nd found him at work. He shot two of them, and then he was
beaten down and badly wounded."

"Where were the other two?" Akim asked.

"He sent them away but an hour before, but he went on working himself to
complete the number of hand-bills. Of course he was betrayed. I don't
think there are six people who knew where the press was; even I didn't
know."

"Where did you hear of it, Katia?"

"Feodorina Samuloff told me; you know she often helps Michaelovich to
work at the press; she thinks it must have been either Louka or Gasin.
Why should Michaelovich have sent them away when he hadn't finished work
if one or the other of them had not made some excuse so as to get out
of the way before the police came? But that is nothing, there will be
time to find out which is the traitor; they know nothing, either of
them, except that they worked at the secret press with him; they were
never much trusted. But Michaelovich is a terrible loss, he was always
daring and full of expedients."

"They will get nothing from him," Petroff said.

"Not they," she agreed. "When do they ever get anything out of us? One
of the outer-circle fellows like Louka and Gasin, who know nothing, who
are instruments and nothing more, may tell all they know for gold, or
for fear of the knout, but never once have they learned anything from
one who knows. Fortunately the press was a very old one and there was
but little type there, only just enough for printing small hand-bills;
we have two others ready to set up."

"Were there any papers there?"

"No, Michaelovich was too careful for that."

"I hear that old Libka died in prison yesterday," Akim said.

"He is released from his suffering," Katia said solemnly. "Anything
else, Akim?"

"Yes, a batch of prisoners start for Siberia to-morrow, and there are
ten of us among them."

"Well, be careful for the next few days, Akim," Katia said; "don't do
anything in the schools, it will not be long now before all is ready to
strike a blow, and it is not worth while to risk anything until after
that. I have orders that we are all to keep perfectly quiet till the
plans are settled and we each get our instructions. Now I must go, I
have two lessons to give this afternoon. It tries one a little to be
talking to children about quavers and semiquavers when one's head is
full of great plans, and you know that at any moment a policeman may tap
you on the shoulder and take you off to the dungeons of St. Nicholas,
fr