Princess Zara

"No," I said. "You need not tell me this at all, Alexis. I am quite

glad enough to see you and to have you here, without explanation."

He made a gesture of impatience.

"As if I did not know that," he added; "but as I said a moment ago, it

is my pleasure to recite some of these things to you, because since I

came into this room and grasped your hand I have been impressed by the

idea that there is a great work for you to do; a great duty for you to

perform. A stupendous obstacle to human development exists in one part

of Europe to-day, which I believe you could overcome and demolish, if

only you could be convinced of it. I wonder, Dan, if you would give the

subject any thought if I were to suggest it to you?"

"Try," I said.

"I wonder if you would seriously consider one of the greatest

achievements that remains undone in Europe to-day," he added,

meditatively.

"The obstacle to which you just now referred?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Nihilism."

"Hell!" I replied with emphasis.

But he took me literally, and not even the suggestion of a smile showed

in his face as he replied: "That is the fitting word, Dan. It is hell. It is worse than that to

hundreds of thousands of human beings, from the lowest mujik of the

steppes, to the czar himself. It is a word which carries with it a

certain magic which always spells the word death. It is death to those

who antagonize it, and it is death to them that uphold it. It is death

to the minister, the governor, the official, and it is death to the

poor devil who plots in the dark, secretly with his fellows, against

the powers that rule him. Nihilism is well named, for it means nothing

and it ends in nothing. Nihilo nihil fit! Whoever named the

revolutionists of Russia so, builded better than they knew."

I was watching Saberevski with some amazement. I had never heard him

express himself in such terms before, and I had not supposed him

capable, sympathetically, of doing so. I was not without a certain fund

of knowledge regarding the subject he had introduced, for my

professional duties had taken me more than once into Russia, and I had

encountered much of the conditions he described. But I regarded them,

as well as Saberevski himself, with the American idea and from an

American standpoint. It had always seemed to me so unnecessary that

conditions should exist as I had heard them described over there. I had

always believed that if the government of Russia would only go about

the work differently, it would be so easy to eradicate every phase of

the so-called nihilism, and especially that branch of it practiced by

those who are called extremists. Evidently Saberevski entertained

something of this view himself, although from the standpoint of a

Russian, for he ended a short silence between us by saying: "I have not finished what I was going to tell you, Dan. I have served

Alexander, the czar, many years, and served him faithfully. There are

reasons now why I can serve him no longer, in the capacity and at the

places where he needs me most. My life which is of small moment, and

his who is my royal master, would not be worth the weight of a feather

if I were to show my face at St. Petersburg again. There is nothing

remaining for me to do save to sit down quietly in some far country of

the world, and watch from a distance the passing of events which some

day, near or far as the case may be, will end in his assassination.

What my work has been and what it would still be if I could remain near

to his imperial majesty, you can guess, and I need not give it a name.

But Dan, if I could succeed in convincing you of the opportunity that

would be yours if you should go there, and if I could know that you had

gone, determined to offer your services where they are most needed,

then that far corner of the world where I would wait and watch events,

would become a peaceful spot to me, for I know that you could succeed

where all others have failed."