RASPUTIN THE ACTUAL TSAR
THE tragi-comedy of Tsarskoe-Selo was being played with increasing vigour
just prior to the war. Berlin, through Rasputin, piped the tune to which
the Imperial Court was dancing--the Dance of Death!
One night, after Rasputin had dined with Madame Vyrubova and myself,
General Soukhomlinoff, Minister of War, entered, swaggering in the
uniform of the Grodno Hussars.
This man, who, as I write, is in a convict prison as a traitor, had only
a week before assured the Emperor that the army was ready "to the last
button" for a possible war, and the troops devoted to him. I happen to
know how many thousand roubles passed into his banking account from the
Deutsche Bank in Berlin as price of that lie!
Poor weak Nicholas! On the day following, Protopopoff, the wily schemer
and spy of Germany, who was admitted to all the secrets of the Allies,
went to the Emperor and echoed what Rasputin had declared to His Majesty,
namely, that God was with Russia and that the Holy Spirit approved of the
righteous work accomplished under the guidance of Stürmer and
Soukhomlinoff. Truly the camarilla were supporting each other, and I, an
onlooker, stood amazed and astounded. All four were half-mad with wild
dreams of the prosperity which war would bring to them, for the bribes
promised by Berlin were heavy, and Hardt and other secret messengers were
constantly passing between the two capitals bearing confidential orders
from the Wilhelmstrasse, of which the War Minister's assurance to the
Tsar had been one.
But Soukhomlinoff, whose wife was declared to be the most _chic_ and
extravagant woman in all Petrograd, strode up and down the room that
night in a fury of rage.
"Gregory!" he cried. "An untoward incident has happened. Your enemy
Vorontsof Dachkof has been at work against you this afternoon."
"Curse him! How?" growled the monk, for the Lieutenant-General of the
Caucasus had been a personal friend of Alexander III.
"I was at audience with Nicholas after luncheon, and the count was there.
After he had presented his report he became familiar, and said: 'Now I
must talk to thee. Dost thou know that, with thy Rasputin fellows, thou
art going to thy doom, that thou art gambling away thy throne and the
life of thy child?'"
"What?" gasped the monk, starting up. "Did he openly say that?"
"He did."
"Then the count shall be disgraced!" declared Rasputin. "He has long
been my enemy; but I will suffer this no longer."
"Well, when the count spoke, Nicholas huddled himself up on a settee and
sobbed. 'Oh! why did God confide to me this heavy task!'"
"The fool!" laughed Rasputin. "To-morrow he shall see me playing with the
Tsarevitch in the Park, and Nicholas shall be with us."
And indeed Rasputin carried out his plan, and the count saw them
together.
The monk was not blind to the fact that he was surrounded by enemies, all
of whom were jealous of his power and sought his downfall. By bribery,
blackmail, and the unscrupulous use of the secret police, which was under
Protopopoff as Minister of the Interior, the camarilla were waxing fat,
and woe betide any who dared utter a warning to the Emperor.
Monsieur Gutchkoff had denounced, before the Duma, the scandal of the
sexually-perverted peasant's presence at Court and prophesied the direct
disaster. Kokovtsov had loyally warned his master of the effect upon the
country which the low intrigues of his courtiers was producing. Then,
when Goremykin urged the Tsar to prorogue the Duma, General Polivanof had
the courage to sign an address to His Majesty urging him not to do so, as
it would be a highly dangerous measure. Rodzianko, too, regardless of
consequences, took to Tsarskoe-Selo a full report of the accusations made
in the Duma, and urged His Majesty to put an end to the outrageous
scandals.
The monk had noted all this, and had already marked down all his enemies
for destruction. He well knew what aversion the Tsar had to anyone who
spoke what was unwelcome. Weak and vacillating, His Majesty hated to be
told the plain truth, and for that reason he was so constantly kept in
the dark. Even his loyal Ministers knew that by being outspoken they
would be seeking dismissal. Indeed, with Rasputin's clever intriguing,
Kokovtsov, Sazonov, Krivochein and Polivanof all paid for their
sincerity by the loss of their offices and the displeasure of their
Imperial master. Again, it was the monk who had contrived to dismiss
Monsieur Trepof, for I actually wrote out the order, which Nicholas
signed, dismissing him! And, in addition, Rodzianko, whom the Emperor
nicknamed "the Archdeacon" because of his deep, impressive voice, lost
the sympathy of his sovereign because he had prophesied evil.
And now yet another enemy had arisen in the person of Count Vorontsof
Dachkof.
"The count shall pay for this, and dearly!" repeated Rasputin, as he sat
with his brows knit, stroking his unkempt beard.
"At least he can be dismissed, just as you sent into disgrace Prince
Orlof, the fidus Achates of the Emperor," remarked Anna Vyrubova, who was
handsomely dressed and wearing some fine diamonds.
Rasputin gave vent to an evil laugh.
"And Witte also," he said. Then, with his unbounded egotism he rose, and
added: "Yes, Anna, I am Tsar, though Nicholas bears the title!"
Only on the previous night the Tsar, accompanied by Soukhomlinoff and
Rasputin, had dined at the mess of the officers of the Guard, and all
three, His Majesty included, had become highly hilarious, and later on
hopelessly drunk.
"True!" exclaimed the Minister of War, who had so misled Russia and the
Tsar into a belief that all was prepared for hostilities against Germany.
"You are the most powerful person in the land to-day, Gregory. That is
why you must not only suppress Vorontsof Dachkof, but also Yakowleff--who
is his friend, remember."
"Ah, Yakowleff! I had quite forgotten, General! How foolish of me!" cried
the monk. "The concession for the gambling casino at Otchakov has been
granted to him, but we must have it. It will be a second Monte Carlo, and
a mine of wealth for us."
"I quite agree, my dear Gregory. And it lies entirely with you whether we
stand in Yakowleff's place or not," exclaimed the woman who was the evil
genius of the Tsaritza.
The fact was that a rich financier, Ivan Yakowleff, who had offices in
Petrograd and in London, for certain personal services rendered to the
Tsar--the buying off of an unwelcome female entanglement, it is said--had
been granted a concession to establish public gaming-rooms at Otchakov,
on the Black Sea, not far from Odessa. The financier, who was elderly,
had recently married a young and rather pretty wife, and being a friend
of Count Vorontsof Dachkof, was in the happiest circumstances, well
knowing that a huge fortune awaited him.
"At the moment Yakowleff is in London, I hear, forming a syndicate to
take over the concession," the general remarked.
Rasputin smiled evilly, and after a pause said:
"Anybody who puts money into the venture will never see that money again.
I will take care of that."
"Good!" laughed His Excellency the Minister, flicking some dust from the
sleeve of his uniform. "We must have that concession for ourselves. But
ought not we to know what is in progress in London--eh? Shall we get
Protopopoff to send instructions to his agents in England?"
"No. Something might leak out. I do not trust the Okhrana in London,"
replied the wary woman, Vyrubova. "Have you forgotten the Meadows affair,
and how they betrayed me and very nearly caused a scandal by their
bungling? No, if we are to watch Yakowleff, let us do it ourselves. Why
should you not go, Féodor?" she suggested, suddenly turning to me.
"I? To London!" I exclaimed, in no way averse to the journey, for I had
been in England on three occasions previously.
"Yes," said Rasputin. "You shall go. Start to-morrow. Telegraph to Madame
Huguet. She will help you, for she is not suspected, and all believe her
to be French. Besides, she is pretty, and therefore useful."
"As a decoy, you mean?" I exclaimed.
"Of what other use is a woman?" laughed the scoundrel, whose
unscrupulousness where the fair sex were concerned was notorious. He
rose, and, unlocking a drawer, took out a book in which were registered
many addresses of those who were in his pay, and hence under his
thraldom.
I searched the pages eagerly and found the address, together with notes
of certain payments. Madame, I saw, lived in a flat in Harrington
Gardens, South Kensington.
There and then I received instructions to leave next day by the through
express to Ostend, seek the lady, and then watch the movements of the
Russian, who was busily forming the syndicate for the new Monte Carlo.
"If we are to strike against him we cannot know too much of his doings.
Besides, when we do strike we must not blunder--eh, General?" laughed the
monk, after which he opened a bottle of champagne, of which we all drank.
A week later I was in London, and one afternoon called upon Madame
Huguet, who was expecting me. She was a vivacious, dark-haired young
Frenchwoman, who had been one of the Father's sister-disciples in
Petrograd, and whom he had sent to London upon some secret mission, the
purpose of which was not quite clear to me. She had lived for some years
in London before, and was well known in certain go-ahead circles of
society. Seated in her cosy, well furnished drawing-room, with its silken
curtains and bright chintzes in the English style, I told her exactly
what Rasputin and Anna had instructed me to say.
"The Father wishes you to lose no time in becoming acquainted with the
financier Yakowleff," I said. "He has offices in Old Broad Street, and he
lives in Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead, when in London."
"He is there now," she said. "I saw something about him in the papers
three days ago--something concerning a concession for a gaming casino."
"Oh!" I cried. "Then it is in the papers--eh?"
She obtained the copy of the newspaper, and I saw it was announced that
an "Establishment" was about to be constructed at Otchakov, which was to
be a formidable rival to Monte Carlo, and that Monsieur Yakowleff, of
Petrograd, was the originator of the scheme.
Fortunately Yakowleff did not know me by sight; therefore, while Madame
Huguet set to work to scrape acquaintance with him, I spent my days
watching his movements when he came to his City office, and noting his
constant and busy peregrinations to and fro. Certainly his scheme was
attracting around him many influential and wealthy men, to whom the
prospect of huge profits proved alluring.
He was short, stout, rather Hebrew in appearance, unscrupulous no doubt,
or he would not have stooped to do such dirty work as he did for
Nicholas; nevertheless, he seemed highly popular in financial circles. He
had left his wife in Petrograd; therefore the life he was leading was, I
found, a pretty gay one. Each day he lunched at the best restaurants with
his business friends, and discussed the great Otchakov scheme, and each
night he took one of his lady friends out to dinner, the theatre, and the
Savoy, Ritz or Carlton afterwards.
Within ten days of my arrival in London I found that his guest at dinner
at the Ritz one night was the sprightly young Frenchwoman, Julie Huguet!
Next day she called me by telephone to Harrington Gardens, and said:
"I discovered a good deal last night. The syndicate is already formed.
One hundred thousand pounds has been subscribed, and next week Yakowleff
is leaving for Paris, and thence back to Petrograd."
Within half an hour I had telegraphed the news to Box 296, Poste
Restante, Petrograd, which was the one used by Rasputin.
In reply I received from the monk a message which read:
"Obtain names of subscribers."
This I succeeded in doing after some considerable trouble, and they were
the names of some of the shrewdest speculators in the City, none of them
over-scrupulous, no doubt. To Rasputin I wired that I had the list, and
asked for instructions, to which I received the reply:
"Excellent! Return without delay.--GREGORY."
On my way back, during those many hours in the Nord Express between
Ostend and Petrograd, I reviewed the whole affair, and saw the sinister
working of the monk's mind. That Count Vorontsof Dachkof was in danger I
knew full well. The monk never allowed any person to express open enmity
without retaliating quietly and patiently, but with a crushing blow.
I wondered what was being planned between the Ministers of War and
Interior. No doubt the Empress had been informed of what the count had
told the Emperor, and she would at once conspire with the holy Father to
cast him into social oblivion--or worse!
That the cupidity of Rasputin knew no bounds I was well aware. He
intended to obtain that most lucrative gambling concession for himself,
for Russians are born gamblers, especially the better classes, and the
establishment of a casino on the Black Sea, with French hotels and
restaurants, pretty villas, and an opera house in imitation of Monte
Carlo, would in summer attract those thousands of rich Russians who in
winter went to the Riviera to gamble.
It was a chance which Rasputin would never allow to slip. Of that I was
quite certain.
The evening I returned to Petrograd the monk had left me a message to go
to Tsarskoe-Selo; therefore I took my green pass, which admitted me past
the many guards of the innermost holy-of-holies, the Imperial apartments,
where I knew I should find the real ruler of Russia.
He had been spending the evening with the Empress, her daughter Olga, and
Anna, and when I sent word to him he joined me in a small ante-room, and,
closing the door, eagerly questioned me.
"When does Yakowleff return from Paris?" he asked when I had read over to
him the list of those adventurous London financiers who had put their
money into the Otchakov scheme.
"Next Thursday he leaves," I said. "Madame has gone to Paris on pretence
of shopping, but in reality to keep watch. 'Axanda, Poste Restante,
Avenue de l'Opéra,' will find her. She arranged it with me before we
parted."
"Then this money-bag has really formed an influential syndicate in London
to exploit our country--eh?" asked the monk grimly. "I have been speaking
to the Empress about it, and she declares that the whole circumstance of
Nicholas granting a concession, and for such service, is scandalous."
Scandalous! Surely Alexandra Feodorovna knew that her own actions had
caused her name to be execrated through the length and breadth of Russia.
Helidor and the "Blessed Mitia" had both attempted to reveal what they
knew. Helidor and Mitia had many powerful friends, so they were severely
left alone by the police; yet others who but opened their mouths and
criticised had been sent to prison without trial, while those who had
gained undue knowledge and might transmit it to England or America were
sent to those dreaded oubliettes of Schlüsselburg--worse even than the
Bastille, and not one has ever returned across the lake alive.
Rasputin was at that moment occupied by two matters--first, the fierce
antagonism of Vorontsof Dachkof; and secondly, his avariciousness
concerning the concession for gambling at that pretty little town east of
Odessa.
So wide was the monk's influence that, hearing at that moment that the
King of the Hellenes had granted to another British syndicate a
concession to open public gaming-tables in Corfu, Rasputin had already
been to Stürmer, the President of the Council, and contrived to have
diplomatic pressure brought through Prince Demidoff, Russian Minister at
Athens, to bear upon the King to cancel the concession as opposed to
public morals! This view Rasputin contrived to have supported by the
Wilhelmstrasse, because the Kaiser had his spring palace in the vicinity,
and, with his mock piety, he discountenanced any Temple of Fortune. The
result was that the Corfu casino was prohibited.
Thus the Otchakov scheme was the only one in Europe. San Sebastian was
declared by the monk to be only on a par with Ostend, and Otchakov was to
be the great rival of Monte Carlo, with more varied and added
attractions.
In that room, while he was hearing me through, Protopopoff, who had been
making a report to the Emperor, joined us, and listened to what I had to
say.
"I was looking at Yakowleff's _dossier_ to-day, as you wished," remarked
the Minister to the monk. "He seems a very honest, clean-living man for a
financier. There are no suspicions of disloyalty, or even of anything."
"Then they must be made," declared Rasputin. "I intend to hold that
concession. He would never have had it had it not been for Dachkof. But
the latter is already out of favour. The Emperor has promised me to
dismiss him to-morrow. His Majesty prefers cheerful people, not men who
are pessimists," he laughed.
Indeed, next day the count, who was one of the most loyal and devoted
servants of the Romanoffs, and who had risked everything in an attempt to
open the Emperor's eyes, was actually dismissed. Such was the power of
Rasputin.
But the plot against Yakowleff to dispossess him of the concession for
Otchakov was a much more deeply-laid and evil one. The financier had
returned to Petrograd, flushed with his success with his moneyed friends
in London. Already news had gone round that a wonderful casino was to be
built to eclipse Monte Carlo, and he had given an interview to the
_Novoye Vremya_ concerning it.
One afternoon, while in the handsome room set apart for Rasputin's use
at Tsarskoe-Selo, I was sitting writing at his dictation, when there
suddenly entered the Emperor, who had just come in from one of his
frequent solitary walks in the park.
His Majesty flung himself wearily in a chair, and began to discuss a
diplomatic matter concerning Austria, and to ask the Father's advice, for
he now scarcely ever acted upon his own initiative.
Rasputin reflected for a few moments as he stood gazing out of the
window, and then, having given his opinion as to the proper course to
pursue, he added:
"There is another matter which should have thy attention--a matter which
is being hidden very carefully from thee."
"And pray what is that, Father?" inquired the Emperor.
"It is the secret and traitorous dealings which one Yakowleff is having
with British agents with a view to betraying Russia into the hands of the
English," declared the sinister monk.
"I do not follow."
"To this man Yakowleff thou gavest the concession for improvements at
Otchakov. On pretence of obtaining financial assistance he has been to
London, and there, according to what my friends tell me, has been in
consultation with certain British agents, whose intention it is to obtain
our military and naval secrets."
"Then you denounce Yakowleff as a traitor--eh?" snapped the Emperor.
"I certainly do. If thou doubtest me, order Protopopoff to make a police
search at his house in the Vosnesensky. Something will certainly be found
there," he said, with insidious cunning, well knowing that Protopopoff's
_agents-provocateurs_ had already taken steps to secure the financier's
undoing.
"I have here the names of two Englishwomen who are in the British Secret
Service, and who were recently in Petrograd with Yakowleff." And he
produced a piece of paper upon which he had scrawled the two names in
his illiterate calligraphy. "The women are back in London, but he was
with them a fortnight ago."
"Are you quite certain of all this?" asked Nicholas dubiously. "I always
believed Yakowleff to be my friend. Indeed, he has already shown his
loyalty to me."
"And in return thou gavest him the valuable concession for Otchakov,"
growled the monk.
"If you assure me, Father, that what you have said is the truth, and not
mere hearsay, I will call Protopopoff, and he shall make full inquiry."
"It is a pity that the Otchakov scheme should be given into the hands of
thy enemy," the monk declared, and thus the matter dropped.
In Petrograd late that night, after the usual evening assembly of the
sister-disciples, when all the women had departed and I was again alone
with the monk, Protopopoff arrived, and said jubilantly:
"Your words to Nicholas have borne fruit regarding Yakowleff. The Emperor
spoke to me on the telephone, and, acting on his instructions, I ordered
a police search, when some documents in cipher were found in a drawer in
his writing-table."
"And you arrested him?"
"No. He seems to have somehow got wind of what was in progress, for he
left Petrograd yesterday for Helsingfors, and has escaped!"
"Escaped!" shrieked Rasputin, springing to his feet in dismay.
"Yes. Gone back to London, I believe."
The monk knit his brows and stood stroking his unkempt beard. He was
thinking out some further devilish plot.
"Féodor," he said at last, turning to me, "write down what I say."
I crossed to the table, and when I was ready he dictated the following:
"In consequence of his traitorous dealings with emissaries of a
foreign Power, I, Nicholas, refuse to grant Ivan Yakowleff his
application for a concession for improvements at Otchakov, and
hereby grant the privilege unreservedly to Alexander Klouieff, of
48 Kurlandskaya, Petrograd. Further, I order the arrest of Ivan
Yakowleff and the confiscation of all his property."
Alexander Klouieff! The fellow was an ex-agent of secret police, a man
ready to do any dirty work, even murder, for Rasputin, if paid for it--a
low-bred criminal of the worst possible type! So the concession was to be
given to him, and he, of course, would in due course, in exchange for
payment, hand it over to the monk, who would share the huge profits with
his friends.
"Nicholas shall sign that to-morrow," Rasputin remarked with confidence.
"As soon as he has done so I will see that copies be sent to each of the
men in London who have subscribed, and they will no doubt prosecute
Yakowleff for fraud. In any case, he is ruined and cast out, so he no
longer stands in our path."
"Excellent!" said Protopopoff. "Does Klouieff know?"
"Of course not. I shall pay him something for the use of his name before
he knows exactly what has transpired," was the crafty reply of the
"blessed Gregory"--as so many termed him.
Two days later I went as usual to the palace with my master, and he took
me with him along to the Emperor's room, in case any writing was to be
done. The monk's first words were of the escape of Yakowleff.
"The traitor has gone back to his English pay-masters!" said the Starets.
"I have written here the order for his arrest and the confiscation of his
property."
And he placed before the Emperor the document I had written. To
Rasputin's dismay, however, His Majesty seemed disinclined to append his
signature. To me, Nicholas, who was wearing an old grey tweed suit,
seemed very doubtful regarding the whole transaction.
"Who is this person Alexander Klouieff?" he demanded. "I must know
something more of him."
"He is a man of considerable wealth--upright, honourable, and devoted to
thee," Rasputin assured him. "Canst thou not place thy trust in those I
recommend? If not, I say no more."
"Of course, Father; but the concession was granted--while this order
makes it appear that it was only applied for."
"Surely it is not wise that thou shouldst be known to have granted favour
unto a traitor?" was the monk's clever reply.
Still Nicholas hesitated, at which Rasputin grew furious, declaring that
he had no time to waste in idle discussion.
Dropping the familiar form of speech he was in the habit of using to the
Emperor, he stood erect and said:
"You know the message which your dead father gave you at the séance last
night! If you refuse to sign this decree, then I will abandon Russia
to-day and leave you, the Empress and the lad to your fate. Remember, I
am God's messenger and your divine guide!"
The Tsar stood terror-stricken and in fear lest the real ruler of Russia
should once again depart from Petrograd and refuse to return. Further
refusal to sign was useless; therefore he bit his lip in chagrin and
appended his signature to the document, which not only deprived the
unfortunate Yakowleff of his concession, but also denounced him as a
traitor and a swindler.
The result was that not only did Rasputin obtain possession of the
concession for Otchakov, but he sold it a month later for a huge sum to a
syndicate of bankers in Vienna, who still hold it. The monk, after paying
a dole to the ex-agent of police, divided up the spoils with Protopopoff,
Stürmer and Soukhomlinoff, and, in addition, he bought a very valuable
diamond necklace for Anna Vyrubova.
As for poor Yakowleff, he was, as Rasputin had plotted, prosecuted in
London for fraud, and sentenced at the Old Bailey to a term of
imprisonment.
As the months went on, in the first half of 1914, I noticed that the
acquaintanceship between Rasputin and his well-paid chemist-friend,
Badmayev, became closer. Badmayev held the formula of the poisonous
concoction which at intervals Anna Vyrubova secretly introduced into the
food of the Tsarevitch, causing the poor lad those mysterious illnesses
which were puzzling the physicians of Europe.
That some fresh plot of a diabolical nature was in progress I felt
confident, but of its actual motive I could ascertain nothing. Yet it
turned out to be a conspiracy--no doubt inspired and suggested by
Potsdam--of a peculiarly devilish character.
It was on that fateful day that the "Germanisation" of Russia became
complete. Thanks to the traitorous assurances of Soukhomlinoff, Minister
of War, Russia, alas! found herself suddenly plunged into hostilities.
Petrograd, of course, went wild with excitement. Our loyal Russians, who
believed in official declarations and in their Tsar, were ready to fly at
the Teutons, little dreaming that already, before a single shot was
fired, Germany held all the honours of the game, and had the Russian bear
shackled hand and foot.
At four o'clock in the afternoon Rasputin called me, and handing me an
envelope which seemed to contain some small object--a lady's silver
powder-puff case I afterwards knew it to be--said:
"Féodor, I want you to go to the booking-office of the Finnish station at
the departure of the train for Helsingfors at five-thirty. There you will
meet a fair-haired young man who knows you by sight. He will say the word
'Anak,' and when he does, hand him this in secret. He will quite
understand."
This order I carried out. I had not been at the crowded station five
minutes when a young man, carrying a small handbag, elbowed his way
through the excited crowd and uttered in an undertone the word "Anak." I
greeted him, and surreptitiously handed him the little packet, for which
he thanked me and disappeared on to the platform.
My curiosity being aroused I waited until after the departure of the
train, when I watched the mysterious young man return from the platform,
hurry out of the station, and jump into a droshky and drive off.
When I returned and reported my meeting with the young man, Rasputin
seemed much gratified, and even telephoned to Stürmer, who was at that
moment at the palace, having been called to the War Council which the
Emperor--who had again consulted his dead father's spirit at a further
séance on the previous night--was now holding.
It appeared that a dinner had a week before been arranged by Prince
Galitzine, to which the Grand Dukes Nicholas Nicholaievitch, Constantin
Constantinovitch, and Michael Alexandrovitch, together with Generals
Arapoff, Daniloff, Brusiloff, and Rennenkampf, had been invited. At first
it was proposed to cancel the engagement owing to the critical position
of affairs, but on the suggestion of the Grand Duke Nicholas it was not
abandoned, for, as he pointed out, it would bring together the loyal
leaders of the army on the eve of great events, and that, after dinner,
views might be exchanged in confidence for the national benefit.
Now earlier that same day Rasputin had given me a note to deliver to the
Grand Duke Michael, whom I had failed to find, but was told that he was
to dine at Prince Galitzine's. So about half-past six o'clock I took it
to the prince's house, when, to my surprise, as I passed into the great
hall I saw the same fair-haired young man to whom I had delivered that
envelope in secret an hour before. He was one of the prince's servants,
but he had not seen me!
A sudden suspicion seized me. I asked to see the prince, and when shown
up to his room I delivered the note for the Grand Duke.
Then, having seen that the door was closed, I asked permission to say
something in strictest confidence, and told him of the mysterious
envelope I had delivered to his servant.
He heard me through, gave me his hand in promise that he would not
betray my confidence, thanked me, and dismissed me.
Next day the prince called me to him in secret, and told me that in the
possession of the young man was found a lady's silver powder-puff box
filled with what looked and smelt like toilet-powder. This, on being
examined, was discovered to be a most subtle and dangerous poison--one
evidently prepared by that diabolical poisoner, Badmayev.
The young man had been forced by his master to swallow some, and had died
in great agony. Thus it was proved that Rasputin and the camarilla had,
on the very night of the outbreak of war, plotted to sweep off at one
blow our most famous Russian generals, and leave our country practically
without any military leaders of experience and at the mercy of the Huns!
The vile plot would no doubt have succeeded, and the deaths put down to
ptomaine poisoning, as so many have been, had I not so fortunately
recognised the young valet as he crossed the hall of Prince Galitzine's
house.
Thus it will be seen that Rasputin and his friends hesitated at nothing
in their frantic endeavours to gain their own sordid ends and to secure
victory for Germany.