"But it is a fact, nevertheless."
"I am sorry to know that. But I am a stranger here."
"I observe that you are not a Russian."
"No, I am an American just discharged from Siberia."
"Siberia!" exclaimed the man, starting.
"Yes; I agreed to deliver a letter, of which I knew nothing, to Prince Mastowix, from Paul Zobriskie, of New York."
"Paul Zobriskie?"
"Yes. He accosted me on the steamer as I was about to sail and asked me to deliver the letter, which I did, and fearing probably that because I was not a Nihilist that I might betray him, he had me arrested and sent to Siberia, where I suffered the tortures of the damned for more than a year, until chance took me here again, as the valet of a surgeon on leave of absence, when I managed to escape long enough to reach the American minister, who quickly secured my liberation, together with an official apology and indemnity."
"You astonish me, sir."
"But I am telling you too much, perhaps."