. He did not propose to remain there
long. He had it in view to join his army and defeat the Danes, his
present foes, with the less defined intention of gaining glory on some
great battle-field at the side of his victorious ally Frederick the
Great. The fleet with which Denmark was to be invaded was not ready to
sail, many of the crew being sick; but this little difficulty did not
deter the czar. He issued an imperial ukase ordering the sick sailors to
get well.

On going to his summer residence Peter had imprudently left Catharine at
St. Petersburg, taking his mistress in her stead. On the 29th his wife
received orders from him to go to Peterhof. Thither he meant to proceed
before setting out on his campaign. His feast-day came on the 10th of
July. On the morning of the 9th he set out with a large train of
followers for the palace of Peterhof, where the next day Catharine was
to give a grand dinner in his honor.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Peterhof was reached. To the
utter surprise of the czar, there were none but servants to meet him,
and they in a state of mortal terror.

"Where is the empress?" he demanded.

"Gone."

"Where?"

No one could tell him. She had simply gone,--where and why he was soon
to learn. As he waited and fumed, a peasant approached and handed him a
letter, which proved to be from Bressau, his former French valet. It
contained the astounding information that the empress had arrived in St.
Petersburg that morning and had been proclaimed _sole and absolute
sovereign of Russia_.

The tale was beyond his powers of belief. Like a madman he rushed
through the empty rooms, making them resound with vociferous demands for
his wife; looked in every corner and cupboard; rushed wildly through the
gardens, calling for Catharine again and again; while the crowd of
frightened courtiers followed in his steps. It was in vain; no voice
came in answer to his demand, no Catharine was to be found.

The story of what had actually happened is none too well known. It has
been told in more shapes than one. What we know is that there was a
conspiracy to place Catharine on the throne, that the leaders of the
troops had been tampered with, and that one of the conspirators, Captain
Passek, had just been arrested by order of the czar. It was this arrest
that precipitated the revolution. Fearing that all was discovered, the
plotters took the only available means to save themselves.

The arrest of Passe