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pacing silently up and down, their rifles carried horizontally
on the shoulder, and the spikes of their helmets glittering
like flames in the glare of light issuing from the palace.
The steps also of the patrols could be heard beating
time on the stones beneath with even more regularity
than the feet of the dancers on the floor of the saloon.
From time to time the watchword was repeated from post to post,
and occasionally the notes of a trumpet, mingling with
the strains of the orchestra, penetrated into their midst.
Still farther down, in front of the facade, dark masses
obscured the rays of light which proceeded from the windows
of the New Palace. These were boats descending the course
of a river, whose waters, faintly illumined by a few lamps,
washed the lower portion of the terraces.

The principal personage who has been mentioned, the giver of the fete,
and to whom General Kissoff had been speaking in that tone
of respect with which sovereigns alone are usually addressed,
wore the simple uniform of an officer of chasseurs of the guard.
This was not affectation on his part, but the custom of a man
who cared little for dress, his contrasting strongly with the
gorgeous costumes amid which he moved, encircled by his escort
of Georgians, Cossacks, and Circassians--a brilliant band,
splendidly clad in the glittering uniforms of the Caucasus.

This personage, of lofty stature, affable demeanor,
and physiognomy calm, though bearing traces of anxiety,
moved from group to group, seldom speaking, and appearing to pay
but little attention either to the merriment of the younger guests
or the graver remarks of the exalted dignitaries or members
of the diplomatic corps who represented at the Russian court
the principal governments of Europe. Two or three of these
astute politicians--physiognomists by virtue of their profession--
failed not to detect on the countenance of their host symptoms
of disquietude, the source of which eluded their penetration;
but none ventured to interrogate him on the subject.

It was evidently the intention of the officer of chasseurs that his
own anxieties should in no way cast a shade over the festivities;
and, as he was a personage whom almost the population of a world
in itself was wont to obey, the gayety of the ball was not for
a moment checked.

Nevertheless, General Kissoff waited until the officer to whom
he had just communicated the dispatch forwarded from Tomsk should give
him permission to withdraw; but the latter still remained silent.
He had taken the telegram, he had read it carefully,
and his visage became even more clouded than before.
Involuntarily he sought the hilt of his sword, and then
passed his hand for an instant before his eyes, as though,
dazzled by the brilliancy of the light, he wished to shade them,
the better to see into the recesses of his own mind.

"We are, then," he continued, after having drawn General Kissoff
aside towards a window, "since yesterday without intelligence

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