A Nihilist Princess

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Chapter II. ▲ Two-fold Life

Prince Kryloff loved his daughter as parents do who have ceased to live and love save in their children. She gratified his vanity as well as his aflecticm by her beauty, her perfect grace, and her cleverness, and by the admiration which she excited wherever slie went.

lie was therefore much troubled at Wanda's sudden headache and dizziness.

" It is not anything serious," she said; "a few hours of sound sleep will })ut an end to it."

As soon as she got home, she ran up into her own room.

" Quick^ quick, Katia," she said to her maid; "let us make haste! They must be waiting so impatiently for us."

She tore off hor braoolets, the gold band in her hair, the clasps that fastened her dress, and threw them all,

A TWO-FOLD LIFE, 31

pell-moll, with the greatest haste, upon a little round table.

"You look beautiful this evening, dear Princess!" exclaimed Kacia.

"What do you mean, Katia? I have told you expressly that I desire you to call me Wanda, not Princess. Understand me now, once for all, wretched aristocrat!"

"Someone mijht overhear us," objected Katia. "A servant-maid calling her mistress by her first name!"

"But who is there to overhear us? Sometimes I am tempted to doubt the sincerity of your convictions."

" It is true, that the scholar has gone far ahead of the teacher."

" Ah, no! I can 't acknowledge that. Sometimes the Princess within me revolts at the role that I am playing. I am not yet as 'simplified'* as you think I am; but I shall be after a while, I am determined."

She gave great stress to this last word.

" Dear Wanda, your logic astounds me."

" Now, then, do we or do we not desire equality, the abolition of rank and of every privilege that comes from birth and wealth?"

"Certainly we do."

" Well, I do not only not consider myself better than you, but I consider myself your inferior in point of devotion. Did you not give up your independence to come here and teach me the New Faith? "

Katia was brushing the Princess' superb hair. She took her lovely head with both hands, and stooping ovL»r, kissed Wanda on the forehead.

"We Jiave heard compliments enough," she said. " Now that there is so much to do for the cause, we must not waste our time in words." ^ "You are right. Make haste. Is my dress ready?"

" Yes."

"You must hide my hair completely, so that they will not think that I am a woman."

Katia Lawinska was the daughter of a Pole, who served the Russian government.

•This Utiu nicrsns one wlio has forsakeu the life of a citizen or of a noble" man lor that of tlie comm ..n pe.'ple.

Her father had obtained an important post in Poland, and harried his countrymen in the most oppressive way.

Katia, disgusted with the conduct of her father, left his house, and went to Zurich as a student — thence she came to Petersburg to study medicine, so as to be ablo to support herself.

At Zurich, as well as at Petersburg, she found herself thrown in with a set of socialist students. Their doctrines inflamed her youthful imagination.

She had met at Zurich a celebrated Russian physician, named Michael Federoff, who had confided to her a secret mission in Petersburg.

There she had been presented to Wanda Kryloff by a Pole named Padlewski. Finding that she had not money enough to continue her studies, she applied for help to the Princess, who was known to be very generous towards her mother's fellow-countrymen.

Wanda became deeply interested in Katia Lawinska, and the girl, very probably following out her secret instructions, asked to be allowed to enter the service of the Princess; and in this humble capacity had undertaken to convert her mistress to her own doctrines.

She had succeeded beyond her fondest hope.

Brought up among the wild steppes of the Ukraine, Wanda's nature was still and dreamy. A spoilt child, whom her father adored, she had known no obstacle to her will. Her independent nature brooked no control, and yet her keen sense of justice revolted at the tyranny of the strong over the weak. How often she had implored her implacable parent to lighten the unjust punishment of some unfortunate serf I

Among the souvenirs of her childhood there lingered such dismal recollections; men beaten like dogs for a mere nothing, women scourged without mercy, whole villages razed to the ground for insurrections against their lord. Often, in her dreams, she saw again these scenes of desolation — groups of old men, women, and children, bathed in tears, or flying from the vengeance of their persecutor.

A TWO-FOLD LIFE. 33

Then would rise before her the sad, fair face of her mother, whom she remembered but indistinctly. Wanda was herself a Pole at heart, and she loathed the Russian despotism. In her mind, the cause of Poland was the cause of humanity.

Left entirely to herself, she had read a great deal, particularly French literature. In it she had discovered the breath of modern life, the mighty seed which impregnates Art, Science and Liberty. Her ardent imagination was captivated by these noble ideas. The great characters of the French Revolution aroused her enthusiasm. She idolized those heroes; she would willingly have died, a martyr, for their cause.

In her father's estates, she looked upon the peasants, bonding under their burdens, ignorant, passive, and brutalized, and she thought how great a work it would be to lift their drooping heads, to cast a ray of light upon their dull minds, to make men^of these slaves.

In spite of her father's opposition, she founded several schools and presided herself over the examinations.

So, when she met Katia Lawinska, her mind was already prepared to receive the New Faith; she was a born revolutionist, and her soul, fired with the love of justice and the longing for high deeds, found in its creed a noble and all-sustaining food. She was romantic as a Pole and violent as a Cossack; she delighted in conspiracies, in secret correspondence, in running out at night, in every extreme measure.

Intrepid and enthusiastic, as most of the Slav women are, she loved danger, adored acts of heroism, and thrilled with delight at every heroic deed.

She was a very valuable recruit for the revolutionary party, on account of her position, her influence, her beauty, and her wealth, which she offered most liberally to carry out her views.

From the moment that she joined the party, a complete change passed over her.

She had been in the habit of openly expressing her liberal views; and every one had been surprised to hear her 3

34 A NIHILIST PlilXCESS.

talk as she did, in Prince KrylofTs drawin<^-room. They laup:hed at it, as thoy lau^h at everything that falls from the lips of a pretty woman. The Prince attached no importance to it whatever, and was amused at what he considered a piece of juvenile exagireration.

But, once initiated into the society, Wanda became prudent, and even artful. She was learning to look into the hearts of others without revealing her own.

When Wanda had put on her disi^uise, Katia exclaimed: *' I think yuu are more beautiful dressed upas a man than you are in evening toilette. Just look at yourself! "

"Indeed, I have not time," answered Wanda.

She wore a fur cap, which entirely concealed her superb hair, and a touloupe* lined with sheepskin. A Circassian belt, worked in gold, confined it at the waist. By her side hung a small dagger. Her feet were thrust into high felt boots.

Her slender figure set oflF this national costume to great advantage.

Katia wrapped herself in a long cloak, and placed upon her head a hat lined with fur.

" I am ready," said Wanda. " Are you sure that Fedor is at the corner?"

"Yes; he has been waiting there for more than an hour."

"Very well, I will set you down at the Club, and then I will go on to the place where they expect me."

Katia did not even know who expected Wanda.

"You know that you cannot come w-ith me," said the Princess. "Believe me, it gives me the greatest pain not to be allowed to tell you everything."

"I do not expectit of you," answered Katia. "Absolute secrecy is necessary for the success of our great undertakinor."

They left the house by a back stair-case, which led to the offices, and passinfr through a little door, found themselves in a narrow, dark street.

♦A sort of long coat worn by all Russians ; it is made of sheepskin for winter wear, of liglit cloth for summer.

A TWO-FOLD LIFE. 36

At the corner of the Palace Bridge, they found Fedor waiting for them in a sled.

Wanda jumped into the light, graceful vehicle, and took the reins; Katia seated herself by her side; Fedor climbed up behind, and the spirited little horse dashed away, striking fire from the stones of the street, in its rapid pace.

It was a lovely winter's night! one of those polar nights in which the the moon shines with a clear, icy light, in which the starlight is intense, and the crystallized snow glistens like powdered marble. The cold was sharp and cut like a knife; but the ardor which burned in Wanda's heart rendered her quite insensible to the weather.

She did not even glance around her, to gaze upon the superb spectacle that Petersburg presented, as it lay clothed in the blue rays of the winter moon.

Before her, in Vassili Ostrow, the Merchant's Exchange, the Custom House, and the University Buildings, stood out, clearly defined in the cold light. Behind them, upon the island of Petersburg, could be seen the black outlines of the Fort; while above them all, towered the bold spire of the church of SS. Peter and Paul.

Across the river could be seen a corner of the Winter Palace, Alexander's monument with its angel, the immense palace of the admiralty, and the gigantic silhouette of St. Isaac's Cathedral, with its four bell towers, its tiara of columns, and its golden cupola. Over all, flakes of snow, like touches of light, brought out the effect of the architecture.

The great river looked like a white valley. Here and there lay a few boats frozen stiff in the ice.

Wanda, instead of turning up towards the Nicholas bridge, drove towards the Neva, whi<;h is frozen so hard in winter that it can be driven over without danger.

The sled creaked on the hard snow, as does a diamond when it cuts a pane of glass.

Leaning back, Wanda held the reins in her small nervous hands, for her animal needed to be held in. He trotted across the river as securely as though he were on the high road. X^>^ smoke flew from his nostrils. His whole body was steaminor,and his tail, covered with little icicles, shone like diamonds.

She turned her horse's head into Vassili Ostrow, and drove quickly through a perfect labyrinth of streets.

She stopped before a tall, large house, such as the speculators are at present building in Petersburg. Katia jumped down.

*' I shall be here again at two o'clock, or at half past two at the latest," she said.

"On! on!" cried the Princess. ^

The horse started off like the wind.

At the end of five minutes, Wanda stopped her sled again, and throwing the reins to Fedor, got out.

" Wait for me," she said to the servant.

She went up a little alley. About midway she perceived, standing in a doorway, a human form, mufflod up to its eyes in a fur cloak. She involuntarily gave a start, and instantly entered a house that she had evidently been looking for.

A porter came towards her.*

He said :

" Russia."

She answered :

"Liberty."

Then she opened a door. Ho led her into a room on the ground floor, where by the dim light of a lantern she could distinguish his features.

" Ah ! is it you, Korolof ? " she said to the pretended dvornik.

"Just now, as I came in, I thought I saw a man, who seemed to be watching me."

" I suppose the house has been denounced," answered Korolef, very quietly. " It don't matter if they do surround it ; they won't find anything."

" I trust to your prudence," said Wanda. " Go on ; I will follow you."

They crossed several large rooms, poorly furnished.

* lu Russia the porters, or dvomiks, always watch outside of the houses.

THE SECRET COUNCIL. 37

They heard nothing- but the sound of their own footsteps, and yet the house seemed to be inhabited. '

" Have you heard from the police ?" asked Wanda.

" They are going to make some arrests — take care."

Then they entered a long passage-way.

" Where are you taking me ? " questioned Wanda.

" I am going to take you before the Revolutionary Committee."

They stepped before a door, which opened into a sort of cellar, in which were some barrels and a chest. Korolef pushed aside the chest, and touched a spring. A small, skillfully concealed opening in the wall was disclosed, revealing a narrow stairway.

Korolef began to descend the steps, Wanda following him. When they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a low, damp cellar; and Wanda heard steady thuds, like the throbbing of an engine.

'* What is that noise?" said she.

"You will soon see," answered Korolef.

Chapter III. The Seceet Council

In an underground room, adorned with neither paintings nor hangings of any kind, five persons sat around a table littered over with pamphlets and papers of every description. They were discussing in the simplest manner matters of the greatest import.

These five men were the leaders of the Nihilist party, the recognized chiefs of a propaganda which, properly speaking, is not a secret society; for in Russia every one knows the danger of secret societies. The members of this confraternity are bound by no oath, but they understand that traitors must suffer death. A small number are wealthy, and belono^ to the nobility.

At the time of which we write, there were about five hundred in all, men and women. The Russian women play a very important role in this movement. They have proved themselves to be even more ardent and enthusiastic than the men.

The world is astonished at the female element which is mixed up with this social strugp^le. The cause of it is, the deep sense of justice and brotherhood, that, spite of the atheistic radicalism of the Nihilists, permeates their doctrine, touching all young and tender hearts with indignation at the misery, the corruption, the iniquity of their country. And the women, mingling, as they do, very little in public life, have escaped the degrading servility which is found everywhere in Russia, and which early in life blunts all sense of independence and dignity.

These apostles offer up their bodies, their affections, their fortunes, their very lives, even, to the cause. They do not promise unreasoning obedience to any one; for the Russian socialist acknowledges no fetter to his individual will; the greater part are anarchists, and resist every kind of authority. But, with one accord, they give in-their adherence to the printed directions of the Committee. Their every act, their every thought, has but one aim : the freedom of Russia, and the total transformation of society. And they have devoted themselves to this work, quietly, uno'stentatiously, unenthusiastically.

But the enthusiasm is within; it fires their breast, it burns within their heart, it shows itself by a ceaseless activity, a boundless self-sacrifice, a heroism such as great periods of revolution can alone produce. Such was the birth of Christianity, of the Reformation, of the French Revolution; great injustice brings forth great lovers of justice; terrible sufferings arouse aveni^ers; the wrath of the people rises in arms against despotism.

To-day, Russia, half barbarous, half civilized, holds within her the vices of these two social conditions.

THE SECRET COUNCIL. 89

" The Russian falsehood," writes Hertzen, " the Russian contagion, commences at the Emperor and goes down from soldier to soldier, from jailer to jailer, even to the little hanger-on of the Commissary of Police in the most remote district of the Empire. Thus it rolls on, ever gathering, like Dante's Bolgi, a fresh power of evil, a greater intensity of depravity and tyranny, a living pyramid of crime, of abuses, of shocks, of blows, of German rijers, heartless and rapacious, of ignorant, drunken judges, of fawning aristocrats; all bound together as accomplices, as sharers in the booty, and, last of all, supported by one hundred thousand bayonets."

The camp opposed to this official Russia consisted but yesterday of a handful of individuals, threatening, striving to unveil the Truth. To-day the camp holds a legion of men.

Noble army! They see one another tortured, dragged to prison, exiled to Siberia, condemned to work in the mines — that is, to a slow death. They accept the martyrdom, they continue their gloomy and unequal struggle, without knowing how it will end, so that they may, even at a far off day, make sure the freedom of the Russian people, the triumph of their democratic and socialistic views.

These five men composed the famous Revolutionary Committee, which already had, more than once, by its swift punishments, thrown terror into the official camp.

What was their appearance?

One could read in their faces firmness, and calm, high emprise.

Besides, they were men of mark, representing the university, the clergy, the army, and journalism.

Andrew Padlewsky was descended from a noble Polish family. In the insurrection of '62, he had seen his father and his brother killed bv his side. At heart, he hated his country's assassins. He held, nevertheless, a very important position in the Russian government; but he had only taken the place so as better to understand its machinery, in order to serve his vengeance. He had all the ardor, the mettle, the romantic fearlessness, which characterize the children of Poland. H(? first conceived the idea of this society, and p^athered t igether its earliest members. At court his influence wn^ so great that it placed him quite above all suspicion.

Doctor Arcadius Poloutkin was a learned professor in the University. His mind leaned, in more ways than one,^ towards the modern school of philosophy. The study of men's physical and moral nature had led him to this conclusion: namely, that the present system of social order, based as it is upon restraint, is false, fatally engendering every corruption, every deflection, every misery; the true system of social order should be in harmony with human nature, and should assure to every in- . dividual the full development of his powers and of his faculties.

This forms the subject of an important work, lately published, called " The New Law." Another book, which bears as its title " Discarded Opinions," cuts down, as [

with an axe, by its inflexible logic, the numerous philosophical errors of our pretended enlightened century.

Sophronius KomolF was a journalist, with a biting but vigorous pen. It was he who edited the Secret Gazette.

Kostia Narkileff held a high position in the orthodox church. Consequently he thoroughly understood the vices of both the white and the black * clerorv, both of whom are equally hated for their rapacity, and for the odious manner in which they work upon the superstition and the ignorance of the people. Kostia NarkilelF possessed much personal influence and a large fortune, both of which he offered unreservedly to this work of regeneration.

The fifth person, a very dignified man, seemed to be the president of the meeting, as much by reason of his age as by the weight of his opinion. He was Woldemar Siline. He was seventy-five years old ; an old soldier. At twenty- two years of age he had taken part in the

* The married and the unmarried clergy are so called in Russia.

s d

THE SECRET COUNCIL. 41

insurrection of 1825; he had passed thirty years of his life in Siberia. At Alexander's succession, thanks to the amnesty, he had been allowed to return to Petersburg; but in all these twenty years he had never ceased plotting. A Prince in his own right, nearly allied to the Romanoffs, he had entered into the revolutionary movement, he said, to wash out the stain in his blood.

There were two vacant places at the table; one was the chair of Michael Federoff, who was engaged in publishing a revolutionary paper at Geneva; the other was that of an officer of the army, high in rank, who at that moment was serving in Turkey.

Sophronius Komoff had just finished reading an article which was to appear the next day in the revolutionary Gazette:

" The war is over. What has it cost? Naive question. What cares our Little Father* the Czar, how many millions have been spent, or how many men killed? Has it not all been for his glory? From cabin to cabin, as far as the frontiers of China, his officers will go, gathering afresh the wherewithal to fill his imperial treasury ; and among the three million souls who yearly see the the light in his domains, he can always provide enough handsome men to keep guard at his palace-door, or to furnish food for his cannon to mow down with grape-shot.

"And yet, the Czar dare not lay his hand upon his booty. There are other wolves standing around, and watching it with jealous eye; and the Chancellor of Germany, just now the most powerful man in the world, has not uttered his deep voice.

"As soon as he shall speak, fifty-one hundred million of men, who adore success, will take their cue from him, will form a, public opinion^ to which Bismarck can easily add five hundred thousand guns and ten thousand cannons. These pressing reasons, the governmqiit of Petersburg will learn to understand at a glance.

" To be sure, we can not see into the mind of those

♦In Russia, they generally call the Czar, Father, or " Little Father," which is a term of endearment among them..

who arrogate to themselves the right to dispose of the fate of the people. But yet, the cause of contemporary history leads us to foresee that the smaller states will be drawn into the orbit of the great powers. Might is stronger than right.

"And, as for us, nihilist warriors, what are we in presence of these great states, of the enormous machines of war and destruction ?

"We are Free Thought, we are Conscience, we are Science and Justice, we are the Modern Idea, we are Progress which nothing can shackle, which moves, which advances ceaselessly; we are the stream which soon will break through every embankment.

"Tremble, despots! Tremble, slayers of mankind I You may triumph to-day; but ye are destined soon to be overcome."

The article having been warmly received, the journalist disappeared behind a portiere that concealed the opening into a dark passage-way.

At the end of this passage could be heard the steady sound of a printing-press in operation. This was the noise that had astonished Wanda.