he shafts turned up--a cord round your
neck--that is the fitting reward."

"It is all one how a man dies," replied Ammalat, "provided he dies
speedily. I ask one favour: do not let me be tormented with a trial:
that is thrice death."

"Thou deservest a hundred deaths, audacious! but I promise you. Be it
so: to-morrow thou shalt die. Assemble a court-martial," continued
the commander-in-chief, turning to his staff: "the fact is clear,
the proof is before your eyes, and let all be finished at one sitting,
before my departure."

He waved his hand, and the condemned prisoner was removed.

The fate of this fine young man touched us all. Every body was
whispering about him; every body pitying him; the more, that
there appeared no means of saving him. Every one knew well the
necessity of punishing this double treason, and the inflexibility
of Alexei Petrovitch in matters of this publicity: and, therefore,
no one dared to intercede for the unfortunate culprit. The
commander-in-chief was unusually thoughtful for the remainder of the
evening, and the party separated early. I determined to speak a word
for him--"Perhaps," I thought, "I may obtain some commutation of the
sentence." I opened one of the curtains of the tent, and advanced
softly into the presence of Alexei Petrovitch. He was sitting alone,
resting both arms on a table; before him lay a despatch for the
Emperor, half finished, and which he was writing without any previous
copy. Alexei Petrovitch knew me as an officer of the suite, and we
had been acquainted since the battle of Kulm. At that time he had
been very kind to me, and therefore my visit was not surprising to
him. "I see--I see, Evstafii Ivanovitch, you have a design upon my
heart! In general you come in as if you were marching up to a battery,
but now you hardly walk on tip-toe. This is not for nothing. I am
sure you are come with a request about Ammalat."

"You have guessed it," said I to Alexei Petrovitch, not knowing how
to begin.

"Sit down, then, and let us talk it over," he replied. Then, after a
silence of a couple of minutes, he continued, kindly, "I know that a
report goes about respecting me, that I treat the lives of men as a
plaything--their blood as water. The most cruel tyrants have hidden
their bloodthirstiness under a mask of benevolence. They feared a
reputation for cruelty, though they feared not to commit deeds of
cruelty; but I--I have intentionally clothed myself with this sort
o