PRAVEZH.[5]
[Footnote 5: Public flogging or torture.]
I WAS not a little thankful when the carriage stopped at Von Gaden’s
door and I got out at last; nearly falling as I did so, for my skirts
became involved in the wheel, displaying, I fear, a masculine leg;
however, I saw the coach drive off sedately with Konrat, as stoical as
at first, holding the reins. Dr. Von Gaden’s servant looked a little
perplexed when he saw me standing at the door, but ushered me into
the doctor’s consulting-room, saying that he expected Von Gaden every
moment. As soon as I was alone, I began to remove my disguise, and
had just thrown aside my veil and hood when the Jew opened the door.
He stood transfixed on the threshold for a moment, and then, as he
comprehended the situation, a smile illumined his grave face.
“Poor Pierrot!” he exclaimed at once, “I must notify him; the man has
been beside himself.”
My conscience smote me that I had never once thought of the poor fellow.
“Where is he?” I inquired, as I proceeded hastily to divest myself of
my petticoats, for I was anxious to feel like a man once more.
“He is scouring Moscow,” Von Gaden said; “he came here, towards
morning, and told me that you had gone into a courtyard to make an
inquiry and had never come out, and when he followed and searched,
he found the court and house both deserted. I have been twice to the
palace to petition for aid in the search for you, and Pierrot is like
one possessed. Tell me, man, how came you here, and in this garb?”
I gave him, as briefly as I could, the history of my adventure, and saw
that his keen mind at once grasped the serious phase of the situation.
He looked at me gravely.
“Homyak took the packet?” he repeated thoughtfully, as I concluded.
“A sorry messenger, but an old tool of Ramodanofsky’s. I saw the
dwarf, not a half-hour since, going towards the Streltsi quarters.
I wonder,” he added musingly, “if he had already delivered his
packet, or was drawn away from his errand to feast his eyes upon that
disgusting scene. You have come back upon an eventful day, M. de
Brousson; to-day, the officers of the Streltsi will be subjected to the
_pravezh_.”
“Is it possible that the Streltsi have carried that point?” I exclaimed
in surprise. “That means mutiny.”
The doctor bowed his head gravely.
“It means,” he said, “that the government is not strong enough to
resist a force of twenty-two thousand men, the only disciplined force
in Russia to-day. The officers are to be scourged in the quarters of
the Streltsi, and there is intense excitement in the city and at the
Kremlin.”
“This is hideous!” I exclaimed. “Who are the officers?”
Von Gaden gave me a list of names.
“Colonels Gryboyedof and Karandeyef will be scourged with the knout,
twelve others with rods. The Streltsi will regulate the severity of
the punishment, and after suffering this degradation,” he added, “the
officers will be allowed to go to their country places, in disgrace,
when they have paid back all the money claimed by the soldiers.”
“And the Streltsi will look for fresh excitement,” I said.
“Even so,” replied Von Gaden, gravely; “it is the beginning of the
end, and woe to the hand that unchains the wild beast!”
While we were talking, I had fastened Zénaïde’s pistol in my belt, and
I now asked the doctor for a sword and a cloak.
“Where are you going?” he inquired, while complying with my request.
“In search of Homyak,” I replied briefly; “and failing to find him, I
must make my peace with the czarevna.”
“You will find Homyak gloating over the scourging,” Von Gaden said;
“but I fear it will be less easy to make peace with the princess: she
is a true daughter of a czar, and nothing if not a tyrant born.”
“You have no love for Sophia,” I remarked, smiling.
Von Gaden shook his head. “My warmest friendship has ever been for the
Czarina Natalia,” he said quietly. “I knew her as a young girl in her
guardian’s house. I saw her in the midst of the dangers and intrigues
of her early married life, and I see her now fighting steadily for
her boy, who, as you and I both know, is the only czarevitch fitted
to ascend the throne. No, I do not love the Miloslavskys, for I
have seen them day by day playing into the hands of the turbulent
soldiers; working by fair means or by foul--for what? Not to put a
blind imbecile on the throne. No, no, but to crown the Czarevna Sophia
herself.”
I started, although these were only my own conclusions voiced by the
Jew.
“Is that the possible climax of the drama?” I asked quickly, thinking
with a sensation of despair of the lost packet.
“Possible,” he answered slowly, “although difficult. I am glad that the
ex-Chancellor Matveief is coming at last. But hasten, M. le Vicomte,”
he added, rousing himself suddenly, “your errand is best served by
speed, and I have delayed you with my own reveries.”
Once in the street, I proceeded rapidly towards the quarters of the
Streltsi, accompanied thither by the stragglers of the crowd that had
preceded me. There was every evidence of intense excitement, and as I
came nearer, I was involved in a mass of people struggling and shouting
in the effort to approach the scene. It took all my strength to wedge
myself into the throng, and then it was still more impossible to guide
myself, and I was at the mercy of the mob, and began to regret the
foolhardiness that had induced me to seek the dwarf at such a time;
but it was equally impossible to retrace my steps. There could be no
stronger evidence of the state of feeling among the masses than was
exhibited by this crowd, ripe for any mischief and ferocious at the
thought of wreaking vengeance on their superiors. It cost an effort to
escape being trampled under foot, and more than one of the weaker ones
went down and they passed over them, no one pausing to consider the
fate of the unfortunates, for fear of sharing it.
So, pushed and tossed about by these wild beasts, I found myself at
last, without any wish of my own, among the spectators of the justice
administered by the Streltsi. The soldiers were formed in an immense
circle in an open place. In the center of this cruel ring were the
executioners with the knout and rods, and one of the officers was
stripped to the waist and bound, while the lashes fell with merciless
force on his already bleeding back. It was a sickening sight, and the
more revolting because of the evident enjoyment of the onlookers. I
searched the dark faces near me for a glimmer of mercy, but found
none. Only a kind of horrid pleasure gleamed in their eyes. How deep
must have been the sting of their wrongs to have excited such hatred!
The officer, who was Colonel Gryboyedof, stood the torture with
heroic fortitude, and although the blood was running down his back,
uttered no sound. The mob was intensely silent too, as if eager to
catch the first moan of pain uttered by the unfortunate man. Even the
executioner’s arm faltered a little, as if his task was sickening,
but a shout of “harder” from the crowd, nerved it to an increased
effort. I tried to release myself from the press at the front, and
when Gryboyedof fell fainting, my opportunity came, there was a rush
forward which somewhat relieved the pressure about me, and I began to
extricate myself, and even as I did so, discovered the object of my
search. Homyak had evidently seen me in the crowd, and was endeavoring
to slip away unobserved. Making a strong effort, I shook myself free
and started in pursuit of the rascal. As I did so, fresh cries from
behind made me turn, and I could see above the heads of the crowd that
they had substituted two fresh victims in the place of the first.
I soon saw that Homyak was endeavoring to get away in the direction
of the Ragoshkaya suburbs, and I followed as rapidly as I could.
Fortunately, he did not apparently observe my movements now; he looked
back once or twice, but each time at the group about the prisoners.
It was marvelous to see with what rapidity he penetrated the crowd,
his diminutive stature seeming rather a help than a hindrance, for he
dodged under elbows and squeezed through gaps, which defied my greater
bulk. However, by the force of perseverance, I managed to keep him in
sight, and finally found myself on the outskirts of the mob. The dwarf
was possibly fifty yards in advance, and was walking rapidly towards a
narrow lane to the right. Being free at last of the press of people,
I could follow him with more speed, and soon diminished the distance
between us. Fortunately, he no longer looked behind; being out of sight
of the scourging, he seemed to give his mind to some other purpose, and
sped along, gaining less on me now that the conditions were equal. We
plunged into the lane, and soon the hoarse murmur of the crowd and the
sharp crack of the lash became less distinctly audible, and we were
beyond the last straggler. The place seemed strangely deserted, as the
streets of a city always are when some great disturbance has drawn the
population to one quarter, draining the streets and alleys and even
emptying the houses. Once, a woman looked out of an upper window as I
passed, but that was the only face I saw in the whole length of the
lane. At the farther end, Homyak paused and fumbled at his cloak,
seeming to be engaged in searching for something; that stop gave me
time to overtake him. I was upon him before he knew it, and he turned
a scared, wizened face towards me as I came up. I saw at a glance that
his first impulse was to run, but second thought evidently convinced
him that I ought to be ignorant of his part in the transaction. He was
destined to a rude awakening; the lonely spot suited my purpose, and in
a moment I had him by the throat and put my pistol to his head.
“You villain!” I exclaimed angrily, my remembrance of the previous
night increasing my wrath. “Give up that packet as you value your
miserable life.”
The dwarf was an abject coward, and he writhed in my hands in an agony
of terror, his whole face distorted.
“Have mercy!” he whimpered. “I know nothing of any packet. I am a poor,
honest man, and not able to resist you.”
I pressed the muzzle of my pistol against his temple, although I heard
his teeth chatter.
“You miserable dog!” I exclaimed. “Do you think I have forgotten who
lay outside the czarevna’s door? Give me the packet that the Boyar
Ramodanofsky gave you, or I will send you into eternity by the
shortest road you can travel!”
He was terribly frightened; having no idea how I came by my accurate
information, he evidently imagined that I was acquainted with the black
arts. He made no further effort to resist me, but after a little search
in his pockets, produced the packet and handed it to me. I released his
throat to take it, but kept my pistol at his head until I could examine
the seals, and was satisfied that it was the identical packet, and
strange to relate, not a seal was broken.
“Knave,” I said, “where were you taking this?”
A gleam of malicious satisfaction shone in Homyak’s eyes, and yet I
was satisfied that he told the truth when he replied, only enjoying
the thought of my probable discomfiture when I heard who was arrayed
against me.
“I was to take it to the patriarch,” he said.
I started. The patriarch! Yes, it might be so, for he was a member
of the Sabelief family, and a strong adherent of the Naryshkins; but
what a complication! Sophia’s secret intrigues to be laid bare before
Joachim.
I released the dwarf with a hearty kick. “Go,” I exclaimed; “and if I
ever find you meddling with my affairs again, I will cut off your head
just behind your ears!”
Homyak did not wait for further admonition, but scurried away like a
rabbit, only too thankful to get my fingers off his throat.