"Anything spoken into my ear is as though it were spoken into
that of his Excellency himself."
"I much regret, M'sieur the Colonel, that I must see the Baron in
person."
"Has the plot assassination as its object--or revolt?" he asked
pointedly.
"That I will explain to the Baron only."
"But I tell you he will not see you. We have so many persons here with
secret information concerning Finnish conspiracies against our Russian
rule. Why, if his Excellency saw everyone who desired to see him, he
would be compelled to give audience the whole twenty-four hours round."
At a glance I saw that this elegant Colonel, who seemed to take the
greatest pride over his exquisitely kept person and his spotless
uniform, did not intend to allow me the satisfaction of an audience of
that most hated official of the Czar. The latter was in fear of the
dagger, the pistol, or the bomb, and consequently hedged himself in by
persons of the Colonel's type--courteous, diplomatic, but utterly
unbending. After some further argument, I said at last in a firm tone:
"I wish to impress upon you the extreme importance of the information I
have to impart, and can only repeat that it is a matter concerning his
Excellency privately.
Pages:
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324