The Shadow of the Czar Part 52

"True; but we'll post through first, and if we find no trace of them in the road beyond, I'll draw a cordon round the wood through which they shall not be able to break."

"Marshal, did you see the face of him who fired?" asked Nikita.

"Not clearly."

"Russakoff the spy, or may I turn Muscovite."

"The red-bearded fellow was not tall enough for Russakoff," answered Paul. "In fact both men struck me as being remarkably short of stature."

"My eyes have not erred."

"Have it so, then," replied Paul, as he stumbled onward. "Let us but lay hands upon the villains, and we shall soon ascertain whether you be right."

A run of a few minutes' duration brought them through the wood to the highway beyond. A quick glance to the right threw Zabern into a paroxysm of rage.

Far off on the white dusty road which stretched onward in a straight line, till it seemed to touch the horizon, three black objects were visible, each moment dwindling in size.

"The villains have escaped us," cried Zabern. "They had horses tethered here with a third man to watch them. See! here are their hoof-marks in the clay. They'll be over the frontier within ten minutes. I warrant they are well provided with Russian pa.s.sports."

The trio hurried back for horses, but, by the time they had pa.s.sed them through the wood, the pursuit had become a jest.

Night had fallen over Slavowitz.

Excitement was prevailing both within and without the Diet.

Beneath a glorious starlit sky in the great Zapolyska Square, which fronted the broad and stately flight of steps leading up to the entrance of the Sobieskium or Diet-house, now ablaze with light, was a vast concourse of people, awaiting the stroke of twelve; for at midnight the vote was to be taken on the Secular Appropriation Bill--a measure which had been fiercely debated night after night during the course of five weeks.

Poles, Muscovites, and Jews formed the bulk of this throng, but there was a considerable sprinkling of other elements. Tartars, Cossacks, Hungarians, Roumanians, Servians--representatives of all the motley nationalities of Eastern Europe, elbowed and jostled each other, talking, singing and cursing in a very Babel of tongues.

Diverse, however, as was the crowd, it fell politically into two sharp divisions, the one eager for the pa.s.sing of the bill, the other eager for its defeat. There was no neutral party in that square.

So high did the spirit of faction run that Zabern's landau on its appearance was overturned by a body of malevolent Muscovites, and the marshal was compelled to lay about him with his sabre till the military came to his rescue.

The indignant Poles retaliated a few minutes later by making an onset upon Lipski, and that deputy escaped only after a severe mauling.

The game once begun was continued by both factions, so that it became almost impossible for the succeeding deputies to reach the Sobieskium, except under police or military escort, or unless attended by a strong circle of their own adherents.

Cheers were given by the hostile sections as their respective favorites were seen safely mounting the steps of the Diet-house beneath the brilliant light of the suspended lamps; the singing of the Polish and the Russian Anthems went on simultaneously all over the square; there were ugly rushes, displays of fisticuffs, scenes of wild disorder, that continued to deepen as the night advanced and the throng increased.

Dorislas, who commanded the mounted cuira.s.siers drawn up four deep all round the Sobieskium, was obliged to accord the crowd considerable license, lest a too frequent interference on the part of the military should lead to worse mischief.

The tumult and din that filled the Zapolyska Square penetrated the Sobieskium to the distant chamber where the Sejm or Diet sat, the Ministerialists or Poles to the right, the Opposition or Muscovites to the left of the dais, where was the chair, table, and bell of the President Brunowski, he who had been one of Paul's opponents in the _salle d'armes_.

The presidential bell was in constant requisition on this particular night, for the debate had taken an extremely acrimonious turn. The temper of many of the deputies had not been sweetened by the treatment they had received at the hands of the populace.

Lipski boldly accused the ministers of hiring ruffians whose orders were to stop certain members of the Opposition from reaching the Diet-house and thus to prevent them from recording their votes.

Zabern, pointing to his own frayed uniform and to the ugly scratches on his face, replied that though it would be easy to retort with a "_Tu quoque_" he would refrain; that the charge was absurd, for the mob had bestowed their favors impartially upon both sides of the House.

The Duke of Bora sat in the chamber, for though no longer of cabinet rank he was still a member of the Diet, and he gave clear indication of the way in which he intended to vote by vacating his usual seat and taking a place next Lipski himself.

Lesko Lipski, deputy for Russograd, editor of the "Kolokol," an anti-dynastic newspaper, leader of the Opposition, and author of the Secular Appropriation Bill, was, as regards appearance, the very ant.i.thesis of the typical Russ. He was slim and beardless, and dressed in the latest Parisian fashion, though his costume at that moment, owing to the playfulness of the mob without, was not quite the same as when it had first left the tailor's hands. He had black beady eyes, and his habit of constantly questioning ministers upon every topic under the sun seemed to have permanently impressed his face with an eager, hungry look.

There was in the air of the chamber that nervous feeling of expectancy which always arises when the issue of a contest is problematical. On the previous evening every member of the Diet, Pole and Muscovite alike, had departed with full conviction that the Appropriation Bill would pa.s.s.

The attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the princess had given a different turn to the matter by creating a feeling of sympathy for her, a feeling which was likewise extended to her political views. To secure the triumph of a measure known to be hateful to the young princess in the first hours of her joy at escaping the a.s.sa.s.sin's bullet seemed an unchivalrous proceeding; and those of the Poles who had hitherto regarded the bill with favor now began to reconsider their att.i.tude.

The attempt on the princess's life, deplorable from one standpoint, was from another decidedly advantageous, and the ministry were hopeful that they would capture from the Opposition the minimum six votes necessary to secure the rejection of Lipski's measure.

Half-an-hour before midnight Zabern rose to wind up the debate for the ministerial side.

His rising was the signal for a hostile ebullition from the Muscovite members who dreaded Zabern's oratory. Not that the marshal was particularly eloquent; far from it. He had all a soldier's contempt for speech-making and for the "men of words," as he was wont to term the Czernovese deputies; a military dictatorship was more to his liking than a democratic legislature. Hence his voice was rarely heard in the chamber, but when he did speak it was always to the point, and his plain, blunt way of putting matters had often decided wavering voters, and at that moment there were a good many wavering voters.

At first Zabern was unable to obtain a hearing. Every time he attempted to speak, his words were drowned in a terrible din, occasioned by the clamor of voices, the stamping of feet, and the banging of desk-lids. Though the Duke of Bora did not join in yet, as he made no attempt to check the tumult, Zabern strongly suspected him of being its secret instigator.

For fully two minutes President Brunowski continued to swing his bell, but without producing any effect upon the Opposition, whose intention was plainly to continue the uproar till midnight, in order to prevent Zabern from addressing the a.s.sembly.

Brunowski whispered a few words in the ear of an attendant, who left the chamber and returned almost immediately with a file of gendarmes.

In the sudden stillness that followed upon their entrance, Brunowski sternly announced his intention of suspending both from the sitting and from the voting all future disturbers of order, a threat which effectually silenced the Muscovite clamorers, who felt that in the present conjuncture they could not afford to lose a single vote.

The marshal, being free to speak, began by affirming the obligation imposed upon him of making some comment upon the recent attempt to a.s.sa.s.sinate the princess.

At this statement Lipski rose.

"Mr. President, I must protest. The marshal is not in order. He is evading the subject of the debate, which is the Secular Appropriation Bill."

"The marshal will doubtless show the relevancy of his remarks to the matter under discussion," returned Brunowski. As President of the a.s.sembly he tried to be impartial, but he could not always forget that he was a Pole.

"The House will understand presently," continued Zabern, "why the honorable deputy wishes the name of the princess to be kept out of the question. Who is responsible for this day's outrage? Not the wretched dupe, who, happily for Czernova, missed his mark. No! as well blame the bullet, or punish the pistol. Sir," continued Zabern, addressing the President, "the real authors of the act are the persons who by their words and writings have labored to create in Czernova a spirit of hostility to its legitimate ruler. And of those persons," thundered the marshal, looking round upon the a.s.sembly, "the deputy for Russograd is the chief."

Lipski was on his feet again in an instant.

"Mr. President, must I sit and hear a.s.sa.s.sination imputed to me without raising my voice in protest?"

"Certainly not. The marshal must withdraw the charge, or prove it."

"The proof is forthcoming. The two miserable wretches who fired at the princess were seen before the deed seated at the wayside, and strengthening their wicked determination by reading from a certain newspaper. I already see the editor of that journal beginning to look uneasy, for the name of the journal is the 'Kolokol,' and its editor is one Lesko Lipski. The would-be a.s.sa.s.sins were diligent students of the 'Kolokol;' they evidently regarded its editor as a great political teacher."

"How do you know?" inquired the voice of the duke.

"Well, I judge from this circ.u.mstance," answered Zabern, producing a dirty copy of the 'Kolokol' and unfolding it. "Here is the identical paper dropped by the two men in their flight. It contains an article ent.i.tled, 'Harmodius the Patriot;' and on the margin of this article pencil-notes have been scrawled, such as 'Good!' 'True!' 'This seems reasonable,' and the like; nay, more, we have here in badly spelled Russian this sentiment: 'Death to the girl-tyrant!'"

At this point Zabern held up the journal for the inspection of the a.s.sembly.

"Now I need scarcely remind the House that Harmodius was a man of ancient days, who a.s.sa.s.sinated the ruler of Athens, and was in consequence honored as a splendid patriot by his fellow-citizens. Why does the editor of a journal, supposedly devoted to current politics and affairs of to-day, publish an article on an event that happened twenty-three centuries ago? Simply because he wishes to inculcate the doctrine, that, as it was a fine piece of patriotism to a.s.sa.s.sinate the ruler of ancient Athens, so would it be an equally fine piece of patriotism to a.s.sa.s.sinate the ruler of modern Czernova."