nder.
And here an interesting bit of comedy was played. Marina, rather than go
back to meet ridicule in Poland, was ready to become the wife of this
vulgar impostor, though she saw at once that he was not the man he
claimed to be.

She met him coldly at first, but at a second meeting she greeted him
with a great show of tenderness before the whole army, being glad, it
would appear, to regain her old position on any terms. The news that
Marina had recognized the pretender brought over numbers to his side,
and soon nearly all Russia had declared for him, the only cities holding
out being Moscow, Novgorod, and Smolensk.

The false Dmitri had now reached the summit of his fortunes. A rapid
decline followed. One of his generals, who laid siege to the monastery
of the Trinity, near Moscow, was repulsed. His partisans were defeated
in other quarters. Soon the whole aspect of the war changed. A new enemy
to Russia came into the field, Sigismund, King of Poland, who laid siege
to the strong city of Smolensk, while the army of the czar, which
marched to its relief, suffered an annihilating defeat.

This result closed the reign of Shuiski. An insurrection broke out in
Moscow, he was forced to become a monk, and in the end was delivered to
Sigismund and died in prison. Thus was Dmitri avenged. The new
condition of affairs proved as disastrous to the false Dmitri. His Poles
deserted him, his power vanished, and he descended to the level of a
mere Cossack robber. In December, 1610, murder ended his career.

Smolensk fell after a siege of eighteen months, but at the last moment a
powder magazine exploded and set fire to the city, and Sigismund became
master only of a heap of ruins. The Poles in Moscow, attacked by the
Russians, took possession of the Kremlin, burned down most of the city,
and massacred a hundred thousand of the people. Anarchy was rampant
everywhere. New chiefs appeared in all quarters. Each town declared for
itself. The Swedes took possession of Novgorod. A third Dmitri appeared,
and dwelt in state for a while, but was soon taken and hanged. The whole
great empire was in a state of frightful confusion, and seemed as if it
was about to fall to pieces.

From this fate it was saved by one of the common people, a butcher of
Nijni Novgorod, Kozma Minin by name. Brave, honest, patriotic, and
sensible, this man aroused his fellow-citizens, who took up arms for the
deliverance of their country. Other towns followed this