THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS.
On the 6th of March 1904, just six months after Arnold's journey to
Russia, a special meeting of the Inner Circle of the Terrorists took
place in the Council-chamber, at the house on Clapham Common.
Although it was only attended by twelve persons all told, and those
men and women whose names were unknown outside the circle of their
own Society and the records of the Russian police, it was the most
momentous conference that had taken place in the history of the world
since the council of war that Abdurrhaman the Moslem had held with
his chieftains eleven hundred and seventy-two years before, and, by
taking their advice, spared the remnants of Christendom from the
sword of Islam.
Then the fate of the world hung in the balance of a council of war,
and the supremacy of the Cross or the Crescent depended, humanly
speaking, upon the decision of a dozen warriors. Now the fate of the
civilisation that was made possible by that decision, lay at the
mercy of a handful of outlaws and exiles who had laboriously brought
to perfection the secret schemes of a single man.
The work of the Terrorists was finally complete. Under the whole
fabric of Society lay the mines which a single spark would now
explode, and above this slumbering volcano the earth was trembling
with the tread of millions of armed men, divided into huge hostile
camps, and only waiting until Diplomacy had finished its work in the
dark, and gave the long-awaited signal of inevitable and universal
war.
To-night that spark was to be shaken from the torch of Revolution,
and to-morrow the first of the mines would explode. After that, if
the course to be determined on by the Terrorist Council failed to
arrive at the results which it was designed to reach, the armies of
Europe would fight their way through the greatest war that the world
had ever seen, the Fates would once more decide in favour of the
strongest battalions, the fittest would triumph, and a new era of
military despotism would begin--perhaps neither much better nor much
worse than the one it would succeed.
If, on the other hand, the plans of the Terrorists were successfully
worked out to their logical conclusion, it would not be war only, but
utter destruction that Society would have to face. And then with
dissolution would come anarchy. The thrones of the world would be
overthrown, the fabric of Society would be dissolved, commerce would
come to an end, the structure that it had taken twenty centuries of
the discipline of war and the patient toil of peace to build up,
would crumble into ruins in a few short months, and then--well, after
that no man could tell what would befall the remains of the human
race that had survived the deluge. The means of destruction were at
hand, and they would be used without mercy, but for the rest no man
could speak.
When Nicholas Roburoff, the President of the Executive, rose in his
place at eight o'clock to explain the business in hand, every member
present saw at a glance, by the gravity of his demeanour, that the
communication that he had to make was of no ordinary nature, but even
they were not prepared for the catastrophe that he announced in the
first sentence that he uttered.
"Friends," he said, in a voice that was rendered deeply impressive by
the emotion that he vainly tried to conceal, "it is my mournful duty
to tell you that she whom any one of us would willingly shed our
blood to serve or save from the slightest evil, our beautiful and
beloved Angel of the Revolution, as we so fondly call her, Natasha,
the daughter of the Master, has, in the performance of her duty to
the Cause, fallen into the hands of Russia."
Save for a low, murmuring groan that ran round the table, the news
was received in silence. It was too terrible, too hideous in the
awful meaning that its few words conveyed, for any exclamations of
grief, or any outburst of anger, to express the emotions that it
raised.
Not one of those who heard it but had good reason to know what it
meant for a revolutionist to fall into the hands of Russia. For a man
it meant the last extremity of human misery that flesh and blood
could bear, but for a young and beautiful woman it was a fate that no
words could describe--a doom that could only be thought of in silence
and despair; and so the friends of Natasha were silent, though they
did not yet despair. Roburoff bowed his head in acknowledgment of the
inarticulate but eloquent endorsement of his words, and went on--
"You already know the outcome of Richard Arnold's visit to Russia;
how he was present at the trial of the Tsar's war-balloon, and was
compelled to pronounce it such a complete success, that the Autocrat
at once gave orders for the construction of a fleet of fifty
aërostats of the same pattern; and how, thanks to the warning
conveyed by Anna Ornovski, he was able to prevent his special
passport being stolen by a police agent, and so to foil the designs
of the chief of the Third Section to stop him taking the secret of
the construction of the war-balloon out of Russia. You also know that
he brought back the Chief's authority to build an air-ship after the
model which was exhibited to us here, and that since his return he
has been prosecuting that work on Drumcraig Island, one of the
possessions of the Chief in the Outer Hebrides, which he placed at
his disposal for the purpose.
"You know, also, that Natasha and Anna Ornovski went to Russia partly
to discover the terms of the secret treaty that we believed to exist
between France and Russia, and partly to warn, and, if possible,
remove from Russian soil a large number of our most valuable allies,
whose names had been revealed to the Minister of the Interior,
chiefly through the agency of the spy Martinov, who was executed in
this room six months ago.
"The first part of the task was achieved, not without difficulty, but
with complete success, and of that more anon. The second part was
almost finished when Natasha and Anna Ornovski were surprised in the
house of Alexei Kassatkin, a member of the Moscow Nihilist Circle, in
the Bolshoi Dmitrietka. He had been betrayed by one of his own
servants, and a police visit was the result.
"Added to this there is reason to believe that she had, quite apart
from this, become acquainted with enough official secrets to make her
removal desirable in high quarters. I need not tell you that that is
the usual way in which the Tsar rewards those of his secret servants
who get to know too much.
"The fact of her being found in the house of a betrayed Nihilist was
taken as sufficient proof of sympathy or complicity, and she was
arrested. Natasha, as Fedora Darrel, claimed to be a British subject,
and, as such, to be allowed to go free in virtue of the Tsar's safe
conduct, which she exhibited. Instead of that she was taken before
the chief of the Moscow police, rudely interrogated, and then
brutally searched. Unhappily, in the bosom of her dress was found a
piece of paper bearing some of the new police cypher. That was
enough. That night they were thrown into prison, and three days later
taken to the convict depot under sentence of exile by administrative
process to Sakhalin for life.
"You know what that means for a beautiful woman like Natasha. She
will not go to Sakhalin. They do not bury beauty like hers in such an
abode of desolation as that. If she cannot be rescued, she will only
have two alternatives before her. She will become the slave and
plaything of some brutal governor or commandant at one of the
stations, or else she will kill herself. Of course, of these two she
would choose the latter--if she could and when she could. Should she
be driven to that last resort of despair, she shall be avenged as
woman never yet was avenged; but rescue must, if possible, come
before revenge.
"The information that we have received from the Moscow agent tells us
that the convict train to which Natasha and Anna Ornovski are
attached left the depot nearly a fortnight ago; they were to be taken
by train in the usual way to Nizhni Novgorod, thence by barge on the
Volga and Kama to Perm, and on by rail to Tiumen, the forwarding
station for the east. Until they reach Tiumen they will be safe from
anything worse than what the Russians are pleased to call
'discipline,' but once they disappear into the wilderness of Siberia
they will be lost to the world, and far from all law but the will of
their official slave-drivers.
"It has, therefore, been decided that the rescue shall be attempted
before the chain-gang leaves Tiumen, if it can be reached in time. As
nearly as we can calculate, the march will begin on the morning of
Friday the 9th, that is to say, in three nights and one day from now.
Happily we possess the means of making the rescue, if it can be
accomplished by human means. I have received a report from Richard
Arnold saying that the _Ariel_ is complete, and that she has made a
perfectly satisfactory trial trip to the clouds. The _Ariel_ is the
only vehicle in existence that could possibly reach the frontier of
Siberia in the given time, and it is fitting that her first duty
should be the rescue of the Angel of the Revolution from the clutches
of the Tyrant of the North.
"Alexis Mazanoff, it is the will of the Master that you shall take
these instructions to Richard Arnold and accompany him on the voyage
in order to show him what course to steer, and assist him in every
way possible. You will find the Chief's yacht at Port Patrick ready
to convey you to Drumcraig Island. When you have heard what is
further necessary for you to hear, you will take the midnight express
from Euston. Have you any preparations to make?"
"No," replied Mazanoff, or Colston, to call him by a name more
familiar to the reader. "I can start in half an hour if necessary,
and on such an errand you may, of course, depend on me not to lose
much time. I presume there are full instructions here?"
"Yes, both for the rescue and for your conduct afterwards, whether
you are successful or unsuccessful," said the President. Then turning
to the others he continued--
"You may now rest assured that all that can be done to rescue Natasha
will be done, and we must therefore turn to other matters. I said a
short time ago that the conditions of the secret treaty between
France and Russia had been discovered by the two brave women who are
now suffering for their devotion to the cause of the Revolution. A
full copy of them is in the hands of the Chief, who arrives in London
to-day, and will at once lay the documents before Mr. Balfour, the
Premier.
"It is extremely hostile to England, and amounts, in fact, to a
compact on the part of France to declare war and seize the Suez
Canal, as soon as the first shot is fired between Great Britain and
Russia. In return for this, Russia is to invade Germany and Austria,
destroy the eastern frontier fortresses with her fleet of
war-balloons, and then cross over and do the same on the Rhine, while
France at last throws herself upon her ancient foe.
"Meanwhile, the French fleet is to concentrate in the Mediterranean
as quietly and rapidly as possible, before war actually breaks out,
so as to be able to hold the British and Italians in check, and shut
the Suez Canal, while Russia, who is pushing her troops forward to
the Hindu Kush, gets ready for a dash at the passes, and a rush upon
Cashmere, before Britain can get sufficient men out to India by the
Cape to give her very much trouble.
"As there also exists a secret compact between Britain and the Triple
Alliance, binding all four powers to declare war the moment one is
threatened, the disclosure of this treaty must infallibly lead to war
in a few weeks. In addition to this, measures have been taken to
detach Italy from the Triple Alliance at the last moment, if
possible. Success in this respect is, however, somewhat uncertain.
"To make assurance doubly sure, the Chief informs me that he has
ordered Ivan Brassoff, who is in command of a large reconnoitring
party on the Afghan side of the Hindu Kush, to provoke reprisals from
a similar party of Indian troops who have been told off to watch
their movements. Captain Brassoff is one of us, and can be depended
upon to obey at all costs. He will do this in a fortnight from now,
and therefore we may feel confident that Great Britain and Russia
will be at war within a month.
"With the first outbreak of war our work for the present ceases, so
far as active interference goes. We shall therefore withdraw from the
scene of action until the arrival of the supreme moment when the
nations of Europe shall be locked in the death-struggle, and the fate
of the world will rest in our hands. The will of the Master now is
that all the members of the Brotherhood shall at once wind up their
businesses, and turn all of their possessions that are not portable
and useful into money.
"A large steamer has been purchased and manned with members of the
Outer Circle who are sailors by profession. She is now being loaded
at Liverpool with all the machinery and materials necessary for the
construction of twelve air-ships like the _Ariel_. This steamer, when
ready for sea, will sail, ostensibly, for Rio de Janeiro with a cargo
of machinery, but in reality for Drumcraig, where she will embark the
workmen who will be left there by the _Ariel_ with all the working
plant on the island, and from there she will proceed to a lonely
island off the West Coast of Africa, between Cape Blanco and Cape
Verde, where new works will be set up and the fleet of air-ships put
together as rapidly as possible.
"The position of this island is in the instructions which Alexis
Mazanoff takes to Drumcraig to-night, and the _Ariel_ will rendezvous
there when the work that is in hand for her is done. The members of
the Brotherhood will, of course, go in the steamer as passengers for
Rio, so that no suspicions may be aroused, and every one must be
ready to embark in ten days from now.
"That is all I have to say at present in the name of the Master. And
now, Alexis Mazanoff, it is time you set out. We shall remain here
and discuss every detail fully so that nothing may be overlooked. You
will find that everything has been provided for in the instructions
you have, so go, and may the Master of Destiny be with you!"
As he spoke he held out his hand, which the young man grasped
heartily, saying--
"Farewell! I will obey to the death, and if success can be earned we
will earn it. If not, you shall hear of the _Ariel's_ work in Russia
before the week is out."
He then took leave of the other members of the Council, coming last
to Radna. As their hands clasped she said--
"I wish I could come with you, but that is impossible. But bring
Natasha back to us safe and sound, and there is nothing that you can
ask of me that I will not say 'yes' to. Go, and God speed your good
work. Farewell!"
For all answer he took her in his arms before them all. Their lips
met in one long silent kiss, and a moment later he had gone to strike
the first blow in the coming world-war, and to bring the beginning of
sorrows on the Tyrant of the North.