The Czar's Spy: The Mystery of a Silent Love
he spurned the body with his foot and laughed to himself as he gloated
over his dastardly crime.
"I watched his rage, unable to utter a single word. I saw him, after he
had searched the dead man's pockets, raise the inert body with its awful
featureless face and drag it to the bulwarks. Then I rushed forward and
faced him.
"In an instant he sprang at me, and I screamed. But no aid came. The man
Wilson was sleeping soundly in the bows, for the whisky he had given him
had been doctored," went on the narrative. "Upon his face was a fierce,
murderous look such as I had never seen before. 'You!' he screamed, his
dark eyes starting from their sockets as he realized that I had been a
witness of his cowardly crime. 'You have spied upon me, girl!' he
hissed, 'and you shall die also!' I sank upon my knees imploring him to
spare me, but he only laughed at my entreaty. 'See!' he cried, 'as you
saw how he enjoyed his cigar, you may as well see this!' And with an
effort he raised the dead body in his arms, poised it for a moment on
the vessel's side, and then, with a hoarse laugh of triumph, heaved it
into the sea. There was a splash, and then we were alone. 'And you!' he
cried in a fierce voice--'you who have spied upon me--you will follow!
The water there will close your chattering mouth!' I shrieked, begged,
and implored, but his trembling hands were upon my throat. First he
dragged me to my feet, then he threw me upon my knees, and at last, with
that grim brutality which characterizes him, he directed me to go and
get a mop and bucket from the forecastle and remove the dark red stains
from the chair and deck. This he actually forced me to do, gloating over
my horror as I removed for him the traces of his cowardly crime. Then,
with his hand upon my shoulder, he said, 'Girl! Recollect that you keep
to-night's work secret. If not, you shall die a death more painful than
that dog has died--one in which you shall experience all the tortures of
the damned. Recollect, not a single word--or death! Now, go to your
cabin, and never pry into my affairs again.'
"I went back to my cabin as I was bid, and sat speechless in abject
horror. The fiendish actions of the man who was my guardian frightened
me. And yet I was utterly helpless. What could I do? Who in holy Russia
would hear me? Oberg was a power in the Empire; the Czar himself trusted
him. If I spoke, who would believe me; who would heed the words of a
defenseless girl whom he would at once declare to be hysterical? Thus I
waited alone in the darkness, watching the lights of the port gleaming
across the placid waters until nearly one o'clock, when the gay party
returned, and the Baron greeted them merrily as though nothing had
happened. But my heart was frozen within me by the recollection of the
awful crime that had been committed."
* * * * *
"Why! Now I remember!" cried Muriel, amazed. "I remember that night
quite well, how white you were when you came to my cabin and asked to be
allowed to sleep in my spare berth. You would tell me nothing, and only
said you were ill. None of us had any idea that such a terrible tragedy
had been enacted. But of course the Baron had arranged it all, for it
was at his instigation, I recollect, that the crew had been given
shore-leave. Mackintosh suggested that only half the crew should go,
but he declared that if Wilson alone were left it would be sufficient."
"I, too, recollect the affair quite well," Jack declared, tugging at his
mustache, utterly amazed at my love's strange story. It was a plain
statement of hard, astounding facts, and she now stood clinging to me,
looking eagerly into my eyes, reading every thought that passed through
my mind. "A great sensation was caused when the body was discovered. The
squadron was lying off Naples about a week after the _Iris_ had left,
and while we were there the body was washed up near Sorrento. At first
but little notice was taken of it, but by the marks on the dead man's
linen it was discovered that he was Polovstoff, one of the highest
Russian officials who had, it was said, been warned on several occasions
by the Nihilists. It was, therefore, concluded that his death had been
due to Nihilist vengeance."
Elma pointed to the paper, and made a sign that I was to read on. This I
did, and the statement ran as follows:
"The real reason why the Baron spared my life was because, if I died, my
fortune would pass to a distant cousin living at Durham. Yet his manner
towards me was now most polite and pleasant--a change that I felt boded
no good. He intended to obtain my money by marrying me to his son
Michael, whose evil reputation as a gambler was well known in
Petersburg. We traveled back to Finland in the autumn, and in the winter
he took me to stay with his sister in Nice. Yet almost daily he referred
to that tragedy at Naples, and threatened me with death if ever I
uttered a single word, or even admitted that I had ever seen the man who
was his rival and his victim."
"Last June," commenced another paragraph, "we were in Helsingfors, when
one day the Baron called me suddenly and told me to prepare for a
journey. We were to cross to Stockholm and thence to Hull, where the
_Iris_ was awaiting us, for Mr. Leithcourt and Muriel had invited us for
a summer cruise to the Greek Islands. We boarded the yacht much against
my will, yet I was powerless, and dare not allege the facts that I had
already established concerning our fellow-guests. Muriel and I, it
seems, were taken merely in order to blind the shore-guards and Customs
officials as to the real nature of the vessel, which when safely out of
the Channel, was repainted and renamed the _Lola_, until her exterior
presented quite a different appearance from the _Iris_.
"The port of Leghorn was our first place of call, and for some reason we
ran purposely upon a sandbank and were towed off by Italian
torpedo-boats. Next evening you came on board and dined, Muriel and
myself having strict orders not to show ourselves. We, however, watched
you, and I saw you pick up my photograph which I had that day torn up.
Then immediately after you had left, Woodroffe, Chater and Mackintosh
went ashore and were away a couple of hours in the middle of the night.
Just before they returned the Baron rapped at the door of my cabin
saying that he must go ashore, and telling me to dress and accompany
him. He would never allow me the luxury of a maid, fearing, I suppose,
that she might learn too much. In obedience I rose and dressed, and when
I went forth he told me to get my traveling-cloak and dressing-bag,
adding that he was compelled to go north, as to continue the cruise
would occupy too much time. He was due back at his official duties, he
said. As soon as I had finished packing, the three men returned to the
vessel, all of them looking dark-faced and disappointed. Woodroffe
whispered some words to the Baron, after which I went to Muriel's cabin
and wished her good-bye, and we went ashore, taking the train first to
Colle Salvetti, thence to Pisa, and afterwards to the beautiful old city
of Siena, which I had so longed to see. One of my teeth gave me pain,
and the Baron, after a couple of days at the Hotel de Sienne, took me to
a queer-looking little old Italian--a dentist who, he said, enjoyed an
excellent reputation. I was quick to notice that the two men had met
before, and as I sat in the chair and gas was given to me I saw them
exchange meaning glances. In a few moments I became insensible, but when
I awoke an hour later I was astounded to feel a curious soreness in my
ears. My tongue, too, seemed paralyzed, and in a few moments the awful
truth dawned upon me. I had been rendered deaf and dumb!
"The Baron pretended to be greatly concerned about me," it went on, "but
I quickly realized that I had been the victim of a foul and dastardly
plot, and that he had conceived it, fearing lest I might speak the truth
concerning the Privy-Councillor Polovstoff, for of exposure he lived in
constant fear. To encompass my end would be against his own interests,
as he would lose my fortune, so he had silenced me lest I should reveal
the terrible truth concerning both him and his associates. He was not
rich, and I have reason to believe that from time to time he gave
information as to persons who possessed valuable jewels, and thus shared
in the plunder obtained by those on the yacht.
"From Italy we traveled on to Berlin, thence to Petersburg, and back to
dreary Helsingfors, journeying as quickly as we could, yet never
allowing me opportunity of being with strangers. Both my ears and tongue
were very painful, but I said nothing. He was surely a fiend in a black
coat, and my only thought now was how to escape him. From the moment
when that so-called dentist had ruined my hearing and deprived me of
power of speech, he kept me aloof from everyone. The fear that I should
reveal everything had apparently grown to haunt him, and he had
conceived that terrible mode of silencing my lips. But the true depth of
his villainy was not yet apparent until I was back in Finland.
"On the night of our arrival he called in his son, who had traveled with
us from Petersburg, and in writing again demanded that I should marry
him. I wrote my reply--a firm refusal. He struck the table angrily with
his fist and wrote saying that I should either marry his son or die.
Then next day, while walking alone out beyond the town of Helsingfors,
as I often used to do, I was arrested upon the false charge of an
attempt upon the life of Madame Vakuroff and transported, without trial,
to the terrible fortress of Kajana, some of the horrors of which you
have yourself experienced. The charge against me was necessary before I
could be incarcerated there, but once within, it was the scheme of the
Governor-General to obtain my consent to the marriage by threats and by
the constant terrors of the place. He even went so far as to obtain a
ministerial order for my banishment to Saghalien and brought it to me to
Kajana, declaring that if in one month I did not consent he should allow
me to be sent to exile. While I was in Kajana he knew that his secret
was safe, therefore by every means in his power he urged me to consent
to the odious union.
"All the rest is known to you--how Providence directed you to me as my
deliverer, and how Woodroffe followed you in secret, and pretending to
be my friend took me with him to Petersburg. He had learnt of my fortune
from the Baron, and intended to marry me himself. But now that all is
over it appears to me like some terrible dream. I never believed that so
much iniquity existed in the world, or that men could fight a
defenseless woman with such double-dealing and cruel ingenuity. Ah! the
tortures I endured in Kajana are beyond human conception. Yet surely
Oberg and Woodroffe will obtain their well-merited deserts--if not in
this world, then in the world to come. Are we not taught by Holy Writ to
forgive our enemies? Therefore, let us forgive."
* * * * *
There my silent love's strange story ended. A bald, straightforward
narrative that held us all for some moments absolutely speechless--one
of the strangest and most startling stories ever revealed.
She watched every expression of my countenance, and then, when I had
finished reading and placed my arm tenderly about her slim waist, she
raised her beautiful face to mine to receive the passionate kiss I
imprinted upon those soft, full lips.
"This, of course, makes everything plain," exclaimed Jack. "Polovstoff
was a very liberal-minded and upright official who was greatly in the
favor of the Czar, and a serious rival to Oberg, whose drastic and
merciless methods in Finland were not exactly approved by the Emperor.