CHAPTER III
A HUNTING PARTY.
Two days later Robson, an English merchant who had been one of the mostintimate of Godfrey's acquaintances, and to whom he had confided thetruth about his arrest, said to him:
"You are not looking quite yourself, lad."
"Oh, I am all right!" he said; "but it is not a pleasant thing havinghad such a close shave of being sent to Siberia; and it isn't only that.No doubt the police feel that they owe me a grudge for having been themeans of this fellow, whoever he was, slipping through their fingers,and I shall be a suspected person for a long time. Of course it is onlyfancy, but I am always thinking there is some one following me when I goout. I know it is nonsense, but I can't get rid of it."
"I don't suppose they are watching you as closely as that," Mr. Robsonsaid, "but I do think it is likely that they may be keeping an eye onyou; but if they are they will be tired of it before long, when they seethat you go your own way and have nothing to do with any suspectedpersons. You want a change, lad. I have an invitation to join a partywho are going up to Finland to shoot for a couple of days. It is morelikely than not that we shall never have a chance of firing a shot, butit will be an outing for you, and will clear your brain. Do you thinkyou would like it?"
"Thank you very much, Mr. Robson, I should like it immensely. Petrovytchwas saying this morning that he thought I should be all the better for aholiday, so I am sure he will spare me. I am nothing of a shot, in factI never fired a shot at game in my life, though I have practised a bitwith the rifle, but I am sure it will be very jolly whether we shootanything or not."
"Very well, then, be at the station to catch the seven o'clock train inthe morning. It is a four hours' railway journey."
"Is there anything to bring, sir?"
"No, you can take a hand-bag and sleeping things, but beyond a bit ofsoap and a towel I don't suppose you will have need of anything, for youwill most likely sleep at some farm-house, or perhaps in a woodman'shut, and there will not be any undressing. There are six of us goingfrom here, counting you, but the party is got up by two or three men weknow there. They tell me some of the officers of the regiment stationedthere will be of the party, and they will have a hundred or so of theirmen to act as beaters. I have a spare gun that I will bring for you."
The next morning Godfrey joined Mr. Robson at the station. A Mr. White,whom he knew well, was one of the party, and the other three wereRussians. They had secured a first-class compartment, and as soon asthey started they rigged up a table with one of the cushions and beganto play whist.
"You don't play, I suppose, Godfrey?" Mr. Robson said.
"No, sir. I have played a little at my father's, but it will be a longtime before I shall be good enough to play. I have heard my father saythat there is better whist at St. Petersburg than in any place in theworld."
"I think he is right, lad. The Russians are first-rate players and arepassionately fond of the game, and naturally we English here have had tolearn to play up to their standard. The game is similar to that inEngland, but they score altogether differently."
The four hours passed rapidly. Godfrey sometimes looked out of thewindow at the flat country they were passing through, but more oftenwatched the play. They were met at the station by two of Mr. Robson'sfriends, and found that sledges were in readiness and they were to startat once.
"We have ten miles to drive," one of them said. "The others went onearly; they will have had one beat by the time we get there, and arethen to assemble for luncheon."
The road was good and the horses fast, so that the sledges flew alongrapidly. Most of the distance was through forest, but the last half-milewas open, and the sledge drew up at a large farm-house standing in thecentre of the cleared space, and surrounded at a distance of half a mileon all sides by the forest. A dozen men, about half of whom were inuniform, poured out from the door as the four sledges drew up.
"You are just in time," one of them said. "The soup is ready and inanother minute we should have set to."
The civilians all knew each other, but the new-comers were introduced tothe Russian colonel and his five officers.
"Have you had any luck, colonel?" Mr. Robson asked.
"Wonderful," the latter replied with a laugh. "A stag came along andevery one of us had a shot at it, and each and every one is ready totake oath that he hit it, so that every one is satisfied. Don't you callthat luck?"
Mr. Robson laughed. "But where is the stag?" he asked, looking round.
"That is more than any one can tell you. He went straight on, andcarried off our twelve bullets. Captain Fomitch here, and in fact all myofficers, are ready to swear that the deer is enchanted, and they haveall been crossing themselves against the evil omen. Such a thing wasnever heard of before, for being such crack shots, all of us, of coursethere can be no doubt about our each having hit the stag when it was notmore than a hundred yards away at the outside; but come in, the soupsmells too good to wait, and the sight of that enchanted beast hassharpened my appetite wonderfully."
Godfrey entered with the rest. Large as the farm-house was, the greaterportion of the ground-floor was occupied by the room they entered. Itwas entirely constructed of wood blackened with smoke and age. A greatfire burned on the hearth, and the farmer's wife and two maids wereoccupied with several large pots, some suspended over the fire, othersstanding among the brands. The window was low, but extended half acrossone side of the room, and was filled with small lattice panes. From theroof hung hams, sides of bacon, potatoes in network bags, bunches ofherbs, and several joints of meat. A table extended the length of theroom covered with plates and dishes that from their appearance hadevidently been brought out from the town, and differed widely from therough earthenware standing on a great dresser of darkened wood extendingdown one side of the room. At one end the great pot was placed, thecloth having been pushed back for the purpose, and the colonel, seizingthe ladle, began to fill the earthenware bowls which were used insteadof soup plates.
"Each man come for his ration before he sits down," he said. "It wouldbe better if you did not sit down at all, for I know well enough thatwhen my countrymen sit down to a meal it is a long time before they getup again, and we have to be in the forest again in three-quarters of anhour."
"Quite right, colonel," one of the hosts said; "this evening you may sitas long as you like, but if we are to have another drive to-day we mustwaste no time. A basin of soup and a plate of stew are all you will getnow, with a cup of coffee afterwards to arm you against the cold, and aglass of vodka or kuemmil to top up with. No, colonel, not any punch justnow. Punch in the evening; but if we were to begin with that now, I knowthat there would be no shooting this afternoon."
"What are the beaters doing?" Mr. Robson asked as they hastily ate theirdinner.
"They have brought their bread with them," the colonel said, "and ourfriends here have provided a deer almost as fine as that which carriedoff the twelve bullets. It was roasting over a fire in the forest whenwe went past, and I saw some black bottles which I guessed were vodka."
"Yes, colonel, I ordered that they should have a glass each with theirdinner, and another glass when they had done this afternoon."
"They would not mind being on fatigue duty every day through the winteron those terms," the colonel said. "It is better for them thansoldiering. We must mind that we don't shoot any of them, gentlemen. Thelives of the Czar's soldiers are not to be lightly sacrificed, and nexttime, you know, the whole of the bullets may not hit the mark as theydid this morning."
"There really is some danger in it," Mr. Robson said to Godfrey, who wassitting next to him; "in fact, I should say there was a good deal ofdanger. However, I fancy the beaters all throw themselves down flat whenthey hear the crack of the first rifle."
"I see most of them have got a gun as well as a rifle."
"Yes, there is no saying what may come along, and, indeed, they are morelikely to get birds than fur. I was told there are a good many elk inthe forest, and t
he peasants have been bringing an unusual number inlately. A friend of mine shot two last week; but as our party did notget one in their first drive they are not likely to get any afterwards.Occasionally in these big drives a good many animals are inclosed, butas a rule the noise the soldiers make as they move along to take uptheir places is enough to frighten every creature within a couple ofmiles. I told you you were not likely to have to draw a trigger.Expeditions like this are rather an excuse for a couple of days' funthan anything else. The real hunting is more quiet. Men who are fond ofit have peasants in their pay all over the country, and if one of thesehears of a bear or an elk anywhere in his neighbourhood he brings in thenews at once, and then one or two men drive out to the village, wherebeaters will be in readiness for them, and have the hunt to themselves.
"I used to do a good deal of it the first few years I came out, but itis bitter cold work waiting for hours till a beast comes past, or tryingto crawl up to him. After all, there is no great fun in putting a bulletinto a creature as big as a horse at a distance of thirty or fortyyards. But there, they are making a move. They are going to drink thecoffee and vodka standing, which is wise, for after standing in the snowfor four hours, as they have been doing, they are apt to get so sleepyafter a warm meal that if we were to stop here much longer you wouldfind half the number would not make a start at all."
The sledges were brought up, and there was a three miles drive throughthe forest. Then the shooters were placed in a line, some forty or fiftyyards apart, each taking his station behind a tree. Then a small buglersounded a note. Godfrey heard a reply a long distance off.Three-quarters of an hour passed without any further sound being heard,and then Godfrey, who had been stamping his feet and swinging his armsto keep himself warm, heard a confused murmur. Looking along the line hesaw that the others were all on the alert, and he accordingly took uphis gun and began to gaze across the snow. The right-hand barrel wasloaded with shot, the left with ball. Presently a shot rang out away onhis right, followed almost immediately afterwards by another. Afterthis evidence that there must be something in the forest he watched moreeagerly for signs of life. Presently he saw a hare coming loping along.From time to time it stopped and turned its head to listen, and thencame on again. He soon saw that it was bearing to the left, and that itwas not going to come within his range. He watched it disappear amongthe trees, and two minutes later heard a shot. Others followed to theright and left of him, and presently a hare, which he had not noticed,dashed past at full speed, almost touching his legs. He was so startledfor the moment that the hare had got some distance before he had turnedround and was ready to fire, and he was in no way surprised to see itdash on unharmed by his shot. When there was a pause in the firing theshouting recommenced, this time not far distant, and he soon saw menmaking their way towards him through the trees.
"It is all over now," Mr. Robson shouted from the next tree. "If theyhave not done better elsewhere than we have here the bag is not a verylarge one."
"Did you shoot anything, Mr. Robson?"
"I knocked a hare over; that is the only thing I have seen. What haveyou done?"
"I think I succeeded in frightening a hare, but that was all," Godfreylaughed. "It ran almost between my legs before I saw it, and I think itstartled me quite as much as my shot alarmed it."
The bugle sounded again, and the party were presently collected roundthe colonel. The result of the beat was five hares, and a small stagthat had fallen to the gun of Mr. White.
"Much cry and little wool," Mr. Robson said. "A hundred beaters, twentyguns, and six head of game."
Another short beat was organized, resulting in two stags and three morehares. One of the stags and the three hares were placed on a sledge tobe taken back to the farm-house, and the rest of the game was given tothe soldiers. A glass of vodka was served out to each of them, and,highly pleased with their day's work, the men slung the deer to polesand set out on their march of eight miles back to the town.
"They will have done a tremendous day's work by the time they havefinished," Godfrey said. "Eight miles out and eight miles back, andthree beats, which must have cost them four or five miles' walking atleast. They must have gone over thirty miles through the snow."
"It won't be as much as that, though it will be a long day's work," thecolonel said. "They came out yesterday evening and slept in a barn.Another company come out to-night to take their place."
It was already dark by the time the party reached the farm-house, andafter a cup of coffee all round they began to prepare the dinner. Theywere like a party of school-boys, laughing, joking, and playing trickswith each other. Two of them undertook the preparation of hare-soup. Twoothers were appointed to roast a quarter of venison, keeping it turningas it hung by a cord in front of the fire, and being told that should itburn from want of basting they would forfeit their share of it. Thecolonel undertook the mixing of punch, and the odour of lemons, rum, andother spirits soon mingled with that of the cooking. Godfrey was set towhip eggs for a gigantic omelette, and most of the others had some taskor other assigned to them, the farmer's wife and her assistants notbeing allowed to have anything to do with the matter.
The dinner was a great success. After it was over a huge bowl of punchwas placed on the table, and after the health of the Czar and that ofthe Queen of England had been drunk, speeches were made, songs weresung, and stories told. While this was going on, the farmer brought in adozen trusses of straw. These his wife and the maids opened anddistributed along both sides of the room, laying blankets over them. Itwas not long before Godfrey began to feel very drowsy, the result of theday's work in the cold, a good dinner, the heated air of the room andthe din, and would have gladly lain down; but his movement to leave thetable was at once frustrated, and he was condemned to drink an extratumbler of punch as a penalty. After that he had but a confused idea ofthe rest of the evening. He knew that many songs were sung, and thateveryone seemed talking together, and as at last he managed to get awayand lie down on the straw he had a vague idea that the colonel wasstanding on a chair making a final oration, with the punch-bowl turnedupside down and worn as a helmet.
Godfrey had not touched the wine at dinner, knowing that he would beexpected to take punch afterwards, and he had only sipped thisoccasionally, except the glass he had been condemned to drink; and whenhe heard the colonel shout in a stentorian voice "To arms!" he got upand shook himself, and felt ready for another day's work, although manyof the others were sitting up yawning or abusing the colonel for havingcalled them so early. However, it was already light. Two great samovarswere steaming, and the cups set in readiness on the table. Godfreymanaged to get hold of a pail of water and indulged in a good wash, asafter a few minutes did all the others; while a cup or two of tea and afew slices of fried bacon set up even those who were at first leastinclined to rise.
A quarter of an hour later the sledges were at the door, and the partystarted. The hunt was even less successful than that of the previousday. No stag was seen, but some ten hares and five brace of grouse wereshot. At three o'clock the party assembled again at the farm-house andhad another hearty meal, terminating with one glass of punch round; thenthey took their places in their sledges and were driven back to thetown; the party for St. Petersburg started by the six-o'clock train, therest giving them a hearty cheer as the carriage moved off from theplatform.
"Well, have you enjoyed it, Godfrey?" Mr. Robson asked.
"Immensely, sir. It has been grand fun. The colonel is a wonderfulfellow."
"There are no more pleasant companions than the Russians," Mr. Robsonsaid. "They more closely resemble the Irish than any people I know. Theyhave a wonderful fund of spirits, enjoy a practical joke, are fond ofsport, and have too a sympathetic, and one may almost say a melancholyvein in their disposition, just as the Irish have. They have theirfaults, of course--all of us have; and the virtue of temperance has notas yet made much way here. Society, in fact, is a good deal like that inEngland two or three generations back, when it was co
nsidered nodisgrace for a man to sit after dinner at the table until he had to behelped up to bed by the servants. Now, White, you have got the cards, Ithink."
Godfrey watched the game for a short time, then his eyes closed, and heknew nothing more until Mr. Robson shook him and shouted, "Pull yourselftogether, Godfrey. Here we are at St. Petersburg."
Three days later, when Ivan Petrovytch came in to breakfast at eleveno'clock--for the inmates of the house had a cup of coffee or chocolateand a roll in their rooms at half-past seven, and office work commencedan hour later--Godfrey saw that he and his wife were both looking verygrave. Nothing was said until the servant, having handed round thedishes, left the room.
"Has anything happened?" Godfrey asked.
"Yes, there is bad news. Another plot against the life of the Czar hasbeen discovered. The Nihilists have mined under the road by which he wasyesterday evening to have travelled to the railway-station. It seemsthat some suspicion was felt by the police. I do not know how it arose;at any rate at the last moment the route was changed. During the nightall the houses in the suspected neighbourhood were searched, and in thecellar of one of them a passage was found leading under the road. A minewas heavily charged with powder, and was connected by wires to anelectric battery; and there can be no doubt that had the Czar passed byas intended he would have been destroyed by the explosion. It isterrible, terrible!"
"Did they find any one in the cellar?" Godfrey asked.
"No one. The conspirators had no doubt taken the alarm when they heardthat the route was changed, and the place was deserted. It seems thatthe shop above was taken four months ago as a store for the sale of coaland wood, and the cellar and an adjoining one were hired at the sametime. There was also a room behind the shop, where the man and woman whokept it lived. They say that arrests have been made all over the citythis morning, and we shall no doubt have a renewal of the wholesaletrials that followed the assassination of General Mesentzeff, the headof the police, last autumn. It is terrible! These misguided men hope toconquer the empire by fear. Instead of that, they will in the end onlystrengthen the hands of despotism. I have always been inclined toliberalism, but I have wished for gradual changes only. For largechanges we are not yet fit; but as education spreads and we approach thewestern standard, some power and voice ought to be given to allintelligent enough to use it; that is to say, to the educated classes. Iwould not--no one in his senses would--give the power of voting toilliterate and ignorant men, who would simply be tools in the hands ofthe designing and ambitious; but the peoples of the great towns, St.Petersburg, Moskow, Kieff, Odessa, and others should be permitted tosend representatives--men of their own choice--to the provincialcouncils, which should be strengthened and given a real, instead of anominal, voice in the control of affairs.
"That was all I and thousands like me ever wished for in the present,but it would have been the first step towards a constitution which theempire, when the people become fit for it, might enjoy. That dream isover. These men, by their wild violence, have thrown back the reformsfor half a century at least. They have driven the Czar to war againstthem; they have strengthened the hands of the men who will use theiracts as an excuse for the extremest measures of repression; they haveranged on the other side all the moderate men like myself, who, thoughdesirous of constitutional changes, shrink with horror from a revolutionheralded by deeds of bloodshed and murder."
"I quite agree with you," Godfrey said warmly. "Men must be mad whocould counsel such abominable plans. The French Revolution was terrible,although it began peacefully, and was at first supported by all the bestspirits of France; but at last it became a hideous butchery. But here inRussia it seems to me that it would be infinitely worse, for it is onlyin the towns that there are men with any education; and if it began withthe murder of the Czar, what would it grow to?"
"What, indeed!" Ivan Petrovytch repeated. "And yet, like the FrenchRevolution, the pioneers of this movement were earnest and thoughtfulmen, with noble dreams for the regeneration of Russia."
"But how did it begin?"
"It may be said to have started about 1860. The emancipation of theserfs produced a sort of fever. Every one looked for change, but it wasin the universities, the seminaries, and among the younger professionalmen that it first began. Prohibited works of all kinds, especially thoseof European socialists, were, in spite of every precaution at thefrontier, introduced and widely circulated. Socialistic ideas madetremendous progress among the class I speak of, and these, by writing,by the circulation of prohibited papers, and so on, carried on a sort ofcrusade against the government, and indeed against all governments,carrying their ideas of liberty to the most extreme point and waging waragainst religion as well as against society.
"In the latter respect they were more successful than in the former,and I regret to say that atheism made immense strides among the educatedclass. They had some profound thinkers among them: Tchernyshevsky,Dobroluboff, Mikhailoff, besides Herzen and Ogareff, the two men whobrought out the _Kolokol_ in London in the Russian language, and bytheir agents spread it broadcast over Russia. The stifling of theinsurrection in Poland strengthened the reactionary party. Morerepressive edicts were issued, with the usual result, that secretsocieties multiplied everywhere. Then came the revolution and commune inParis, which greatly strengthened the spread of revolutionary ideashere. Another circumstance gave a fresh impetus to this. Some timebefore, there had been a movement for what was called the emancipationof women, and a perfect furore arose among girls of all classes foreducation.
"There were no upper schools or colleges open to them in Russia, andthey went in enormous numbers to Switzerland, especially to Zurich.Girls of the upper classes shared their means with the poorer ones, andthe latter eked out their resources by work of all descriptions. Zurich,as you know, is a hotbed of radicalism, and those young women who wentto learn soon imbibed the wildest ideas. Then came a ukase, ordering theimmediate return home of all Russian girls abroad. It was undoubtedly agreat mistake. In Switzerland they were harmless, but when they returnedto Russia and scattered over the towns and villages, they became so manyapostles of socialism, and undoubtedly strengthened the movement. So itgrew. Men of good families left their homes, and in the disguise ofworkmen expounded their principles among the lower classes. Among thesewas Prince Peter Krapotkine, the rich Cossack Obuchoff, Scisoko andRogaceff, both officers, and scores of others, who gave up everythingand worked as workmen among workmen.
"Innumerable arrests were made, and at one trial a thousand prisonerswere convicted. So wholesale were the arrests that even the mostenthusiastic saw that they were simply sacrificing themselves in vain,and about 1877 they changed their tactics. The prisons were crowded, andthe treatment there of the political prisoners was vastly harder thanthat given to those condemned for the most atrocious crimes, as you mayimagine when I tell you that in the course of the trial of that onebatch I spoke of, which lasted four years, seventy-five of the prisonerscommitted suicide, went mad, or died. Then when the authorities thoughtNihilism was stamped out by wholesale severity the matter assumedanother phase. The crusade by preaching had failed, and the Nihilistsbegan a crusade of terror. First police spies were killed in manyplaces, then more highly placed persons, officers of the police, judges,and officials who distinguished themselves by their activity andseverity. Then in the spring of last year Vera Zasulitch shot at GeneralTrepoff, who had ordered a political prisoner to be flogged. She wastried by a jury, and the feeling throughout the country was so much infavour of the people who had been so terribly persecuted that she wasacquitted. The authorities were furious, and every effort was made tofind and re-arrest Vera; and a verdict of the court acquitting many ofthe accused in one of the trials was annulled by the Czar.
"Well, you know, Godfrey Bullen, I am not one who meddles with politics.You have never heard me speak of them before, and I consider the aims ofthese men would bring about anarchy. An anarchy that would deluge theland with blood seems to me detestable and wicked.
But I cannot butthink the government has made a terrible mistake by its severity. Thesepeople are all enthusiastic fanatics. They see that things are not asthey should be, and they would destroy everything to right them. Hatetheir aims as one may, one must admit that their conduct is heroic. Fewhave quailed in their trials. All preserve a calmness of demeanour thateven their judges and executioners cannot but admire. They seem made ofiron; they suffer everything, give up everything, dare everything fortheir faith; they die, as the Christian martyrs died in Rome,unflinching, unrepentant. If they have become as wild beasts, severityhas made them so. Their propaganda was at first a peaceful one. It iscruelty that has driven them to use the only weapon at their disposal,assassination.
"One man, for example, in 1877, Jacob Stefanovic, organized a conspiracyin the district of Sighirino. It spread widely among the peasants. Thepriests, violating the secret of the confessional, informed the police,but these, although using every effort, could learn no more. Hundreds ofarrests were made, but nothing discovered. Learning that the priests hadbetrayed them the peasants no longer went to confession, and to avoidbetraying themselves in a state of drunkenness abstained from the use ofbrandy; but one man, tired and without food, took a glass. It made himdrunk, and in his drunkenness he spoke to the man who had sold himspirits. He was arrested, and although he did not know all, gave enoughclue for the police to follow up, and all the leaders and over athousand persons were arrested. Two thousand others, who were affiliatedto the society, were warned in time and escaped. You can guess the fateof those who were captured.
"Last year, three months before you came here, General Mezentsoff, thehead of the police, was assassinated, and since then we know that it isopen war between the Nihilists and the Czar. The police hush matters up,but they get abroad. Threatening letters reach the Czar in his inmostapartments, and it is known that several attempts have been made toassassinate him, but have failed.
"One of the most extraordinary things connected with the movement isthat women play a large part in it. Being in the thick of everyconspiracy they are the life and soul of the movement, and they are ofall classes. There are a score of women for whose arrest the authoritieswould pay any money, and yet they elude every effort. It is horrible.This is what comes of women going to Switzerland and learning to lookupon religion as a myth and all authority as hateful, and to have wilddreams of an impossible state of affairs such as never has existed inthis world. It is horrible, but it is pitiable. The prisons in the landare full of victims; trains of prisoners set off monthly for Siberia. Itis enough to turn the brain to think of such things. How it is to end noone can say."
But it was only in bated breath and within closed doors that thediscovery of the Nihilist plot was discussed in St. Petersburg.Elsewhere it was scarcely alluded to, although, if mentioned, thosepresent vied with each other in the violence of their denunciation ofit; but when society from the highest to the lowest was permeated bysecret agents of the police, and every word was liable to be reportedand misinterpreted, a subject so dangerous was shunned by commonconsent. It was known, though, that large numbers of arrests had beenmade, but even those whose dearest friends had suddenly disappeared saidno word of it in public, for to be even a distant acquaintance of such aperson was dangerous. Yet apparently everything went on as usual: thetheatres were as well filled; the Nevski as crowded and gay.