what my problem demands. We must think of some project that unites
two precious qualities: first, a rapid and huge profit; second,
entire absence of risk."
"Conditions not altogether easy to fulfill," remarked Kovroff
doubtfully.
"So it seems. And daring plans are not to be picked up in the
street, but are the result of inspiration. It is what is called a
'heavenly gift,' my dear friend."
"And you have had an inspiration?" smiled Sergei Antonovitch, with
a slightly ironical shade of friendly skepticism.
"I have had an inspiration," replied the supposititious Hungarian
nobleman, falling into the other's tone.
"And your muse is--?"
"The tenth of the muses," the count interrupted him: "another name
is Industry."
"She is the muse of all of us."
"And mine in particular. But we are not concerned with her, but
with her prophetic revelations."
"Oh, dear count! Circumlocutions apart! This Rhine wine evidently
carries you to misty Germany. Tell me simply what the matter is."
"The matter is simply this: we must institute a society of 'gold
miners,' and we must find gold in places where the geological
indications are dead against it. That is the problem. The Russian
laws, under threat of arrest and punishment, sternly forbid the
citizens of the Russian Empire, and likewise the citizens of other
lands within the empire, to buy or sell the noble metals in their
crude form, that is, in nuggets, ore, or dust. For example, if you
bought gold in the rough from me--gold dust, for example--we should
both, according to law, have to take a pleasant little trip beyond
the Ural Mountains to Siberia, and there we should have to engage
in mining the precious metal ourselves. A worthy occupation, no
doubt, but not a very profitable one for us."
"Our luxuries would be strictly limited," jested Kovroff, with a
wry smile.
"There it is! You won't find many volunteers for that occupation,
and that is the fulcrum of my whole plan. You must understand that
gold dust in the mass is practically indistinguishable in
appearance from brass filings. Let us suppose that we secretly
sell some perfectly pure brass filings for gold dust, and that they
are readily bought of us, because we sell considerably below the
market rate. It goes without saying that the purchaser will
presently discover that we have done him brown. But, I ask you,
will he go and accuse us knowing that, as the penalty for his
purchase, he will have to accompany us along the Siberian road?"
"No man is his own enemy," sententiously replied Kovroff, beginning
to take a vivid interest in what his companion was saying. "But
how are you going to work it?"
"You will know at the proper time. The chief thing is, that our
problem is solved in the most decisive manner. You and I are
pretty fair judges of human nature, so we may be pretty sure that
we shall always find purchasers, and I suggest that we make a
beginning on young Prince Shadursky. How we shall get him into it
is my business. I'll tell you later on. But how do you like the
general idea of my plan?"
"It's clever enough!" cried Kovroff, pressing his hand with the gay
enthusiasm of genuine interest.
"For this truth much thanks!" cried Kallash, clinking glasses with
him. "It is clever--that is the best praise I could receive from
you. Let us drink to the success of my scheme!"
XV
THE FISH BITES
Three days after this conversation the younger prince Shadursky
dined with Sergei Antonovitch Kovroff.
That morning he received a note from Kovroff, in which the worthy
Sergei complained of ill health and begged the prince to come and
dine with him and cheer him up.
The prince complied with his request, and appearing at the
appointed time found Count Kallash alone with his host.
Among other gossip, the prince announced that he expected shortly
to go to Switzerland, as he had bad reports of the health of his
mother, who was in Geneva.
At this news Kallash glanced significantly toward Kovroff.
Passing from topic to topic, the conversation finally turned to the
financial position of Russia. Sergei Antonovitch, according to his
expression, "went to the root of the matter," and indicated the
"source of the evil," very frankly attacking the policy of the
government, which did everything to discourage gold mining, hedging
round this most important industry with all kinds of difficulties,
and practically prohibiting the free production of the precious
metals by laying on it a dead weight of costly formalities.
"I have facts ready to hand," he went on, summing up his argument.
"I have an acquaintance here, an employee of one of the best-known
men in the gold-mining industry." Here Kovroff mentioned a well-
known name. "He is now in St. Petersburg. Well, a few days ago he
suddenly came to me as if he had something weighing on his mind.
And I have had business relations with him in times past. Well,
what do you think? He suddenly made me a proposal, secretly of
course; would I not take some gold dust off his hands? You must
know that these trusted employees every year bring several hundred
pounds of gold from Asia, and of course it stands to reason that
they cannot get rid of it in the ordinary way, but smuggle it
through private individuals. It is uncommonly profitable for the
purchasers, because they buy far below the market rates. So there
are plenty of purchasers. Several of the leading jewelers" (and
here he named three or four of the best-known firms) "never refuse
such a deal, and last year a banking house in Berlin bought a
hundred pounds' weight of gold through agents here. Well, this
same employee, my acquaintance, is looking for an opportunity to
get rid of his wares. And he tells me he managed to bring in about
forty pounds of gold, if not more. I introduce this fact to
illustrate the difficulties put in the way of enterprise by our
intelligent government."
Shadursky did not greatly occupy himself with serious questions and
he was totally ignorant of all details of financial undertakings.
It was, therefore, perfectly easy for Sergei Antonovitch to assume
a tone of solid, practical sense, which imposed completely on the
young prince. Young Shadursky, from politeness, and to prove his
worldly wisdom, assented to Kovroff's statements with equal
decision. All the same, from this conversation, he quite clearly
seized on the idea that under certain circumstances it would be
possible to buy gold at a much lower price than that demanded by
the Imperial Bank. And this was just the thought which Kallash and
Kovroff wished to sow in the young prince's mind.
"Of course, I myself do not go in for that kind of business," went
on Kovroff carelessly, "and so I could not give my friend any help.
But if some one were going abroad, for instance, he might well risk
such an operation, which would pay him a very handsome profit."
"How so? In what way?" asked Shadursky.
"Very simply. You buy the goods here, as I already said, much
below the government price. So that to begin with you make a very
profitable bargain. Then you go abroad with your wares and there,
as soon as the exchange value of gold goes up, you can sell it at
the nearest bank. I know, for instance, that the agent of the -----
Bank" (and he mentioned a name well known in St. Petersburg) made
many a pretty penny for himself by just such a deal. This is how
it was: He bought gold dust for forty thousand rubles, and six
weeks later got rid of it in Hamburg for sixty thousand. Whatever
you may say, fifty per cent on your capital in a month and a half
is pretty good business."
"Deuce take it! A pretty profitable bargain, without a doubt!"
cried Shadursky, jumping from his chair. "It would just suit me!
I could get rid of it in Geneva or Paris," he went on in a jesting
tone.
"What do you think? Of course!" Sergei Antonovitch took him up,
but in a serious tone. "You or some one else--in any case it would
be a good bargain. For my acquaintance has to go back to Asia, and
has only a few days to spare. He doesn't know where to turn and
rather than take his gold back with him, he would willingly let it
go at an even lower rate than the smugglers generally ask. If I
had enough free cash I would go in for it myself."
"It looks a good proposition," commented Count Kallash.
"It is certainly very enticing; what do you think?" said Prince
Shadursky interrogatively, folding his arms.
"Hm--yes! very enticing," answered Kovroff. "A fine chance for
anyone who has the money."
"I would not object! I would not object!" protested Shadursky.
"Suppose you let me become acquainted with your friend."
"You? Well--" And Kovroff considered; "if you wish. Why not?
Only I warn you, first, if you are going to buy, buy quickly, for
my friend can't wait; and secondly, keep the matter a complete
secret, for very unpleasant results might follow."
"That goes without saying. That stands to reason," assented
Shadursky. "I can get the money at once and I am just going
abroad, in a day or two at the latest. So it would be foolish to
miss such a chance. So it is a bargain?" And he held out his hand
to Kovroff.
"How a bargain?" objected the cautious Sergei Antonovitch. "I am
not personally concerned in the matter, and you must admit, my dear
prince, that I can make no promises for my acquaintance."
"I don't mean that!" cried Shadursky. "I only ask you to arrange
for me to meet him. Bring us together--and drop him a hint that I
do not object to buying his wares. You will confer a great
obligation on me."
"Oh, that is quite a different matter. That I can always do; the
more so, because we are such good friends. Why should I not do you
such a trifling service? As far as an introduction is concerned,
you may count on it."
And they cordially shook each other by the hand.
XVI
GOLD DUST
Both Kallash and Kovroff were too cautious to take an immediate,
personal part in the gold-dust sale. There was a certain
underling, Mr. Escrocevitch by name, at Sergei Kovroff's beck and
call--a shady person, rather dirty in aspect, and who was,
therefore, only admitted to Sergei's presence by the back door and
through the kitchen, and even then only at times when there were no
outsiders present.
Mr. Escrocevitch was a person of general utility and was especially
good at all kinds of conjuring tricks. Watches, snuff-boxes,
cigar-cases, silver spoons, and even heavy bronze paper-weights
acquired the property of suddenly vanishing from under his hands,
and of suddenly reappearing in a quite unexpected quarter. This
valuable gift had been acquired by Mr. Escrocevitch in his early
years, when he used to wander among the Polish fairs, swallowing
burning flax for the delectation of the public and disgorging
endless yards of ribbon and paper.
Mr. Escrocevitch was a precious and invaluable person also owing to
his capacity of assuming any role, turning himself into any given
character, and taking on the corresponding tone, manners, and
appearance, and he was, further, a pretty fair actor.
He it was who was chosen to play the part of the Siberian employee.
Not more than forty-eight hours had passed since the previous
conversation. Prince Shadursky was just up, when his footman
announced to him that a Mr. Valyajnikoff wished to see him.
The prince put on his dressing gown and went into the drawing-room,
where the tolerably presentable but strangely dressed person of Mr.
Escrocevitch presented itself to him.
"Permit me to have the honor of introducing myself," he began,
bowing to Prince Shadursky; "I am Ivanovitch Valyajnikoff. Mr.
Sergei Antonovitch Kovroff was so good as to inform me of a certain
intention of yours about the dust. So, if your excellency has not
changed your mind, I am ready to sell it to you with pleasure."
"Very good of you," answered Prince Shadursky, smiling gayly, and
giving him a chair.
"To lose no time over trifles," continued Mr. Escrocevitch, "let me
invite you to my quarters. I am staying at a hotel; you can see
the goods there; you can make tests, and, if you are satisfied, I
shall be very happy to oblige your excellency."
Prince Shadursky immediately finished dressing, ordered his
carriage, and went out with the supposititious Valyajnikoff. They
drove to a shabby hotel and went to a dingy room.
"This is my poor abode. I am only here on the wing, so to speak.
I humbly request you to be seated," Mr. Escrocevitch said
obsequiously. "Not to lose precious time, perhaps your excellency
would like to look at my wares? Here they are--and I am most
willing to show them."
And he dragged from under the bed a big trunk, in which were five
canvas bags of various sizes, packed full and tied tightly.
"Here, here it is! This is our Siberian dust," he said, smiling
and bowing, indicating the trunk with a wave of his hand, as if
introducing it to Prince Shadursky.
"Would not your excellency be so good as to choose one of these
bags to make a test? It will be much better if you see yourself
that the business is above board, with no swindle about it. Choose
whichever you wish!"
Shadursky lifted one of the bags from the trunk, and when Mr.
Escrocevitch untied it, before the young prince's eyes appeared a
mass of metallic grains, at which he gazed not without inward
pleasure.
"How are you going to make a test?" he asked. "We have no blow-
pipes nor test-tubes here?"
"Make your mind easy, your excellency! We shall find everything we
require--blow-pipes and test-tubes and nitric acid, and even a
decimal weighing machine. In our business we arrange matters in
such a way that we need not disturb outsiders. Only charcoal we
haven't got, but we can easily send for some."
And going to the door, he gave the servant in the passage an order,
and a few minutes later the latter returned with a dish of
charcoal.
"First class! Now everything is ready," cried Mr. Escrocevitch,
rubbing his hands; and for greater security he turned the key in
the door.
"Take whichever piece of charcoal you please, your excellency; but,
not to soil your hands, you had better let me take it myself, and
you sprinkle some of the dust on it," and he humbled himself before
the prince. "Forgive me for asking you to do it all yourself,
since it is not from any lack of politeness on my part, but simply
in order that your excellency should be fully convinced that there
is no deception." Saying this, he got his implements ready and lit
the lamp.
The blow-pipe came into action. Valyajnikoff made the experiment,
and Shadursky attentively followed every movement. The charcoal
glowed white hot, the dust ran together and disappeared, and in its
place, when the charcoal had cooled a little, and the amateur
chemist presented it to Prince Shadursky, the prince saw a little
ball of gold lying in a crevice of the charcoal, such as might
easily have formed under the heat of the blow-pipe.
"Take the globule, your excellency, and place it, for greater
security, in your pocketbook," said Escrocevitch; "you may even
wrap it up in a bit of paper; and keep the sack of gold dust
yourself, so that there can be no mistake."
Shadursky gladly followed this last piece of advice.
"And now, your excellency, I should like you kindly to select
another bag; we shall make two or three more tests in the same
way."
The prince consented to this also.
Escrocevitch handed him a new piece of charcoal to sprinkle dust
on, and once more brought the blow-pipe into operation. And again
the brass filings disappeared and in the crevice appeared a new
globule of gold.
"Well, perhaps these two tests will be sufficient. What is your
excellency good enough to think on that score?" asked the supposed
Valyajnikoff.
"What is the need of further tests? The matter is clear enough,"
assented the prince.
"If it is satisfactory, we shall proceed to make it even more
satisfactory. Here we have a touch-stone, and here we have some
nitric acid. Try the globules on the touchstone physically, and,
so to speak, with the nitric acid chemically. And if you wish to
make even more certain, this is what we shall do. What quantity of
gold does your excellency wish to take?"
"The more the better. I am ready to buy all these bags."
"VERY much obliged to your excellency, as this will suit me
admirably," said Escrocevitch, bowing low. "And so, if your
excellency is ready, then I humbly beg you to take each bag,
examine it, and seal it with your excellency's own seal. Then let
us take one of the globules and go to one of the best jewelers in
St. Petersburg. Let him tell us the value of the gold and in this
way the business will be exact; there will be no room for complaint
on either side, since everything will be fair and above board."
The prince was charmed with the honesty and frankness of Mr.
Valyajnikoff.
They went together to one of the best-known jewelers, who, in their
presence, made a test and announced that the gold was chemically
pure, without any alloy, and therefore of the highest value.
On their return to the hotel, Mr. Escrocevitch weighed the bags,
which turned out to weigh forty-eight pounds. Allowing three
pounds for the weight of the bags, this left forty-five pounds of
pure gold.
"How much a pound do you want?" Shadursky asked him.
"A pretty low price, your excellency," answered the Siberian, with
a shrug of his shoulders, "as I am selling from extreme necessity,
because I have to leave for Siberia; I've spent too much time and
money in St. Petersburg already; and if I cannot sell my wares, I
shall not be able to go at all. I assume that the government price
is known to your excellency?"
"But I am willing to take two hundred rubles a pound. I can't take
a kopeck less, and even so I am making a reduction of nearly a
hundred rubles the pound."
"All right!" assented Shadursky. "That will amount to--" he went
on, knitting his brows, "forty-five pounds at two hundred rubles a
pound--"
"It will make exactly nine thousand, your excellency. Just exactly
nine," Escrocevitch obsequiously helped him out. The prince,
cutting the matter short, immediately gave him a check, and taking
the trunk with the coveted bags, drove with the Siberian employee
to his father's house, where the elder Prince Shadursky, at his
son's pressing demand, though very unwillingly, exchanged the check
for nine thousand rubles in bills, for which Ivan Ivanovitch
Valyajnikoff forthwith gave a receipt. The prince was delighted
with his purchase, and he did not utter a syllable about it to
anyone except Kovroff.
Sergei Antonovitch gave him a friendly counsel not to waste any
time, but to go abroad at once, as, according to the Exchange
Gazette, gold was at that moment very high, so that he had an
admirable opportunity to get rid of his wares on very favorable
terms.
The prince, in fact, without wasting time got his traveling
passport, concealed his purchase with the utmost care, and set out
for the frontier, announcing that he was on his way to his mother,
whose health imperatively demanded his presence.
The success of the whole business depended on the fact that brass
filings, which bear a strong external resemblance to gold dust, are
dissipated in the strong heat of the blowpipe. The charcoal was
prepared beforehand, a slight hollow being cut in it with a
penknife, in the bottom of which is placed a globule of pure gold,
the top of which is just below the level of the charcoal, and the
hollow is filled up with powdered charcoal mixed with a little
beeswax. The "chemist" who makes the experiments must make himself
familiar with the distinctive appearance of the charcoal, so as to
pick it out from among several pieces, and must remember exactly
where the crevice is.
On this first occasion, Escrocevitch had prepared all four pieces
of charcoal, which were brought by the servant in the passage. He
chose as his temporary abode a hotel whose proprietor was an old
ally of his, and the servant was also a confederate.
Thus was founded the famous "Gold Products Company," which is still
in very successful operation, and is constantly widening its sphere
of activity.
XVII
THE DELUGE
Count Kallash finally decided on his course of action. It was too
late to seek justice for his sister, but not too late for a tardy
reparation. The gang had prospered greatly, and the share of
Baroness von Doring and Bodlevski already amounted to a very large
figure. Count Kallash determined to demand for his sister a sum
equal to that of the securities in her name which Natasha had
stolen, calculating that this would be enough to maintain his
sister in peace and comfort to the end of her days. His own life
was too stormy, too full of risks for him to allow his sister's
fate to depend on his, so he had decided to settle her in some
quiet nook where, free from danger, she might dream away her few
remaining years.
To his surprise Baroness von Doring flatly refused to be put under
contribution.
"Your demand is outrageous," she said. "I am not going to be the
victim of any such plot!"
"Very well, I will compel you to unmask?"
"To unmask? What do you mean, count? You forget yourself!"
"Well, then, I shall try to make you remember me!" And Kallash
turned his back on her and strode from the room. A moment later,
and she heard the door close loudly behind him.
The baroness had already told Bodlevski of her meeting with
Princess Anna, and she now hurried to him for counsel. They agreed
that their present position, with Kallash's threats hanging over
their heads, was intolerable. But what was to be done?
Bodlevski paced up and down the room, biting his lips, and seeking
some decisive plan.
"We must act in such a way," he said, coming to a stand before the
baroness, "as to get rid of this fellow once for all. I think he
is dangerous, and it never does any harm to take proper
precautions. Get the money ready, Natasha; we must give it to
him."
"What! give him the money!" and the baroness threw up her hands.
"Will that get us out of his power? Can we feel secure? It will
only last till something new happens. At the first occasion--"
"Which will also be the last!" interrupted Bodlevski. "Suppose we
do give him the money to-day; does that mean that we give it for
good? Not at all! It will be back in my pocket to-morrow! Let us
think it out properly!" and he gave her a friendly pat on the
shoulder, and sat down in an easy chair in front of her.
The result of their deliberations was a little note addressed to
Count Kallash:
"DEAR COUNT," it ran, "I was guilty of an act of folly toward you
to-day. I am ashamed of it, and wish to make amends as soon as
possible. We have always been good friends, so let us forget our
little difference, the more so that an alliance is much more
advantageous to us both than a quarrel. Come this evening to
receive the money you spoke of, and to clasp in amity the hand of
your devoted friend,
VON D."
Kallash came about ten o'clock in the evening, and received from
Bodlevski the sum of fifty thousand rubles in notes. The baroness
was very amiable, and persuaded him to have some tea. There was
not a suggestion of future difficulties, and everything seemed to
promise perfect harmony for the future. Bodlevski talked over
plans of future undertakings, and told him, with evident
satisfaction, that they had just heard of the arrest of the younger
Prince Shadursky, in Paris, for attempting to defraud a bank by a
pretended sale of gold dust. Count Kallash was also gay, and a
certain satisfaction filled his mind at the thought of his sister's
security, as he felt the heavy packet of notes in his pocket. He
smoked his cigar with evident satisfaction, sipping the fragrant
tea from time to time. The conversation was gay and animated, and
for some reason or other turned to the subject of clubs.
"Ah, yes," interposed Bodlevski, "a propos! I expect to be a
member of the Yacht Club this summer. Let me recommend to you a
new field of action. They will disport themselves on the green
water, and we on the green cloth! By the way, I forgot to speak of
it--I bought a boat the other day, a mere rowboat. It is on the
Fontauka Canal, at the Simeonovski bridge. We must come for a row
some day."
"Delightful," exclaimed the baroness. "But why some day? Why not
to-night? The moon is beautiful, and, indeed, it is hardly dark at
midnight. Your speaking of boats has filled me with a sudden
desire to go rowing. What do you say, dear count?" and she turned
amiably to Kallash.