gone. Do not stain the new with crime
in Zukovo. I beseech you to disperse--return to your homes and I will
come to you to-morrow and if there are wrongs I will set them right. You
have believed in me in the past. Believe in me now and all may yet be
well in Zukovo. Go, my friends, before it is too late----"_

_The crowd wavered, murmuring. But just then a shot rang out and the cap
of the Grand Duke twitched around on his head._

_A roar went up from near the gate,_ "Nasha pora prishla! _Break in the
gate!" cried the voices and there were those of women among them
shouting_ "Tovaristchi! _Forward!"_

_Over the heads of those in the front ranks, Peter Nicholaevitch saw
some men bringing from the forest the heavy trunk of a felled pine tree.
They meant to break down the gate. He knew that he had failed but still
he stood upright facing them. Another shot, the bullet this time grazing
his left arm. The sting of it angered him._

_"Cowards!" he yelled, shaking his fist at them. "Cowards!"_

_A volley followed but no other bullets struck him. Behind him in the
Castle doorway he heard the voice of Boris Rylov, calling to him
hoarsely._

_"Come, Master. For the love of God! There is yet time."_

_There was a crash of the heavy timbers at the gate._

_"Come, Master----"_

_With a shrug Peter Nicholaevitch turned and walked across the terrace
toward the Castle._ "Bolvany!" _he muttered. "I've finished with
them."_

_Boris and Vasili stood just within the door, pleading with him to
hurry, and together they made their way through the deserted kitchens
and over past the vegetable gardens to the stables, where Leo Garshin
awaited them, the saddles on several horses. Behind them they could now
hear the triumphant cries as the courtyard gate crashed in._

_"Hurry, Master!" cried Garshin eagerly._

_"Where are the others?" asked the Grand Duke._

_"Gone, Highness. They have fled."_

_Boris Rylov was peering out past an iron door into the forest._

_"There is no one there?" asked Garshin._

_"Not yet. They have forgotten."_

_"Come then, Highness."_

_But the Grand Duke saw that the aged Vasili was mounted first and then
they rode out of the iron gate into a path which led directly into the
forest. It was not until they were well clear of the buildings that a
shout at one side announced that their mode of escape had been
discovered. Men came running, firing pistols as they ran. Boris Rylov,
bringing up the rear, r