Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1915-07-08

"Check!" proclaimed the ambassa-
dor, with threatening air, as he ad.
vanced the kings bishop to the one
square | had omitted to guard. And
he leaned back in his seat and smiled
as if he considered the game already
won.
l sat silently studying the position.
But my opponent was not man who
played chess merely by moving the
pieces on the board. He did not neg
lect the opportunity to distract my at.
tention by conversation.
THE game of chess is an admirable
one for men of my calling" he OBJ
served. There is something truly in.
structive in the lessons which it con.
veys. Look, for instance, at the pawn,
a piece which in it's earlier career
scarcely repays the trouble of capture,
but to which, later on, even the queen
may have to be sacrificed"
| resigned myself to the prospect
of losing the game, and prepared to
listen.
The people OF western Europe do
not understand Russia. 1t Is, of course,
Russia, the Russia of the government,
that / speak. During the whole time
that l spent in St. Petersburg ! could
always perceive that l was a mere
spectator, allowed to see no more of
the true condition of affairs than it
nf tho officials tn
display to me. Nevertheless, l flatter
myself that | penetrated farther be-
hind the scenes than they were aware.
"Outwardly, as everybody knows,
the government of this empire is an
autocracy, the absolute power being
vested in the hands of the tsar. But
the true government OF Russia is
secret society, the mysterious Tchin,
which includes the whole of the Off.
cial class, and in whose hands the tsar
is often no more than puppet, pow
erless to exert his own will. How
burdensome this position is, may be
estimated from the fact that eight
decades ago the Grand Duke Constan-
lluc uGllUeldlCly lCluSCu w ooSNhN ShN
throne, which passed to his younger
brother, the Emperor Nicholas l.
Nor has the Tchin ever shrunk
from asserting its supremacy by the
most deplorable deeds. 1t is not the
Nihilists who have set the fashion of
assassinatng tsars. 1t is by the hands
of their own ministers and courtiers
that the monarchs of Russia have most
often perished.
1T is necessary to bear these facts
in mind in order to understand the in
cident am about to relate
1T Is not SO very many years since
the attention of Europe was concen-
trated upon the death of Alexander
III. Occurring as 1t did in remote
corner of his dominions, on the shores
Of the Black sea, the accounts sup
piled by the correspondents of the Eu'
ropean press, who fiocked in vast mum.
bers to the spot, were as circumstan-
tial as if each one had been admitted
to the bedside of the dying monarch.
The interest taken in this event was
moreover enhanced by the romantic
circumstances of the marriage of the
present tsar, Nicholas ii.
However, the result of all this was
that the Nihilists relaxed their ac-
tivity, and for time there was abso-
lutte repose in the Russian capital.
This repose was broken by a strange
and disturbing rumor, which circu-
lated, observe, merely among the ex-
elusive circles of the court. This ru-
NOR was to the effect that the winter
palace had become haunted.
ut was stated that ghost had been
seen walking in one of the corridors
at midnight And there were those
who asserted that the spirit in ques-
ton was that of the dead tsar.
LAS you may imagine, such report
could not be long in attracting the at
tention of the secret police. The result
was very soon apparent
Never was the marvellous power Of
the police exerted with more crushing
effect. The rumor died out as swiftly
and suddenly as it had arisen. 1t never
penetrated beyond the inner circle of
society, and, above all, never reached
the ears of single correspondent OF
any journal outside the Russian en-
pire. In the Russian press, of course,
it was impossible fer anything to pass
the stern scrutiny OF the censorship.
1T is for this reason that the public
of Europe has never had even an ink
ling of a secret of which, outside the
immediate court circle, ! am perhaps
the sole possessor. That mere curl
osity is not one of my failings, you
have doubtless long ago observed. But
in the interests of France | deemed it
necessary to penetrate to the bottom
of this extraordinary affair, and cir
cumstances fortunately put it in my
power to do SO.
Il was not there in any political
capacity. | was favored in my inves-
tigation by the accident of my friend
ship with very charming woman, the
Princess Nestikoff, whose son, Prince
Boris Nestikoff, was an imperial page,
at that time on duty in the winter
palace.
Il had formed the acquaintance of
the princess during my former official
residence at the embassy, and, though
some years had elapsed since | had
seen her, she received me with un-
abated friendliness on my return,
"I chanced tn he dining at her man.