"But he was somehow caught in his own trap and afterwards executed, though not until he had sent me here, fearing, probably, that I knew the contents of the fatal letter."
"Good!"
"And what brings you here?" he asked.
"I am a Nihilist, and was betrayed with others by that same Mastowix, who claimed to be one of us, and here I am for life," she added.
"What a shame. The conduct of Russian tyrants produces the very enemies they try to exterminate."
"Yes, and we shall never get away from this frozen world until the Nihilists have their heels upon the tyrants' necks.
"It would seem so. But I am going to St. Petersburg to-morrow."
"To St. Petersburg?" she asked, eagerly.
"Yes. Dr. Kanoffskie is going on a leave of absence, and I am going with him as his valet."
"To dear old St. Petersburg! Oh, how I wish I could see it once more! Stay, will you take a letter to my brother there?"