Princess Zara

Nobody but myself in all Russia was familiar with the secrets and the

mysteries of the Fraternity of Silence. In organizing it, I had

anticipated just such a moment as the one that faced me now; that is,

an emergency where I would have to depend entirely upon the loyalty of

my men, and my own superior knowledge of who and what they were, for my

safety.

The partial description already given of that organization conveys only

a faint idea of its perfection and completeness. The different

departments were thoroughly under the control of their several heads,

and those heads were all men whom I could implicitly trust, and I knew

that I might even dare to snap my fingers at the power of the police

system itself, so great was my own. I had men everywhere; and my gift

of remembering names and faces, a gift the Almighty had bestowed upon

me, gave me the advantage of knowing nearly all of them by sight,

although there was not a score, all told, who knew me; and those were

every one importations of my own, upon whose devotion I could

thoroughly depend, even in the face of regular police opposition. More

than that, I had men within the ranks of the police, even within the

fold of the mysterious and dreaded Third Section.

I realized fully the danger to my own person in going upon the street

at that hour, when I had within so short a time been condemned to death

by the extremists--the most implacable element among the nihilists.

They do not dread death themselves so long as they accomplish the death

of him who has been condemned, and one who has fallen under the ban of

their disapproval is in as great danger in broad daylight, among a

hundred companions, as he is on dark streets and among unfrequented

byways. I thought it best, therefore, to provide as well as possible

against another attempt to assassinate me, and therefore sought my own

apartments before going to the palace. I intended to adopt a disguise

of some kind, and, moreover, I had given orders for several of my

leaders to meet me there, and I knew that I would find them waiting.

They were there when I arrived--Coyle, Canfield, Malet, St. Cyr, and

with them several of their lieutenants. There was another one there

also, whose hands were tied behind him, and whose feet were fastened

together, while, by way of additional security, he was tied to the

chair in which my friends had seated him. That man was Ivan, the

brother of Princess Zara. I did not glance at him as I entered, but

notwithstanding his presence, proceeded at once to business,

instructing my men in exactly what they were to do that night. And he

listened intently, first with anger and even rage, then with scorn and

contempt, but finally with wonder and genuine fear. I had arranged the

affair for the purpose of teaching Ivan de Echeveria a moral lesson. I

had determined to save him, even against himself--for Zara's sake.