Princess Zara

The following day at the club he came to me and placed a sealed

envelope in my hand. It bore no address or superscription of any kind;

but he said in giving it to me: "Dan, I wish you would put this sealed envelope inside one of your

pockets and carry it with you carefully until the time arrives to open

it."

"When will that be?" I asked him.

"It will be when, some day in the future, you shall be about to depart

from the city of St. Petersburg." And as I showed some astonishment in

my face, he continued: "Fate, or inclination, will take you there

again, sometime, and the day will naturally follow when you will leave

it. Count this sealed envelope as one of the mysteries in which I

delight to wrap myself. But remember what I have asked you to do."

"Repeat it," I said to him.

"When you are about to take your departure from the city of St.

Petersburg, if you should go there again, break the seal of this

envelope and read the contents of a message I have written; or if your

business should detain you there continuously, read it anyhow after six

months. That is all."

"And if I should not go there?" I asked him.

"In that case, keep the letter until you see me again, and return it

unopened."

Some months later I was in St. Petersburg.