d who had
taken part against him were tried and executed, and the Princess Sophia
was shut up in a convent for the remainder of her life.

Such events did not tend to make the boy a merciful ruler, but
surrounded as he was by traitors and spies he was compelled to rule with
an iron hand if he was to rule at all.

From this time dates the beginning of his real influence in Russia. The
army had been poorly organized. Now the young King set to work to drill
it as effectively as he had drilled his playmates. He learned how cannon
were built, and studied the manufacture of all kinds of firearms. About
the same time he became deeply interested in ship-building, and
determined to build a fleet of war-vessels on Lake Plestcheief.

He took some young men of his own age with him to the bank of the lake
and there built a one-storied wooden house, a very primitive building,
the windows filled with mica instead of glass, and set a double-headed
eagle with a gilt wooden crown over the door to show it was the Czar's
residence. Here he worked hard all one winter, he himself taking a hand
in all the building that was done, laboring like any carpenter and
enjoying the work far more than the state ceremonies he was obliged to
go through with at the Kremlin.

But even when he was so far from Moscow and so actively engaged, he sent
continual messages to the mother who had so often shielded him from
harm. Once he wrote to her as follows:

"To my best beloved, and, while bodily life endures, my dearest
little mother, the Lady Czarina and Grand Duchess Natalia Kirilovna.
Thy little son, now here at work, Petrushka, asks thy blessing and
wishes news of thy health. We, through thy prayers, are all well, and
the lake has been cleared of ice to-day, and all the boats, except
the big ship, are finished, only we have to wait for ropes. Therefore
I beg thy kindness that these ropes, seven hundred fathoms long, be
sent from the artillery department without delay, for our work is
waiting for them, and our stay here is so much prolonged."

The Russians of that day knew little about building ships, and so Peter
finally went to Amsterdam. Here he dressed like a Dutch sea-captain and
spent his time with sailors and ship-builders, and thoroughly enjoyed
the difference between this new life and that at home. Many of his
native customs he now learned to look upon as uncouth. The Russians had
poor taste in dress; the Imperial G