350 BY ORDER OF THE CZAR.
has accepted at the hands of Andrea Ferrari the oath of secrecy; but not the oath of comradeship, which would entitle him to our pass-words and to share the glories and dangers of our cause. Brothers," she said, rising, " this young man has none of the motives that \ve have for the labors and dangers we have undertaken. He was born in Moscow, it is true, and in his early youth saw our brother and sister exiles of the past go forth upon their fatal jour- neying to Siberia. He has a sensitive and generous nature ; the memory of those things has sunk deep into his heart ; but he is young. His mother is a widow ; a patriot, a devoted friend of all exiles. It is his misfortune to have fallen in love with your humble companion."
The smile that for a moment illuminated the face of Ivan Kostanzhoglo vanished at a glance from Ferrari ; and Anna Klosstock continued to speak as if she were alone, unconscious of the men who sat around her.
" It is not necessary for me to say to what extent I have returned his strange devotion."
" Not very strange," whispered one of the unnamed to his neighbor, " if a lovely face and figure have anything to do with inspiring love."
" But," she continued, " I am unwilling that for my sake this young English gentleman shall further jeopardize his position and his liberty. He professes to be under the spell of our great cause, to desire no other life than one that shall be devoted to it, in memory of his young life in Moscow, and that he may be at least my comrade. He only knows me as the Countess Stravensky. To him Anna Klosstock is nothing. Her life, her love, her miseries, her motives for revenge, her part in our great victory of Venice are to him an entire blank. While re- porting, as one of our secret brotherhood, to this meeting, I desire to convey to him the particulars of my career, that they may disenchant him and show him the abyss
