Jack Archer: A Tale of the Crimea

  CHAPTER XV.

  A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE

  Count Preskoff's old steward received his orders with scarce a look ofsurprise, singular though they must have seemed to him. A Russian isaccustomed to unquestioning obedience to the orders of his superior,and although never before had Count Preskoff issued such strange andunaccountable commands to the steward, the thought never occurred tothe latter of questioning them for a moment.

  When he had left the room, the Count turned to the midshipmen, and hisbrow relaxed. "I cannot tell you," he said, "under what obligation youhave placed me and my family. Little did we think that any littlekindness we might show to you, strangers and prisoners here, would bereturned by a service of a hundredfold greater value. The danger whichhangs over us may for the time be averted by your discovery. I know myenemy too well to suppose that it is more than postponed, but everydelay is so much gained. I have news to-day that the Czar isalarmingly ill. Should Heaven take him, it would be the dawn of abetter era for Russia. His son is a man of very different mould. Hehas fallen into disgrace with his father for his liberal ideas, and heis known to think, as I do, that serfdom is the curse of the empire."

  "But surely," Dick Hawtry said, "if we draw out a document signed byus and Alexis, saying that we overheard the plot to obtain falseevidence against you, the emperor would not believe other falseaccusations which your enemies might invent?"

  "You little know Russia," the count said. "I believe that Nicholas,tyrannical and absolute as he is, yet wishes to be just, and that weresuch a document placed in his hands, it would open his eyes to thetruth. But my enemies would take care that it never reached him. Theyare so powerful that few would dare to brave their hostility bypresenting it. Nor, indeed, surrounded as Nicholas is by creatureswhose great object is to prevent him from learning the true wishes ofhis people, would it be easy to obtain an opportunity for laying sucha document before him. Even were the attempt made, and thatsuccessfully, such doubts would be thrown upon it, that he might wellbe deceived. It would be said that the evidence of Alexis, a serfdevoted to his master, was valueless, and that you, as strangers, veryimperfectly acquainted with the language, might well havemisunderstood the conversation. Count Smerskoff would swear that hewas only repeating statements which Paul had previously made to him,and that he only promised money because Paul insisted that, as a firstcondition of his informing against me, he should receive funds toenable him to leave this part of the country, where his life wouldassuredly be unsafe. I will thankfully take such a document from you,my friends, for it may be useful, but I must not trust too much to it.Now come with me," he continued, as the steward reappeared. "You haveseen how a Russian noble can be kind to his serfs; you will now seehow he punishes traitors."

  Followed by the steward and the two midshipmen, the count proceeded tothe stables. Here, by the light of the lantern, they saw Paulstanding, bound against the manger. His features were ghastly pale andcontracted with fear. His conscience told him that his treachery hadbeen discovered. Alexis and the two servants were standing by, in theattitude of stolid indifference habitual to the Russian peasant.

  "Demetri, you, Ivan, and Alexander will be the court to try this manwhom I accuse of being a traitor, who has plotted against my life andliberty, who would have sent me to the gallows or Siberia, and seen mywife and children turned beggared and disgraced on the world. You willform the court, and decide whether he is innocent or guilty. If thelatter, I will pass sentence. Alexis and these English gentlemen arethe witnesses against him."

  The midshipmen first, and then Alexis related the conversation theyhad overheard.

  "You have heard the evidence," the count said, turning to Demetri."What is your opinion? is this man innocent or guilty?"

  "He is guilty," the old man said, "of the basest treachery towards thebest and kindest master in Russia, and he deserves to die."

  "And so say we," said the other two together, looking with loathinghorror at the prisoner; for in Russia for a serf to conspire againsthis master was a crime deemed almost equal in atrocity to parricide.

  "You hear, Paul," his master said, sternly looking at him; "you havebeen found guilty, and must die. Alexis, you restrained yourself formy sake from taking the life of this wretch when you heard himplotting against me; you will now act as executioner."

  "Right willingly," the man replied, taking down a huge axe which hungby the wall.

  The wretched prisoner, who had hitherto maintained an absolutesilence, now burst into an agony of cries, prayers for mercy, andcurses. Seeing in the unmoved countenances of his judges that nothingwould avail, and that Alexis was approaching him; he screamed out ademand for a priest before he died.

  "That is reasonable," the count said. "Go into the house, Demetri, andask Papa Ivanovitch to come hither"--for in the family of everyRussian noble a priest resides, as a matter of course.

  Presently the priest arrived with the steward.

  "Papa Ivanovitch," the count said, "you are, I know, devoted to thefamily in which your father and grandfather were priests before you.You can, therefore, be trusted with our secret, a secret which willnever go beyond those present. You are here to shrive a man about todie."

  Then the count related the incidents of the discovery of the treacheryof the prisoner, and the priest, who shared with the serfs theirveneration and affection for their lord, could scarcely overcome hisrepugnance and horror of the prisoner so far as to approach and listento him.

  For five minutes all present withdrew from the stable, leaving thepriest and the prisoner alone together. Then the door opened and thepriest came out.

  "It is finished," he said. "May God pardon the sinner!" and he movedaway rapidly towards the house.

  Alexis spoke a word to his fellow-servants, and these lifted a heavylog from the wood-pile in the courtyard, and carried it into thestable. Then they seized Paul, and in spite of his screams andstruggles laid him with his head across the log. Alexis raised theheavy axe in the air; it flashed in the light of the lantern; therewas a dull, heavy thud, and the head of the traitor rolled on theground.

  "Now," the count said, unmoved, "put a horse into a cart, take picksand shovels, and carry the body of this traitor out to the forest andbury it there. Dig a hole deeply, that the wolves may not bring it tolight. Demetri will give each of you to-morrow fifty roubles for yourshare in this night's work, and beware that you never let a syllableconcerning it pass your lips, even when you are together and alone.Alexis, on you I bestow your freedom, if you care to have it, andalso, as a gift to yourself and your heirs after you, the little farmthat was vacant by the death of Nouvakeff last week."

  So saying, followed by the two midshipmen who had been awed, but notdisapproving spectators of the tragedy, he returned to the house, andled the way back to his study.

  "You do not disapprove," he asked gravely, "of what I have done? It isnot, I know, in accordance with your English ideas, nor even in Russiamay a noble take a serf's life, according to law, though hundreds arekilled in fits of hasty passion, or by slow ill-treatment, and noinquiry is ever made. Still, this was a case of life against life. Mysafety and happiness and that of my dear wife and daughters wereconcerned, and were the lives of fifty serfs at stake, I should nothesitate."

  Although the boys felt that the matter, if brought before an Englishcourt of justice, might not be favorably considered, their sympathieswere so thoroughly with the count, that they did not hesitate to saythat they thought he could not have acted otherwise than he had done,and that the life of the traitor was most justly forfeited.

  "I shall now have a respite for a short time," the count said. "CountSmerskoff will of course be perturbed and annoyed at thenon-appearance of his spy, and will after a time quietly set inquirieson foot. But I will tell Demetri to give it to be understood that Paulhas asked for leave of absence for a few days to go to a distance tovisit a friend who is ill. He was always a silent and unsociablefellow, and the others will not wonder at his having started withoutmentionin
g his intention to any of them."

  "What are we to say to the ladies, sir?" Jack asked. "We must inventsome reason for our mysterious absence."

  "Yes," the count agreed. "I would not burden them with such a secretas this on any account."

  "I have an idea, sir," Jack said after a pause. "You know thatbeautiful pair of ponies which were brought here yesterday for sale?The ladies were in raptures over them, but you said that the price waspreposterous, and that the owner wanted as much for them as you hadgiven for your best pair of carriage horses. Now, sir, if you were toorder Alexis to go over at daybreak to the town to purchase them, andhave them at the door in a pony-carriage by breakfast-time, this wouldseem to explain the whole mystery of the coachman's coming to see you,and our private conference."

  "It is a capital plan," the count assented; "admirable, and I willcarry it out at once. It is true I refused to buy them, for we haveall contributed to the extent of our means to enable the emperor tocarry on the war, and I am really short of money. But of course thepurchase of the ponies is not a matter of importance, one way or theother."

  Upon the party returning to the drawing-room, they were assailed withquestions; but the count told his daughters that their curiosity mustremain unsatisfied until after breakfast on the morrow; and with thisassurance they were obliged to be satisfied, although Olga pouted andtold Jack that he had entirely forfeited her confidence. Fortunatelyit was now late, and the lads were not called upon long to maintain anappearance of gayety and ease which they were very far from feeling.

  When they retired to their rooms, they had a long talk together. Bothagreed that, according to English law, the whole proceeding wasunjustifiable; but their final conclusion was that things in Russiawere altogether different to what they were in England, and that,above all things, it was a case in which "it served him right."

  Nevertheless it was long before they got to sleep, and for weeks thescene in the stable was constantly before their eyes, and the screamsand entreaties of the dying man rang in their ears.

  The next morning the sight of the ponies delighted the girls, and intheir pleasure at the purchase they accepted at once the solution ofthe mystery, and never thought of questioning whether the longconference between their father and the midshipmen on the precedingevening was fully accounted for by the gift of the ponies.

  Five days elapsed, and then one morning a sergeant rode up with anofficial letter for the count. The latter opened it and read an orderfrom the governor for him to transfer the English prisoners in hischarge to the bearer of the letter, who would conduct them to thequarters assigned to them. Most reluctantly the count ascended thestairs and informed the boys of the order which he had received.

  "It is simply done to annoy me," he said. "No doubt he has heard thatyou ride about the estate with me and are treated as members of thefamily, and he thinks, and rightly, that it will be a seriousannoyance to me if you are transferred elsewhere. However, I can do noless than obey the order, and I can only hope that you will spend mostof your time here. Alexis shall bring the carriage over every morningfor you, wherever you may be quartered."

  The girls were as indignant and aggrieved as even the midshipmen couldwish to see them, but there was no help for it. A quarter of an hourlater a carriage was at the door, a portmanteau well filled withclothes placed behind, and with the sergeant trotting alongside, theboys left the chateau where they bad been so hospitably entertained,promising to come over without fail the next morning.

  They were conducted to the governor's house, and taken not to thelarge room where he conducted his public business, and where they hadbefore seen him, but to a smaller room, fitted up as a private studyon the second floor. The governor, who looked, Jack thought, even moresavage and ill-tempered than usual, was seated at a writing-table. Hesigned to the sergeant who accompanied them to retire, and pointed totwo chairs. "So," he said, "I am told that you are able to conversefairly in Russian, although you have chosen to sit silent whenever Ihave been present, as if you did not understand a word of what wasbeing said. This is a bad sign, and gives weight to the report whichhas been brought to me, that you are meditating an escape."

  "It is a lie, sir," Dick said firmly, "whoever told it you. As to ourlearning Russian, we have, as you see, picked up a little of thelanguage, but I'm not aware of any rule or law by which gentlemen,whether prisoners or otherwise, are obliged to converse, unless itpleases them to do so. You never showed any signs of being even awareof our presence in the room, and there was therefore no occasion forus to address you."

  "I do not intend to bandy words with you," the governor repliedsavagely. "I repeat that I am informed you meditate attempting anescape, and as this is a breach of honor, and a grave offence upon thepart of officers on parole, I shall at once revoke your privilege, andyou will be confined in the same prison with common soldiers."

  "In the first place," Jack said, "as my friend has told you, thereport of our thinking of escaping is a lie. If we had wanted toescape, at any rate from this place, we could have done it at any timesince we have been here. In the second place, I deny that we areprisoners on parole. We did not give you our promise, because you didnot ask for it. You said to Dr. Bertmann, in our hearing, that ourparole was no matter, one way or the other, as it would be impossiblefor us to escape. The doctor can of course be found, and will, I amsure, bear out what I say."

  "Silence, sir!" shouted the governor. "I say that you were prisonerson parole, and that I have discovered you intended to break thatparole. You will be committed to prison, and treated as men who haveforfeited all right to be considered as officers and gentlemen."

  The boys sat silent, looking with contempt at the angry Russian. Thelatter believed that he had now cowed them. He sat for a few minutessilent, in order to allow the prospect of imprisonment and disgrace toproduce its full effect. Then he continued in a milder voice, "I donot wish to be severe upon such very young officers, and willtherefore point out a way by which you may avoid the imprisonment anddisgrace which your conduct has merited, and be enabled still to enjoyyour freedom as before."

  "What is it?" Dick asked briefly.

  "It is this," the governor said. "I have here before me," and hetouched some documents lying on the table, "a report which I am aboutto forward to the Czar respecting Count Preskoff. The report is notaltogether favorable, for the count is a man of what are calledadvanced opinions. He has curious ideas as to the treatment of serfs,and has, no doubt, in your hearing expressed himself favorable totheir emancipation."

  The boys were silent.

  "He has, I doubt not, done so, for he is rash and open of speech. Ihave here before me an information sworn to that effect, and if youwill place your names as witnesses to it, I will not only pardon theindiscretion of which you have been guilty, but will do all in mypower to make your stay pleasant."

  The boys were speechless with indignation at the infamy of theproposal, and doubted not that the document contained far weightiercharges than those specified by the governor.

  "Who has signed that document?" Jack asked.

  "I do not know that the name can matter to you," the governor said,"but it is one of the servants of the count, one Paul Petrofski."

  "Then," Dick said, starting to his feet, "it is a forgery. PaulPetrofski never signed that document."

  "What do you mean?" the governor exclaimed, leaping to his feet also,and laying his hand on his sword, while his face grew white withpassion. "Do you accuse me of forgery?"

  "I repeat," Dick said, his indignation altogether mastering hisprudence, "that it is a forgery. You have never seen Paul Petrofskisince I heard you offer him one thousand roubles at the cross-roadsthat night to betray his master."

  With a short cry which reminded Jack of the sharp snarl of the wolvesin the night in the forest, the Russian drew his sword and rushed uponDick. The latter threw up his arm to defend himself, but the blowfell, cutting his arm severely, and laying open a great gash on hischeek.

  The Russi
an raised his arm to repeat the blow, when Jack sprang uponhim from behind, seizing him round the waist, and pinning his arms tohis side.

  The count struggled furiously, but Jack was a strongly built Englishlad of nearly sixteen years old, and he not only retained his grasp,but lifted his struggling captive from his feet. "Open the window,Dick!" he shouted. "It's his life or ours now." Dick though nearlyblinded with blood, sprang to the window and threw it up.

  There was a short, desperate struggle, as the Russian shoutingfuriously for aid, strove with his feet to keep himself away from thewindow, but Dick struck these aside. With a mighty effort Jack pushedhis captive forward, and in another moment he was thrown through theopen window. A rush of heavy steps was heard on the stairs. In aninstant Jack darted to the table, seized the documents upon it, andcast them into the fire in the stove, slammed the door, and wasstanding by the window with Dick, when an officer and several soldiersburst into the room.

  "What is the matter?" the former exclaimed; "and where is thegovernor?"

  "The matter is," Jack said, quietly turning round, "that the governorhas drawn his sword, and, as you see, tried to kill my friend. Inorder to prevent his doing so, my friend and I have thrown thegovernor out of the window."

  "Thrown the governor out of the window!" gasped the astonishedofficer.

  "Yes," Jack said. "It was painful, but we had to do it. If you lookout, I fancy you'll see him."

  The officer ran to the window.

  "Good heavens!" he exclaimed; "it is true. They are lifting him upalready. He seems to me to be dead. You will have to answer for this,"he said, turning to the lads.

  "Of course we shall answer for it," Jack said. "He brought it onhimself. His temper, as no doubt you are aware, was not always understrict control."

  The officer could not help smiling. He had himself often experiencedthe effects of that want of control of his temper on the part of hissuperior, and was at heart by no means sorry at the prospect of a newgovernor.

  "His Excellency's temper was hasty," he said. "However, gentlemen,that is no business of mine." Then, turning to the soldiers, hecontinued, "You will take these officers into custody, and remain herein charge of them until you have further orders." He then left them,to inquire into the state of the governor. The soldiers mutteredremarks to each other, by no means indicative of sorrow, for thetyranny of the governor had made him hated by all below him. One ofthem at Jack's request at once went out and returned with a jug ofcold water and a towel, with which Jack bathed Dick's wounds, whichwere bleeding severely, and the midshipman was scarcely able to standfrom loss of blood. Jack vainly attempted to stop the bleeding. "Wemust have a surgeon," he said, turning to the soldiers, "or, as yousee, my friend will bleed to death. No doubt there are plenty of thembelow. Will one of you go and ask one of them to come up here, tellinghim how urgent is the need?"

  After a consultation among themselves, one of the soldiers retired,and in a minute or two returned with a surgeon, in whom, to his greatdelight, Jack recognized Doctor Bertmann, who upon seeing Dick's stateat once proceeded to attend to him. Cutting off his coat andshirt-sleeve, he examined his arm, from which the blood was flowing ina stream.

  "One of the small arteries is cut," he said. "It is lucky that aid wasat hand, or he would have assuredly bled to death." The severed arterywas speedily found and tied up, and then the wound on the face wasplastered and bandaged, and Dick, as he lay on the couch, for he wasfar too weak to stand, felt comparatively comfortable.