Princess Zara

What a woman Zara was at that moment! She seemed the embodiment of

vengeance--of righteous retribution; the personification of the cause

she so splendidly advocated. I looked upon her almost with awe, at the

same time realizing that I was thrilled almost into active acquiescence

to her demands. She continued: "There are not words to describe the emotions that sweep over you, as

you listen to the servant's story. You become benumbed, dazed. You hear

it through to the end, and there is not much more.

"You learn from him that papers of incriminating character were found

among your sister's effects; that a letter was there, which told that

she was engaged in a conspiracy to assassinate the czar, by poison;

that she, being a welcome guest at the imperial palace, had agreed to

put poison in the wine that he should drink on the following day--a

deadly poison--cyanide of potassium; that the poison itself was found

with the letter--a harmless looking powder, but a deadly one. You are

told that Yvonne was dragged away by those men, and taken--ah, the

servant could not tell you where they took her; but he could tell you

how she sobbed, and moaned, protesting her innocence, repudiating all

knowledge of the things they had found, crying out for you, in her

agony; and how one of the men struck her a brutal blow in the face,

because she would not be quiet. That is all the servant could tell you.

Yvonne was gone. That one truth glared at you from every hideous corner

of the desecrated room. Hours--many of them--have passed since then.

You laugh wildly, insanely, as you brush the servant aside, and dash

from the house in pursuit.

"'The czar is my friend! He is her friend! He will save her!' That is

what you cry aloud as you run along the streets towards the palace,

forgetting your britzska, in your haste, and agony. You forget that

you have been suspended from attendance at the palace, and that the

guards have been ordered not to admit you, but you are made to remember

it when you arrive. They stop you. You cannot get past them. In vain

you tell them of the arrest of your sister, and that you must see the

emperor, but you only give them an added reason for keeping you out.

They order you away. You refuse to go. They attempt to force you, and

you strike one of them, knocking him down."

"Then all your pent up agony is loosed. You have the strength of a

dozen men. You scatter the guards around you like flies, and rush past

them, straight for the cabinet of the emperor, where you have always

been a welcome guest. You tell yourself that he loves you--that he

loves your sister; that as soon as he hears the truth, he will correct

the awful wrong that has been done; that the men who outraged the

sanctity of your sister's sleeping room, will be punished. Ah! You do

not know the czar--that man whom you call your friend; who is God's and

man's worst enemy!