a form of oath, to
which the soldiers subscribed. The first step was taken; the empress was
proclaimed.

The proclamation declared Catharine sole and absolute sovereign. It made
no mention of her little son Paul, as some of the leaders in the
conspiracy had proposed. The Orlofs controlled the situation, and the
action of the Ismailofsky was soon sanctioned by other regiments of the
guard. They hated the czar and were ripe for revolt.

One regiment only, the Preobrajensky, that of which the czar himself was
colonel, resisted. It was led against the other troops under the command
of a captain and a major. The hostile bodies came face to face a few
paces apart; the queen's party greatest in number, but in disorder, the
czar's party drawn up with military skill. A moment, a word, might
precipitate a bloody conflict.

Suddenly a man in the ranks cried out, "_Oura!_ Long live the empress!"
In an instant the whole regiment echoed the cry, the ranks were broken,
the soldiers embraced their comrades in the other ranks, and, falling on
their knees, begged pardon of the empress for their delay.

And now the throng turned towards the neighboring church of Our Lady of
Kasan, in which Catharine was to receive their oaths of fidelity. A
crowd pushed in to do homage, composed not only of soldiers, but of
members of the senate and the synod. A manifesto was quickly drawn up by
a clerk named Tieplof, printed in all haste, and distributed to the
people, who read it and joined heartily in the cry of "Long live the
empress!"

Catharine next reviewed the troops, who again hailed her with shouts.
And thus it was that a czar was dethroned and a new reign begun without
the loss of a drop of blood. There was some little disorder. Several
wine-shops were broken into, the house of Prince George of Holstein was
pillaged and he and his wife were roughly handled, but that was all: as
yet it had been one of the simplest of revolutions.

Catharine was empress, but how long would she remain so? Her empire
consisted of the fickle people of St. Petersburg, her army of four
regiments of the guards. If Peter had the courage to strike for his
throne, he might readily regain it. He had with him about fifteen
hundred Holsteiners, an excellent body of troops, on whose loyalty he
could fully rely, for they were foreigners in Russia, and their safety
depended on him. At the head of these troops was one of the first
soldiers of the age, Field-Marshal Muenic