CHAPTER XXIV.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 379, 22 June 1889, Page 3

CHAPTER XXIV.

TO BE KNOUTJ^D AT ONCE. I};ry.,l1 }; ry.,1 4/ Fjfteen minutes later Gre'sser'and, Wafc took a carriage fco the imperial palace." '," •' ■ Gresser twas oneof the privileged few who had acceos to the Czar at anyVand all times, and so he was permitted with his companion to pass the guards an'd enter the palace. ' At the anteroom of the audience chamber he gave his name ; and the page with a respect that showed how well Gresser stood with the Czar,' hurried away.' ' " , Presently he returned and said that the Czar was engaged with the Grand Duke Vladimir, but would be disengaged presently. ' • Sofia's friend,' whispered Gresser. • 'Looks to me like a checkmate, then,' answered Wat. 'How so?' ' . • If the grand duke should be in the plot, it would have been easy for Sofia, on losing the train, to telegraph to him to" denounce Chernigoff.' ' For what purpose ?' 'To prove that she was only a spy and was prepared to disclose everything.' 'I see. So that if I should go to the Czar and tell him of Chornigoff and 1 try to follow it up by any suspicion of Sofia, he would smile and say she was acting' under his orders. ' • Precisely.' 1 Shall we give it up, then, and turn our attention to Vera ?' • That depends. Is ifc at all likely that the Czar will change his mind about Vera, at^the wish of Sofia or her friends ?' ' I think not. At least, he gave me his word that Vera should not be touched until the five days were expired.' ' Leb us wait, then, for our audience. tYe may effect something yet. The presence of the grand duke here may be only a coincidence.' • While we wait, then, let us arrange about the escape of Vera.' 'Good ! That suits me.' 'My scheme is this : I will show you where the entrance to the secret passage is, and you will select some dark night, at a «out ten o'clock, for the escape.' ' Where d«es the passage lead to ?' I 'Right to Veras present room. I will | explain all that to you. ' You must have a proper disguise made for her and a carriage ready- I will give you the password that will g©t you out of the city, and then you must make a shift for yourself-. I shall nob dare to have any further part in the matter.' • May I see Vera to warn her beforehand ?' ' Certainly. Or at least I will see that she is prepared.' • And this passage is not guarded ?' ' Nobody knows of its existence but myself. 5 ' How is that ?' ' I discovered it by a mere accident when I was governor of the castle. You see it was the castle of i one of the great nobles before the time of Peter the Great. That wise monarch decided it was too strong a place to be in the hands of a subject, and so he bought it at his own price, and it has been in possession of the government ever since.' ' How shall I find it ?' •Do you know the situation of the fortress ?' 'Yes. 5 'Do you remember -a disused quarry about five hundred .yards to the north of ic?' . • -- . 'Perfectly well. 5 ' The castle was built of stone takenfrom that quarry, and it has not been in use since.' ! - # ' I remember having made' some such guess the, day I went to see Vera.' • Did you look into the quarry then ?' 1 Yes.' 'Then you will remember the jagged, uneven face of the cut where the stone was taken from ?' 'Yes.' •And perhaps a big walnut tree that grows at the east end" of the quarry t 1 Yes, I remember that, too.' 'Well, if you will climb into .the lower branches of that tree, you will see, if you look carefully, an arrangement of the rocks in the form of a cross. That is, a cut in bhe rocks of that shape. 5 •Yes.' " - , . f The limb there is a 'mighty ope arid you can safely climb out on it until you can reach the rock in question.' • ',-. 'Yes.' i ' When you are close enough -you will see a small grove on the inner face of the left arm of the cross.' 4 Lower side ?' ' Yes. Put your fingers in that and pull toward you and you will find that the rock at the upper right angle of the cross will fall inward. Go into that hole and make your way forward. The way will bo a straight and easy one.' ' There will of course be no danger in using a light when 1 am once inside V 'Not at all.' ' Shall I close the hole after 1 have gone in?' ' Yes. It closes easily by pulling on a handle you will see. 5 •And at the other end ?' i 'At the very end of the passage-way you will see a brass ring. Pull that — it will be over your head — and the corner of the room Veia is in will move away.' 1 The corner ?' • Yes. That is a most ingenious device for preventing the discovery of the passage by sounding. I tried in vain to discover any different noise there than anywhere else. ' • • • Thank you, I think I can at lea&t get • Vera out of her prison, and it will be strange if I do not get her out of the country.' 'Don't tell me any of your plans, for I shall have to pursue and capture you if you fell in my way. ' 'I'll try to keep out of your way.' 'And please forget about the passage, and ask Vera, too.' • I will take her where it will do her no good to remember. 5 " - ! ' Then it is understood that if what I teir His Majesty does not procure Veras par* v don, or at least the postponement of her' sentence indefinitely, you will take the risk of trying to run away with her V 'Yes. r * ' Gresser and Wafc' must have waited an', hour, when the chief, becoming impatient, called the page to' him and asked if he was sure the Czar had understood who it was that had wished to see him.' 'Yes, your excellency, for he answered' me that the general would be good enough to wait until he had transacted some im- 4 portant business.' At this momenta bell sounded, and. the page hurried away, returning a few moments later to say that Gresser was on no account to go away without first seeing his - majesty. , , „ . .. ,>; * This message made them both uneasy, for it wad inspired by f somebody who probably suspected Gresser's errand/ ' You are being kepttheie fova purpose,'' whispered Wat. '

•No doubt of that. Well, there} may come a time,* if you will do me the service to follow up your clues, when I may have ear of the Czar.' •If I geti away from here in safety I sHall be bound to see the affair of the countess and Chernigoff fco an end; but I will tell you frankly that only to save the little countess would I have ever played the spy on the nihilists. ' • You surely are nol in sympathy with their murderous methods ?' ' No ; but I cannot help sympathising with , their wrongs, of which they have many.' Gresser shrugged his shoulders, and said : • ' That is because you are an American, I suppose.' 'Do you think your couutrymen have no wrongs ?' ' Ask me that when I am the Czar's chief adviser, and I will answer you, maybe.' ' Ah, J said Wat, • you are ambitious.' ' Yes, and some day I shall surely be Minister of the Interior. When I am, will you be my chief of police ?' ' Ask me that, 1 laughed Wat, ' when you are Minister, and I will answer you.' i Another hour passed by, and Wat was \ becoming more uneasy all the time. Suddenly there was a noise in the room boyond, which told that somebody was coining. The door was thrown open, and, to Wat's dismay and Gresser's consternation, the grand duke came forth, leading Sofia by the hand in a most ceremonious manner. She vras habited in her travelling dress, and had evidently gone to the palace at once from the train. Ske flashed a malicious glance' at the chief of police, and taking a paper from her bosom, said, in a low voice, to him : 'This is an imperative order from the Czar that Vera Radolinski shall be knouted at once.' The countess passed proudly on, and then he turned to Wat. ' I thought she was hours behind.' *So she was by the regular train. She must have suspected, telegraphed, and then chartered a special train. You see, it had become an affair of life and death to her.' ' And the grand duke has helped her by detaining me here. Well, my turn will be next. What will you do ?' ' Give her time to get away from here, and then make a race with her for poor Vera.' ' You will try to get her away in the daytime ?' 'It is that, or lefc her die that horrible death.' * Heaven be with you ! I hope you will succeed.' But the chief spoke as if he had no hope of it.