hink, Salmoros, you will agree with me?"
he asked.

Salmoros spoke in very decided tones. "In a question of this
importance, your Majesty must consent to take the advice of your
faithful friends and legal supporters." He had no very great opinion
of the Emperor's ability or capacity to deal with difficult
circumstances.

The Emperor's smile was more pronounced than before, as he tapped
Golitzine on the shoulder and extended a hand to the venerable
Salmoros.

He drew them aside, and spoke in a confidential whisper.

"My dear friends, I appreciate to the full your anxiety about me, and
I shall want your wholehearted assistance, which, I know, will be
given ungrudgingly to me. With regard to this little matter of
assassination, some ideas have come to me. Let me work them out my own
way, if you please."

Both men bowed in assent. There was no more to be said. When an
autocrat has delivered his fiat, argument on the part of even his most
trusted servants is useless.

"May your Majesty never live to regret your decision," murmured the
faithful Golitzine, in a low whisper.

The Emperor again gave him a reassuring pressure on the shoulder.

"My excellent Golitzine, and you, my good Salmoros, you can safely
leave this part of it to me. I have in my mind a little tragedy that
shall later turn into comedy. To-night, at the Winter Palace, you will
appreciate an Emperor's stratagem. You shall also witness, later on,
an Emperor's vengeance."

He paused, then extended a hand to each and spoke in the same
whispering tones. "You, Golitzine and Salmoros, will confer with the
two Generals. They have not the brains of either of you, but they are
good machines. You will take measures to have the soldiery and police
well posted in order to combat the revolution engineered by that
villain, Zouroff, and his friends. Corsini, I daresay, has still a few
more details to impart which will be useful. For the present, _au
revoir_."

Golitzine, after his Imperial Master's departure, spoke to Salmoros.

"What do you think of it all, Baron? Is he sure of himself? Has he got
an idea, of which he is so proud that he will not communicate it even
to us?"

Salmoros shook his white wise head slowly to and fro while he spoke
with his gentle, slightly ironical smile.

"My dear Golitzine, who can prophesy? Wisdom, we know, sometimes
proceeds out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. Perhaps it may, in
occasional moments, emanate from the bra