is sword I was upon him; but he still spurred
his horse, and the two galloped together over the plain, I with my leg
against the Russian's and my left hand upon his right shoulder. I saw
his hand fly up to his mouth. Instantly I dragged him across my pommel
and seized him by the throat, so that he could not swallow. His horse
shot from under him, but I held him fast and Violette came to a stand.
Sergeant Oudin of the Hussars was the first to join us. He was an old
soldier, and he saw at a glance what I was after.

"Hold tight, Colonel," said he, "I'll do the rest."

He slipped out his knife, thrust the blade between the clenched teeth of
the Russian, and turned it so as to force his mouth open. There, on his
tongue, was the little wad of wet paper which he had been so anxious to
swallow. Oudin picked it out and I let go of the man's throat. From the
way in which, half strangled as he was, he glanced at the paper I was
sure that it was a message of extreme importance. His hands twitched as
if he longed to snatch it from me. He shrugged his shoulders, however,
and smiled good-humouredly when I apologised for my roughness.

"And now to business," said I, when he had done coughing and hawking.
"What is your name?"

"Alexis Barakoff."

"Your rank and regiment?"

"Captain of the Dragoons of Grodno."

"What is this note which you were carrying?"

"It is a line which I had written to my sweetheart."

"Whose name," said I, examining the address, "is the Hetman Platoff.
Come, come, sir, this is an important military document, which you are
carrying from one general to another. Tell me this instant what it is."

"Read it and then you will know." He spoke perfect French, as do most
of the educated Russians. But he knew well that there is not one French
officer in a thousand who knows a word of Russian. The inside of the
note contained one single line, which ran like this:--

"Pustj Franzuzy pridutt v Minsk. Min gotovy."

I stared at it, and I had to shake my head. Then I showed it to my
Hussars, but they could make nothing of it. The Poles were all rough
fellows who could not read or write, save only the sergeant, who came
from Memel, in East Prussia, and knew no Russian. It was maddening, for
I felt that I had possession of some important secret upon which the
safety of the army might depend, and yet I could make no sense of it.
Again I entreated our prisoner to translate it, and offered him his
freedom if he would d