e one.
That you, a youth and a foreigner, should have had the incredible levity
to act in the way you describe, and to assume the disguise of a person
absolutely unknown to you, upon the persuasion of a woman also
absolutely unknown to you, well-nigh passes belief. Had you been older
you would at once have been sent to the frontier; but as it is, the
Czar, to whom the case has been specially submitted, has graciously
allowed you to continue your residence here, the testimony being
unanimous as to your father's position as a merchant, and to the
prudence of his behaviour while resident here. But I warn you, Godfrey
Bullen, that escapades of this kind, which may be harmless in England,
are very serious matters here. Ignorantly, I admit, but none the less
certainly, you have aided in the escape of a malefactor of the worst
kind; and but for the proofs that have been afforded us that you were a
mere dupe, the consequences would have been most serious to you, and
even the fact of your being a foreigner would not have sufficed to save
you from the hands of justice. You are now free to depart; but let this
be a lesson to you, and a most serious one, never again to mix yourself
up in any way with persons of whose antecedents you are ignorant, and in
future to conduct yourself in all respects wisely and prudently."

"It will certainly be a lesson to me, sir. I am heartily sorry that I
was so foolish as to allow myself to be mixed up in such an affair, and
think I can promise you that henceforth there will be no fault to be
found in my conduct."

In the ante-room Godfrey's watch, money, and the other contents of his
pocket were restored to him. A carriage was in waiting for him at the
outer door, and he was driven rapidly to the house of the merchant.

"This is a nice scrape into which you have got yourself, Godfrey," Ivan
Petrovytch said as he entered. "It is lucky for you that you are not a
Russian. But how on earth have you got mixed up in a plot? We know
nothing about it beyond the fact that you had been arrested, for,
although a thousand questions were asked me about you, nothing was said
to me as to the charge brought against you. We have been in the greatest
anxiety about you. All sorts of rumours were current in the city as to
the discovery of a plot to assassinate one of the grand-dukes at the
Opera-house, and there are rumours that explosive bombs had been
discovered in one of the boxes. It is said that the police had