contrived to follow in the disguise of an
attendant. I saw him give him the letter, and for doing so he was
arrested. The boy struggled and finally escaped. During the confusion in
the courtyard the prince ran out to learn what it was about, and I then
contrived to steal the letter, which still lay upon his table, and to
escape with it without detection. I took it to the prefect of police."

Mastowix was so completely staggered at this that he sat glaring wildly
at the spy, unable to move or speak.

The members of the tribunal consulted for only a moment.

Finally the president spoke:

"Prince Mastowix that was, Peter Mastowix that is, this document and the
evidence has been placed before our imperial master, the Czar, and by
his orders you have been brought here for trial and condemnation. The
tribunal adjudges you guilty of treason to the State, and sentences you
to death. Remove the prisoner!"

Bowed and completely broken, the guilty wretch, the petty tyrant who had
heaped wrong, misery and death upon so many others, was taken from the
inquisition, crushed and broken.

Three days later he was led out into the yard of the very prison over
which he had long and cruelly held rule, and shot to death by the guard,
the very men whom he commanded oft before.

There is neither justice nor pity among the Russian nobles, and no
remorse in the hearts of the peasant soldiery who have been brutalized
for a thousand years. So this guard shot their late commander as they
would have fired upon a dog; indeed, if there was any feeling in their
breasts, it was one of revenge for the many brutal wrongs they had
suffered at his hands.

It was a severe blow to the Nihilists of Russia, this discovery and
death of Mastowix, but as no cause was assigned for it, they were left
to conjecture, although they feared the worst.

Mastowix was ambitious; he even had the hardihood to look to the
extinction of the royal family at the hands of this powerful order, and
trusted to chance to place himself high in power, if not on the very
throne of a new dynasty.

And he was of great service to the Nihilists, for he could keep them
well posted continually. But that fatal letter cut him off, while yet
his hope was in the bud, as well as other prominent members of the
order, for eight others whose names were mentioned by Zobriskie were
also arrested and sentenced to exile in the terrible mines of Siberia.

CHAPTER V.

SIBERIA.

A glance