CHAPTER XXI
ONE EVENTFUL NIGHT
A nihilistic bomb exploded in the cabinet of the czar would scarcelyhave created more consternation than did my statement. The emperorhimself started back in amazement, and then turned his face which waswhite with rage and terror, upon Prince Michael.
The prince, instead of shrugging his shoulders and laughing at thecharge I had made, committed the mistake of turning deathly pale, andat once protesting his innocence. It was that protest which decided thebattle of wits in my favor. Always ready to doubt those who werenearest to him, the czar remembered instantly that I could gain nothingby playing the traitor. He recalled also many instances, small inthemselves but sufficiently prominent now, when the prince had deceivedhim. That, he knew I had never done. I had always possessed the courageto tell him the truth even when it was unpleasant. The habit oftruthfulness told, then. He believed me, and he doubted the prince.More than that, I seemed to him to know everything, for it proved to betrue that the prince had persuaded him to sign an order for mytemporary arrest--or rather, my detention in the palace. It had beendone when they were alone in the cabinet together, and how I could havelearned of it was a puzzle which he could not fathom. The more theprince protested, the more certain the czar became that I had spokenthe truth, and while he glowered upon the unhappy man who became palerand more uncertain in his speech with every effort, I stood calmly bywith my arms folded, not enjoying the situation, but determined to winthe fight.
"Michael," said his majesty at last, "give me the order to which Mr.Derrington refers." I knew then that I had won, and while the princetremblingly produced it, I waited. The czar passed it to me with thewords, "You may destroy it, Mr. Derrington," and then added: "PrinceMichael, you will retire to your apartments and remain there until Isend for you. I will spare you the indignity of an arrest until I knowmore. Go!"
I did not look at the prince as he left the room, and I have alwaysregretted it, for if I had done so and had I seen the agony that musthave been written on his face I might have saved him. I did not believethe charge against him when I made it, and there was no such thing as adirection to any of my men to arrest him. I charged him with complicitywith the nihilists solely to get rid of him, and by that means to savemyself and Zara, knowing that later I could save him, also; that hewould ultimately forgive me, and that I could bring the emperor toregard it as a most excellent joke, for the czar dearly loved a joke ifit were at the expense of some other person. Indeed I intended before Ileft the emperor's presence, partially to allay his fears concerningthe prince by assuring him that my information amounted to nothing morethan a mere suspicion which had been strengthened by his effort todetain me in the palace. But events demonstrated the fact that inmaking the charge I had builded better than I knew. I loved the prince,and that episode is one of the greatest regrets of my life. If ever aman was guilty without crime, he was. But I anticipate.
"Derrington," said the czar as soon as we were alone; he addressed mein French by which I knew that I was restored to favor; "you havestartled me to-night in a way that I shall not soon forget. Is it truethat Michael--ah, no, I cannot believe it, for if he is unfaithful,whom can I trust?"
"You must not cease to trust him entirely, yet, monsieur," I replied."The charge against him is based upon evidence that may be disproved;but my drag net is out to-night, and the dawn will see nearly everynihilist in St. Petersburg in prison, or on the way out of Russia. Ifyou had been prevailed upon to detain me I tremble for what might havehappened."
"Tell me----"
"Do not, I beg of you, detain me now, monsieur. Every moment isprecious. My men are swarming over the city, and even now the prisonsare filling up. I must get to work, for this is a matter to which Imust personally attend."
"And Michael?"
"Leave him where he is, in his apartments, until I return."
"When will that be?"
"Soon after daylight."
"Then come to me at once. Have me awakened if I am sleeping; but Ishall not be."
"I will do so."
"One word more. What of the princess?"
"She would have been murdered to-night by the nihilists had I notarrested her as one, conducted her through the prison, and thence on tothe house of the prince."
"Why did you not bring her here and place her in my care?"
"She would not wish to come here, monsieur. Princess Zara once had alover who became crazed, and was killed here in the palace by one ofthe guards, I believe, so----"
"Yes--yes, I understand. You did right. Stop! One word more before yougo. This conspiracy to which you referred, against the whole royalfamily; are you sure that you have got at the root of it?"
"As sure as I am that I am here in the presence of the Czar of Russia."
"You have never failed me yet, Derrington;" and he grasped me by thehand.
"And I never will, monsieur."
"Well, go. I shall expect you soon after daylight."
In reality there was little for me to do that night, more than I hadalready done, and yet it was impossible that I should be shut up in thepalace with so much taking place throughout the city, immediately undermy direction, and over which it was imperative that I must retainsupervision. I knew that there would be frequent demands upon me forauthority to do and perform certain things, and it was important that Ishould be on hand. I was always provided with the necessary papers foranything in the official line that I might be called upon to perform.This had been arranged in the beginning, the better to preserve thesecret of my business in St. Petersburg. I had innumerable imperialpassports signed and sealed in blank, and there was no outsideauthority exercised by any official of the realm which I was notprepared to meet. In short, my power was in many respects greater thanthat of the czar himself for I was always prepared for whatever I mighthave to do in any or all of the departments of the empire.
The wholesale arrests which I had ordered for that night, I had longhad under consideration, and that I had decided to make them a littlesooner than was my first intention, was due in part to the dangersurrounding the princess; in part to my own suddenly formeddetermination to complete my business there and return to the UnitedStates; and lastly, to the fact that the last few reports that I hadreceived so nearly completed the knowledge I had striven to attain,that I came to the conclusion that my work was about done, and that itwas time to draw the net. My salary was enormous, and already amountedto a competence, and I knew that if I remained in Russia, sooner orlater somebody would find me out; and then there would be short shriftfor me, between the nihilists on one hand, and the jealous nobility onthe other, for the latter saw in me nothing but an interloper who hadstolen their prerogatives.
My first business on leaving the emperor, was to call upon Jean Moret,for now his usefulness was past, and the time had come for me to keepmy word with him, and set him free. Somewhere in the world he would beable to find a safe haven of shelter from the enemies who would claimvengeance; and now, after my net was drawn this night, there would befew active nihilists remaining to seek his life.
"Well, Jean," I said, as I entered the room where he was confined,"would you like to leave prison and Russia?"
"Indeed I would, sir," he replied. "There is nothing that would make mequite so happy as that. Has the time come to let me go?"
"I think so. Are you quite sure that there is nothing that would makeyou as happy as permission and passports to leave the country?"
"Quite."
"Not even----"
"No, not even that to which you refer, or are about to refer. I havehad plenty of time for thought, since you brought me here, and I haveunraveled the fact that I made a consummate fool of myself. I will notdeny that I still love her, or that I probably always will love her,but I know that she never did, and never will, love me. That ends it,you see, and so I am glad to get away."
"Was it the princess, Jean?" I asked.
"You have been very good to me, Mr. Derrington, and I ought to d
eny younothing. Still I hope you will not ask me to tell you anythingconcerning the woman I was foolish enough to love so madly."
"I honor you for that expression, Jean, and I will ask you only onequestion. You can reply to it readily enough. Do you love her still,and well enough, so that you wish her every happiness? So well that youcherish no ill will against her for what she did to you?"
"I would give up my liberty, now, to be assured that she might alwaysbe happy; yes, even to know that she has broken with the nihilists; forsooner or later they would lead her to Siberia. Will you answer onequestion for me, Mr. Derrington?"
"Willingly."
"Has she been arrested?" He did not appreciate the confession involvedin his question.
"No; and she will not be. She has also broken with the nihilists. And,Moret, I wish you to know that I honor you for not telling me her name.I know to whom you refer."
He was silent a moment, until with some confusion in his manner, hesaid:
"I would like to shake hands with you, Mr. Derrington. You are a goodman, and in whatever country Jean Moret finds a home, there you willalways find a friend of yours."
We had some other conversation, and then I gave him his passports,together with sufficient money for his needs. I personally conductedhim from the place of imprisonment, and we finally parted in thestreet. That was the last I ever saw of Jean Moret, but whatever hisultimate fate, I knew him to be a man of sterling qualities.
From there I made my way to the office of my friend Canfield, where itwas arranged that I should receive the reports of my men, and there,closeted with Canfield, I remained until daylight. Messengers werecoming and going constantly, and I knew long before dawn that everyplan that I had laid had worked out just as I intended it should. Iknew that when the sun rose, there would not be a half dozen realnihilists at liberty in St. Petersburg, and that the order would beparalyzed and broken throughout the empire. To just one portion of thenight's work, I paid particular personal attention, and that was to thearrest and disposition of those who knew Zara and Ivan, personally, andwho were aware of her condemnation to death by the order. Many of thosewho were arrested that night, were sent to Siberia for life, andothers, for long terms of imprisonment; but I could not be criticisedfor that, for they one and all deserved to go. I was yet to meet withan adventure before I returned to the emperor, however.
After leaving Canfield I sought an interview with O'Malley. I foundthat without going out of my way, I could pass the residence of theprince, where I believed Zara to be peacefully sleeping, for I knewthat Durnief must have suffered arrest before there was opportunity forhim to carry out the czar's order. I had taken the precaution toinstruct Coyle, early in the evening, to place a good watch on thehouse, fearing there might be a chance that one of the spies of thenihilists had succeeded in following us, and that they might attempt anattack upon her, there. Of Durnief, I had not thought again, for whenthe czar told me that he had been sent after the princess, I had everyconfidence that the man would be arrested before he could gainadmittance to Zara's presence. Later, at Canfield's office, I hadreceived the report that he had been taken.
It was just breaking day as I approached the house, and I could seethat a light was burning in the room where I had left her. I decided atonce that she had determined to remain in that room, and had probablynot thought of retiring. I could not criticise such a reluctance, underthe circumstances; and while I was congratulating myself upon the factthat she would not have to pass such another night as this one, I sawthe front door swing suddenly open, and the form of a woman in whom Iinstantly recognized Zara, ran down the steps and leaped into a waiting_droshka_, which had hitherto escaped my notice. Instantly the horsesstarted away at a gallop. I was two hundred feet distant. There was nota person in sight, for Coyle, believing, doubtless, that all danger waspast, had withdrawn his guard.
There are times in our lives when peril, in threatening a loved one,brings out the best there is in a man, and renders him suddenly capableof coping with any emergency. I knew of but one way to stop thosehorses, and I used it. Always a good shot, I drew my revolver, aimed itat the nearest horse, and pulled the trigger. Then, before the sound ofthe first report had lost itself along the street, I fired again. Oneof the horses pitched forward, shot through the brain, I knew; theother fell upon the first, and I ran forward at all speed, towards thewrecked and overturned _droshka_.
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