Princess Zara

"You are a beautiful woman, princess, and with that aid alone you

should accomplish much."

"Yes," she admitted, as calmly as if he had referred to a ring she wore

on her hand; "but I find that to be the most unpleasant character of my

employment. To use such beauty as I have, and such attractions as I

possess, for the winning of men to our cause, whether they be officials

or nobles, is hateful to me; and yet I do not hesitate."

"It is not a difficult task for men to join the nihilists because of

love for you; I could, myself, almost forsake it, did you ask such a

sacrifice."

"Shame on you!" she stormed at him, snatching away her hand and darting

out of his reach. "Shame on you for that! Those were treacherous words,

and I expected them least of all, from you. You make me ashamed;

ashamed for you, and for the cause I uphold. Are all men so weak, and

so easily led? Does the mere beauty of a woman make cowards of them

all? Could a pair of flashing eyes, or the touch of soft hands, change

the destinies of an empire?"

"They have done so more than once, princess."

"You make me hate myself--and you."

"I am afraid that you took me too literally," he said, with perfect

composure, for although he knew that he had angered her, she was yet so

beautiful in her impetuous resentment of his words that he was lost in

admiration. Indeed he had uttered no more than the truth when he told

her that he might even forsake the cause if such a woman as Zara could

have been his reward; and he knew by long years of experience, that he

uttered the sentiments of nine men out of ten who might fall under her

influence.

"My mission is accomplished here," she told him, "and already my

passage is engaged for the return voyage. I leave New York at once and

I shall probably never return to it. What you have told me of the

measures taken in our behalf, has encouraged me greatly; and yet

because of one thing you have said, I dread the return to St.

Petersburg."

"What was that, princess?"

"I must correct myself. You intimated it; you did not say it."

"What was it?"

"You suggested, in one statement you made, that you had reason to fear

that the spy-system as arrayed against us at home, might be augmented

by the addition of skilled operators and experts from this country. I

had thought that we nihilists had a monopoly of that sort of

employment, and that the czar and his nobles could claim only the

loyalty of their own spies. But your suggestion fills me with doubt and

dread. If Alexander were to introduce imported spies among our

people----"