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* * * * *
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST
* * * * *
MR. HENTY'S HISTORICAL TALES.
THE CAT OF BUBASTES: A Story of Ancient Egypt. 5s.
THE YOUNG CARTHAGINIAN: A Story of the Times of Hannibal. 6s.
FOR THE TEMPLE: A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem. 6s.
BERIC THE BRITON: A Story of the Roman Invasion. 6s.
THE DRAGON AND THE RAVEN: or, The Days of King Alfred. 5s.
WULF THE SAXON: A Story of the Norman Conquest. 6s.
A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE CROSS: The Siege of Rhodes. 6s.
IN FREEDOM'S CAUSE: A Story of Wallace and Bruce. 6s.
THE LION OF ST. MARK: A Story of Venice in the 14th Century. 6s.
ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND: A Tale of Cressy and Poitiers. 5s.
A MARCH ON LONDON: A Story of Wat Tyler. 5s.
BOTH SIDES THE BORDER: A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower. 6s.
AT AGINCOURT: A Tale of the White Hoods of Paris. 6s.
BY RIGHT OF CONQUEST: or, With Cortez in Mexico. 6s.
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE: A Tale of the Huguenot Wars. 6s.
BY PIKE AND DYKE: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic. 6s.
BY ENGLAND'S AID: or, The Freeing of the Netherlands. 6s.
UNDER DRAKE'S FLAG: A Tale of the Spanish Main. 6s.
THE LION OF THE NORTH: A Tale of Gustavus Adolphus. 6s.
WON BY THE SWORD: A Tale of the Thirty Years' War. 6s.
WHEN LONDON BURNED: A Story of the Great Fire. 6s.
ORANGE AND GREEN: A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick. 5s.
A JACOBITE EXILE: In the Service of Charles XII. 5s.
IN THE IRISH BRIGADE: A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain. 6s.
THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE: or, With Peterborough in Spain. 5s.
BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. 6s.
WITH CLIVE IN INDIA: or, The Beginnings of an Empire. 6s.
WITH FREDERICK THE GREAT: The Seven Years' War. 6s.
WITH WOLFE IN CANADA: or, The Winning of a Continent. 6s.
TRUE TO THE OLD FLAG: The American War of Independence. 6s.
HELD FAST FOR ENGLAND: A Tale of the Siege of Gibraltar. 5s.
IN THE REIGN OF TERROR: The French Revolution. 5s.
NO SURRENDER! A Tale of the Rising in La Vendée. 5s.
A ROVING COMMISSION: A Story of the Hayti Insurrection. 6s.
THE TIGER OF MYSORE: The War with Tippoo Saib. 6s.
AT ABOUKIR AND ACRE: Napoleon's Invasion of Egypt. 5s.
WITH MOORE AT CORUNNA: A Tale of the Peninsular War. 6s.
UNDER WELLINGTON'S COMMAND: The Peninsular War. 6s.
WITH COCHRANE THE DAUNTLESS: A Tale of his Exploits. 6s.
THROUGH THE FRAY: A Story of the Luddite Riots. 6s.
THROUGH RUSSIAN SNOWS: The Retreat from Moscow. 5s.
ONE OF THE 28TH: A Story of Waterloo. 5s.
IN GREEK WATERS: A Story of the Grecian War (1821). 6s.
ON THE IRRAWADDY: A Story of the First Burmese War. 5s.
THROUGH THE SIKH WAR: A Tale of the Punjaub. 6s.
MAORI AND SETTLER: A Story of the New Zealand War. 5s.
WITH LEE IN VIRGINIA: A Story of the American Civil War. 6s.
BY SHEER PLUCK: A Tale of the Ashanti War. 5s.
OUT WITH GARIBALDI: A Story of the Liberation of Italy. 5s.
FOR NAME AND FAME: or, To Cabul with Roberts. 5s.
THE DASH FOR KHARTOUM: A Tale of the Nile Expedition. 6s.
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST: A Story of Escape from Siberia. 5s.
WITH BULLER IN NATAL: or, A Born Leader. 6s.
* * * * *
[Illustration: GODFREY IS CAPTURED BY THE RUSSIAN POLICE.]
* * * * *
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST
A STORY OF
ESCAPE FROM SIBERIA
BY
G. A. HENTY
Author of "Beric the Briton" "In Freedom's Cause" "The Lion of the North"
"The Young Carthaginian" "Under Wellington's Command" &c.
_ILLUSTRATED BY WALTER PAGET_
LONDON
BLACKIE & SON, LIMITED, 50 OLD BAILEY, E.C.
GLASGOW AND DUBLIN
PREFACE.
There are few difficulties that cannot be surmounted by patience,
resolution, and pluck, and great as are the obstacles that nature and
the Russian government oppose to an escape from the prisons of Siberia,
such evasions have occasionally been successfully carried out, and that
under far less advantageous circumstances than those under which the
hero of this story undertook the venture. For the account of life in the
convict establishments in Siberia I am indebted to the very valuable
books by my friend the Rev. Dr. Lansdell, who has made himself
thoroughly acquainted with Siberia, traversing the country from end to
end and visiting all the principal prisons. He conversed not only with
officials, but with many of the prisoners and convicts, and with Russian
and foreign residents in the country, and his testimony as to the
management of the prisons and the condition of the convicts is confirmed
by other independent writers personally cognizant of the facts, and like
him able to converse fluently in the language, and writing from intimate
knowledge of the subject.
G. A. HENTY.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
I. A GREAT CHANGE, 11
II. A CAT'S-PAW, 33
III. A HUNTING PARTY, 52
IV. A PRISONER, 67
V. AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE, 86
VI. AN ESCAPE, 104
VII. THE BURIAT'S CHILD, 123
VIII. THE MINES OF KARA, 142
IX. PRISON LIFE, 163
X. PREPARATIONS FOR FLIGHT, 182
XI. AFLOAT, 202
XII. WINTER, 222
XIII. HUNTING, 242
XIV. THE BREAK-UP OF WINTER, 262
XV. COASTING, 282
XVI. A SAMOYEDE ENCAMPMENT, 302
XVII. A SEA FIGHT, 322
XVIII. HOME AGAIN, 339
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
GODFREY IS CAPTURED BY THE RUSSIAN POLICE, _FRONTIS._ 70
A SUPPER OF ROASTED SQUIRRELS, 121
GODFREY PUNISHES KOBYLIN IN THE CONVICT PRISON, 166
SPEARING FISH BY TORCH-LIGHT, 218
GODFREY BRINGS DOWN AN ELK, 245
THE SLAUGHTERED WOLVES, 259
LUKA FACES THE BEAR, 277
GODFREY AND LUKA ESCAPING FROM THE SAMOYEDES, 318
MAP OF RUSSIAN EMPIRE, 80
CONDEMNED AS A NIHILIST.
CHAPTER I.
A GREAT CHANGE.
Half a dozen boys were gathered in one of the studies at Shrewsbury. A
packed portmanteau and the general state of litter on the floor was
sufficient to show that it was the last day of term.
"Well, I am awfully sorry you are going, Bullen; we shall all miss you.
You would certainly have been in the football team next term; it is a
nuisance altogether."
"It is a nuisance; and I am beastly sorry I am leaving. Of course I have
known for some time that I should be going out to Russia; but I did not
think the governor would have sent me until after I had gone through the
school. His letter a fortnight ago was a regular stumper. I thought I
should have had another year and a half or two years, and, of course,
that is just the jolliest part of school life. However, it cannot be
helped."
"You talk the language, don't you, Bullen?"
"Well, I used to talk it, but I don't remember much about it now. You
see I have been home six years. I expect I shall pick it up again fast
enough. I should not mind it so much if the governor were out there
still; but you see he came home for good two years ago. Still it won't
be like going to a strange place altogether; and as he has been living
there so long, I shall soon get to know lots of the English there. Still
I do wish I could have had a couple of years more at Shrewsbury. I
should have been content to have gone out then."
"Well, it is time for us to be starting. I can hear the omnibus."
In a few minutes the omnibus was filled with luggage inside and out; the
lads started to walk to the station. As the train drew up there were
hearty good-byes, and then the train steamed out of the station, the
compartment in which Godfrey Bullen had taken his seat being filled with
boys going, like himself, straight through to town. All were in high
spirits, and Bullen, who had felt sorry at leaving school for the last
time, was soon as merry as any of them.
"You must mind what you are up to, Bullen," one of his companions said.
"They are terrible fellows those Nihilists, they say."
"They won't hurt Bullen," another put in, "unless he goes into the
secret police. I should say he would make a good sort of secret
policeman."
"No, no; he is more likely to turn a Nihilist."
"Bosh!" Bullen said, laughing. "I am not likely to turn a secret
policeman; but I am more likely to do that than to turn Nihilist. I hate
revolutionists and assassins, and all those sort of fellows."
"Yes, we all know that you are a Tory, Bullen; but people change, you
know. I hope we shall never see among the lists of Nihilists tried for
sedition and conspiracy, and sentenced to execution, the name of one
Godfrey Bullen."
"Oh, they wouldn't execute Bullen!" another said; "they would send him
to Siberia. Bullen's always good at fighting an uphill game, and he
would show off to great advantage in a chain-gang. Do they crop their
hair there, Bullen, and put on a gray suit, as I saw them at work in
Portsmouth dockyard last year?"
"I am more likely to see you working in a chain-gang at Portsmouth,
Wilkinson, when I come back, than I am to form part of a convict gang in
Siberia--at any rate for being a Nihilist. I won't say about other
things, for I suppose there is no saying what a fellow may come to. I
don't suppose any of the men who get penal servitude for forgery, and
swindling, and so on, ever have any idea, when they are sixteen, that
that is what they are coming to. At present I don't feel any inclination
that way."
"I should say you were not likely to turn forger anyhow, Bullen,
whatever you take to."
"Why is that, Parker?"
"Because you write such a thundering bad hand that you would never be
able to imitate anyone else's signature, unless he couldn't go farther
than making a cross for his name, and the betting is about even that you
would blot that."
There was a roar of laughter, for Bullen's handwriting was a perpetual
source of trouble to him, and he was continually losing marks for his
exercises in consequence. He joined heartily in the laugh.
"It is an awful nuisance that handwriting of mine," he said, "especially
when one is going to be a merchant, you know. The governor has talked
two or three times about my going to one of those fellows who teach you
to write copperplate in twenty lessons. I shouldn't be surprised if he
does let me have a course these holidays. I should not mind if he does,
for my writing is disgusting."
"Never mind, Bullen; bad handwriting is a sign of genius, you know. You
have never shown any particular genius yet, except for rowing and
boxing, and I suppose that is muscular genius; but you may blossom out
in a new line some day."
"I don't want to disturb the harmony of this last meeting, Parker, or I
should bring my muscular genius into play at your expense."
"No, no, Bullen," another boy said, "you keep that for Russia. Fancy
Bullen polishing off a gigantic Cossack, or defending the Czar's life
against half a dozen infuriated Nihilists. That would be the thing,
Bullen. It would be better than trade any day. Why, you would get an
estate as big as an English county, with ten thousand serfs, and sacks
upon sacks of roubles."
"What bosh you fellows talk!" Bullen laughed. "There is one thing I do
expect I shall learn in Russia, and that is to skate. Fancy six months
of regular skating, instead of a miserable three or four days. I shall
meet some of you fellows some day at the Round Pond, and there you will
be just working away at the outside edge, and I shall be joining in
those skating-club figures and flying round and round like a bird."
"What birds fly round and round, Bullen?"
"Lots of them do, as you would know, Jordan, if you kept your eyes open,
instead of being always on the edge of going to sleep. Swallows do, and
eagles. Never mind, you fellows will turn yellow with jealousy when you
see me."
And so they laughed and joked until they reached London. Then there was
another hearty good-bye all round, and in a couple of minutes they were
speeding in hansoms to their various destinations. Godfrey Bullen's was
Eccleston Square. His father was now senior partner in a firm that
carried on a considerable business with the east of Europe. He had, when
junior partner, resided at St. Petersburg, as the firm had at that time
large dealings in the Baltic. From various causes this trade had fallen
off a good deal, and the firm had dealt more largely with Odessa and the
southern ports. Consequently, when at the death of the senior partner
Mr. Bullen returned to England to take up the principal management of
the affairs of the firm, it was not deemed advisable to continue the
branch at St. Petersburg, and Ivan Petrovytch, a Russian trader of good
standing, had been appointed their agent there.
The arrangement had not worked quite satisfactorily. Petrovytch was an
excellent agent as far as he went. The business he did was sound, and he
was careful and conscientious; but he lacked push and energy, had no
initiative, and would do nothing on his own responsibility. Mr. Bullen
had all along intended that Godfrey should, on leaving school, go for a
few years to Russia, and should, in time, occupy the same position there
that he himself had done; but he had now determined that this should
take place earlier than he had before intended. He thought that Godfrey
would now more speedily pick up the language again, than if he remained
another two or three years in England, and that in five or six years'
time he might be able to represent the firm there, either in conjunction
with Ivan Petrovytch or by himself. Therefore, ten days before the
breaking-up of the school for the long holidays, he had written to
Godfrey, telling him that he should take him away at the end of the
term, and that in two or three months' time he would go out to St.
Petersburg.
Mr. Bullen's family consisted of two girls in addition to Godfrey.
Hilda, the elder, was seventeen, a year older than the lad, while Ella
was two years his junior.
"Well, Godfrey," his father said, as, after the first greeting, they sat
down to dinner, which had been kept back for half an hour for his
arrival, "you did not seem very enthusiastic in your reply to my
letter."
"I did not feel very enthusiastic, father," Godfrey replied. "Of course
one's two last years at school are just the jolly time, and I was really
very sorry to leave. Still, of course you know what is best for me; and
I dare say I shall get on very well at St. Petersburg."
"I have no doubt of that, Godfrey. I have arranged for you to live with
Mr. Petrovytch, as you will regain the language much more quickly in a
Russian family than you would in an English one; besides, it will be
handy for your work. In Russia merchants' offices are generally in their
houses, and it is so with him; but, of course, you will know most of
the English families. I shall write to several of my old friends, and I
am sure they will do all they can for you; but I shall write more to my
Russian acquaintances than to my English. The last are sure to call upon
you when they hear you have come out; but it is not so easy to get a
footing in Russian families, and you might be some time before you make
acquaintances that way. Besides, it is much better for you to be
principally in the Russian set than in the English, in the first place,
because of the language; and in the second, because you will get a much
better acquaintance with the country in general with them than among the
English.
"There are not many English lads of your own age out there--very few
indeed; and those nearest your age would be young clerks. I have nothing
whatever to say against young clerks; but, as a rule, they consort
together, spend their evenings in each others' rooms or in playing
billiards, or otherwise amuse themselves, and so learn very little of
the language and nothing of the people. It is unfortunate that it should
be so; but they are not altogether to blame, for, as I have said, the
Russians, although friendly enough with Englishmen in business, in the
club, and so on, do not as a rule invite them to their houses; and
therefore the English, especially the class I am speaking of, are almost
forced to associate entirely with each other and form a sort of colony
quite apart from native society. I was fortunate enough to make some
acquaintances among them soon after I went out, and your mother and I
were much more in Russian society than is usual with our countrymen
there. I found great advantage from it, and shall be glad for you to do
the same. You will have one very great advantage, that you will be able
to speak Russian fluently in a short time."
"I don't think I remember much about it now, father."
"I dare say not, Godfrey; that is to say, you know it, but you have lost
a good deal of the facility of speaking it. You have always got on
fairly enough with it when we have spoken it occasionally during your
holidays since we have been in England, and in a very few weeks you will
find that it has completely come back to you. You spoke it as you did
English, indeed better, when you came over to school when you were ten,
and in six years one does not forget a language. If you had been another
five or six years older, no doubt you would have lost it a good deal;
but even then you would have learnt it very much more quickly than you
would have done had you never spoken it. Your mother and the girls have
been grumbling at me a good deal for sending you away so soon."
"It is horrid, father," Hilda said. "We have always looked forward so to
Godfrey's coming home; and of course it would be better still as he got
older. We could have gone about everywhere with him; and we shall miss
him especially when we go away in summer."
"Well, you must make the most of him this time then," her father said.
"Have you settled where we are going?" Godfrey asked.
"No, we would not settle until you came home, Godfrey," Mrs. Bullen
said. "As this was to be your last holiday we thought we would give you
the choice."
"Then I vote for some quiet sea-side place, mother. We went to
Switzerland last year, and as I am going abroad for ever so long I would
rather stop at home now; and, besides, I would rather be quiet with you
all, instead of always travelling about and going to places. Only, of
course if the girls would rather go abroad, I don't mind."
However, it was settled that it should be as Godfrey wished.
"But I do think, father," Godfrey said, "that it will be a good thing if
I had lessons in writing from one of those fellows who guarantee to
teach you in a few lessons. I suppose that is all bosh; but if I got
their system and worked at it, it might do me good. I really do write
badly."
The girls laughed.
"I don't think that quite describes it, Godfrey," his father said. "If
anyone asked me about your accomplishments I should say that you knew a
good deal of Latin and Greek, that you had a vague idea of English, and
that you could read, but unfortunately you were quite unable to write.
According to my idea it is perfectly scandalous that at the great
schools such an essential as writing is altogether neglected, while
years are spent over Greek, which is of no earthly use when you have
once left school. I suppose the very worst writers in the world are men
who have been educated in public schools.
"Well, I am glad you have had the good sense to suggest it, Godfrey. I
had thought of it myself, but I was afraid you would think it was
spoiling your last holidays at home. I will see about it to-morrow. I
cannot get away very well for another fortnight. If you have a dozen
lessons before we go, you can practise while we are away; and mind, from
to-day we will talk nothing but Russian when we are alone."
This had been indeed a common habit in the family since they had come
home two years before, as the two girls and Mr. and Mrs. Bullen spoke
Russian as fluently as English, and Mr. Bullen thought it was just as
well that they should not let it drop altogether. Indeed on their
travels in Switzerland they had several times come across Russians, and
had made pleasant acquaintances from their knowledge of that language.
The holidays passed pleasantly at Weymouth. Godfrey practised two hours
a day steadily at the system of handwriting: and although he was, at the
end of the holidays, very far from attaining the perfection shown in the
examples produced by his teachers of the marvels they had effected in
many of their pupils, he did improve vastly, and wrote a fair current
hand instead of the almost undecipherable scrawl that had so puzzled and
annoyed a succession of masters at Shrewsbury. After another month spent
in London, getting his clothes and outfit, Godfrey started for St.
Petersburg. On his last evening at home his father had a serious talk
with him.
"I have told Petrovytch," he said, "that you may possibly some day take
up the agency with him, but that nothing is decided as to that at
present, and that it will all depend upon circumstances. However, in any
case, you will learn the ins and outs of the trade there; and if, at the
end of a few years, you think that you would rather work by yourself
than with him, I can send out a special clerk to work with you. On the
other hand, it is possible that I may require you at home here. Venables
has no family, and is rather inclined to take it easy. Possibly in a few
years he may retire altogether, and I may want you at home. At five or
six and twenty you should be able to undertake the management of the
Russian part of the business, running out there occasionally to see that
everything goes on well. I hope I need not tell you to be steady. There
is a good deal too much drinking goes on out there, arising, no doubt,
from the fact that the young men have no family society there, and
nothing particular to do when work is over.
"Stick to the business, lad. You will find Petrovytch himself a
thoroughly good fellow. Of course he has Russian ways and prejudices,
but he is less narrow than most of his countrymen of that class. Above
all things, don't express any opinion you may feel about public
affairs--at any rate outside the walls of the house. The secret police
are everywhere, and a chance word might get you into a very serious
scrape. As you get on you will find a good deal that you do not like.
Even in business there is no getting a government contract, or indeed a
contract at all, without bribing right and left. It is disgusting, but
business cannot be done without it. The whole system is corrupt and
rotten, and you will find that every official has his price. However,
you won't have anything to do with this for the present. If I were you I
should work for an hour or two a day with a German master. There are a
great many Germans there, and you will find a knowledge of the language
very useful to you. You see your Russian has pretty nearly come back to
you during the last two months, and you will very soon speak it
perfectly; so you will have no trouble about that."
Godfrey found the long railway journey across the flat plains of Germany
very dull, as he was unable to exchange a word with his
fellow-passengers; but as soon as he crossed the Russian frontier he
felt at home again, and enjoyed the run through the thickly-wooded
country lying between Wilna and St. Petersburg. As he stepped out at the
station everything seemed to come back vividly to his memory. It was
late in October and the first snow had fallen, and round the station
were a crowd of sledges drawn by rough little horses. Avoiding the
importunities of the drivers of the hotel vehicles he hailed an
Isvostchik in furred cap and coat lined with sheepskin. His portmanteaus
were corded at the back of the sledge; he jumped up into the seat behind
the driver, pulled the fur rug over his legs, and said, "Drive to the
Vassili Ostrov, 52, Ulitsa Nicolai." The driver gave a peculiar cry,
cracked his whip half a dozen times, making a noise almost as loud as
the discharge of a pistol, and the horse went off at a sharp trot.
"I thought your excellency was a foreigner," the driver said, "but I see
you are one of us."
"No, I am an Englishman, but I lived here till I was ten years old. The
snow has begun earlier than usual, has it not?"
"It won't last," the Isvostchik said. "Sometimes we have a week at this
time of year, but it is not till December that it sets in in earnest. We
may have droskies out again to-morrow instead of the sledges."
"The sledges are the pleasantest," Godfrey said.
"Yes, your excellency, for those that travel, but not for us. At night
when we are waiting we can get into the drosky and sleep, while it is
terrible without shelter. There are many of us frozen to death every
winter."
Godfrey felt a sense of keen enjoyment as the sledge glided along. There
were many rough bumps and sharp swings, for the snow was not deep enough
to cover thoroughly the roughness of the road below; but the air was
brisk and the sun shone brightly, and he looked with pleasure at the
people and costumes, which seemed, to his surprise, perfectly familiar
to him. He was quite sorry when the journey came to an end at the house
of Ivan Petrovytch. The merchant, whose office was on the ground-floor
and who occupied the floor above (the rest of the house being let off by
floors to other families), came out to greet him. "I am glad to see you,
Godfrey Bullen," he said. "I should have sent to the station to meet
you, but your good father did not say whether you would arrive by the
morning or evening train; and as my driver did not know you, he would
have missed you. I hope that all has gone well on the journey. Paul," he
said to a man who had followed him out, "carry these trunks upstairs."
After paying the driver Godfrey followed his host to the floor above.
Petrovytch was a portly man, with a pleasant but by no means
good-looking face. "Wife," he said as he entered the sitting-room, "this
is Godfrey Bullen; I will leave him in your hands for the present, as I
have some business that I must complete before we close."
"My name," Mrs. Petrovytch said, "is Catharine. You know in this country
we always address each other by our names. The high-born may use titles,
but simple people use the Christian name and the family name unless they
are very intimate, and then the Christian name only. I heard you
speaking to my husband as you came in, so that you have not forgotten
our language. I should have thought that you would have done so. I can
remember you as quite a little fellow before you went away."
"I have been speaking it for the last two months at home," Godfrey said,
"and it has nearly come back to me."
"And your father and mother and your sisters, are they all well?"
"They are quite well, and my father and mother begged me to give their
kind regards to you."
At this moment the servant came in with the samovar, or tea-urn.
"It is four o'clock now; we dine at five o'clock, when the office is
closed. Many dine at one, but my husband likes it when he has done his
work, as then he does not need to hurry."
After drinking a tumbler of tea and eating a flat-cake or two with it,
Godfrey went to his room to have a wash after his long journey, and to
unpack some of his things. He thought that he should like both
Petrovytch and his wife, but that the evenings would be dull if he had
to spend them in the house. Of this, however, he had but little fear,
for he was sure that between his father's friends and the acquaintances
he might himself make he should be out as much as he liked.
In the course of the next week Godfrey called at the houses of the
various people to whom he had letters of introduction, and left them
with the hall porter. His host told him that he thought he had better
take a fortnight to go about the capital and see the sights before he
settled down to work at the office; and as not only the gentlemen with
whom he had left letters of introduction and his card--for in Russia
strangers always call first--but many others of his father's friends
called or invited him to their houses, he speedily made a large number
of acquaintances. At the end of the fortnight he took his place in the
office. At first he was of very little use there; for although he could
talk and understand Russian as spoken, he had entirely forgotten the
written characters, and it took him some little time before he could
either read the business correspondence or make entries in the office
books. Ivan Petrovytch did his best to assist him, and in the course of
a month he began to master the mysteries of Russian writing.
At five o'clock the office closed. Godfrey very frequently dined out,
but if he had no engagement he took his meal with the merchant and his
wife, and then sallied out and went either alone or with some of his
acquaintances to a Russian theatre. With December, winter set in in
earnest. The waters were frozen, and skating began. The season at St.
Petersburg commenced about the same time, and as Godfrey was often sent
with messages or letters to other business houses he had an opportunity
of seeing the streets of St. Petersburg by day as well as by night. He
was delighted with the scene on the Nevski Prospekt, the principal
street of St. Petersburg. The footways were crowded with people: the
wealthy in high boots, coats lined with sable, and caps to match; the
poorer in equally ample coats, but with linings of sheep, fox, or rabbit
skins, with the national Russian cap of fur with velvet top, and with
fur-lined hoods, which were often drawn up over the head.
The shops were excellent, reminding Godfrey rather of Paris than London.
But the chief interest of the scene lay in the roadway. There were
vehicles of every description, from the heavy sledge of the peasant,
piled up with logs for fuel, or carrying, perhaps, the body of an elk
shot in the woods, to the splendid turn-outs of the nobles with their
handsome fur wraps, their coachmen in the national costume, and horses
covered with brown, blue, or violet nets almost touching the ground, to
prevent the snow from being thrown up from the animals' hoofs into the
faces of those in the sledge. The harness was in most cases more or less
decorated with bells, which gaily tinkled in the still air as the
sledges dashed along. Most struck was Godfrey with the vehicles of the
nobles who adhered to old Russian customs. The sledge was drawn by three
horses; the one in the centre was trained to trot, while the two outside
went at a canter. The heads of the latter were bent half round, so that
they looked towards the side, or even almost behind them as they went.
An English acquaintance to whom Godfrey expressed his surprise the
first time he saw one of these sledges replied, "Yes, that is the old
Russian pattern; and, curiously enough, if you look at Greek bas-reliefs
and sculptures of the chariot of Phoebus, or at any other
representations of chariots with three or four horses, you will see that
the animals outside turn their heads in a similar manner."
"But it must be horribly uncomfortable for the horses to have their
heads turned round like that."
"It is the effect of training. They are always tied up to the stables
with their heads pulled in that way, until it becomes a second nature to
go with them in that position."
"It is a very curious idea," Godfrey said, "but it certainly looks nice.
What magnificent beards all the drivers in the good sledges have!"
"Yes, that again is an old Russian custom. A driver with a big beard is
considered an absolute necessity for a well-appointed turn-out, and the
longer and fuller the beard the higher the wages a man will command and
the greater the pride of his employer."
"It seems silly," Godfrey said. "But there is no doubt those fellows do
look wonderfully imposing with their fur caps and their long blue
caftans and red sashes and those splendid beards. They remind me of
pictures of Neptune. Certainly I never saw such beards in England."
Besides these vehicles there were crowds of public sledges, driven by
the Isvostchiks, long rough country sledges laden perhaps with a dozen
peasant women returning from market, light well-got-up vehicles of
English and other merchants, dashing turn-outs carrying an officer or
two of high rank, and others filled with ladies half buried in rich
furs. The air was tremulous with the music of countless bells, and
broken by the loud cracking of whips, with which the faster vehicles
heralded their approach. These whips had short handles, but very long
heavy thongs; and Godfrey observed that, however loud he might crack
this weapon, it was very seldom indeed that a Russian driver ever
struck one of his horses with it.
Sometimes when Ivan Petrovytch told him that there was little to be done
in the office, and that he need not return for an hour or two, Godfrey
would stroll into the Isaac or Kasan cathedrals, both splendid
structures, and wonder at the taste that marred their effect, by the
profusion of the gilding lavished everywhere. He was delighted by the
singing, which was unaccompanied by instruments, the bass voices
predominating, and which certainly struck him as being much finer than
anything he had ever heard in an English cathedral. There was no lack of
amusement in the evening. Some of his English friends at once put
Godfrey up as a member of the Skating Club. This club possessed a large
garden well planted with trees. In this was an artificial lake of
considerable extent, broken by wooded islets. This was always lit up of
an evening by coloured lights, and twice in the week was thrown open
upon a small payment to the public, when a military band played, and the
grounds were brilliantly illuminated.
The scene was an exceedingly gay one, and the gardens were frequented by
the rank and fashion of St. Petersburg. The innumerable lights were
reflected by the snow that covered the ground and by the white masses
that clung to the boughs of the leafless trees. The ice was covered with
skaters, male and female, the latter in gay dresses, tight-fitting
jackets trimmed with fur, and dainty little fur caps. Many of the former
were in uniform, and the air was filled with merry laughter and the
ringing sound of innumerable skates. Sometimes parties of acquaintances
executed figures, but for the most part they moved about in couples, the
gentleman holding the lady's hand, or sometimes placing his arm round
her waist as if dancing. Very often Godfrey spent the evening at the
houses of one or other of his Russian or English friends, and
occasionally went to the theatre. Sometimes he spent a quiet evening at
home. He liked Catharine Petrovytch. She was an excellent housewife,
and devoted to the comfort of her husband; but when not engaged in
household cares she seldom cared to go out, and passed her time for the
most part on the sofa. She was, like most other Russian ladies when at
home and without visitors, very careless and untidy in her dress.
Among the acquaintances of whom Godfrey saw most were two young
students. One of them was the son of a trader in Moscow, the other of a
small landed proprietor. He had met them for the first time at a fair
held on the surface of the Neva, and had been introduced to them by a
fellow-student of theirs, a member of a family with whom Godfrey was
intimate. Having met another acquaintance he had left the party, and
Godfrey had spent the afternoon on the ice with Akim Soushiloff and
Petroff Stepanoff. He found them pleasant young men. He was, they told
him, the first Englishman they had met, and asked many questions about
his country. He met them several times afterwards, and one day they
asked him if he would come up to their room.
"It is a poor place," one said laughing. "But you know most of us
students are poor, and have to live as best we can."
"It makes no odds to me," Godfrey said. "It was a pretty bare place I
had when I was at school. I shall be very glad to come up."
The room which the students shared was a large one, at the top of a
house in a narrow street. It was simply furnished enough, containing but
two beds, a deal table, four chairs, and the indispensable stove, which
kept the room warm and comfortable.
"We are in funds just at present," Akim said. "Petroff has had a
remittance, and so you find the stove well alight, which is not always
the case."
"But how do you manage to exist without a fire?"
"We don't trouble the room much then," Petroff said. "We walk about
till we are dead tired out, and then come up and sleep in one bed
together for warmth, and heap all the coverings from the other bed over
us. Oh, we get on very well! Food is cheap here if you know where to get
it; fuel costs more than food. Now which will you take, tea or vodka?"
Godfrey declared for tea. Some of the water from a great pot standing on
the top of the stove was poured into the samovar. Some glowing embers
were taken from the stove and placed in the urn, and in a few minutes
the water was boiling, and three tumblers of tea with a slice of lemon
floating on the top were soon steaming on the table. The conversation
first turned upon university life in Russia, and then Petroff began to
ask questions about English schools and universities, and then the
subject changed to English institutions in general.
"What a different life to ours!" Akim said. "And the peasants, are they
comfortable?"
"Well, their lives are pretty hard ones," Godfrey acknowledged. "They
have to work hard and for long hours, and the pay is poor. But then, on
the other hand, they generally have their cottages at a very low rent,
with a good bit of garden and a few fruit trees. They earn a little
extra money at harvest time, and though their pay is smaller, I think on
the whole they are better off and happier than many of the working
people in the towns."
"And they are free to go where they like?"
"Certainly they are free, but as a rule they don't move about much."
"Then if they have a bad master they can leave him and go to someone
else?"
"Oh, yes! They would go to some other farmer in the neighbourhood. But
there are seldom what you may call bad masters. The wages are always
about the same through a district, and the hours of work, and so on; so
that one master can't be much better or worse than another, except in
point of temper; and if a man were very bad tempered of course the men
would leave him and work somewhere else, so he would be the loser, as he
would soon only get the very worst hands in the neighbourhood to work
for him."
"And they are not beaten?"
"Beaten! I should think not," Godfrey said. "Nobody is beaten with us,
though I think it would be a capital thing if, instead of shutting up
people in prison for small crimes, they had a good flogging. It would do
them a deal more good, and it would be better for their wives and
families, who have to get on as best they can while they are shut up."
"And nobody is beaten at all?"
"No; there used to be flogging in the army and navy, but it was very
rare, and is now abolished."
"And not even a lord can flog his peasants?"
"Certainly not. If a lord struck a peasant the peasant would certainly
hit him back again, and if he didn't feel strong enough to do that he
would have him up before the magistrates and he would get fined pretty
heavily."
"And how do they punish political prisoners?"
"There are no political prisoners. As long as a man keeps quiet and
doesn't get up a row, he may have any opinions he likes; he may argue in
favour of a republic, or he may be a socialist or anything he pleases;
but, of course, if he tried to kick up a row, attack the police, or made
a riot or anything of that sort he would be punished for breaking the
law, but that would have nothing to do with his politics."
The two young men looked in surprise at each other.
"But if they printed a paper and attacked the government?" Akim asked.
"Oh, they do that! there are as many papers pitch into the government as
there are in favour of the government; parties are pretty equally
divided, you see, and the party that is out always abuses the party
which is in power."
"And even that is lawful?"
"Certainly it is. You can abuse the government as much as you like, say
that the ministers are a parcel of incompetent fools, and so on; but, of
course, you cannot attack them as to their private life and character
any more than you can anyone else, because then you would render
yourself liable to an action for libel."
"And you can travel where you like, in the country and out of the
country, without official permits or passports?"
"Yes, there is nothing like that known in England. Every man can go
where he likes, and live where he likes, and do anything he likes,
providing that it does not interfere with the rights of other people."
"Ah! shall we ever come to this in Russia, Akim?" Petroff said.
Akim made no answer, but Godfrey replied for him. "No doubt you will in
time, Petroff; but you see liberties like these do not grow up in a day.
We had serfs and vassals in England at one time, and feudal barons who
could do pretty much what they chose, and it was only in the course of
centuries that these things got done away with." At this moment there
was a knock at the door.
"It is Katia," Akim said, jumping up from his seat and opening the door.
A young woman entered. She was pleasant and intelligent looking. "Katia,
this is an English gentleman, a friend of ours, who has been telling us
about his country. Godfrey, this is my cousin Katia; she teaches music
in the houses of many people of good family."
"I did not expect to find visitors here," the girl said smiling. "And
how do you like our winter? it is a good deal colder than you are
accustomed to."
"It is a great deal more pleasant," Godfrey said: "I call it glorious
weather. It is infinitely better than alternate rains and winds, with
just enough frost occasionally to make you think you are going to do
some skating, and then a thaw."
"You are extravagant," the girl said, looking round; "it is a long time
since I have felt the room as warm as this. I suppose Petroff has got
his allowance?"
"Yes, and a grumbling letter. My father has a vague idea that in some
way or other I ought to pick up my living, though he never offers a
suggestion as to how I should do it."
The young woman went to the cupboard, fetched another tumbler and poured
herself out some tea, and then chatted gaily about St. Petersburg, her
pupils, and their parents.
"Do you live at the house of one of your pupils?" Godfrey asked.
"Oh no!" she said. "I don't mind work, but I like to be free when work
is over. I board in an honest family, and live in a little room at the
top of the house which is all my own and where I can see my friends."
After chatting for some time longer Godfrey took his leave. As soon as
he had gone the girl's manner changed.
"Do you think you are wise to have him here, Akim?"
"Why not?" the student asked in turn. "He is frank and agreeable, he is
respectable, and even you will allow that it would be safer walking with
him than some we know; we do not talk politics with him."
"For all that I am sorry, Akim. You know how it will be; we shall get
him into trouble. It is our fate; we have a great end in view; we risk
our own lives, and although for the good of the cause we must not
hesitate even if others suffer, I do hate with all my heart that others
should be involved in our fortunes."
"This is not like you, Katia," Petroff said. "I have heard you say your
maxim is 'At any cost,' and you have certainly lived up to it."
"Yes, and I shall live up to it," she said firmly; "but it hurts
sometimes, Petroff; it hurt me just now when I thought that that lad
laughing and chatting with us had no idea that he had better have thrust
his hand into that stove than have given it to us. I do not shrink; I
should use him as I should use anyone else, as an instrument if it were
needful, but don't suppose that I like it."
"I don't think there is any fear of our doing him harm," Akim said; "he
is English, and would find no difficulty in showing that he knew nothing
of us save as casual acquaintances; they might send him out of the
country, but that would be all."
"It would all depend," she said, "upon how he fell into their hands. If
you happened to be arrested only as you were walking with him down the
Nevski Prospekt he would be questioned, of course, but as soon as they
learned who he was and that he had nothing to do with you, they would
let him go. But if he were with us, say here, when we were pounced upon,
and you had no time to pull the trigger of the pistol pointing into that
keg of powder in the cupboard, he would be hurried away with us to one
of the fortresses, and the chances are that not a soul would ever know
what had become of him. Still it cannot be helped now; he may be useful,
and as we give our own lives, so we must not shrink from giving others'.
But this is not what I came here to talk to you about; have you heard of
the arrest of Michaelovich?"
"No," they both exclaimed, leaping from their seats.
"It happened at three o'clock this morning," Katia said. "They
surrounded the house and broke in suddenly, and rushed down into the
cellar and found him at work. He shot two of them, and then he was
beaten down and badly wounded."
"Where were the other two?" Akim asked.
"He sent them away but an hour before, but he went on working himself to
complete the number of hand-bills. Of course he was betrayed. I don't
think there are six people who knew where the press was; even I didn't
know."
"Where did you hear of it, Katia?"
"Feodorina Samuloff told me; you know she often helps Michaelovich to
work at the press; she thinks it must have been either Louka or Gasin.
Why should Michaelovich have sent them away when he hadn't finished work
if one or the other of them had not made some excuse so as to get out
of the way before the police came? But that is nothing, there will be
time to find out which is the traitor; they know nothing, either of
them, except that they worked at the secret press with him; they were
never much trusted. But Michaelovich is a terrible loss, he was always
daring and full of expedients."
"They will get nothing from him," Petroff said.
"Not they," she agreed. "When do they ever get anything out of us? One
of the outer-circle fellows like Louka and Gasin, who know nothing, who
are instruments and nothing more, may tell all they know for gold, or
for fear of the knout, but never once have they learned anything from
one who knows. Fortunately the press was a very old one and there was
but little type there, only just enough for printing small hand-bills;
we have two others ready to set up."
"Were there any papers there?"
"No, Michaelovich was too careful for that."
"I hear that old Libka died in prison yesterday," Akim said.
"He is released from his suffering," Katia said solemnly. "Anything
else, Akim?"
"Yes, a batch of prisoners start for Siberia to-morrow, and there are
ten of us among them."
"Well, be careful for the next few days, Akim," Katia said; "don't do
anything in the schools, it will not be long now before all is ready to
strike a blow, and it is not worth while to risk anything until after
that. I have orders that we are all to keep perfectly quiet till the
plans are settled and we each get our instructions. Now I must go, I
have two lessons to give this afternoon. It tries one a little to be
talking to children about quavers and semiquavers when one's head is
full of great plans, and you know that at any moment a policeman may tap
you on the shoulder and take you off to the dungeons of St. Nicholas,
from which one will never return unless one is carried out, or is sent
to Siberia, which would be worse. Be careful; the police have certainly
got scent of something, they are very active at present;" and with a nod
she turned and left the room.
"She is a brave girl," Akim said. "I think the women make better
conspirators than we do, Petroff. Look at her. She was a little serious
to-day because of Michaelovich, but generally she is in high spirits,
and no one would dream that she thought of anything but her pupils and
pleasure. Then there is Feodorina Samuloff. She works all day, I
believe, in a laundry, and she looks as impassive as if she had been
carved out of soap. Yet she is ready to go on working all night if
required, and if she had orders she would walk into the Winter Palace
and throw down a bomb (that would kill her as well as everyone else
within its reach) with as much coolness as if she was merely delivering
a message."