ar and obey; it is ordered!"

He turned abruptly to the man on his left.

"You understand, Yaroslav arrives in London to-morrow. It is desirable
that he should not go away."

"But, but, Excellency," stammered the man on his left, "here in London!"

Boolba nodded.

"But, Excellency," wailed the man, "in London we are safe; it is the one
refuge to which our friends can come. If such a thing should happen,
what would be our fate? We could not meet together. We should be hounded
down by the police from morning until night; we should be deported--it
would be the ruin of the great movement."

"Nevertheless, it is an order," said Boolba doggedly; "this is a matter
beyond the cause. It will gain us powerful protectors at the court, and
I promise you that, though the commotion will be great, yet it will not
last for very long, and you will be left undisturbed."

"But----" began one of the audience, and Boolba silenced him with a
gesture.

"I promise that none of you shall come to harm, my little pigeons, and
that you shall not be concerned in this matter."

"But who will do it, Excellency?" asked another member.

"That is too important to be decided without a meeting of all the
brethren. For my part, I would not carry out such an order unless I
received the instructions of our President."

"I promise that none of you shall take a risk," sneered Boolba. "Now
speak, Yakoff!"

The man who had accompanied Sophia Kensky smiled importantly at the
company, then turned to Sophia.

"Must I say this before Sophia Kensky?" he asked.

"Speak," said Boolba. "We are all brothers and sisters, and none will
betray you."

Yakoff cleared his throat.

"When your Excellency wrote to me from Kieff, asking me to find a man, I
was in despair," he began--an evidently rehearsed speech, "I tore my
hair, I wept----"

"Tell us what you have done," said the impatient Boolba. "For what does
it matter, in the name of the saints and the holy martyrs" (everyone at
the table, including Boolba, crossed himself) "whether your hair was
torn or your head was hammered?"

"It was a difficult task, Excellency," said Yakoff in a more subdued
tone, "but Providence helped me. There is a good comrade of ours who is
engaged in punishing the bourgeoisie by relieving them of their
goods----"

"A thief, yes," said Boolba.

"Through him I learnt that a certain man had arrived in England and was
in hiding. This man is a professional assassin."

They