Engrossed with my own reflections, I neither saw nor heard anything
until I found myself seated alone in the dark, damp chamber, with the
maddening thought of Vera's treachery and triumph torturing and goading
me to despair.
I covered my face with my hands, and strove to forget the present and to
review the past.
As I pondered, the recollection of my childhood's days came back to me.
I saw the grey-haired stately lady, my mother, whom I loved, whose
counsel I had ofttimes wisely taken, but who now, alas! was no more. I
saw myself a laughing schoolboy, and later, a rollicking student, one of
a crowd in the Latin Quarter; then a young man hard at work with my pen
in a tall old house in one of the Inns of Court, burning the midnight
oil and striving day and night towards the coveted Temple of Fame.
Later, a man of ample means, and afterwards--a convict.
Next morning, after the warder had paid his matutinal visit and I had
appeased my hunger, I naturally turned to the inscriptions as my sole
means of occupation; for besides being anxious for anything wherewith to
occupy my mind, however trivial, I was also curious to ascertain whether
the mysterious device upon the wall really bore a resemblance to the
seal, or whether it was only in my distorted imagination that the
similarity existed.
Without difficulty I succeeded in placing my hands upon the indentation,
and after minute investigation satisfied myself I had not been mistaken.
Though somewhat roughly executed, the symbols were exactly the same as
those upon the fatal seal.
While carefully following the lines with my finger tips, I felt,
suddenly, what appeared to be some letters, two above the circle and two
below, about an inch from the outer ring. At first it did not cross my
mind that they could have any connection with it, for I concluded they
were but the initials of two prisoners who had occupied the cell.
However, when I had completed my investigation of the inexplicable
emblem which had so long occupied my thoughts, I commenced trying to
decipher the letters above.
At first I could make nothing out of them, but by passing my hand
carelessly along I ascertained that they were in the Russian character.
Evidently they were initials.
Fortunately, while at college I had gained a knowledge of the Russian
alphabet, and though it was rather imperfect, I was prompted to make an
attempt to discover the equivalent of the two letters in English.
The task occupied me a very long time, and after considerable patience
and perseverance I found I had translated the initials, although they
told me nothing.