Moscow, wind-swept, dripping with wild bursts of
rain, its desolation augmented by the mournful shrieking of wind through
the narrow streets, was shrouded in the intense darkness of the last
hour of the night, when Ivan at last dismounted from his droschky at the
door of the great hospital given to the city by Count Cheremetiev. He
found no difficulty in entering; for there is no moment of the day or
night when some wretched soul may not find a refuge there.

At the same time, the "Prince" Gregoriev, together with a piece of gold,
did serve to cut many yards from the red tape that impedes all progress
in Russia. A brief explanation, two minutes' wait, the appearance of a
young man garbed in spotless white, a walk up two flights of stairs and
along a chilly corridor, and Ivan found himself at last halting before a
closed door. Here the nurse turned to him saying, softly:

"We were obliged to remove him from the ward at noon to-day. We prefer
not to allow deaths in the general rooms if we can avoid it.--Then too,
early this evening, the man was suddenly paid for."

"_Paid for!_--By whom?"

"A lady. We do not know the name. She refused to give it, and did not
ask to see the patient; but she left a considerable sum for him."

"Why did you not send for me sooner?"

"He never mentioned your Excellency's name till this afternoon. And of
course we did not dream that you--you knew him. He has been conscious
only at intervals since the hemorrhage yesterday; and he is also under
the influence of opiates."

"He is dying of--what?"

"Galloping consumption; and--" The man hesitated.

"What?"

"Well, it is a complicated case. We think there must have been a touch
of _delirium tremens_ just before he was brought in--a week ago.
Alcohol, you see, is the best thing we know for consumption. If the case
hadn't been aggravated by privation--hunger, exposure, want,--we might
possibly have saved him, at least for the time. But I assure your
Excellency that everything has been done--"

"You think it absolutely impossible to save him _now_--if no expense is
spared? I give you _carte-blanche_--"

"The man is dying, Prince Gregoriev. Only a miracle could help him now."

There was a moment's silence before Ivan said, very softly: "Let us go
in."

The room was small, rather bare, but clean and well-warmed by the huge
stove built into the wall, with half of it extending into the room
beyond. A second nurse was sitting in a chair be