Chapter XXXIX: The Flight From Zostrov

At dinner I heard that the Grand Duke was indisposed, and was dining alone, instead, as usual, with the Count Stravensky, Commandant of the Castle--by courtesy the chief member of his suite, but in reality his custodian--and two or three other officers of high birth, who, with their wives, formed as it were, the inner circle of this small Court in the wilderness. There were a good many ladies in residence,--the great castle was like a world in little,--but I scarcely saw any of them, as I preferred to keep to the safe seclusion of the officers' mess, when I was not in my own room; and there was, of course, no lack of bachelors much more attractive than myself. I gathered from Grodwitz and others that they managed to enliven their exile with plenty of flirtations,--and squabbles.

On this evening the Countess Stravensky was holding a reception in her apartments, with dancing and music; and all my usual after-dinner companions were attending it.

"Better come, _mon ami_," urged Grodwitz. "You are not invited? Nonsense; I tell you it is an informal affair, and it is quite time you were presented to the Countess."

"I'd feel like a fish out of water," I protested. "I'm not used to smart society."

"Smart! _Ma foi_, there is not much smartness about us in this deadly hole! But have it your own way. You are as austere as our Grand Duke himself; though you have not his excuse!" he retorted, laughing.

"What excuse?"

"You have not heard?" he asked quizzically; and rattled out a version of the gossip that was rife concerning Anne and Loris.

"The charitable declare that there is a morganatic marriage," he asserted. "They are probably right; for, I give you my word, he is a sentimental fool, our good Loris. _Voila_, a bit of treason for the ears of your friend Mishka, _hein_?"

"I don't quite understand you, Colonel Grodwitz," I said quietly, looking at him very straight. "If you think I'm in the habit of gossiping with Mishka Pavloff or any other servant here, you're very much mistaken."

"A thousand pardons, my dear fellow; I was merely joking," he assured me; but I guessed he had made one more attempt to "draw" me,--the last.

As I went up to my room I heard the haunting strains of a Hungarian dance from the Stravensky suite, situated on the first floor in the left wing leading from the great hall, while the Duke's apartments were in the right wing.

Mishka entered immediately after I had locked the door.

"Get your money and anything else you value and can carry on you," he grunted. "You will not return here. And get into this."

"This" was the uniform of a cavalry officer; and I must say I looked smart in it.

Mishka gathered up my discarded clothes, and stowed them in the wardrobe.

"Unlock the door; Nicolai will come presently and will think you are still below," he said. "And follow me; have a care, pull the door to--so."

I closed the secret opening and went down the narrow stairway, steep almost as a ladder, By the dim light of the small lantern Mishka carried, I saw the door leading to the Duke's rooms. We did not enter there, as I expected, but kept on till I guessed we must about have got down to the bowels of the earth. Then came a tremendously long and narrow passage, damp and musty smelling; at the end of it a flight of steep steps leading up to what looked like a solid stone wall. Mishka motioned me to wait, extinguished the lantern, and I heard him feeling about in the pitch darkness for a few seconds. Then, with scarcely a sound, the masonry swung back, and I saw a patch of dark sky jewelled with stars, and felt the keen night wind on my face. I passed out, waited in silence while he closed the exit again, and kept beside him as he walked rapidly away. I glanced back once, and saw beyond the great wall, the castle itself, and the lights gleaming from many windows, while from the further wing came still the sound of the music.

We appeared to be making for the road that led to Pavloff's house, where I guessed we might be going, but I asked no questions. Mishka would speak when necessary,--not otherwise. We passed through a belt of pine trees on to the rough road; and there, more heard than seen in the darkness, we came on two horsemen, each with a led horse.

"That you, Wynn?" said a low voice--the Duke's. "You are in good time. This is your horse; mount and let us get on."

We started at a steady pace, not by the road, but across country, and for three versts or more we rode in absolute silence, the Duke and I in advance, Mishka and his father close behind.

"Well, I told you I could get away when I wished to," said Loris at last. "And this time I shall not return. You are a good disciplinarian, my friend! You have come without one question! For the present we are bound for Zizcsky, where she probably awaits us. There may be trouble there; we have word that a _pogrom_ is planned; and we may be in time to save some. The Jews are so helpless. They have lived in fear, and under sufferance for so long, that it is difficult to rouse them even to defend themselves,--out here, anyhow. In Warsaw and Minsk, and the larger towns within the pale, it is different, and, when the time comes, some among them at least will make a good fight of it!"

"We may find that the alarm was false, and things are quiet. If so,--good; we ride on to Count Vassilitzi's house some versts further. He is Anna's cousin and she will be there to-morrow if she is not in Zizcsky; and there we shall decide on our movements.

"I said that the game begins,--and this is it. Perhaps to-morrow,--or maybe a week or a month hence, for the train is laid and a chance spark might fire it prematurely,--a great strike will commence. All has been carefully planned. When the moment comes, the revolutionists will issue a manifesto demanding a Constitution, and that will be the signal for all workers, in every city and town of importance, to go on strike; including the post and telegraph operatives, and the railway men. It will, in effect, be a declaration of civil war; and God alone knows what the upshot will be! There will be much fighting, much violence; that is inevitable. The people are sanguine of success, for many of the soldiers and sailors are with them; but they do not realize--none of the lower classes can realize--how strong a weapon the iron hand of the bureaucracy wields, in the army and, yes, even in the remnant of the navy. Supposing one-tenth of the forces mutiny, and fight on the side of the people, or even stand neutral,--and I do not think we can count on a tenth,--there will still be nine-tenths to reckon with. Our part will be, in a way, that of guerillas. We go to Warsaw, the headquarters of our branch of the League. We shall act partly as Anna's guards. She does not know that; she herself is utterly reckless of danger, but I have determined to protect her as far as possible, as you also are determined, eh, _mon ami_? Also we shall give aid where we can, endeavor to prevent unnecessary violence, and save those who are unable to defend themselves. That, in outline, is the program; we must fill in the details from one moment to the next, as occasion serves. I gather my little band as I go," he continued, speaking, like a true son of the saddle, in an even, deliberate voice that sounded distinct over the monotonous thud of the horses' hoofs. "Yossof has carried word, and the first recruits await us outside the village yonder. They are all picked men, members of the League; some have served in the army, and--"

From far in our rear came a dull, sinister roar, followed by a kind of vibration of the ground under our feet, like a slight shock of earthquake.

We pulled up, all four of us, and, turning in our saddles, looked back. We were nearing the verge of the great undulating plain, and the village from whence in daylight the first view of the castle, some eight versts distant, was obtained. Even now the long range of lights from the left wing could be seen distinctly, like a galaxy of stars near the horizon, but from the right wing, where the Duke's apartments were, shone a faint reddish glow, which, as we looked, increased rapidly, revealing clouds of black smoke.

"An explosion," grunted Mishka. "Some one has wrecked the state apartments, and they are afire. There will be a big blaze. If you had been there,--well, we are all well out of it!"

He rode on with his father; but Loris and I remained as if spellbound for a minute or more, staring at the grim light that waxed brighter every instant, till we could actually see the flames darting through the window spaces and up the outer walls. The place was already a raging furnace.

"My God, how they hate me!" I heard Loris say softly. "Yet, I have escaped them once again; and it is well; it could not be better. I am free at last!"