"Then you must all of you return here by different ways, very privately. You must on no account be seen. You had better be waylaid on the farther side of the village, that all may see you pass through. But you must, of course, not go through it on your way back here. I will make arrangements to admit you and your man by the little postern door in the grounds which opens upon the forest. And you must remain here in hiding until Cravatz is secured. The only thing against the plan is that I must give my good Vronsky a severe fright. For it is most important that he should be as surprised as anybody by your disappearance. What do you say? You and I know enough of these secret societies to feel sure that their threats are not empty. If we can put our hands upon Cravatz at once, you can be released in a few days. But we are not sure of doing so. And as long as he is at large, so long will he manage some kind of communication with his man, Streloff. I could, of course, merely detain you here, without going to the risk and trouble of a feigned abduction. But this would show Streloff that you and I understand each other. They would know that we are on the alert, and they would take measures accordingly. By my plan, Streloff will be puzzled. He will see that Vronsky is not in the secret of your disappearance; and I can think of a way of getting you off afterwards to Gretz in such a manner that nobody shall know where you come from, or where you have been."
Felix nodded his head slowly two or three times. "It is a clever plan," he said, "but I fail to see in what respect it seems as though you did not trust me."
"Silly fellow, I shall have you under lock and key," said the Governor, with a smile. "And if so minded, I can keep you there, can I not? And nobody will know that you are there—will they? So that if we want to feel extra secure, Nadia and I—to sleep the sounder in our beds—we might send and have you murdered in yours—might we not?"
Felix smiled. He also bowed. "If the plan looks as if you did not trust me, it will also show whether or no I trust your Excellency," he said gallantly.
"Ah, well said! Well said!" cried Nadia, clasping her hands together in admiration. "Papa, you and Mr. Vanston are two! Two of a kind, I mean! Two men, each honorable enough to understand the other!"
"You think so?" said the Governor, laying his hand fondly a moment upon the dark hair. "Then take this young man away with you and play tennis diligently with him, that all may see we are upon just our usual terms. Until the time comes!"
CHAPTER XVIII
THE KIRGIZ YOURTAR
—I found it a terrible thing. These villains set on me, and I beginning to resist, they gave but a call, and in came their master. I would, as the saying is, have given my life for a penny: but that, as God would have it, I was clothed with armor of proof.—JOHN BUNYAN.
In the northern parts of Siberia, in summer time, it seems as if the night would never come. At midsummer, it is almost true to say that there is no night—nothing but a veil of sapphire twilight, which lasts three or four hours. It was a month past midsummer when Felix drove to play tennis and dine at the Governor's house; but even then the dark was long in coming, and Vronsky did not expect his darling home until midnight. There was no moon that night; but the sky was cloudless, and the North burnt as if with the glow of a furnace hidden just below the horizon.