The Washington times., 1905-02-19

ne couIa not fathon1.
The more the prince protested. the
more certain the Car became that /
mad spoken the truth, and while he
gloWered upon the unhappy man, who
became paler and more uncertain in his
speech with every effort. l stood calmly
by With my arms folded, not enjoying
the situation. but determined to win the
fight.
Michael" said his majesty, at last.
give me the order to which Mr.. Der
rjngten refers
knew then that I had won, and
while the prince tremblingly produced it.
waited. -
Tne Car passed 1t to me with the
words. You may destroy it, Mr.. Der
rington,' and then added:
Prince Michael, you will retire to
/; your apartments and remain there until
send for you. 1 will spare you the
indiSn1ty of an arrest until / know
more. Coz
did not look at the prince as he
ieft the room, and ] have always re-
gretted it. for if 1 had done so, and seen
the agony that must have been written
IN his face. / might have saved him, 1
did not believe the charge against him
when L made it, and there was no such
thing as direction to any of my men
to arrest him
| l charged him with completely with
the Nihiiists, solely to get rid of him and
by that means save myself and Olga
knowing that later I could save him; !;
ehat he would ultimately forgive me,
ana that | could bring the Emperor to
resafi 1t as a. most excellent joke
indeed, l intended before | left the
emperor s. presence partially to allay
9iYcv Tt1ay y1,-;.
ing tnaf my information amounted to
ho1hins more than suspF 7n. which had
peeh strengthened by his effort to de-
/ tam me III the palace. But events de-
nonstrated the fact that in making the
charge. | had builded better than I
knew. l loved the prince. and that emf
sode Is ore of the greatest regrets of
my hfe. IL ever man was guilty
without crime. he was But I antici-
/ pate.
Darlington" said the Car. as soon
as We Were alone, and addressing me in
French. by which / knew that I was
restored 70 favor, you have startled
me tonight in a way that ] shall not
soon forget. Is it true that Michael
| an, no, | cannot believe it. for if he is
unfaithful. whom can 1 trust?'
You must not cease to trust him en-
urely, yet, monsieur" l replied The
charge against him is based upon evf-
dence that may be disproved, but my
| drag net Is out tonight. and the dawn
Will see nearly every Nihilist In st.
Petersburg in prison, or on the wav
out OF Russia IF you had been pre-
vailed upon TO detain me, 1 trernb1e for
what might have happened.
Tell me-
10 not, | beg of you, detain me now.
the prisons are filling up. must get
| to work, for this is d matter to which
l must personally attend
| And MichaeI?''
| Leave him where he is, in his apart
ments. until 1 retura'
/ when will that be?''
Soon after daylight"
| Ihen come to me at once. Have me
! awakened If I am sleeping. but l shall
I not be-
'One word, the princess
She would have been murdered to-
night by the Nihilists had / not ar
rested her as one, conducted her
through the prison, and thence on to the
! house of the prince
| Why did you not bring her here. and
place her in my care?"
She did not like to come. She had
| a lover once who became crazed. and
was killed here in the palace by one
| OF the guards, believe So
| 'Yes-yes. / understand. You did
right. Stop. One word more before you
go. This conspiracy to which you re-
ferred, against the whole royal family
are you sure that you have got to the
root ef it?"
| ''As sure as 1 am that / am here in the
presence of the Car of Russia
You have never failed me vet. Der
| rington:" and he grasped me by the
hand.
And I never will. monsieur"
We'll, go. 1 shall expect you soon
| after daylight"
In reality there was little for me to
do that night. more than | had already
done, and yet 1t was impossible that |
should be shut up in the palaces with so
much taking place throughout the city.
Immediately under my direction and
ever which it was imperative that ]
must retain supervision. knew that
| there would be frequent demands upon
me for authority to do and perform
certain things. and it was important
that 1 should be on hand.
/ was always provided with the nee
cessary papers for anything in the
official lire that / might be called upon
to perform. This haA been arranged in
the beginning. the better to preserve the
secret of my business in ST. Petersburg
/ / had innumerable imperial passports
signed and sealed ins blank, and there
was no outside authority, belonging to
any official In the realm which l was
lot prepared to meet. In short. my
power was in many respects greater
than that OF the Car himself, for !
was always prepared for whatever
might have to do In any or all of tht
departments of the empire.
The wholesale arrests which / had or
dered for that night. l had long had
under consideration, and that / had de
cided to make them a little sooner thar
was my first intention was due. in par
to the danger surrounding the princess
in part to my own suddenly formed de-
Termination to complete my BUSINESS
there and return to the United States
and lastly, to the fact that the last few
reports that / had received so nearly
completed the knowledge that I has
| striven TO attain, that / came to ths
4