ten within
the influence of such natures as this; natures that command the tribute
of admiration and the reverence that one must instantly yield to great
moral strength and nobility.

MEMOIRS OF A FEMALE NIHILIST.

BY SOPHIE WASSILIEFF.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. ST. M. FITZ-GERALD.

I.

DEAR MESSIEURS,

You have asked me for a few reminiscences of the time when I took a more
or less active part in the Revolutionary Movement in Russia--a sort of
autobiographical sketch, to be published in English. As I never had the
good fortune to render any really important service to my country, I
have no right to draw public attention upon myself, and no wish to do
so. But my experiences, of which I have told you a good deal by word of
mouth, have been, save for sundry personal details, very like those of
thousands of other young Russians, who, unwilling and unable to accept
quietly the order of things that weighs so heavily upon their country,
have devoted all their strength and all their faculties to the great
struggle for freedom, which you of Western Europe call the Nihilistic
Movement. In your opinion, it is just because of its simplicity and its
likeness to many others, that the story of my life may possess some
value; and perhaps you are right. At any rate, since to interest if but
a small number of people in the lot of those who serve "the cause," will
be to serve the cause still further--and it is, for the rest, the cause
of common humanity and justice--I herewith put at your disposition such
of my souvenirs as I am at liberty to make public, at the same time
reminding you of your promise to preserve my incognito intact.

And now for my facts:

It was the year 188-. My brother had been arrested during the winter.
At the beginning of the spring I went to X----, to the house of my uncle
and aunt, to pass the summer, and to rest after the emotional strain I
had been under. At least, such was the explanation of my leaving St.
Petersburg which I gave to the police of that city, when I asked them
for a passport for the interior of the Empire. As a matter of fact, I
was anxious to see certain of my brother's friends at X----, with the
object of trying, with their assistance, to destroy the traces of his
last visit there--traces which, if discovered by the police, might be
extremely detrimental to Serge's interests. On my arrival in the
town--where, by the way, it was my habit to pass all my holidays--I
found the Nihil