By Right of Sword

  CHAPTER XXVI.

  MY DECISION.

  The news I heard from Prince Bilbassoff wrought me to a higher pitch ofexcitement than anything that had ever happened in my life. I was in avery highly strung condition, and my nerves were no doubt greatlywrought upon as the result of the stirring events of the previous fewdays. That may have rendered me unduly susceptible to this newdevelopment.

  Be that as it may, I went out of the Prince's presence filled with aspurring desire to kill the man who as it seemed to me was planning myruin in this most treacherous manner.

  The view I took was that this Grand Duke was moved by the double motiveof personal anger on the score of my affair with Alexandre Durescq andof a feeling of insecurity on account of the knowledge I had of hisNihilism. I knew too much to be trusted. The issues were sotremendous, the decision I had to make so full of moment, and the timefor me to choose my course so short, that my wits had need to be attheir sharpest.

  I had out my horse and went for a hard gallop--one of the bestprescriptions I know of to clear a tangled judgment. It acted now. AsI rode at hot speed my thoughts began to settle; and then gradually ascheme occurred to me, wild, desperate, and hazardous at best, andfraught with fearful risks to others beside myself; but yet ifsuccessful, offering me what I wanted above all--complete deliverancefrom the whole of my present difficulties.

  My first thought in all was for myself. Not for the Emperor, nor thearmy, nor Russia, nor any big interests--for myself and for my escapefrom the country whose most unwilling guest and compulsory servant Iwas. Had I been a Russian officer in reality, I could have taken butone course--disclosed the Nihilist plot, or so much of it as I knew,and thus have checkmated the whole devilish business at once. Had Iever received any particular mark of favour at the hands of theGovernment or the country, gratitude would have urged me to take thesame course.

  But I owed nothing to a soul in all Russia. Everyone had tried to useme as a tool. The Colonel of the regiment had begun by making use ofmy quarrel with Durescq to humiliate Devinsky. The officers, almostwithout exception, had swaggered over me contemptuously until my skillas a swordsman shewed them the price of contempt might be death. TheNihilists had first tried to assassinate me, and only when I had seemedto serve their ends with more daring and secrecy than any other manamong them, had they turned with a demand for more sacrifices; whilethis Grand Duke, apparently one of the chief of them, was even nowplanning to get rid of me. Prince Bilbassoff was in the same list; andwithout a doubt would have shut up both Olga and myself on PaulaTueski's accusation, had he not wished to hire me as an assassin.Everywhere I turned it was the same.

  What then did I owe to Russia that I should think of any singleconsideration except my own safety and welfare?

  The question which I asked myself therefore, was whether I could plungemy hand into this seething cauldron of intrigue and murder and pluckout my own safety.

  A word from me would foil the whole Nihilist plot, and the Czar wouldmake his entry into Moscow in due form and time. But how should Iprofit? Supposing the Nihilist calculations were correct, and I wasappointed to the section of the line where the "accident" was tohappen, I should have to contrive obstacles and make difficulties whichwould in all probability draw down on me the suspicions of the wholeNihilist crew. Add that element of suspicion to the feeling which theGrand Duke already entertained and was inculcating into others, andwhat chance was there of my escaping either open ruin or assassination?

  Assuming that I did escape even, what should I gain? I was tied toRussia by the word I had passed to the Prince, and could not hope to beset free from it until I had either fought the Grand Duke, or until thePrince was convinced that the duel was impossible. But as the Dukelooked on me as nothing less than a pestilential traitor to theNihilist cause, was it likely that he would consent to meet me?Certainly not. Even if we added the cause which the Prince hadsuggested--the spurious betrothal to the Princess--I should get nobenefit. The Grand Duke would merely regard that as an additionalreason for having me removed secretly from his path.

  All this meant therefore, that even if I thwarted the plot in this way,I should be kept in Russia and apart from Olga, until the Grand Dukeconsented to fight me; or, in other words, until his emissaries hadconvinced themselves that they could not manage to assassinate me. Norwas it probable that that conviction would come until they had made aseries of unsuccessful efforts.

  A pleasant prospect, truly!

  On the other hand, if I did nothing and allowed the infernal plot to becarried through and the Emperor murdered, it would mean death to me;certain death. As the officer placed in charge of the section of theline where the deed would be done, who had allowed the murderersdisguised as soldiers to mix with my troops; who had actually postedthem at the very spot where the train was to be derailed; and who aboveall was already suspected of Nihilist intrigue; I was certain ofconviction, even without the Grand Duke's special animosity. Add that,however, and the result was as dead certain as that night alternateswith day.

  If I was to escape, therefore, it must be by a shrewd stroke dealt bymyself alone and for myself alone. And such a stroke it was thatsuggested itself in the course of that ride.

  Briefly, it was to allow everything to go forward right to the verysupreme moment, and then by personal effort to save the Emperor's lifeby my own hand in such a way as to draw the Imperial attention directlyon myself.

  I thought I saw how it could be done: and when I turned my horse's headhomeward I rode at a slower pace, meditating all the details of theplan with the closest attention. The Nihilists had told me enough toshew me how to act; and my sense of fair play urged me to use theknowledge for my sole advantage, and without involving a singleNihilist in danger by open denunciation. I was a Nihilist against mywill; and though I had been forced into the plot, I was altogetheropposed to telling what had been told to me in this spirit ofconfidence. At the same time I was a Russian officer, almost equallyagainst my own seeking, and so long as I preserved the Emperor's life Ineed not regard other matters as a Russian officer would.

  By the time I reached my rooms I had my plans shaped, and my schemedeveloped; and my accustomed mood of calm, wary self-possession hadreturned.

  I changed and went to the club. The place was crammed with theofficers stationed in Moscow and their friends who had been sent intothe city on special duty in connection with the Czar's visit on thefollowing day. Everyone was in the noisiest spirits. Good news hadcome of the prospects of war. All believed that on the next day theLittle Father would make a ringing war speech that would render peaceimpossible; and many of the men were talking as though the sword hadalready leapt from the scabbard, and a million men, tramping warwards,were already driving the scared Turks before them, like husks beforethe winnowing fan.

  I lounged about the place, exchanging a word now and then with one oranother of my acquaintances, and I saw some of the youngsters stoptheir war babble as I passed and whisper to their companions, and thelatter would turn and look in my direction. I was fool enough to bepleased at these little indications of the changed feelings with whichin scarcely more than a month I had made my fellow-officers think andspeak of "that devil Alexis."

  More than once I smiled to myself as I thought what a bomb-shell wouldbe exploded in the room if they were all told the hazardous secretwhich filled my thoughts just at that moment.

  "To hell with the Turk, Alexis," cried Essaieff, catching sight of meand stopping me as I moved past.

  "May the Sick Man never recover!" I returned, answering in the formthat was then in vogue with us all.

  "Drink, man, drink," he cried, excitedly, thrusting a glass of somekind of liquor to me. It was evident he had been toasting the warpretty freely. "Sit here with us. Take it easy, man, now while wecan. We've a long march ahead before we catch a glimpse of theminarets of Constantinople. Gentlemen, here is a Russian of whom youwill hear much when the war comes. Lieutenant Petrovitch of ours,gentl
emen, my particular friend, and as good a fellow as ever held acommission. You can do anything with him, except quarrel; then, damme,you must look out for yourself, for there isn't a man in Moscow, nor Ibelieve in Russia, can get through his guard; and as for shooting, God!I believe if a single devil of a Turk shews only the shadow of aneyelash round the corner of a fortification, he'll hit him with aricochet. 'That devil Alexis,' he is to us; and if the devil's onlyhalf as good a fellow as this, I'll be content for one to serve him."

  "I've heard of Lieutenant Petrovitch," said one of the men, as he bowedto me ceremoniously and lifted his glass in response to Essaieff'stoast.

  "Then you will know how to discount the exaggerations of my good friendEssaieff," said I, quietly.

  "On the contrary, I knew Durescq."

  "Is Lieutenant Petrovitch the officer who was in that matter?" askedanother, shewing great interest in me at once.

  "I should think he is," cried Essaieff, noisily enthusiastic. "It wasin this very room that the thing occurred. I'll tell you...."

  "Essaieff, my dear fellow, I'd much rather not," I interrupted; andturning to one of the officers I asked:--"Do you really think the warwill come now?" But Essaieff would not let me change the subject.

  "War come? of course it will; but this is something much better thanwar just now," he burst in. "Several of us thought there was mischiefin the air when we saw Devinsky and Durescq together, and I wasstanding there, waiting for...."

  "Excuse me," I interrupted, rising. "I wish to speak to a man I seeover there; and really I can't stand Essaieff when he gets on thistheme," and with that excuse I left.

  Wherever I went there were the same signs of revelry, excitement andpleasure. All were anticipating a really splendid gala day on themorrow, with gaieties, festivities, balls, receptions, concerts,levees, everything that society deems life worth living for to follow.

  I went away very early. I had to keep my nerves as firm as cold steel,and the noisy ruffled atmosphere of this place with its crowd ofgesticulating, laughing, excited men, and the drink that wascirculating so freely, formed the worst of all preparations for such aday as the morrow would be for me and the task I had to perform.

  Before going home I strolled through one or two of the broader streets;and everywhere I went I could not fail to observe that while theunusual throngs of people in the streets reflected the feelings ofrejoicing that had animated the officers whom I had just left, and thatall Moscow was slowly going mad with anticipative excitement, thenumber of police agents was multiplied many times over. The leaven ofsuspicion embittered everything; and, as no one knew better than I,with what terrible cause. As I mingled with the great, jostling,bantering crowd I found myself speculating how the majority of themwould decide such an issue as that which had been bewildering me; andthe wild task I had for the morrow made me feel like a thing apart fromeveryone of them--an alien not only in race, but in every attribute andaspiration.

  The contact with the crowd helped in a way to strengthen the decision Ihad made. I was one against all these thousands; fighting by myselffor my own hand against desperate odds, and with none to help me in asingle detail.

  When I reached my rooms I went at once to bed, knowing that everyminute of rest had its value as a preparation for the work of thefollowing day. I had made my resolution, formed my plans, thought outeven the details. I had gauged the risk and knew full well that theprobabilities were all against my being alive on the following night.

  But this at least was equally certain--if I lived and was free I wouldhave won my way out of Russia.

  These were the thoughts that filled me; and so occupied was I with themthat it was not until I purposely put them away from me in order to getto sleep, that I recalled how little I had thought of Olga during thewhole of that eventful day.

  She was in my thoughts when I fell asleep, however: and her facecheered me in my dreams.