LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1687, 17 July 1879, Page 3

LITERATURE.

CZAR AND SKEPTIC. [From the " Dublin University Magazi ne.] ( Concluded.) There was a sort of little trap or window, unglazed, however, in the front pannel of the carriage, through which the red and hirsute paw put in a ration of brown biscuit, together with a little flask of vodki, and a mug of water now and then. " Un, affreux britle qxiele que ce vodlti, messieurs, one terrible burnt-throat worse as the ' wiski' of the old Ireland, eh ? Sometimes of night, too, for it made a black of wolf 'unnoir de Xou fi,' as we say in Frsnce, he just open, half open the carriage door, this Cosaack, and put in one bowl of ' stchi' with a spoon. Do you know what this is, ono ' stchi' ? A soup to cabbage, but with such seasonment! A ragout of barbarous. I will tell you to make a scullion cry I Well, I so hungry, I devour it. I lick the spoon. Imagine you, I, De la Jobardiere, who was other time redactor, editor, what you say 1 of the 'Journal of Gourmands'of Paris."

On and on, and on, through tho darkness, mitigated or unmitigated by the kindly admissions of the chinks ; on and on, |fcill all reckoning of his time was utterly confused.

But all things have an end on earth here ; and at last the carriage came to a dead stand-still, with its half-dead passenger inside.

It was at least as raw and 'as cold, as foggy and disagreeable a night as that of the departure from St. Petersburgb, when, for the first time, the carriage-door was cponed wide. Right and left stood a tall figure, indistinct in gray capote, with a flat muffincap to crown it; but the reflected lights ran up tho barrel of a burnished musket. In the open doorway of a house, whence a red glow, as of a cheerful fire, came streaming out, stood another martial figure, in cocked hat with feathers, and the green uniform with aiguillettei of an aide-de-camp. He raised his hand to the oocked hat in question after the military fashion of saluto.

' Deign to descend, Monsieur.' ' I am then at Tobolsk V

' Of none, Monsieur, to the contrary.' ' Where then P at Irkutsk 1'

• Still less, Monsieur ; pray give yourself the trouble to descend.'

'I am hardly in that costume.' objected De la Jobardiere, 'for that brntal of a feldjager—' ' Obeyed, I have no doubt, his orders to the letter ; pray, monsieur, descend,'insisted the plumed aide-de-camp, with imperturbable gravity. ' This, then, is at last Siberia Y

' Siberia, Monsieur, by no manner of means.'

'But whereon earth, then, have I the misfortune to find myself - excuse me—the honor to make your distinguished acquaintance V

• I have the distinguished honor,' said the staff officer, unwilling to be ontdone in politeness by the Frenchman, 'to receive Monsieur at the Grand Guard, or the headquarters of his Imperial Majesty's army in Turkey within the emient* of the citadel of Silistria.'

' Pette 1' exolaimed De la Jobardiere, ' I begin to comprehend.' ' Possibly,' quoth the aide-de-camp. 'May I once more trouble Monsieur to descend ?' This last word was in a tone which admitted of no trifling. With a mournful consciousness of the ludicrous appearance he presented that almost overpowered the weariness, the anxiety, the indignation, which possessed him, De la Jobardiere stepped out of his flying prison van, and followed the aide-de-camp into the guard room. There by a solid deal table, stood the feldjager whose snub nose and scrubby red moustache were henceforth impressed indellibly upon his captive's memory. An officer, whess bearing and appearance would, without the stars and medals upon his breast, have given to the most careless observer, indication of high military command, was reading a dexpatoh apparently just handed to him by that fanotionary, the envelope of which he had thrown carelessly upon the table—- ' A son Exc. Lb Marechal Dieb—'

was all that in his confusion De la Jobardiere was able to spell out. ' Monsieur De la Jobardiere, I presume ?' said the officer, with a glance of inquiry, but of per'* t gravity. ' The same, Monsieur le Marechal,' faltered the owner of the appellation. * What officer has the grand rounds tonight ?' he next inquired, turning towards a gronp of officers in the background. «Maj. Bazumoffski, of the Orenburg Artillery Brigade,' answered one of their number, with the accustomed salute, • Is he mounted V

•And at the door, General.' ' Let one of the orderlies dismount and let Monsieur De la Jobardiere have his horse.' ' But c«n°ider a little, Ma-echal, this costume —or I must say, this want of it—' ' Is no doubt a regretful circumstance, sir, but orders, sir, superior orders ; excuse me ; the grand rounds should be starting—you will be good enough to mount and accompany the Major.' There was no help for it; that stolid feldjager was holding tho dismounted trooper's nag at the door with unmoved countenance. Upon the less impassible trooper's own Tartar physiognomy, however, there was something like a grin. A frown from the feldjager suppressed it, as poor De la Jobadiere acambled into the saddle, and endeavored to make the bebt arrangement of the blanket possible to keep the night air from his bare shins. The quilt he clutched convulsively around him with his right hand, while the left tugged at the bridle if his rough and peppery little Baschkir steed. It has a very wide enceinte, that fortress of Silistria; and the Major likewise visited several outlying pic* ets. He rodt> at a sharp pace from post to post, and the roadß, streets, and lanes were execrable. ' Equitation is not my forte, you know, my good friend; and a Tartar trooper's saddle, that is something—oh !to ba felt is to be known. It was one long agony, that nocturnal ride. I thought it a little thing near as long aa that desolating journey of jolts to Silistria. Cay was beginning to point as we d*ew np once more to the guardroom door.' . .

The Frenchman Bhnddered on perceiving that tho carriage, with nine horses harnessed thiee abreast, stood thero as they rode up. ' The Marshal,' said the aide-de-camp, his first acquaintance, ' bids me to express to Monsieur that he is desolated not to have the opportunity of offering to Monßieur such poor hospitality as the head-quarters of a captured fortress can afford. But Monsieur will understand the importance of taking 'to the foot of the letter,' as his country, men express it, instructions—superior instruction - he will comprehend. The military code upon such a point is absolnte. And I have the honor,' with a significant gesture toward the gaping carriage, ' to wish Monsieur a bon voyage.' Bang went that odious door pgain; again was the weight of the clambering feldjager felt to disturb tho equilibrium of the carriage for a moment; again did the hoarse voice shout, ' Houpp la!' again did the three whipcracks emulate tho sharp repoil of pistol shots; again a bound; again a plunge ; again the carriage darted forward ; and again might be heard, through slush and mud, the splashing gallop of the trooper right and left. Why let tho tale of De la Jobardiere s misery be twice told ? All, all, was tho same as before. The bump 3, the thumps, tho bolts, tho crashes, the pitching and tossing, the Bwaying to and fro, the currents of air, tho darkness and the struggling rays of light, the bits of brown biscuit, tho sips of vodki, the occasio al bowls of stchi—all

were repeated—all as befote, jumbled and confused together in sad and inextricable reminiscence.

But when the carriage stopped again for good, and when its door was once more opened wide, the portico wa* loftier and the staircase of wider sweep than at Do la Jobardiere'a own hotel door on the Morskaia. It was night again, and it was again damp, and cold and foggy, but a clear illumination rendered unnecessary the lantern of the feldjager or glimmer of the carriage lamps. Within the doorway on either side stood, in full dress uniform, two non-commissioned officers of tke famous Proobrajenski Grenadier*, A gentleman in fuli dress cut-away, with black satin tights and silk stocking to correspond, with broad silver in his shoas, a chain of wide silver links around his neck, a silver key on his left coat-tail, and a straight steel handled sword by his side, bowed courteously to De la Jobardiere, and begged him to follow him upstair*. Treading noiselessly upon velvet-pile carpets, he led the way through a spacious anteroom, into an apartment where all the light was furnished by a lamp with a ground glass shade, which stood upon a bureau strewn with books and papers, at which a stately figure in undress uniform was writing busily. Although its back was turned, the breadth of loin and shoulder, the length and upright carriage of the back, the powerful but graceful setting upon the neck of the well-formed head, all revealed at once and beyond a doubt to the astonished Frenchman in whose presenco he stood— * C est de phis fort en plus fort, voyez vous, mtssieurs. A peine si j'en pouvais phis.' Tho usher advanced, bowed, spoke a word at the Btately figure's ear, bowed again, drew back, and left the room. The Czar wheeled round his chair, half rose, and made a dignified half bow. Poor De la Jobardiere folded his eider down around him and made a profound obeisance. 'Monsieur De la Jobardiere,' said the august personage, with just the least suspicion of a smile curling the corners of his Imperial lip, ' I am informed that you have recently visited Silistria,' An obeisance deeper and more dejected. * Had you there, may I Inquire, an opportunity of visiting the citadel and inspecting tho military poßts V Third obeisance, in the deep and lower depth. ' And you found them in full occupation by onr Imperial troops ? May I request an answer expressed explicitly Y 'I found them so, your Majesty.' 'Ah ! that is well. Not but that I myself had full confidence in Diebitsch ; but people will be so skeptical at times. Would you believe it, there are rumors current that oven now in certain saloons in St. Petersburg, the taking of Silistria is doubted in tho teeth of the despatches ?' What could the hapless Frenchman do but bow down once again. ' However, I am glad to have unofficial and independent testimony from an actual eyewitness. You are ceitain the Marshal is in undisputed military possession V ' I am certain of it, your Majesty,' ' Thank you, Monsieur Do la Jobardiere ; I will not detain you any longer ; I wish you a good evening.' And, turning . round to his desk again, his august interlocutor touched a little bell. The usher appeared again, and with the same coutteoas solemnity of demeanor showed Monsieur De la Jobardiere down stairs.

An aide decamp came tripping down just as the Frenchman's foot was oa the carriage step. ' Monsieur De la Jobardiere,' he said, ' you are an old enough resident of &t. Petersburg to know that there are occasions on which it Is wise to be discreet about State affairs. Bat I have it in command from his Imperial Majesty to inform you that you have so recently yourself had occasion! t o visitSilistria, there can be no possible objection to your stating in general society that you found the citadel, the fortress, and the city garrisoned by his Imperial Majesty's troops.'