The girl from nowhere

by Mrs. Baillie Reynolds

He paused, his head sinking upon his chest. Nobody spoke. The face of Nadia had turned from crimson to chalk-white.

"My only brother," went on Felix, "disowned me. It is not to be wondered at. But what was to become of me? When I came back to the world, my prison record stood between me and every effort I made to earn a living. I was pretty well in despair when Vronsky found me, and by God's goodness, conceived an affection for me. He brought me out of England, and for a time it seemed as if the Brotherhood, who dogged my steps, had been thrown off the scent. But this man, Cravatz, was determined to track me down. He had a grudge against me, for I had exposed a slight piece of dishonesty of which he had been guilty. He found out where I was, and came to me secretly, bearing the order from the Brotherhood for your removal. I was the man selected for the business."

Nadia had sprung to her feet. She rushed to her father, flung her arms about his neck, and sank to the ground beside him. Felix waited a moment, but as nobody spoke he went on:

"When first I saw myself again in their toils, I felt I would struggle no more. I made up my mind that only death awaited me. But Vronsky's courage and faithfulness never wavered. He made a careful examination of the paper, the order which Cravatz had handed me; and he discovered, with infinite pains and the use of a microscope, that the name of the person ordered to murder you had been changed. There is a law in the Brotherhood that any brother who has been exposed to conspicuous danger, and has in consequence suffered imprisonment or other punishment for the cause, shall not again be called upon to do dangerous work for a period of seven years, except in very exceptional cases. This made Vronsky doubt whether the Council would have sanctioned my being appointed to a mission which meant almost certain death. He became convinced that it was Cravatz himself who had been appointed by the Council to execute their command, and that he was using me as his tool, intending to take the credit of your assassination to himself afterwards. He determined that Cravatz should be handed over to justice. The matter has taken him long, but all is now complete. Within the last few months Cravatz has committed murder of a peculiarly cold-blooded kind in this very province. But one more thing remains to be said. In some way unknown to us, Cravatz seems to have been informed that Vronsky was making plans against him. He is on his guard. If you wish to lay hands upon him, you must act speedily, and in the manner he is least likely to expect. We believe him to be at Gretz, or somewhere on the road between that and here, as we think it unlikely that he will venture into this neighborhood until the time for the execution of your sentence draws nearer."

The Governor looked up. "How long do they give me?" he asked, with a smile.

"Until the 31st of August, your Excellency."

Nadia, who had been clinging to her father with her face hidden, now raised it and shot a glance at Felix. "Why did you not, when you came out of prison, fling off all connection with such fiends?" she cried, in a passion of protest.

"Mademoiselle, you might as well ask the son of a drunkard why he does not fling off all connection with such a father. The answer simply is that it is not in my power to free myself. They bound me by an oath, and they hold me to it. I repudiate it, but what matters that if they do not?"

"If Cravatz wants to get rid of you it is a cleverly devised trap," said the Governor, thoughtfully.

"It is a cleverly devised trap, for I die either way. Cravatz argues that I, seeing death is before me in any case, shall choose rather to take the extreme risk and kill you, thereby earning for myself some glory among the miscreants who call themselves friends of liberty, than to be secretly made away with as a traitor by them. But even were I to commit this incredible baseness, as he expects, he would take to himself the credit of your murder, since hardly anybody but himself knows that I am here at all. He would have the glory of achieving your death, and would get this glory without risk to himself. It was worth trying for." He paused a minute—a long minute. Then he took up his hat.