rthodox
Church, to whom the spy who had put the forged letters in my hat had
confessed the crime on his deathbed, placed the matter in such a
strong clear light that not even the officialism of Russia could
cloud it over. The case got to the ears of the Tsar, and an order was
telegraphed to the Governor of Kara to release me and send me back to
St. Petersburg on the conditions I have named.

"Think of the mockery of such a pardon as that! By the unlawful
brutality of an official, who was not even reprimanded for what he
had done, I was maimed, crippled, and disfigured for life, and now I
was free to return to the land I had left on an errand of mercy,
which tyranny and corruption had wilfully misconstrued into a mission
of crime, and punished with the ruin of a once happy and useful life.
That was bad enough, but worse was to come before the cup of my
miseries should be full."

Natas was silent for a moment, and as he gazed into the fire the
spasm of a great agony passed over his face, and two great tears
welled up in his eyes and overflowed and ran down his cheeks on to
his breast.

"On receiving the order the governor telegraphed back that I was sick
almost to death, and not able to bear the fatigue of the long,
toilsome journey, and asked for further orders. As soon as this news
reached my devoted wife she at once set out, in spite of all the
entreaties of her friends and advisers, to cross the wastes of
Siberia, and take her place at my bedside.

"It was winter time, and from Ekaterinenburg, where the rail ended in
those days, the journey would have to be performed by sledge. She,
therefore, took with her only one servant and a courier, that she
might travel as rapidly as possible.

"She reached Tiumen, and there all trace was lost of her and her
attendants. She vanished into that great white wilderness of ice and
snow as utterly as though the grave had closed upon her. I knew
nothing of her journey until I reached St. Petersburg many months
afterwards.

"All that money could do was done to trace her, but all to no avail.
The only official news that ever came back out of that dark world of
death and misery was that she had started from one of the
post-stations a few hours before a great snow-storm had come on, that
she had never reached the next station--and after that all was
mystery.

"Five years passed. I had returned to find my little daughter well
and blooming into youthful beauty, and my affairs pro