CHAPTER II.
A CAT'S-PAW.
One evening a fortnight later Godfrey went with two young Englishmen toa masked ball at the Opera. It was a brilliant scene. Comparatively fewof the men were masked or in costume, but many of the ladies were so.Every other man was in uniform of some kind, and the floor of the housewas filled with a gay laughing crowd, while the boxes were occupied byladies of the highest rank, several of the imperial family beingpresent. He speedily became separated from his companions, and afterwalking about for an hour he became tired of the scene, and was about tomake his way towards the entrance when a hand was slipped behind hisarm. As several masked figures had joked him on walking about so vaguelyby himself, he thought that this was but another jest.
"You are just the person I wanted," the mask said.
"I think you have mistaken me for some one else, lady," he replied.
"Not at all. Now put up your arm and look as if I belong to you.Nonsense! do as you are told, Godfrey Bullen."
"Who are you who know my name?" Godfrey laughed, doing as he wasordered, for he had no doubt that the masked woman was a member of oneof the families whom he had visited.
"You don't know who I am?" she asked.
"How should I when I can see nothing but your eyes through those holes?"
"I am Katia, the cousin of your friend Akim."
"Oh, of course!" Godfrey said, a little surprised at meeting the musicmistress in such an assembly. "I fancied I knew your voice, though Icould not remember where I had heard it. And now what can I do for you?"
The young woman hesitated. "We have got up a little mystification," shesaid after a pause, "and I am sure I can trust you; besides, you don'tknow the parties. There is a gentleman here who is supposed to be withhis regiment at Moscow; but there is a sweetheart in the case, and youknow when there are sweethearts people do foolish things."
"I have heard so," Godfrey laughed, "though I don't know anything aboutit myself, for I sha'n't begin to think of such luxuries as sweetheartsfor years to come."
"Well, he is here masked," the girl went on, "and unfortunately thecolonel of his regiment is here, and some ill-natured person--we fancyit is a rival of his--has told the colonel. He is furious about it, anddeclares that he will catch him and have him tried by court-martial forbeing absent without leave. The only thing is, he is not certain as tohis information."
"Well, what can I do?" Godfrey asked. "How can I help him?"
"You can help if you like, and that without much trouble to yourself.He is at present in the back of that empty box on the third tier. I waswith him when I saw you down here, so I left him to say good-bye to hissweetheart alone, and ran down to fetch you, for I felt sure you wouldoblige me. What I thought was this: if you put his mask and cloakon--you are about the same height--it would be supposed that you are he.The colonel is waiting down by the entrance. He will come up to you andsay, 'Captain Presnovich?' You will naturally say, 'By no means.' Hewill insist on your taking your mask off. This you will do, and he will,of course, make profuse apologies, and will believe that he has beenaltogether misinformed. In the meantime Presnovich will manage to slipout, and will go down by the early train to Moscow. It is not likelythat the colonel will ever make any more inquiries about it, but if hedoes, some of Presnovich's friends will be ready to declare that henever left Moscow."
"But can't he manage to leave his mask and cloak in the box and to slipaway without them?"
"No, that would never do. It is necessary that the colonel should seefor himself that the man in the cloak, with the white and red bow pinnedto it, is not the captain."
"Very well, then, I will do it," Godfrey said. "It will be fun to seethe colonel's face when he finds out his mistake; but mind I am doing itto oblige you."
"I feel very much obliged," the girl said; "but don't you bring my nameinto it though."
"How could I?" he laughed. "I do not see that I am likely to becross-questioned in any way; but never fear, I will keep your counsel."
By this time they had arrived at the door of the box. "Wait a moment,"she said, "I will speak to him first."
She was two minutes gone, and then opened the door and let him in. "I amgreatly obliged to you, sir," a man said as he entered. "It is a foolishbusiness altogether, but if you will enact my part for a few minutesyou will get me out of an awkward scrape."
"Don't mention it," Godfrey replied. "It will be a joke to laugh overafterwards." He placed the broad hat, to which the black silk mask wassewn, on his head, and Katia put the cloak on his shoulders.
"I trust you," she said in a low voice as she walked with him to the topof the stairs. "There, I must go now. I had better see CaptainPresnovich safely off, and then go and tell the young lady, who is agreat friend of mine--it is for her sake I am doing it, you know, notfor his--how nicely we have managed to throw dust in the colonel'seyes!"
Regarding the matter as a capital joke, Godfrey went down-stairs andmade his way to the entrance, expecting every moment to be accosted bythe irascible colonel. No one spoke to him, however, and he began toimagine that the colonel must have gone to seek the captain elsewhere,and hoped that he would not meet him as he went down the stairs withKatia. He walked down the steps into the street. As he stepped on to thepavement a man seized him from behind, two others grasped his wrists,and before he knew what had happened he was run forward across thepavement to a covered sledge standing there and flung into it. His threeassailants leapt in after him; the door was slammed; another man jumpedon to the box with the driver; and two mounted men took their placesbeside it as it dashed off from the door. The men had again seizedGodfrey's hands and held them firmly the instant they entered thecarriage.
"It is of no use your attempting to struggle," one of the men said,"there is an escort riding beside the sledge, and a dozen more behindit. There is no chance of a rescue, and I warn you you had best not openyour lips; if you do, we will gag you."
Godfrey was still half bewildered with the suddenness of thetransaction. What had he been seized for? Who were the men who had gothold of him? and why were they gripping his wrists so tightly? He hadheard of arbitrary treatment in the Russian army, but that a colonelshould have a captain seized in this extraordinary way merely because hewas absent from his post without leave was beyond anything he thoughtpossible.
"I thought I was going to have the laugh all on my side," he said tohimself, "but so far it is all the other way." In ten minutes thecarriage stopped for a moment, there was a challenge, then some gateswere opened. Godfrey had already guessed his destination, and hisfeeling of discomfort had increased every foot he went. There was nodoubt he was being taken to the fortress. "It seems to me that MissKatia has got me into a horrible scrape of some kind," he said tohimself. "What a fool I was to let myself be humbugged by the girl inthat way!"
Two men with lanterns were at the door of a building, at which thecarriage, after passing into a large court-yard, drew up. Stillretaining their grip on his wrists, two of the men walked beside himdown a passage, while several others followed behind. An officer of highrank was sitting at the head of a table, one of inferior rank stoodbeside him, while at the end of the table were two others with papersand pens before them.
"So you have captured him!" the general said eagerly.
"Yes, your excellency," the man who had spoken to Godfrey in thecarriage said respectfully.
"Has he been searched?"
"No, your excellency, the distance was so short, and I feared that hemight wrench one of his hands loose. Moreover, I thought that you mightprefer his being searched in your presence."
"It is better so. Take off that disguise." As the hat and mask wereremoved the officer sprang to his feet and exclaimed, "Why, who is this?This is not the man you were ordered to arrest; you have made someconfounded blunder."
"I assure you, your excellency," the official said in trembling accents,"this is the only man who was there in the disguise we were told of.There, your excellency, is the bunch
of white and red ribbons on hiscloak."
"And who are you, sir?" the general thundered.
"My name, sir, is Godfrey Bullen. I reside with Ivan Petrovytch, amerchant living in the Vassili Ostrov."
"But how come you mixed up in this business, sir?" the general exclaimedfuriously. "How is it that you are thus disguised, and that you arewearing that bunch of ribbon? Beware how you answer me, sir, for this isa matter which concerns your life."
"So far as I am concerned, sir," Godfrey said, "I am absolutely ignorantof having done any harm in the matter, and have not the most remote ideawhy I have been arrested. I may have behaved foolishly in allowingmyself to take part in what I thought was a masquerade joke, but beyondthat I have nothing to blame myself for. I went to the Opera-house,never having seen a masked ball before. I was alone, and being young andevidently a stranger, I was spoken to and joked by several maskedladies. Presently one of them came up to me. I had no idea who she was;she was closely masked, and I could see nothing of her face." He thenrepeated the request that had been made him.
"Do you expect me to believe this ridiculous nonsense about this CaptainPresnovich and his colonel?"
"I can only say, sir, what I am telling you is precisely what happened,and that I absolutely believed it. It seemed to me a natural thing thata young officer might come to a ball to see a lady who perhaps he had noother opportunity of meeting alone. I see now that I was very foolish toallow myself to be mixed up in the affair; but I thought that it was aharmless joke, and so I did as this woman asked me."
"Go on, sir," the general said in a tone of suppressed rage.
"There is little more to tell, sir. I went up with this woman to the boxshe had pointed out, and there found this Captain Presnovich as Ibelieved him to be. I put on his hat, mask, and cloak, walked down thestairs, and was leaving the Opera-house when I was arrested, and am evennow wholly ignorant of having committed any offence."
"A likely story," the general said sarcastically. "And this woman, didyou see her face?"
"No, sir, she was closely masked. I could not even see if she were youngor old; and she spoke in the same disguised, squeaking sort of voicethat all the others that had spoken to me used."
"And that is your entire story, sir; you have nothing to add to it?"
"Nothing whatever, sir. I have told you the simple truth."
The general threw himself back in his chair, too exasperated to speakfarther, but made a sign to the officer standing next to him to take upthe interrogation. The questions were now formal. "Your name is GodfreyBullen?" he asked.
"It is."
"Your nationality?"
"British."
"Your domicile?"
Godfrey gave the address.
"How long have you been in Russia?"
"Four months."
"What is your business?"
"A clerk to Ivan Petrovytch."
"How comes it that you speak Russian so well?"
"I was born here, and lived up to the age of ten with my father, JohnBullen, who was a well-known merchant here, and left only two yearsago."
"That will do," the general said impatiently. "Take him to his cell andsearch him thoroughly."
Naturally the most minute search revealed nothing of an incriminatingcharacter. At length Godfrey was left alone in the cell, which containedonly a single chair and a rough pallet. "I have put my foot in itsomehow," he said to himself, "and I can't make head nor tail of itbeyond the fact that I have made an ass of myself. Was the whole story alie? Was the fellow's name Presnovich? if not, who was he? By the rageof the general, who, I suppose, is the chief of the police, it wasevident he was frightfully disappointed that I wasn't the man he waslooking for. Was this Presnovich somebody that girl Katia knew andwanted to get safely away? or was she made a fool of just as I was? Shelooked a bright, jolly sort of girl; but that goes for nothing inRussia, all sorts of people get mixed up in plots. If she was concernedin getting him away I suppose she fixed on me because, being English anda new-comer here, it would be easy for me to prove that I had nothing todo with plots or anything of that sort, whereas if a Russian had been inmy place he might have got into a frightful mess over it. Well, Isuppose it will all come right in the end. It is lucky that the weatherhas got milder or I should have had a good chance of being frozen todeath; it is cold enough as it is."
Resuming his clothes, which had been thrown down on the pallet, Godfreydrew the solitary rug over him, and in spite of the uncertainty of theposition was soon fast asleep. He woke just as daylight was breaking,and was so bitterly cold that he was obliged to get up and stamp aboutthe cell to restore circulation. Two hours later the cell door wasopened and a piece of dark-coloured bread and a jug of water were handedin to him. "If this is prison fare I don't care how soon I am out ofit," he said to himself as he munched the bread. "I wonder what it ismade of! Rye!"
The day passed without anyone coming near him save the jailer, whobrought a bowl of thin broth and a ration of bread for his dinner.
"Can't you get me another rug?" he asked the man. "If I have got to stophere for another night I shall have a good chance of being frozen todeath."
Just as it was getting dark the man came in again with another blanketand a flat earthenware pan half full of sand, on which was burning ahandful or two of sticks; he placed a bundle of wood beside it.
"That is more cheerful by a long way," Godfrey said to himself as theman, who had maintained absolute silence on each of his visits, left thecell. "No doubt they have been making a lot of inquiries about me, andfind that I have not been in the habit of frequenting low company. Ishould not have had these indulgences if they hadn't. Well, it will bean amusement to keep this fire up. The wood is as dry as a bone luckily,or I should be smoked out in no time, for there is not much ventilationthrough that narrow loophole."
The warmth of the fire and the additional blanket made all thedifference, and in a couple of hours Godfrey was sound asleep. When hewoke it was broad daylight, and although he felt cold it was nothing towhat he had experienced on the previous morning. At about eleveno'clock, as near as he could guess, for his watch and everything hadbeen removed when he was searched, the door was opened and a prisonofficial with two warders appeared. By these he was conducted to thesame room where he had been first examined. Neither of the officers whohad then been there was present, but an elderly man sat at the centre ofthe table.
"Godfrey Bullen," he said, "a careful investigation has been made intoyour antecedents, and with one exception, and that not, for variousreasons, an important one, we have received a good report of you. IvanPetrovytch tells us that you work in his office from breakfast-time tillfive in the afternoon, and that your evenings are at your own disposal,but that you generally dine with him. He gave us the names of thefamilies with which you are acquainted, and where, as he understood, youspend your evenings when you are not at the Skating Club, where yougenerally go on Tuesdays and Fridays at least. We learn that you didspend your evenings with these families, and we have learned at the clubthat you are a regular attendant there two or three times a week, andthat your general associates are:" and he read out a list whichincluded, to Godfrey's surprise, the names of every one of hisacquaintances there. "Therefore we have been forced to come to theconclusion that your story, incredible as it appeared, is a true one.That you, a youth and a foreigner, should have had the incredible levityto act in the way you describe, and to assume the disguise of a personabsolutely unknown to you, upon the persuasion of a woman alsoabsolutely unknown to you, well-nigh passes belief. Had you been olderyou would at once have been sent to the frontier; but as it is, theCzar, to whom the case has been specially submitted, has graciouslyallowed you to continue your residence here, the testimony beingunanimous as to your father's position as a merchant, and to theprudence of his behaviour while resident here. But I warn you, GodfreyBullen, that escapades of this kind, which may be harmless in England,are very serious matters here. Ignorantly, I admit, but none the lesscerta
inly, you have aided in the escape of a malefactor of the worstkind; and but for the proofs that have been afforded us that you were amere dupe, the consequences would have been most serious to you, andeven the fact of your being a foreigner would not have sufficed to saveyou from the hands of justice. You are now free to depart; but let thisbe a lesson to you, and a most serious one, never again to mix yourselfup in any way with persons of whose antecedents you are ignorant, and infuture to conduct yourself in all respects wisely and prudently."
"It will certainly be a lesson to me, sir. I am heartily sorry that Iwas so foolish as to allow myself to be mixed up in such an affair, andthink I can promise you that henceforth there will be no fault to befound in my conduct."
In the ante-room Godfrey's watch, money, and the other contents of hispocket were restored to him. A carriage was in waiting for him at theouter door, and he was driven rapidly to the house of the merchant.
"This is a nice scrape into which you have got yourself, Godfrey," IvanPetrovytch said as he entered. "It is lucky for you that you are not aRussian. But how on earth have you got mixed up in a plot? We knownothing about it beyond the fact that you had been arrested, for,although a thousand questions were asked me about you, nothing was saidto me as to the charge brought against you. We have been in the greatestanxiety about you. All sorts of rumours were current in the city as tothe discovery of a plot to assassinate one of the grand-dukes at theOpera-house, and there are rumours that explosive bombs had beendiscovered in one of the boxes. It is said that the police had receivedinformation of the attempt that was to be made, and that everyprecaution had been taken to arrest the principal conspirator, but thatin some extraordinary manner he slipped through their fingers. Butsurely you can never have been mixed up in that matter?"
"That is what it was," Godfrey said, "though I had no more idea ofhaving anything to do with a plot than I had of flying. I see now that Ibehaved like an awful fool." And he told the story to Petrovytch and hiswife as he had told it to the head of the police. Both were shocked atthe thought that a member of their household should have been engaged,even unwittingly, in such a treasonable affair.
"It is a wonder that we ever saw you again," the merchant's wifeexclaimed. "It is fortunate that we are known as quiet people or wemight have been arrested too. I could not have believed that anyone withsense could be silly enough to put on a stranger's mantle and hat!"
"But I thought," Godfrey urged, "that at masked balls people did playall sorts of tricks upon each other. I am sure I have read so in books.And it did seem quite likely--didn't it now?--that an officer shouldhave come up to meet a young lady masked whom he had no chance ofmeeting at any other time. It certainly seemed to me quite natural, andI believe almost any fellow, if he were asked to help anyone to get outof a scrape like that, would do it."
"You may do it in England or in France, but it doesn't do to take partin anything that you don't know for certain all about here. The wonderis they made any inquiries at all. If you had been a Russian the chancesare that your family would never have heard of you again from the timeyou left to go to the opera. Nothing that you could have said would havebeen believed. Your story would have been regarded by the police as amere invention. They would have considered it as certain that in someway or other you were mixed up in the conspiracy. They would haveregarded your denials as simple obstinacy, and you would have been sentto Siberia for life."
"I should advise you, Godfrey," Ivan Petrovytch said, "to keep anabsolute silence about this affair. Mention it to no one. Everyone knowsthat something has happened to you, as the police have been everywhereinquiring; but there is no occasion to tell anyone the particulars. Ofcourse rumours get about as to the action of the Nihilists and of thepolice, but as little is said as possible. It is, of course, a mererumour that a plot was discovered at the Opera-house. Probably therewere an unusual number of police at all the entrances, and a very littlething gives rise to talk and conjecture. People think that the policewould not have been there had they not had suspicion that something orother was going to take place, and as everything in our days is put downto the Nihilists, it was naturally reported that the police haddiscovered some plot; and as two of the grand-dukes were there, peoplemade sure it was in some way connected with them.
"As nothing came of it, and no one was, as far as was known, arrested,it would be supposed that the culprit, whoever he was, managed to evadethe police. Such rumours as these are of very common occurrence, and itis quite possible that there is not much more truth in them this timethan there is generally; however, of one thing you may be sure, thepolice are not fonder than other people of being outwitted, and whetherthe man for whom they were in search was a Nihilist or a criminal ofsome other sort you certainly aided him to escape. You are sure to bewatched for some time, and it will be known to the police in a very fewhours if you repeat this story to your acquaintances; if they find youkeep silence about it, they will give you credit for discretion, whileit would certainly do you a good deal of harm, and might even now leadto your being promptly sent across the frontier, were it known that youmade a boast of having outwitted them.
"There is another reason. You will find that for a time most of yourfriends here will be a little shy of you. People are not fond of havingas their intimates persons about whom the police are inquiring, and youwill certainly find for a time that you will receive very fewinvitations to enter the houses of any Russians. It would be different,however, if it were known that the trouble was about something that hadno connection with politics; therefore, I should advise you, when youare asked questions, to turn it off with a laugh. Say you got mixed upin an affair between a young lady and her lover, and that, like manyother people, you found that those who mingle in such matters often getleft in the lurch. You need not say much more than that. You might doanything here without your friends troubling much about it provided ithad nothing to do with politics. Rob a bank, perpetrate a big swindle,run away with a court heiress, and as long as the police don't lay handson you nobody else will trouble their heads about the affair; but ifyou are suspected of being mixed up in the most remote way withpolitics, your best friends will shun you like the plague."
"I will take your advice certainly," Godfrey said, "and even puttingaside the danger you point out, I should not be anxious to tell peoplethat I suffered myself to be entrapped so foolishly."
For some time, indeed, Godfrey found that his acquaintance fell awayfrom him, and that he was not asked to the houses of any of the Russianmerchants where he had been before made welcome. Cautious questionswould be asked by the younger men as to the trouble into which he gotwith the police; but he turned these off with a laugh. "I am not goingto tell the particulars," he said, "they concern other people. I canonly tell you that I was fool enough to be humbugged by a pretty littlemasker, and to get mixed up in a love intrigue in which a young lady,her lover a captain in the army, and an irascible colonel wereconcerned, and that the young people made a cat's-paw of me. I am notgoing to say more than that, I don't want to be laughed at for the nextsix months;" and so it became understood that the young Englishman hadsimply got into some silly scrape, and had been charged by a colonel inthe army with running away with his daughter, and he was thereforerestored to his former footing at most of the houses that he had beforevisited.
Two days after his release a note was slipped into Godfrey's hand by aboy as he went out after dinner for a walk. It was unsigned, and ran asfollows:--
"Dear Godfrey Bullen, my cousin is in a great state of distress. She wasdeceived by a third person, and in turn deceived you. She has heardsince that the story was an entire fiction to enable a gentleman forwhom the police were in search to escape. She only heard last night ofyour arrest and release, and is in the greatest grief that she shouldhave been the innocent means of this trouble coming upon you. You knowhow things are here, and she is overwhelmed with gratitude that you didnot in defence give any particulars that might have enabled them totrace her, for she would have fo
und it much more difficult than astranger would have done to have proved her innocence. She knows thatyou did say nothing, for had you done so she would have been arrestedbefore morning; not improbably we might also have found ourselves withinthe walls of a prison, since you met her at our room, and the mereacquaintanceship with a suspected person is enough to condemn one here.By the way, we have moved our lodging, but will give you our new addresswhen we meet you, that is, if you are good enough to continue ouracquaintance in spite of the trouble that has been caused you by thecredulity and folly of my cousin."
Godfrey, who had begun to learn prudence, did not open the letter untilhe returned home, and as soon as he had read it dropped it into thestove. He was pleased at its receipt, for he had not liked to think thathe had been duped by a girl. From the first he had believed that she,like himself, had been deceived, for it had seemed to him out of thequestion that a young music mistress, who did not seem more than twentyyears old, could have been mixed up in the doings of a desperate set ofconspirators; however, he quite understood the alarm she must have felt,for though his story might have been believed owing to his being astranger, and unconnected in any way with men who could have beenconcerned in a Nihilist plot, it would no doubt have been vastly moredifficult for her to prove her innocence, especially as it was knownthat there were many women in the ranks of the Nihilists.
It was a fortnight before he met either of the students, and he then ranagainst them upon the quay just at the foot of the equestrian statue ofPeter the Great, opposite the Isaac Cathedral. They hesitated for amoment, but he held out his hand cordially.
"Where have you been, and how is it I have not seen you before?"
"We were afraid that you might not care to know us further," Akim said,"after the trouble that that foolish cousin of mine involved you in."
"That would have been ridiculous," Godfrey said. "If we were to blameour friends for the faults of persons to whom they introduce us, therewould be an end to introductions."
"Everyone wouldn't think as you do," Akim said. "We both wished to meetyou, and thank you for so nobly shielding her. The silly girl might beon her way to Siberia now if you had given her name."
"I certainly should not have done that in any case. It is not the way ofan Englishman to betray his friend, especially when that friend is awoman; but I thought even before I got your letter that she must in someway or other have been misled herself."
"It was very good of you," Petroff said. "Katia has been in greatdistress over it. She thinks that you can never forgive her."
"Pray tell her from me, Petroff, that I have blamed myself, not her. Iought not to have let myself be persuaded into taking any part in thematter. I entered into it as a joke, thinking it would be fine fun tosee the old colonel's face, and also to help a pair of lovers out of ascrape. It would have been a good joke in England, but this is not acountry where jokes are understood. At any rate it has been a usefullesson to me, and in future young ladies will plead in vain to get me tomix myself up in other people's affairs."
"We are going to a students' party to-night," Petroff said. "One of ournumber who has just passed the faculty of medicine has received anappointment at Tobolsk. It is a long way off; but it is said to be apleasant town, and the pay is good. He is an orphan, and richer thanmost of us, so he is going to celebrate it with a party to-night beforehe starts. Will you come with us?"
"I should like it very much," Godfrey said; "but surely your friendwould not wish a stranger there on such an occasion."
"Oh, yes, he would! he would be delighted, he is very fond of theEnglish. I will answer for it that you will be welcome. Meet us here atseven o'clock this evening; he has hired a big room, and there will betwo or three dozen of us there--all good fellows. Most of them havepassed, and you will see the army and navy, the law and medicine, allrepresented."
Godfrey willingly agreed to go. He thought he should see a new phase ofRussian life, and at the appointed hour he met the two students. Theentertainment was held in a large room in a traktar or eating-house in asmall street. The room was already full of smoke, a number of young menwere seated along two tables extending the length of the room, andcrossed by one at the upper end. Several were in military uniform, andtwo or three in that of the navy. Akim and Petroff were greetedboisterously by name as they entered.
"I will talk to you presently," Akim shouted in reply to variousinvitations to take his seat. "I have a friend whom I must firstintroduce to Alexis." He and Petroff took Godfrey up to the table at theend of the room. "Alexis," Akim said, "I have brought you a gentlemanwhom I am sure you will welcome. He has proved himself a true friend,one worthy of friendship and honour. His name is Godfrey Bullen."
There was general silence as Akim spoke, and an evident curiosity as tothe stranger their comrade had introduced. The host, who had risen tohis feet, grasped Godfrey's hand warmly.
"I am indeed glad to meet you, Godfrey Bullen," he said.
"My friends, greet with me the English friend of Akim and Petroff."
There was a general thumping of glasses on the table, and two or threeof those sitting near Alexis rose from their seats and shook hands withGodfrey, with a warmth and cordiality which astonished him. Room wasmade for him and his two friends at the upper end of one of the sidetables, and when he had taken his seat the lad was able to survey thescene quietly.
Numbers of bottles were ranged down the middle of the tables, which wereof bare wood without cloth. These contained, as Petroff told him, winesfrom various parts of Russia. There were wines similar to sherry andBordeaux, from the Crimea; Kahetinskoe, strongly resembling goodburgundy, from the Caucasus; and Don Skoe, a sparkling wine resemblingchampagne, from the Don. Besides these were tankards of Iablochin Kavas,or cider; Grushevoi Kavas, or perry; Malovinoi, a drink prepared fromraspberries; and Lompopo, a favourite drink on the shores of the Baltic.The conversation naturally turned on student topics, of tricks played onprofessors, on past festivities, amusements, and quarrels. No allusionof any kind was made to politics, or to the matters of the day. Jovialsongs were sung, the whole joining in chorus with great animation. Atnine o'clock waiters appeared with trays containing the indispensablebeginning of all Russian feasts. Each tray contained a large number ofsmall dishes with fresh caviar, raw herrings, smoked salmon, driedsturgeon, slices of German sausage, smoked goose, ham, radishes, cheese,and butter. From these the guests helped themselves at will, theservants handing round small glasses of Kuemmel Liftofka, a spiritflavoured with the leaves of the black-currant, and vodka.
Then came the supper. Before each guest was placed a basin of stehi, acabbage soup, sour cream being handed round to be added to it; then camerastigai patties, composed of the flesh of the sturgeon and isinglass.This was followed by cold boiled sucking pig with horse-radish sauce.After this came roast mutton stuffed with buck-wheat, which concludedthe supper. When the table was cleared singing began again, but Godfreystayed no longer, excusing himself to his host on the ground that themerchant kept early hours, and that unless when he had speciallymentioned that he should not be home until late, he made a point ofbeing in between ten and eleven.
He was again surprised at the warmth with which several of the guestsspoke to him as he said good-night, and went away with the idea in hismind that among the younger Russians, at any rate, Englishmen must bemuch more popular than he had before supposed. One or two young officershad given him their cards, and said that they should be pleased if hewould call upon them.
"I have had a pleasant evening," he said to himself. "They are a jollyset of fellows, more like boys than men. It was just the sort of thing Icould fancy a big breaking-up supper would be if fellows could do asthey liked, only no head-master would stand the tremendous row they madewith their choruses. However, I don't expect they very often have ajollification like this. I suppose our host was a good deal better offthan most of them. Petroff said that he was the son of a manufacturerdown in the south. I wonder what he meant when he laughed in that quietway
of his when I said I wondered that as his father was well off heshould take an appointment at such an out-of-the-way place as Tobolsk.'Don't ask questions here,' he said, 'those fellows handing round themeat may be government spies.' I don't see, if they were, what interestthey could have in the question why Alexis Stumpoff should go toTobolsk.
"However, I suppose they make a point of never touching on privateaffairs where any one can hear them, however innocent the matter may be.It must be hateful to be in a country where, for aught you know, everyother man you come across is a spy. I daresay I am watched now; thatpolice fellow told me I should be. It would be a lark to turn off downby-streets and lead the spy, if there is one, a tremendous dance; butjokes like that won't do here. I got off once, but if I give them theleast excuse again they may send me off to the frontier. I should notcare much myself, but it would annoy the governor horribly, so I willwalk back as gravely as a judge."