CHAPTER XIV.
THE TRIAL.
I did not doubt that the cause of my arrest was my departure fromOrenburg without leave. Thus I could easily exculpate myself, for notonly had we not been forbidden to make sorties against the enemy, butwere encouraged in so doing.
Still my friendly understanding with Pugatchef seemed to be proved by acrowd of witnesses, and must appear at least suspicious. All the way Ipondered the questions I should be asked, and mentally resolved upon myanswers. I determined to tell the judges the whole truth, convincedthat it was at once the simplest and surest way of justifying myself.
I reached Khasan, a miserable town, which I found laid waste, andwell-nigh reduced to ashes. All along the street, instead of houses,were to be seen heaps of charred plaster and rubbish, and walls withoutwindows or roofs. These were the marks Pugatchef had left. I was takento the fort, which had remained whole, and the hussars, my escort,handed me over to the officer of the guard.
He called a farrier, who coolly rivetted irons on my ankles.
Then I was led to the prison building, where I was left alone in anarrow, dark cell, which had but its four walls and a little skylight,with iron bars.
Such a beginning augured nothing good. Still I did not lose either hopeor courage. I had recourse to the consolation of all who suffer, and,after tasting for the first time the sweetness of a prayer from aninnocent heart full of anguish, I peacefully fell asleep without givinga thought to what might befall me.
On the morrow the gaoler came to wake me, telling me that I was summonedbefore the Commission.
Two soldiers conducted me across a court to the Commandant's house,then, remaining in the ante-room, left me to enter alone the innerchamber. I entered a rather large reception room. Behind the table,covered with papers, were seated two persons, an elderly General,looking severe and cold, and a young officer of the Guard, looking, atmost, about thirty, of easy and attractive demeanour; near the window atanother table sat a secretary with a pen behind his ear, bending overhis paper ready to take down my evidence.
The cross-examination began. They asked me my name and rank. TheGeneral inquired if I were not the son of Andrej Petrovitch Grineff, andon my affirmative answer, he exclaimed, severely--
"It is a great pity such an honourable man should have a son so veryunworthy of him!"
I quietly made answer that, whatever might be the accusations lyingheavily against me, I hoped to be able to explain them away by a candidavowal of the truth.
My coolness displeased him.
"You are a bold, barefaced rascal," he said to me, frowning. "However,we have seen many of them."
Then the young officer asked me by what chance and at what time I hadentered Pugatchef's service, and on what affairs he had employed me.
I indignantly rejoined that, being an officer and a gentleman, I hadnot been able to enter Pugatchef's service, and that he had not employedme on any business whatsoever.
"How, then, does it happen," resumed my judge, "that the officer andgentleman be the only one pardoned by the usurper, while all hiscomrades are massacred in cold blood? How does it happen, also, that thesame officer and gentleman could live snugly and pleasantly with therebels, and receive from the ringleader presents of a '_pelisse_,' ahorse, and a half rouble? What is the occasion of so strange afriendship? And upon what can it be founded if not on treason, or at theleast be occasioned by criminal and unpardonable baseness?"
The words of the officer wounded me deeply, and I entered hotly on myvindication.
I related how my acquaintance with Pugatchef had begun, on the steppe,in the midst of a snowstorm; how he had recognized me and granted me mylife at the taking of Fort Belogorsk. I admitted that, indeed, I hadaccepted from the usurper a "_touloup_" and a horse; but I had defendedFort Belogorsk against the rascal to the last gasp. Finally I appealedto the name of my General, who could testify to my zeal during thedisastrous siege of Orenburg.
The severe old man took from the table an open letter, which he began toread aloud.
"In answer to your excellency on the score of Ensign Grineff, who issaid to have been mixed up in the troubles, and to have entered intocommunication with the robber, communication contrary to the rules andregulations of the service, and opposed to all the duties imposed by hisoath, I have the honour to inform you that the aforesaid Ensign Grineffserved at Orenburg from the month of Oct., 1773, until Feb. 24th of thepresent year, upon which day he left the town, and has not been seensince. Still the enemy's deserters have been heard to declare that hewent to Pugatchef's camp, and that he accompanied him to Fort Belogorsk,where he was formerly in garrison. On the other hand, in respect to hisconduct I can--"
Here the General broke off, and said to me with harshness--
"Well, what have you to say now for yourself?"
I was about to continue as I had begun, and relate my connection withMarya as openly as the rest. But suddenly I felt an unconquerabledisgust to tell such a story. It occurred to me that if I mentioned her,the Commission would oblige her to appear; and the idea of exposing hername to all the scandalous things said by the rascals undercross-examination, and the thought of even seeing her in their presence,was so repugnant to me that I became confused, stammered, and tookrefuge in silence.
My judges, who appeared to be listening to my answers with a certaingood will, were again prejudiced against me by the sight of myconfusion. The officer of the Guard requested that I should beconfronted with the principal accuser. The General bade them bring in_yesterday's rascal._ I turned eagerly towards the door to look out formy accuser.
A few moments afterwards the clank of chains was heard, and thereentered--Chvabrine. I was struck by the change that had come over him.He was pale and thin. His hair, formerly black as jet, had begun to turngrey. His long beard was unkempt. He repeated all his accusations in afeeble, but resolute tone. According to him, I had been sent byPugatchef as a spy to Orenburg; I went out each day as far as the lineof sharpshooters to transmit written news of all that was passing withinthe town; finally, I had definitely come over to the usurper's side,going with him from fort to fort, and trying, by all the means in mypower, to do evil to my companions in treason, to supplant them in theirposts, and profit more by the favours of the arch-rebel. I heard him tothe end in silence, and felt glad of one thing; he had never pronouncedMarya's name. Was it because his self-love was wounded by the thought ofher who had disdainfully rejected him, or was it that still within hisheart yet lingered a spark of the same feeling which kept me silent?Whatever it was, the Commission did not hear spoken the name of thedaughter of the Commandant of Fort Belogorsk. I was still furtherconfirmed in the resolution I had taken, and when the judges asked me ifI had aught to answer to Chvabrine's allegations, I contented myselfwith saying that I did abide by my first declaration, and that I hadnothing more to show for my vindication.
The General bid them take us away. We went out together. I looked calmlyat Chvabrine, and did not say one word to him. He smiled a smile ofsatisfied hatred, gathered up his fetters, and quickened his pace topass before me. I was taken back to prison, and after that I underwentno further examination.
I was not witness to all that I have still to tell my readers, but Ihave heard the whole thing related so often that the least littledetails have remained graven in my memory, and it seems to me I waspresent myself.
Marya was received by my parents with the cordial kindnesscharacteristic of people in old days. In the opportunity presented tothem of giving a home to a poor orphan they saw a favour of God. Verysoon they became truly attached to her, for one could not know herwithout loving her. My love no longer appeared a folly even to myfather, and my mother thought only of the union of her Petrusha with theCommandant's daughter.
The news of my arrest electrified with horror my whole family. Still,Marya had so simply told my parents the origin of my strange friendshipwith Pugatchef that, not only were they not uneasy, but it even madethem laugh heartily. My father could no
t believe it possible that Ishould be mixed up in a disgraceful revolt, of which the object was thedownfall of the throne and the extermination of the race of "_boyars_."He cross-examined Saveliitch sharply, and my retainer confessed that Ihad been the guest of Pugatchef, and that the robber had certainlybehaved generously towards me. But at the same time he solemnly averredupon oath that he had never heard me speak of any treason. My oldparents' minds were relieved, and they impatiently awaited better news.But as to Marya, she was very uneasy, and only caution and modesty kepther silent.
Several weeks passed thus. All at once my father received fromPetersburg a letter from our kinsman, Prince Banojik. After the usualcompliments he announced to him that the suspicions which had arisen ofmy participation in the plots of the rebels had been proved to be buttoo well founded, adding that condign punishment as a deterrent shouldhave overtaken me, but that the Tzarina, through consideration for theloyal service and white hairs of my father, had condescended to pardonthe criminal son, and, remitting the disgrace-fraught execution, hadcondemned him to exile for life in the heart of Siberia.
This unexpected blow nearly killed my father. He lost his habitualfirmness, and his sorrow, usually dumb, found vent in bitter lament.
"What!" he never ceased repeating, well-nigh beside himself, "What! myson mixed up in the plots of Pugatchef! Just God! what have I lived tosee! The Tzarina grants him life, but does that make it easier for me tobear? It is not the execution which is horrible. My ancestor perished onthe scaffold for conscience sake,[71] my father fell with the martyrsVolynski and Khuchtchoff,[72] but that a '_boyar_' should forswear hisoath--that he should join with robbers, rascals, convicted felons,revolted slaves! Shame for ever--shame on our race!"
Frightened by his despair, my mother dared not weep before him, andendeavoured to give him courage by talking of the uncertainty andinjustice of the verdict. But my father was inconsolable.
Marya was more miserable than anyone. Fully persuaded that I could havejustified myself had I chosen, she suspected the motive which had keptme silent, and deemed herself the sole cause of my misfortune. She hidfrom all eyes her tears and her suffering, but never ceased thinking howshe could save me.
One evening, seated on the sofa, my father was turning over the CourtCalendar; but his thoughts were far away, and the book did not produceits usual effect on him. He was whistling an old march. My mother wassilently knitting, and her tears were dropping from time to time on herwork. Marya, who was working in the same room, all at once informed myparents that she was obliged to start for Petersburg, and begged them togive her the means to do so.
My mother was much affected by this declaration.
"Why," said she, "do you want to go to Petersburg? You, too--do you alsowish to forsake us?"
Marya made answer that her fate depended on the journey, and that shewas going to seek help and countenance from people high in favour, asthe daughter of a man who had fallen victim to his fidelity.
My father bowed his head. Each word which reminded him of the allegedcrime of his son was to him a keen reproach.
"Go," he said at last, with a sigh; "we do not wish to cast anyobstacles between you and happiness. May God grant you an honest man asa husband, and not a disgraced and convicted traitor."
He rose and left the room.
Left alone with my mother, Marya confided to her part of her plans. Mymother kissed her with tears, and prayed God would grant her success.
A few days afterwards Marya set forth with Palashka and her faithfulSaveliitch, who, necessarily, parted from me, consoled himself byremembering he was serving my betrothed.
Marya arrived safely at Sofia, and, learning that the court at this timewas at the summer palace of Tzarskoe-Selo, she resolved to stop there.In the post-house she obtained a little dressing-room behind apartition.
The wife of the postmaster came at once to gossip with her, andannounced to her pompously that she was the niece of a stove-warmerattached to the Palace, and, in a word, put her up to all the mysteriesof the Palace. She told her at what hour the Tzarina rose, had hercoffee, went to walk; what high lords there were about her, what she haddeigned to say the evening before at table, who she received in theevening, and, in a word, the conversation of Anna Vlassiefna[73] mighthave been a leaf from any memoir of the day, and would be invaluablenow. Marya Ivanofna heard her with great attention.
They went together to the Imperial Gardens, where Anna Vlassiefna toldMarya the history of every walk and each little bridge. Both thenreturned home, charmed with one another.
On the morrow, very early, Marya dressed herself and went to theImperial Gardens. The morning was lovely. The sun gilded with its beamsthe tops of the lindens, already yellowed by the keen breath of autumn.The large lake sparkled unruffled; the swans, just awake, were gravelyquitting the bushes on the bank. Marya went to the edge of a beautifullawn, where had lately been erected a monument in honour of the recentvictories of Count Roumianzeff.[74]
All at once a little dog of English breed ran towards her, barking.Marya stopped short, alarmed. At this moment a pleasant woman's voicesaid--
"Do not be afraid; he will not hurt you."
Marya saw a lady seated on a little rustic bench opposite the monument,and she went and seated herself at the other end of the bench. The ladylooked attentively at her, and Marya, who had stolen one glance at her,could now see her well. She wore a cap and a white morning gown and alittle light cloak. She appeared about 50 years old; her face, full andhigh-coloured, expressed repose and gravity, softened by the sweetnessof her blue eyes and charming smile. She was the first to break thesilence.
"Doubtless you are not of this place?" she asked.
"You are right, lady; I only arrived yesterday from the country."
"You came with your parents?"
"No, lady, alone."
"Alone! but you are very young to travel by yourself."
"I have neither father nor mother."
"You are here on business?"
"Yes, lady, I came to present a petition to the Tzarina."
"You are an orphan; doubtless you have to complain of injustice orwrong."
"No, lady, I came to ask grace, and not justice."
"Allow me to ask a question: Who are you?"
"I am the daughter of Captain Mironoff."
"Of Captain Mironoff? He who commanded one of the forts in the Orenburgdistrict?"
"Yes, lady."
The lady appeared moved.
"Forgive me," she resumed, in a yet softer voice, "if I meddle in youraffairs; but I am going to Court. Explain to me the object of yourrequest; perhaps I may be able to help you."
Marya rose, and respectfully saluted her. Everything in the unknown ladyinvoluntarily attracted her, and inspired trust. Marya took from herpocket a folded paper; she offered it to her protectress, who ran overit in a low voice.
When she began she looked kind and interested, but all at once her facechanged, and Marya, who followed with her eyes her every movement, wasalarmed by the hard expression of the face lately so calm and gracious.
"You plead for Grineff," said the lady, in an icy tone. "The Tzarinacannot grant him grace. He passed over to the usurper, not as anignorant and credulous man, but as a depraved and dangerousgood-for-nothing."
"It's not true!" cried Marya.
"What! it's not true?" retorted the lady, flushing up to her eyes.
"It is not true, before God it is not true," exclaimed Marya. "I knowall; I will tell you all. It is for me only that he exposed himself toall the misfortunes which have overtaken him. And if he did notvindicate himself before the judges, it is because he did not wish me tobe mixed up in the affair."
And Marya eagerly related all the reader already knows.
The lady listened with deep attention.
"Where do you lodge?" she asked, when the young girl concluded herstory. And when she heard that it was with Anna Vlassiefna, she added,with a smile: "Ah! I know! Good-bye! Do not tell anyone of our m
eeting.I hope you will not have to wait long for an answer to your letter."
Having said these words, she rose and went away by a covered walk.
Marya returned home full of joyful hope.
Her hostess scolded her for her early morning walk--bad, she said, inthe autumn for the health of a young girl. She brought the "_samovar_,"and over a cup of tea she was about to resume her endless discussion ofthe Court, when a carriage with a coat-of-arms stopped before the door.
A lackey in the Imperial livery entered the room, announcing that theTzarina deigned to call to her presence the daughter of CaptainMironoff.
Anna Vlassiefna was quite upset by this news.
"Oh, good heavens!" cried she; "the Tzarina summons you to Court! Howdid she know of your arrival? And how will you acquit yourself beforethe Tzarina, my little mother? I think you do not even know how to walkCourt fashion. I ought to take you; or, stay, should I not send for themidwife, that she might lend you her yellow gown with flounces?"
But the lackey declared that the Tzarina wanted Marya Ivanofna to comealone, and in the dress she should happen to be wearing. There wasnothing for it but to obey, and Marya Ivanofna started.
She foresaw that our fate was in the balance, and her heart beatviolently. After a few moments the coach stopped before the Palace, andMarya, after crossing a long suite of empty and sumptuous rooms, wasushered at last into the boudoir of the Tzarina. Some lords, who stoodaround there, respectfully opened a way for the young girl.
The Tzarina, in whom Marya recognized the lady of the garden, said toher, graciously--
"I am delighted to be able to accord you your prayer. I have had it alllooked into. I am convinced of the innocence of your betrothed. Here isa letter which you will give your future father-in-law." Marya, all intears, fell at the feet of the Tzarina, who raised her, and kissed herforehead. "I know," said she, "you are not rich, but I owe a debt tothe daughter of Captain Mironoff. Be easy about your future."
After overwhelming the poor orphan with caresses, the Tzarina dismissedher, and Marya started the same day for my father's country house,without having even had the curiosity to take a look at Petersburg.
Here end the memoirs of Petr' Andrejitch Grineff; but family traditionasserts that he was released from captivity at the end of the year 1774,that he was present at the execution of Pugatchef, and that the latter,recognizing him in the crowd, made him a farewell sign with the headwhich, a few moments later, was held up to the people, lifeless andbleeding.
Soon afterwards Petr' Andrejitch became the husband of Marya Ivanofna.Their descendants still live in the district of Simbirsk.
In the ancestral home in the village of ---- is still shown theautograph letter of Catherine II., framed and glazed. It is addressed tothe father of Petr' Andrejitch, and contains, with the acquittal of hisson, praises of the intellect and good heart of the Commandant'sdaughter.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Celebrated general under Petr' Alexiovitch the Great, andthe Tzarina Anna Iwanofna; banished by her successor, the TzarinaElizabeth Petrofna.]
[Footnote 2: Saveliitch, son of Saveli.]
[Footnote 3: Means pedagogue. Foreign teachers have adopted it tosignify their profession.]
[Footnote 4: One who has not yet attained full age. Young gentlemen whohave not yet served are so called.]
[Footnote 5: _Drorovuiye lyndi_, that is to say, courtyard people, orserfs, who inhabit the quarters.]
[Footnote 6: Eudosia, daughter of Basil.]
[Footnote 7: Diminutive of Petr', Peter.]
[Footnote 8: Anastasia, daughter of Garassim]
[Footnote 9: Orenburg, capital of the district of Orenburg, which--themost easterly one of European Russia--extends into Asia.]
[Footnote 10: _Touloup_, short pelisse, not reaching to the knee.]
[Footnote 11: John, son of John.]
[Footnote 12: One kopek=small bit of copper money.]
[Footnote 13: The rouble was then worth, as is now the silver rouble,about 3s. 4d. English money.]
[Footnote 14: "_Kvass_," kind of cider; common drink in Russia.]
[Footnote 15: Whirlwind of snow.]
[Footnote 16: Curtain made of the inner bark of the limetree whichcovers the hood of a _kibitka_.]
[Footnote 17: Marriage godfather.]
[Footnote 18: Torch of fir or birch.]
[Footnote 19: Tributary of the River Ural.]
[Footnote 20: Tea urn.]
[Footnote 21: A short caftan.]
[Footnote 22: Russian priest.]
[Footnote 23: Russian peasants carry their axe in their belt or behindtheir back.]
[Footnote 24: Under Catherine II., who reigned from 1762-1796.]
[Footnote 25: _i.e._, "_palati_," usual bed of Russian peasants.]
[Footnote 26: Allusion to the rewards given by the old Tzars to their_boyars_, to whom they used to give their cloaks.]
[Footnote 27: Anne Ivanofna reigned from 1730-1740.]
[Footnote 28: One _versta_ or verst (pronounced viorst) equal to 1,165yards English.]
[Footnote 29: Peasant cottages.]
[Footnote 30: _Loubotchnyia, i.e._, coarse illuminated engravings.]
[Footnote 31: Taken by Count Muenich.]
[Footnote 32: John, son of Kouzma.]
[Footnote 33: Formula of affable politeness.]
[Footnote 34: Subaltern officer of Cossacks.]
[Footnote 35: Alexis, son of John.]
[Footnote 36: Basila, daughter of Gregory.]
[Footnote 37: John, son of Ignatius.]
[Footnote 38: The fashion of talking French was introduced under Peterthe Great.]
[Footnote 39: Diminutive of _Marya_, Mary.]
[Footnote 40: Russian soup, made of meat and vegetables.]
[Footnote 41: In Russia serfs are spoken of as souls.]
[Footnote 42: Ivanofna, pronounced Ivanna.]
[Footnote 43: Poet, then celebrated, since forgotten.]
[Footnote 44: They are written in the already old-fashioned style of thetime.]
[Footnote 45: Trediakofski was an absurd poet whom Catherine II. held upto ridicule in her "Rule of the Hermitage!"]
[Footnote 46: Scornful way of writing the patronymic.]
[Footnote 47: Formula of consent.]
[Footnote 48: One _verchok_ = 3 inches.]
[Footnote 49: Grandson of Peter the Great, succeeded his aunt, ElizabethPetrofna, in 1762; murdered by Alexis Orloff in prison at Ropsha.]
[Footnote 50: Torture of the "_batogs_," little rods, the thickness of afinger, with which a criminal is struck on the bare back.]
[Footnote 51: Edict or ukase of Catherine II.]
[Footnote 52: Pugatch means bugbear.]
[Footnote 53: Sarafan, dress robe. It is a Russian custom to bury thedead in their best clothes.]
[Footnote 54: Girdles worn by Russian peasants.]
[Footnote 55: Peter III.]
[Footnote 56: Little flat and glazed press where the Icons or HolyPictures are shut up, and which thus constitutes a domestic altar orhome shrine.]
[Footnote 57: _Ataman_, military Cossack chief.]
[Footnote 58: 1 petak = 5 kopek copper bit.]
[Footnote 59: First of the false Dmitri.]
[Footnote 60: Allusion to the old formulas of petitions addressed to theTzar, "I touch the earth with my forehead and I present my petition toyour 'lucid eyes.'"]
[Footnote 61: At that time the nostrils of convicts were cut off. ThisThis barbarous custom has been abolished by the Tzar Alexander.]
[Footnote 62: Daughter of another Commandant of a Fort, whom Pugatchefoutraged and murdered.]
[Footnote 63: Name of a robber celebrated in the preceding century, whofought long against the Imperial troops.]
[Footnote 64: In the torture by fire the accused is tied hand and foot;he is then fixed on a long pole, as upon a spit, being held at eitherend by two men; his bare back is roasted over the fire. He is thenexamined
and abjured by a writer to confess, and any depositions he maymake are taken down.]
[Footnote 65: Slight skirmish, wherein the advantage remained withPugatchef.]
[Footnote 66: Frederick, son of Frederick; name given to Frederick theGreat by the Russian soldiery.]
[Footnote 67: Title of a superior officer.]
[Footnote 68: Hazard game at cards.]
[Footnote 69: Diminutive of Emelian.]
[Footnote 70: Little summer carriage.]
[Footnote 71: Fedor Poushkin, a noble of high rank, ancestor of theauthor, was executed on a charge of treason by Petr' Alexiovitch theGreat.]
[Footnote 72: Leaders of the Russian faction against John Ernest, Duc deBiren, Grand Chamberlain, and favourite of the Tzarina, Anne Ivanofna.Both were executed in a barbarous manner.]
[Footnote 73: Anna, daughter of Blaize.]
[Footnote 74: General Romanoff, distinguished in the wars against theTurks, vanquished them at Larga and Kazoul, 1772. He died 1796.]
The Daughter of the Commandant Page 15
