orenbourg, accompanied by Saveliitch, who would not abandon me. +Thus plunged in thought, I walked on. Hearing horses galloping behind +me, I turned my head and saw a Cossack from the fortress leading a +horse, and making signs to me that I should wait. I recognized our +Corporal. Having caught up with us, he dismounted from his own horse, +and giving me the bridle of the other, said: "Our Czar makes you a +gift of a horse, and a pelisse from his own shoulder." To the saddle +was tied a sheep-skin touloup. I put it on, mounted the horse, taking +Saveliitch up behind me. "You see, my lord," said my serf, "that my +petition to the bandit was not useless! And although this old hack and +this peasant's touloup are not worth half what the rascals stole, yet +they are better than nothing. 'A worthless dog yields even a handful +of hair.'" + + + + +X. THE SIEGE. + + +Approaching Orenbourg, we saw a crowd of convicts, with shaved heads +and faces disfigured by the pincers of the public executioner. At +that time red-hot irons were applied to tear out the nostrils of the +condemned. They were working at the fortifications of the place under +the supervision of the garrison pensioners. Some carried away in +wheel-barrows the rubbish that filled the ditch, others threw up the +earth, while masons were examining and repairing the walls. The sentry +stopped us at the gate and asked for our passports. When the sergeant +heard that we were from Belogorsk he took me at once to the General, +who was in his garden. I found him examining the apple trees, which +autumnal winds had already despoiled of their leaves; assisted by an +old gardener, he covered them carefully with straw. His face expressed +calmness, good humor and health. He seemed very glad to see me, and +questioned me about the terrible events I had witnessed. The old man +heard me attentively, and whilst listening, cut off the dead branches. + +"Poor Mironoff!" said he, when I had finished my story; "it is a pity; +he was a brave officer; and Madame Mironoff a kind lady, an expert in +pickling mushrooms. What has become of Marie, the Captain's daughter?" + +"She is in the fortress, at the house of the Greek priest." + +"Aye! aye! aye!" exclaimed the General. "That's bad, very bad; for it +is impossible to depend upon the discipline of brigands." + +I observed that the fortress of Belogorsk was not far off, and that +probably his Excellency would send a detachment of troops to deliver +the poor inhabitants. + +The General shook his head, doubtfully. "We shall see! we shall see! +there is plenty of time to talk about it; come, I beg you, to take tea +with me. Tonight there will be a council of war; you can give us some +precise information regarding this Pougatcheff and his army. Meantime, +go and rest." + +I went to my allotted quarters, where I found Saveliitch already +installed. I awaited impatiently the hour indicated, and the reader +may believe that I did not fail to be present at this council, which +was to influence my whole life. I found at the General's a custom- +house officer, the Director, as well as I can remember a little old +man, red-faced and fat, wearing a robe of black watered silk. He +questioned me about the fate of the Captain Mironoff, whom he called +his chum, and often interrupted me by sententious remarks, which, if +they did not prove him to be a man well versed in war, showed his +natural intelligence and shrewdness. During this time other guests +arrived. When all had taken their places, and to each had been +offered a cup of tea, the General carefully stated the questions to +be considered. + +"Now, gentlemen," said he, "we must decide what action is to be taken +against the rebels. Shall we act offensively, or defensively? Each +of these ways has its advantages and disadvantages. Offensive war +presents more hope of a rapid extermination of the enemy, but defensive +war is safer and offers fewer dangers. Let us then take the vote in +legal order; that is, consult first the youngest in rank. Ensign," +continued he, addressing me, "deign to give your opinion." + +I rose, and in a few words depicted Pougatcheff and his army. I +affirmed that the usurper was not in a condition to resist disciplined +forces. My opinion was received by the civil service employes with +visible discontent. They saw nothing in it but the levity of a young +man. A murmur arose, and I heard distinctly the word "hare-brained" +murmured in a low voice. The General turned to me smiling, and said: + +"Ensign, the first votes (the youngest) in war councils, are for +offensive measures. Now let us continue to collect the votes. The +College Director will give us his opinion." + +The little old man in black silk, a College Director, as well as a +customs officer, swallowed his third cup of tea, well dashed with a +strong dose of rum, and hastened to speak: + +"Your Excellency," said he, "I think that we ought to act neither +offensively nor defensively." + +"What's that, sir?" said the General, stupefied; "military tactics +present no other means; we must act either offensively or defensively." + +"Your Excellency, act _subornatively_." + +"Eh! eh! Your opinion is judicious," said the General; "subornative +acts--that is to say, indirect acts--are also admitted by the science +of tactics, and we will profit by your counsel. We might offer for the +rascal's head seventy or even a hundred roubles, to be taken out of the +secret funds." + +"And then," interrupted the man in silk, "may I be a Kirghis ram, +instead of a College Director, if the thieves do not bring their chief +to you, chained hand and foot." + +"We can think about it," said the General. "But let us, in any case, +take some military measures. Gentlemen, give your votes in legal +order." + +All the opinions were contrary to mine. All agreed, that it was better +to stay behind a strong stone wall, protected by cannon, than to tempt +fortune in the open field. Finally, when all the opinions were known, +the General shook the ashes from his pipe and pronounced the following +discourse: + +"Gentlemen, I am of the Ensign's opinion, for it is according to the +science of military tactics, which always prefers offensive movements +to defensive." He stopped and stuffed the tobacco into his pipe. I +glanced exultingly at the civil service employes, who, with +discontented looks, were whispering to each other. + +"But, gentlemen," continued he, giving out with a sigh a long puff of +smoke, "I dare not assume the responsibility. I go with the majority, +which has decided that we await in this city the threatened siege, and +repulse the enemy by the power of artillery, and if possible, by well- +directed sorties." + +The council broke up. I could not but deplore the weakness of the +worthy soldier, who, contrary to his own convictions, decided to follow +the opinion of ignorant inexperience. + +Some days after this famous council of war, Pougatcheff, true to his +word, approached Orenbourg. From the top of the city walls I made a +reconnaissance of the rebel army. It seemed to me that their number +had increased ten-fold. They had more artillery, taken from the small +forts captured by Pougatcheff. Remembering our council, I foresaw a +long captivity behind the walls of Orenbourg, and I was ready to cry +with chagrin. Far from me the intention of describing the siege of +Orenbourg, which belongs to history and not to family memoirs. Suffice +it to say, that this siege was disastrous to the inhabitants, who had +to suffer hunger and privations of every kind. Life at Orenbourg +became insupportable. The decision of fate was awaited with anguish. +Food was scarce; bombshells fell upon the defenseless houses of +citizens. The attacks of Pougatcheff made very little excitement. I +was dying of _ennui_. I had promised Accoulina that I would correspond +with her, but communication was cut off, and I could not send or +receive a letter from Belogorsk. My only pastime consisted in military +sorties. Thanks to Pougatcheff I had an excellent horse, and I shared +my meager pittance with it. I went out every day beyond the ramparts +to skirmish with Pougatcheff's advance guards. The rebels had the best +of it; they had plenty of food and were well mounted. Our poor cavalry +were in no condition to oppose them. Sometimes our half-starved +infantry went into the field; but the depth of the snow hindered them +from acting successfully against the flying cavalry of the enemy. The +artillery vainly thundered from the ramparts, and in the field it could +not advance, because of the weakness of our attenuated horses. This +was our way of making war; this is what the civil service employes of +Orenbourg called prudence and foresight. + +One day when we had routed and driven before us quite a large troop, I +overtook a straggling Cossack; my Turkish sabre was uplifted to strike +him when he doffed his cap and cried out: "Good day, Peter, how fares +your health?" + +I recognized our Corporal. I was delighted to see him. + +"Good day, Maxim. How long since you left Belogorsk?" + +"Not long, Peter. I came yesterday. I have a letter for you." + +"Where is it?" I cried, delighted. + +"Here," replied Maxim, putting his hand in his bosom. "I promised +Polacca to try and give it to you." He gave me a folded paper, and +set off on a gallop. I read with agitation the following lines: + +"By the will of God I am deprived of my parents, and except you, Peter, +I know of no one who can protect me; Alexis commands in place of my +late father. He so terrified Father Garasim that I was obliged to go +and live at our house, where I am cruelly treated by Alexis. He will +force me to become his wife. He says he saved my life by not betraying +the trick of passing for the niece of Accoulina. I could rather die +than be his wife. I have three days to accept his offer; after that I +need expect no mercy from him. O, Peter! entreat your General to send +us help, and if possible, come yourself. MARIE MIRONOFF." + +This letter nearly crazed me. I rushed back to the city, not sparing +the spur to my poor horse. A thousand projects flashed through my mind +to rescue her. Arrived in the city, I hurried to the General's and ran +into his room. He was walking up and down smoking his meerschaum. +Seeing me he stopped, alarmed at my abrupt entrance. + +"Your Excellency, I come to you, as to my own father; do not refuse me; +the happiness of my life depends upon it." + +"But what is it?" said the General; "what can I do for you?" + +"Your Excellency, permit me to take a battalion of soldiers and half a +hundred Cossacks, to go and storm the fortress of Belogorsk." + +"Storm the fortress?" said the General. + +"I answer for the success of the attack, only let me go." + +"No, young man," said he; "at so great a distance the enemy would +easily cut off all communication with the principal strategic point." + +I was frightened by his military wisdom, and hastened to interrupt him: +"Captain Mironoff's daughter has written me, begging for relief. +Alexis threatens to compel her to be his wife!" + +"Ah! Alexis, traitor! If he fall into my hands I shall try him in +twenty-four hours, and he shall be shot on the glacis of the fortress! +meantime patience." + +"Patience!" I cried; "in the interval Marie will be compelled to +obey him." + +"Oh," said the General, "that would not be a misfortune--it is better +that she should become the wife of Alexis, who can protect her. When +we shall have shot the traitor, then she will find a better husband." + +"I would rather die," I said with fury, "than yield her to Alexis." + +"I understand it all now," said the old man. "You are, no doubt, in +love yourself with Marie Mironoff. That's another thing. Poor boy! +Still, I can not give you a battalion and fifty Cossacks. The thing is +unreasonable." I hung my head in despair. But I had a plan of my own. + + + + +XI. THE REBEL CAMP. + + +I left the General and hastened to my quarters. Saveliitch received me +with his usual remonstrance: "What pleasure, my lord, is there in +fighting these drunken brigands? If they were Turks or Swedes, all +right; but these sons of dogs--" + +I interrupted him: "How much money have I in all?" + +"You have plenty," said he with a satisfied air. "I knew how to whisk +it out of sight of the rogues." He drew from his pocket a long knitted +purse full of silver coin. + +"Saveliitch, give me half of what you have there, and keep the rest +for yourself. I am off for the fortress of Belogorsk." + +"Oh, Peter!" said the old serf, "do you not fear God? The roads are +cut off. Have pity on your parents; wait a little; our troops will +come and disperse the brigands, and then you can go to the four +quarters of the world." + +"It is too late to reflect. I must go. Do not grieve, Saveliitch; I +make you a present of that money. Buy what you need. If I do not +return in three days--" + +"My dear," said the old man, "I will go with you, were it on foot. If +you go, I must first lose my senses before I will stay crouching behind +stone walls." + +There was never any use disputing with the old man. In half an hour +I was in the saddle, Saveliitch on an old, half-starved, limping +rosinante, which a citizen, not having fodder, had given for nothing +to the serf. We reached the city gates; the sentinels let us pass, +and we were finally out of Orenbourg. Night was falling. My road lay +before the town of Berd, the headquarters of Pougatcheff. This road +was blocked up and hidden by snow; but across the steppe were traces +of horses, renewed from day to day, apparently, and clearly visible. +I was going at a gallop, Saveliitch could scarcely keep up and shouted, +"Not so fast! My nag can not follow yours." Very soon we saw the +lights of Berd. We were approaching deep ravines, which served as +natural fortifications to the town. Saveliitch, without however being +left behind, never ceased his lamentations. I was in hopes of passing +safely the enemy's place, when I saw through the darkness five peasants +armed with big sticks--Pougatcheff's extreme outpost. + +"_Qui vive_! Who goes there?" + +Not knowing the watchword, I was for going on without answering. But +one of them seized my horse's bridle. I drew my sabre and struck the +peasant of the head. His cap saved his life; he staggered and fell; +the others, frightened, let me pass. The darkness, which was +deepening, might have saved me from further hindrance; when, looking +back, I saw that Saveliitch was not with me. What was I to do? The +poor old man, with his lame horse, could not escape from the rascals. +I waited a minute; then, sure that they must have seized him, I turned +my horse's head to go and aid him. Approaching the ravine I heard +voices, and recognized that of Saveliitch. Hastening my steps, was +soon within sight of the peasants. They had dismounted the old man, +and were about to garrote him. They rushed upon me; in an instant I +was on foot. Their chief said I should be conducted to the Czar. I +made no resistance. We crossed the ravine to enter the town, which was +illuminated. The streets were crowded and noisy. We were taken to a +hut on the corner of two streets. There were some barrels of wine and +a cannon near the door. One of the peasants said: "Here is the +palace; we will announce you." I glanced at Saveliitch; he was making +signs of the cross, and praying. We waited a long time. At last +the peasant re-appeared and said: "The Czar orders the officers to +his presence." + +The palace, as the peasant called it, was lighted by two tallow +candles. The walls were hung with gold paper. But every thing else, +the benches, the table, the basin hung up by a cord, the towel on a +nail in the wall, the shelf laden with earthen vessels, were exactly +the same as in any other cabin. Pougatcheff, wearing his scarlet +cafetan and high Cossack cap, with his hand on his hip, sat beneath +the sacred pictures common to every Russian abode. Around him stood +several of his chiefs. I could see that the arrival of an officer +from Orenbourg had awakened some curiosity, and that they had prepared +to receive me with pomp. Pougatcheff recognized me at once, and his +assumed gravity disappeared. + +"Ah! it is your lordship! how are you? What brings you here?" + +I replied that I was traveling about my private business, when his +people arrested me. + +"What business?" asked he. I did not know what to answer. Pougatcheff +thinking that I would not speak before witnesses gave a sign to his +comrades to leave. All obeyed except two. "Speak before these," said +he; "conceal nothing from them." + +I glanced at these intimates of the usurper. One was an old man frail +and bent, remarkable for nothing but a blue riband crossed over his +coarse gray cloth cafetan; but I shall never forget his companion. He +was tall, of powerful build, and seemed about forty-five. A thick red +beard, piercing gray eyes, a nose without nostrils, marks of the +searing irons on his forehead and cheeks, gave to his broad face, +pitted by small-pox a most fierce expression. He wore a red shirt, +a Kirghis robe, and wide Cossack pantaloons. Although wholly pre- +occupied by my own feelings, yet this company deeply impressed me. +Pougatcheff recalled me to myself quickly. + +"What business brought you from Orenbourg?" + +A bold idea suggested itself to my mind. It seemed to me that +Providence, leading me a second time before this robber, gave me the +means of accomplishing my work. I decided to seize the chance, and +without reflecting on the step, I replied: + +"I am on the way to the fortress of Belogorsk to liberate an oppressed +orphan there." + +Pougatcheff's eyes flashed. "Who dares to oppress an orphan? Were he +seven feet high, he shall not escape my vengeance. Speak, who is the +guilty one?" + +"Alexis; he holds in slavery that same young girl whom you saw at +Father Garasim's, and wants to force her to marry him." + +"I shall give Alexis a lesson! I'll teach him to oppress my subjects. +I shall hang him." + +"Permit me a word," said the man without nostrils. "You were too hasty +giving the command to Alexis. You offended the Cossacks by giving them +a noble as chief; do not offend the gentlemen by hanging one of them on +the first accusation." + +"There is no need to pardon nor pity," said the man with the blue +riband. "It would be no harm to hang Alexis, nor to question this +gentleman. Why does he visit us? If he does not acknowledge you as +Czar he has no justice to get at your hands; if he acknowledge you, +why did he stay at Orenbourg with your enemies? Will you not order +him to prison, and have a fire lighted there?" + +The old rascal's logic seemed plausible even to myself. I shuddered +when I remembered into whose hands I had fallen. Pougatcheff saw my +trouble. + +"Eh! eh! your lordship," said he, winking, "it seems my field-marshal +is right. What do you think?" + +The jesting tone of the chief restored my courage. I replied calmly +that I was in his power. + +"Well," said Pougatcheff, "tell me now the condition of your city?" + +"It is, thank God, in a good state." + +"A good condition," repeated the brigand, "when the people are dying +of hunger." + +The usurper was right, but according to the duty imposed by my oath, I +affirmed that it was a false report, and that the fort was sufficiently +provisioned. + +"You see he deceives you," interrupted the man with the riband. "All +the deserters are unanimous in saying that famine and pestilence are at +Orenbourg; that thistles are eaten as dainties there. If you wish to +hang Alexis, hang on the same gibbet this young fellow, that they may +be equal." + +These words seemed to shake the chief. Happily the other wretch +opposed this view. + +"Silence," said this powerful fellow. "You think of nothing but +hanging and strangling. It becomes _you_ to play the hero. To look +at you, no one knows where your soul is." + +"And which of the saints are you?" replied the old man. + +"Generals," said Pougatcheff, with dignity, "an end to your quarrels. +It would be no great loss if all the mangy dogs from Orenbourg were +dangling their legs under the same cross-beam; but it would be a +misfortune if our own good dogs should bite each other." + +Feeling the necessity of changing the conversation, I turned to +Pougatcheff with a smile, and said: + +"Ah! I forgot to thank you for the horse and touloup. Without your aid +I should not have reached the city. I would have died from cold on the +journey." My trick succeeded. Pougatcheff regained his good humor. + +"The beauty of debt is the payment thereof," said he, winking. "Tell +me your story. What have you to do with the young girl that Alexis +persecutes? Has she caught your heart, too?" + +"She is my promised bride" said I, seeing no risk in speaking +the truth. + +"Your promised bride! Why did you not tell me sooner? We'll marry +you, and be at your wedding. Listen, Field-marshal," said he. "We are +old friends, his lordship and I. Lets us go to supper. Tomorrow we +shall see what is to be done with him. Night brings wisdom, and the +morning is better than the evening." + +I would gladly have excused myself from proposed honor, but it was +impossible. Two Cossacks girls covered the table with a white cloth, +and brought bread, soup made of fish, and pitchers of wine and beer. +Thus, for the second time, I was at table with Pougatcheff and his +terrible companions. The orgie lasted far into the night. Drunkenness +at last triumphed. Pougatcheff fell asleep in his place, and his +companions signed to me to leave him. I went out with them. The +sentry locked me up in a dark hole, where I found Saveliitch. He was +so surprised by all that he saw and heard, that he asked no questions. +Lying in darkness, he soon fell asleep. + +The next morning Pougatcheff sent for me. Before his door stood +a kibitka, with three horses abreast. The street was crowded. +Pougatcheff, whom I met in the entry of his hut, was dressed for a +journey, in a pelisse and Kirghis cap. His guests of the previous +night surrounded him, and wore a look of submission which contrasted +strongly with what I had seen on the preceding evening. Pougatcheff +bade me good-morning gaily, and ordered me to sit beside him in the +kibitka. We took our places. + +"To the fortress of Belogorsk," said Pougatcheff to the robust Tartar, +who, standing, drove his horses. My heart beat violently. The Tartar +horses shot off, the bells tinkled, the kibitka flew over the snow. + +"Stop! stop!" cried a voice I knew too well. "O Peter! do not abandon +me in my old age, in the midst of the rob--" + +"Ah, you old owl!" said Pougatcheff, "sit up there in front." + +"Thanks, Czar, may God give you a long life." + +The horses set off again. The people in the streets stopped and bowed +low, as the usurper passed. Pougatcheff saluted right and left. In an +instant we were out of the town, taking our way over a well-defined +road. I was silent. Pougatcheff broke in upon my reverie. "Why +so silent, my lord?" said he. + +"I can not help thinking," said I, "of the chain of events. I am an +officer, noble, yesterday at war with you; today I ride in the same +carriage with you, and all the happiness of my life depends on you." + +"Are you afraid?" + +"You have already given me my life!" + +"You say truly. You know how my fellows looked upon you; only today +they wanted to try you as a spy. The old one wanted to torture and +then hang you; but I would not, because I remembered your glass of +wine and your touloup. I am not bloodthirsty, as your friends say." +I remembered the taking of our fortress, but I did not contradict him. + +"What do they say of me at Orenbourg?" + +"It is said there, that you will not be easily vanquished. It must +be confessed that you have given us some work." + +"Yes; I am a great warrior. Do you think the King Prussia is as strong +as I?" + +"What do you think yourself? Can you beat Frederick?" + +"Frederick the Great? Why not? Wait till I march to Moscow!" + +"You really intend to march on Moscow?" + +"God knows," said he, reflecting; "my road is narrow--my boys do not +obey--they are thieves--I must listen--keep my ears open; at the first +reverse they would save their own necks by my head." + +"Would it not be better," I said, "to abandon them now, before it is +too late, and have recourse to the clemency of the Empress?" + +He smiled bitterly. "No; the time is passed. I shall end as I began. +Who knows?" + +Our Tartar was humming a plaintive air; Saveliitch, sound asleep, +swayed from side to side; our kibitka was gliding rapidly over the +winter road. I saw in the distance a village well known to my eyes, +with its palisade and church spire on the steep bank of the river Iaik. +A quarter of an hour after we entered the fortress of Belogorsk. + + + + +XII. MARIE. + + +The kibitka stopped before the Commandant's house. The inhabitants had +recognized the usurper's bells and equipage, and had come out in crowds +to meet him. Alexis, dressed like a Cossack, and bearded like one, +helped the brigand to descend from his kibitka. The sight of me +troubled him, but soon recovering himself, he said: "You are one of +us?" I turned my head away without replying. My heart was wrung when +we entered the room that I know so well, where still upon the wall +hung, like an epitaph, the diploma of the deceased Commandant. +Pougatcheff seated himself upon the same sofa where many a time Ivan +Mironoff had dozed to the hum of his wife's voice. Alexis' own hand +presented the brandy to his chief. Pougatcheff drank a glass and said, +pointing to me: "Offer a glass to his lordship." Alexis approached +me, and again I turned my back upon him. Pougatcheff asked him a +few questions about the condition of the fortress, and then, in an +unpremeditated manner, said: "Tell me, who is this young girl that +you have under guard?" + +Alexis became pale as death. "Czar," said he, a tremor in his voice, +"she is in her own room; she is not locked up." + +"Take me to her room," said the usurper, rising. + +Hesitation was impossible. Alexis led the way to Marie's room. I +followed. On the stairs Alexis stopped: "Czar, demand of me what +you will, but do not permit a stranger to enter my wife's room." + +"You are married?" I shouted, ready to tear him to pieces. + +"Silence!" interrupted the brigand, "this is my business. And you," +said he, turning to Alexis, "do not be too officious. Whether she +be your wife or not, I shall take whom I please into her room. Your +lordship, follow me." + +At the door of the room Alexis stopped again: "Czar, she has had a +fever these three days; she is delirious." + +"Open," said Pougatcheff. + +Alexis fumbled in his pockets, and at last said that he had forgotten +the key. Pougatcheff kicked the door; the lock yielded, the door +opened and we entered. + +I glanced into the room, and nearly fainted. On the floor, in the +coarse dress of a peasant, Marie was seated, pale, thin, her hair +in disorder; before her on the floor stood a pitcher of water covered +by a piece of bread. Upon seeing me, she started, and uttered a +piercing shriek. Pougatcheff glanced at Alexis, smiled bitterly, +and said: "Your hospital is in nice order?" + +"Tell me, my little dove, why does your husband punish you in +this way?" + +"My husband! he is not my husband. I am resolved to die rather than +marry him; and I shall die, if not soon released." + +Pougatcheff gave a furious look at Alexis, and said: "Do you dare to +deceive me, knave?" + +Alexis fell on his knees. Contempt stifled all my feelings of hatred +and vengeance. I saw with disgust, a gentleman kneeling at the feet +of a Cossack deserter. + +"I pardon you, this time," said the brigand, "but remember, your next +fault will recall this one." He turned to Marie, and said, gently: +"Come out, my pretty girl, you are free. I am the Czar!" + +Marie looked at him, hid her face in her hands and fell on the floor +unconscious. She had no doubt divined that he had caused her parents' +death. I rushed to aid her, when my old acquaintance, Polacca, boldly +entered, and hastened to revive her mistress. Pougatcheff, Alexis and +I went down to the reception room. + +"Now, your lordship, we have released the pretty girl, what say you? +Shall we not send for Father Garasim, and have him perform the marriage +ceremony for his niece? If you like, I will be your father by proxy, +Alexis your groomsman; then we'll shut the gates and make merry!" + +As I anticipated, Alexis, hearing this speech, lost his self-control. + +"Czar," said he, in a fury, "I am guilty; I have lied to you, but +Grineff also deceives you. This young girl is not Father Garasim's +niece. She is Ivan Mironoff's daughter." + +Pougatcheff glared at me. "What does that mean?" said he to me. + +"Alexis says truly," I replied, firmly. + +"You did not tell me that," said the usurper, whose face darkened. + +"Judge of it yourself. Could I declare before your people that Marie +was Captain Mironoff's daughter? They would have torn her to pieces. +No one could have saved her." + +"You are right," said Pougatcheff, "my drunkards would not have spared +the child. Accoulina did well to deceive them." + +"Listen," I said, seeing his good humor, "I do not know your real name, +and I do not want to know it. But before God, I am ready to pay you +with my life, for what you have done for me. Only, ask me nothing +contrary to honor, and my conscience as a Christian. You are my +benefactor. Let me go with this orphan, and we, whatever happens to +you, wherever you may be, we shall pray God to save your soul." + +"Be it as you desire," said he, "punish to the end, or pardon +completely, that's my way. Take your promised bride wherever you +choose, and may God give you love and happiness." He turned to Alexis, +and ordered him to write me a passport for all the forts subject to his +power. Alexis was petrified with astonishment. Pougatcheff went off +to inspect the fortress; Alexis followed him; I remained. + +I ran up to Marie's room. The door was closed. I knocked. + +"Who is there?" asked Polacca. + +I gave my name. I heard Marie say: "In an instant, Peter, I shall +join you at Accoulina's." + +Father Garasim and Accoulina came out to welcome me. I was honored +with everything at the command of the hostess, whose voluble tongue +never ceased. It was not long before Marie entered, quite pale; she +had laid aside the peasant's dress, and was, as usual, clad in +simplicity, but with neatness and taste. I seized her hand, unable to +utter a word. We were both silent from full hearts. Our hosts left +us, and I could now speak of plans for her safety. It was impossible +that she should stay in a fortress subject to Pougatcheff, and +commanded by the infamous Alexis. Neither could she find refuge at +Orenbourg, suffering all the horrors of siege. I proposed that she +should go to my father's country-seat. This surprised her. But I +assured her that my father would hold it a duty and an honor to receive +the daughter of a veteran who had died for his country. In conclusion, +I said: "My dear Marie; I consider thee as my wife; these strange +events have bound us for ever to each other." + +Marie listened with dignity; she felt as I did, but repeated that +without my parents' consent she would never be my wife. I could not +reply to this objection. I folded her to my heart, and my project +became our mutual resolve. + +An hour after, the Corporal brought me my passport, having the scratch +which served as Pougatcheff's sign-manual, and told me that the Czar +awaited me. I found him ready for his journey. To this man--why not +tell the truth?--cruel and terrible to all but me, I was drawn by +strong sympathy. I wanted to snatch him from the horde of robbers, +whose chief he was; but the presence of Alexis and the crowd around +him prevented any expression of these feelings. Our parting was that +of friends. As the horses were moving, he leaned out of the kibitka +and said to me: "Adieu, again, your lordship; perhaps we may meet +once more." + +We did meet again, but under what circumstances! + +I returned to Father Garasim's, where our preparations were soon +completed. Our baggage was put into the Commandant's old equipage. +The horses were harnessed. Marie went, before setting off, to visit +once more the tomb in the church-yard, and soon returned, having wept +in silence over all that remained to her of her parents. Father +Garasim and Accoulina stood on the steps. Marie, Polacca, and I +sat in the interior of the kibitka. Saveliitch perched himself up +in front. + +"Adieu, Marie, sweet little dove! Adieu, Peter, our handsome falcon!" +exclaimed the kind Accoulina. + +Passing the Commandant's house, I saw Alexis, whose face expressed +determined hate. + + + + +XIII. THE ARREST. + + +In two hours we reached the neighboring fortress, which also belonged +to Pougatcheff. We there changed horses. By the celerity with which +they served us, and the eager zeal of the bearded Cossack, whom +Pougatcheff had made Commandant, I perceived that, thanks to the talk +of our postilion, I was supposed to be a favorite with their master. +When we started off again, it was dusk; we were drawing near a town +where, according to the bearded Commandant, there ought to be a very +strong detachment of Pougatcheff's forces. The sentinels stopped us +and to the demand: "Who goes there?" our postilion answered in a loud +voice: "A friend of the Czar, traveling with his wife." + +We were at once surrounded by a detachment of Russian hussars, who +swore frightfully. + +"Come out," said a Russian officer, heavily mustached; "We'll give you +a bath!" + +I requested to be taken before the authorities. Perceiving that I was +an officer, the soldiers ceased swearing, and the officer took me to +the Major's. Saveliitch followed, growling out: "We fall from the fire +into the flame!" + +The kibitka came slowly after us. In five minutes we reached a small +house, all lighted up. The officer left me under a strong guard, and +entered to announce my capture. He returned almost instantly, saying +that I was ordered to prison, and her ladyship to the presence of the +Major. + +"Is he mad?" I cried. + +"I can not tell, your lordship." + +I jumped up the steps--the sentinels had not time to stop me--and burst +into the room where six hussar officers were playing faro. The Major +kept the bank. I instantly recognized the Major as Ivan Zourine, who +had so thoroughly emptied my purse at Simbirsk. "Is it possible? is +this you Ivan Zourine?" + +"Halloo! Peter; what luck? where are you from? will you take a chance?" + +"Thanks; I would rather have some apartments assigned me." + +"No need of apartments, stay with me." + +"I can not; I am not alone." + +"Bring your comrade with you." + +"I am not with a comrade; I am with--a lady." + +"A lady! where did you fish her out?" and he whistled in so rollicking +a manner, that the rest burst out laughing. + +"Well," said Zourine, "then you must have a house in the town. Here, +boy! why do you not bring in Pougatcheff's friend?" + +"What are you about," said I. "It is Captain Mironoff's daughter. I +have just obtained her liberty, and I am taking her to my father's, +where I shall leave her." + +"In the name of Heaven, what are _you_ talking about? Are _you_ +Pougatcheff's chum?" + +"I will tell you everything later; first go and see this poor girl, +whom your soldiers have horribly frightened." + +Zourine went out into the street to excuse himself to Marie, and +explain the mistake, and ordered the officer to place her and her maid +in the best house in the city. I stayed with him. After supper, as +soon as we were alone, I gave him the story of my adventures. + +He shook his head. "That's all very well; but why will you marry? As +an officer and a comrade, I tell you marriage is folly! Now listen to +me. The road to Simbirsk has been swept clean by our soldiers; you can +therefore send the Captain's daughter to your parents tomorrow, and +remain yourself in my detachment. No need to return to Orenbourg; you +might fall again into the hands of the rebels." + +I resolved to follow, in part, Zourine's advice. Saveliitch came to +prepare my room for the night. I told him to be ready to set out in +the morning with Marie. + +"Who will attend you, my lord?" + +"My old friend," said I, trying to soften him, "I do not need a servant +here, and in serving Marie, you serve me, for I shall marry her as soon +as the war is over." + +"Marry!" repeated he, with his hands crossed, and a look of +inexpressible blankness, "the child wants to marry! What will your +parents say?" + +"They will, no doubt, consent as soon as they know Marie. You will +intercede for us, will you not?" + +I had touched the old man's heart. "O Peter!" said he, "you are too +young to marry, but the young lady is an angel, and it would be a sin +to let the chance slip. I will do as you desire." + +The next day I made known my plans to Marie. As Zourine's detachment +was to leave the city that same day, delay was impossible. I confided +Marie to my dear old Saveliitch, and gave him a letter for my father. +Marie, in tears, took leave of me. I did not dare to speak, lest the +bystanders should observe my feelings. + +It was the end of the February; Winter, which had rendered manoeuvering +difficult was now at a close, and our generals were preparing for a +combined campaign. At the approach of our troops, revolted villages +returned to their duty, while Prince Galitzin defeated the usurper, +and raised the siege of Orenbourg, which was the death-blow to the +rebellion. We heard of Pougatcheff in the Ural regions, and on the way +to Moscow. But he was captured. The war was over. Zourine received +orders to return his troops to their posts. I jumped about the room +like a boy. Zourine shrugged his shoulders, and said: "Wait till you +are married, and see how foolish you are!" + +I had leave of absence. In a few days I would be at home and united +to Marie. One day Zourine came into my room with a paper in his hand, +and sent away the servant. + +"What's the matter?" said I. + +"A slight annoyance," he answered, handing me the paper. "Read." + +It was confidential order addressed to all the chiefs of detachments +to arrest me, and send me under guard to Khasan before the Commission +of Inquiry, created to give information against Pougatcheff and his +accomplices. The paper fell from my hands. + +"Do not be cast down," said Zourine, "but set out at once." + +My conscience was easy, but the delay! It would be months, perhaps, +before I could get through the Commission. Zourine bade me an +affectionate adieu. I mounted the telega (Summer carriage), two +hussars withdrawn swords beside, and took the road to Khasan. + + + + +XIV. THE SENTENCE. + + +I had no doubt that I was arrested for having left the fortress of +Orenbourg without leave, and felt sure that I could exculpate myself. +Not only were we not forbidden, but on the contrary, we were encouraged +to make forays against the enemy. My friendly relations with +Pougatcheff, however, wore a suspicious look. + +Arriving at Khasan, I found the city almost reduced to ashes. Along +the streets there were heaps of calcined material of unroofed walls of +houses--a proof that Pougatcheff had been there. The fortress was +intact. I was taken there and delivered to the officer on duty. He +ordered the blacksmith to rivet securely iron shackles on my feet. I +was then consigned to a small, dark dungeon, lighted only by a loop- +hole, barred with iron. This did not presage anything good, yet I did +not lose courage; for, having tasted the delight of prayer, offered by +a heart full of anguish, I fell asleep, without a thought for the +morrow. The next morning I was taken before the Commission. Two +soldiers crossed the yard with me, to the Commandant's dwelling. +Stopping in the ante-chamber, they let me proceed alone to the +interior. + +I entered quite a spacious room. At a table, covered with papers, sat +tow personages,--a General advanced in years, of stern aspect, and a +young officer of the Guards, of easy and agreeable manners. Near the +window, at another table, a secretary, pen on ear, bending over a +paper, was ready to take my deposition. + +The interrogation began: "Your name and profession?" The General +asked if I was the son of Andrew Grineff, and upon my replying in the +affirmative, exclaimed: "It is a pity so honorable a man should have +a son so unworthy of him!" + +I replied that I hoped to refute all charges against me, by a sincere +avowal of the truth. My assurance displeased him. + +"You are a bold fellow," said he, frowning; "but we have seen others +like you." + +The young officer asked how, and for what purpose I had entered the +rebel service. + +I replied indignantly, that being an officer and a noble, I was +incapable of enlisting in the usurper's army, and had never served +him in any way. + +"How is it," said my judge, "that the 'officer and noble' is the only +one spared by Pougatcheff? How is it that the 'officer and noble' +received presents from the chief rebel, of a horse and a pelisse? +Upon what is this intimacy founded, if not on treason, or at least +unpardonable cowardice?" + +The words wounded me, and I undertook with warmth my own defense, +finally invoking the name of my General who could testify to my zeal +during the siege of Orenbourg. The severe old man took from the table +an open letter, and read: + +* * * "With regard to Ensign Griness, I have the honor to declare, +that he was in the service at Orenbourg from the month of October, +1773, till the following February. Since then, he has not presented +himself." * * * + +Here the General said harshly: "What can you say now to justify +your conduct?" + +My judges had listened with interest and even kindness, to the recital +of my acquaintance with the usurper, from the meeting in the snowdrift +to the taking of Belogorsk, where he gave me my life through gratitude. +I was going to continue my defense, by relating frankly my relations +with Marie, and her rescue. But if I spoke of her the Commission would +force her to appear, and her name would become the theme of no very +delicate remarks by the interrogated witnesses. These thoughts so +troubled me that I stammered, and at last was silent. + +The judges were prejudiced against me by my evident confusion. The +young Guardsman asked that I should be confronted by my chief accuser. +Some minutes later the clank of iron fetters resounded, and Alexis +entered. + +He was pale and thin. His hair, formerly black as a raven's wing, was +turning gray. He repeated his accusation in a weak but decided tone. + +According to him, I was Pougatcheff's spy. I heard him to the end +in silence, and rejoiced at one thing: he never pronounced the name +of Marie Mironoff. Was it that his self-love smarted from her +contemptuous rejection of him? or was there in his heart a spark +of that same feeling which made me also silent on that point? This +confirmed me in my resolution, and when asked what I had to answer +to the charges of Alexis, I merely said that I held to my first +declaration, and had nothing more to add. + +The General remanded us to prison. I looked at Alexis. He smiled with +satisfied hate, raised up his shackles to hasten his pace and pass +before me. I had no further examination. I was not an eye-witness of +what remains to be told the reader; but I have so often heard the +story, that the minutest particulars are engraved on my memory. + +Marie was received by my parents with the cordial courtesy which +distinguished the preceding generation. They became very much attached +to her, and my father no longer considered my love a folly. The news +of my arrest was a fearful blow; but Marie and Saveliitch had so +frankly told the origin of my connection with Pougatcheff, that the +news did not seem grave. My father could not be persuaded that I would +take part in an infamous revolt, whose object was the subversion of the +throne and the extinction of the nobility. So better news was +expected, and several weeks passed, when at last a letter came from our +relative Prince B---. After the usual compliments, he told my father +that the suspicions of my complicity in the rebel plots were only too +well founded, as had been proved,--that an exemplary execution might +have been my fate, were it not that the Empress, out of consideration +for the father's white hair and loyal services, had commuted the +sentence of the criminal son. She had exiled him for life to the +depths of Siberia! + +The blow nearly killed my father. his firmness gave way, and his +usually silent sorrow burst into bitter plaints: "What! my son plotting +with Pougatcheff! The Empress gives him his life! Execution not the +worst thing in the world! My grandfather died on the scaffold in +defense of his convictions! But, that a noble should betray his oath, +unite with bandits, knaves and revolted slaves! shame! shame forever +on our face!" + +Frightened by his despair, my mother did not dare to show her grief, +and Marie was more desolate than they. Persuaded that I could justify +myself if I chose, she divined the motive of my silence, and believed +that she was the cause of my suffering. + +One evening, seated on his sofa, my father was turning over the leaves +of the "_Court Almanac_," but his thoughts were far away, and the book +did not produce its usual effect upon him. My mother was knitting in +silence, and from time to time a furtive tear dropped upon her work. +Marie, who was sewing in the same room, without any prelude declared +to my parents that she was obliged to go to St. Petersburg, and begged +them to furnish her the means. + +My mother said: "Why will you leave us?" + +Marie replied that her fate depended on this journey; that she was +going to claim the protection of those in favor at Court, as the +daughter of a man who had perished a victim to his loyalty. + +My father bowed his head. A word which recalled the supposed crime of +his son, seemed a sharp reproach. + +"Go," said he, at last, with a sigh; "we will not place an obstacle +to your happiness. May God give you an honorable husband and not a +traitor!" + +He rose and left the room. Alone with my mother, Marie confided to +her, in part, the object of her journey. My mother, in tears, kissed +her and prayed for the success of the project. A few days after, +Marie, Polacca and Saveliitch left home. + +When Marie reached Sofia, she learned that the Court was at that moment +in residence at the summer palace of Tzarskoie-Selo. She decided to +stop there, and obtained a small room at the post-house. The post +mistress came to chat with the new-comer. She told Marie, pompously, +that she was the niece of an official attached to the Court--her uncle +having the honor of attending to the fires in her Majesty's abode! +Marie soon knew at what hour the Empress rose, took her coffee, and +went on the promenade; in brief, the conversation of Anna was like a +page from the memoirs of the times, and would be very precious in our +days. The two women went together to the Imperial gardens, where Anna +told Marie the romance of each pathway and the history of every bridge +over the artificial streams. Next day very early Marie returned alone +to the Imperial gardens. The weather was superb. The sun gilded the +linden tops, already seared by the Autumn frosts. The broad lake +sparkled, the swans, just aroused, came out gravely from the shore. +Marie was going to a charming green sward, when a little dog, of +English blood, came running to her barking. She was startled; but +a voice of rare refinement said: "He will not bite you; do not be +afraid." + +A lady about fifty years of age was seated on a rustic bench. She +was dressed in a white morning-dress, a light cap and a mantilla. +Her face, full and florid, was expressive of calmness and seriousness. +She was the first to speak: "You are evidently a stranger here?" + +"That is true, madam. I arrived from the country yesterday." + +"You are with your parents?" + +"No, madam, alone." + +"You are too young to travel alone. Are you here on business?" + +"My parents are dead. I came to present a petition to the Empress." + +"You are an orphan; you have to complain of injustice, or injury?" + +"Madam, I came to ask for a pardon, not justice." + +"Permit me a question: Who are you?" + +"I am the daughter of Captain Mironoff." + +"Of Captain Mironoff? of him who commanded one of the fortresses in the +province of Orenbourg?" + +"The same, madam." + +The lady seemed touched. "Pardon me, I am going to Court. Explain the +object of your petition; perhaps I can aid you." Marie took from her +pocket a paper which she handed to the lady, who read it attentively. +Marie, whose eyes followed every movement of her countenance, was +alarmed by the severe expression of face so calm and gracious a moment +before. + +"You intercede for Grineff?" said the lady, in an icy tone. "The +Empress can not pardon him. He went over to the usurper, not as an +ignorant believer, but as a depraved and dangerous good-for-nothing." + +"It is not true!" exclaimed Marie. + +"What! not true?" said the lady, flushing to the eyes. + +"Before God, it is not true. I know all. I will tell you all. It was +for me only that exposed himself to all these misfortunes. If he did +not clear himself before his judges, it was because he would not drag +me before the authorities." Marie then related with warmth all that +the reader knows. + +"Where do you lodge?" asked the lady, when the young girl had finished +her recital. Upon hearing that she was staying with the postmaster's +wife, she nodded, and said with a smile: "Ah! I know her. Adieu! tell +no one of our meeting. I hope you will not have long to wait for the +answer to your petition." + +She rose and went away by a covered path. Marie went back to Anna's, +full of fair hope. The postmaster's wife was surprised that Marie took +so early a promenade, which might in Autumn, prove injurious to a young +girl's health. She brought the _Somovar_, and with her cup of tea was +going to relate one of her interminable stories, when a carriage with +the imperial escutcheon stopped before the door. A lackey, wearing the +imperial livery, entered and announced that her Majesty deigned to +order to her presence the daughter of Captain Mironoff! + +"Ah!" exclaimed Anna, "the Empress orders you to Court! How did she +know you were with me? You can not present yourself--you do not know +how to walk in courtly fashion! I ought to go with you. Shall I not +send to the doctor's wife and get her yellow dress with flounces, for +you?" + +The lackey declared that he had orders to take Marie alone, just as she +was. Anna did not dare to disobey, and Marie set out. She had a +presentiment that her destiny was now to be decided. Her heart beat +violently. In a few minutes the carriage was at the palace, and Marie, +having crossed a long suite of apartments, vacant and sumptuous, +entered the _boudoir_ of the Empress. The nobles who surrounded their +sovereign respectfully made way for the young girl. + +The Empress, in whom Marie recognized the lady of the garden, said, +graciously: "I am pleased to be able to grant your prayer. Convinced +of the innocence of your betrothed, I have arranged everything. Here +is a letter for your future father-in-law." + +Marie, in tears, fell at the feet of the Empress, who raised her up and +kissed her, saying: + +"I know that you are not rich; but I have to acquit myself of a debt to +the daughter of a brave man, Captain Mironoff." Treating Marie with +tenderness, the Empress dismissed her. That day Marie set out for my +father's country-seat, not having even glanced at Saint Petersburg. + + + + +Here terminate the memoirs of Peter Grineff. We know by family +tradition that he was set free about the end of the year 1774. We +know too, that he was present at the execution of Pougatcheff, who, +recognizing him in the crowd, gave him one last sign with the head +which, a moment after, was shown to the people, bleeding and inanimate. + +Peter Grineff became the husband of Marie Mironoff. Their descendents +still live, in the Province of Simbirsk, and in the hereditary manor +is still shown the autograph letter of the Empress Catherine II. It +is addressed to Andrew Grineff, and contains, with his son's +justification, a touching and beautiful eulogium of Marie, the +Captain's daughter. + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg Etext of Marie, by Alexander Pushkin + |