A DESPERATE DEFENSE.
I STOOD in the lower hall with the two men. Pierrot addressed me at
once in French.
“I have been talking with this fellow, M. le Vicomte,” he said, in his
deliberate way, “and I find that we may be in some danger. He belongs
to the household of the czarevna, and knows a number of the soldiers.
A report has spread that the Boyar Ramodanofsky is here, and they
confuse this gentleman above stairs with the dead man. They never had
any proof of the other’s death, and this man seems to think that they
are still thirsty for his blood. Then they have learned that you were a
friend of Dr. von Gaden’s, and that it was you who interfered to save
mademoiselle.”
I put a few questions in Russian to the court usher, and found that
Pierrot had not exaggerated. If the rumors were true, the situation
was serious; and if it was even suspected that Madame von Gaden was
here, it might precipitate an attack more determined than that on the
Ramodanofsky house. I was sorely perplexed. It was at best extremely
perilous to take the women through the streets, and at that hour,
altogether too great a risk. Yet, if the house should be attacked,
there would be no way of defending it. My nationality would not save
me. I knew that the Danish resident, Butenant von Rosenbusch, had
hardly escaped with his life, and he had done nothing to provoke the
fury of the mob. If Ramodanofsky’s identity was known, it would ruin
rather than help us. However, no remedy suggested itself, and I saw
no resource but to abide our fate and hope for the best. Sophia was
beginning to gain control, and we could count upon her friendship and
that of Galitsyn. Ramodanofsky had told me that a call would be issued
for a general council for the purpose of legally electing Ivan and
Peter czars of all the Russias, and declaring Sophia Alexeievna regent.
This was the beginning, and a vigorous government once organized under
the czarevna, I had no doubt that she could control the insurrection,
although the indemnity demanded by the Streltsi was likely to
impoverish the imperial exchequer.
I told Pierrot to secure the house carefully, and use all precaution,
and then went to hear tidings of madame’s condition. Mademoiselle
Eudoxie came out of the room where they had carried her, and told the
boyar and me that she had recovered consciousness, and seemed grateful
for their care; clinging to Zénaïde for consolation, since some words
of hers had brought the relief of tears to the poor, half-crazed woman.
Ramodanofsky and I were left alone, and I was bringing another light
to put on the table, when he suddenly rose and went to the window.
I looked at him in astonishment, for he was not a man of rapid
movements. After a glance out, he silently signaled to me to join him.
As I approached, he stood aside and pointed down into the street. A
strange spectacle met my astonished gaze. In the darkness, I could
just distinguish the crowd of people that were silently forming in a
circle about the house, as if in fear of being disappointed of their
anticipated prey. The boyar and I looked at each other in silence; I
saw the fire of the warrior burning in his eyes, but my thoughts were
all for the three helpless women in the inner room.
“You must keep them here, M. Ramodanofsky,” I said quickly, “until I
send the man below to the Kremlin for help if it can be had.”
“I fear I cannot keep them now,” he rejoined with perfect composure,
although I saw his face twitch; “they suspect that I am not one of
them. If they think me a traitor to their cause,” he laughed harshly,
“an hour from now you will not recognize the fragments of my remains.”
“_Ma foi!_” I cried passionately, “how can you jest? Your daughter,
man, your daughter!”
A violent emotion convulsed his features.
“I was mad to come here to-night,” he said, “stark, staring mad,” and
with that he went to the window, calling out to them that he must speak.
I did not pause to hear more, but rushed down the stairs just as a
thundering blow fell on the door, summoning us to surrender. Pierrot
and the other man were in the hall, taken by surprise.
“Quick!” I cried, “the back door! Pierrot, watch here and defend the
way, and you,” I said to the other, “must get out in the alley and
run to the Kremlin. Tell the Czarevna Sophia that these hounds will
murder the Boyar Feodor Sergheievitch Ramodanofsky and the Vicomte de
Brousson.”
He was glad enough to look for an escape, and ran with me through
the kitchen. The door was secured by two stout wooden bars, and I
had lifted one from its sockets and had my hand on the other, when a
sudden uproar without told me that it was too late. I replaced the bar,
surrendering that last hope with a sickened heart. Then I ran back into
the hall, just in time to see the outer door yield and the rioters
pour into the entry. Pierrot was borne back into a lower room, and the
way was unobstructed. With a yell of triumph, they came on. The stairs
were high and narrow, and with a bound I reached them, and drawing my
pistol, stood across their path. For an instant the tide was stayed,
and the ringleaders halted; but the crowd behind, pushing into the
narrow hall, sent them forward again. As they came up the first steps I
fired twice, and two ruffians falling on top of each other, there was
another pause. This gave me time to draw my sword; in another moment
one of the leaders fell before me. Few men in France cared to measure
swords with me, and certainly few would have dared upon that narrow
stair. The rioters began to howl like baffled animals, and I kept the
stair, but it could not be for long. I heard Ramodanofsky coming, and
he joined me; but the sight of him drove them beyond the limit of fear.
“Traitor!” they bellowed; “a liar! a disguised aristocrat! down with
him!”
And they poured up the staircase until it shook beneath their weight.
I fought in that moment as I never fought before, and two more devils
fell, before a blow from a spear stunned me, and I was borne down
and trampled under foot. All the rest was lost in the blackness of
unconsciousness.