rincess, Jean?" I asked.

"You have been very good to me, Mr. Derrington, and I ought to deny you
nothing. Still I hope you will not ask me to tell you anything
concerning the woman I was foolish enough to love so madly."

"I honor you for that expression, Jean, and I will ask you only one
question. You can reply to it readily enough. Do you love her still,
and well enough, so that you wish her every happiness? So well that you
cherish no ill will against her for what she did to you?"

"I would give up my liberty, now, to be assured that she might always
be happy; yes, even to know that she has broken with the nihilists; for
sooner or later they would lead her to Siberia. Will you answer one
question for me, Mr. Derrington?"

"Willingly."

"Has she been arrested?" He did not appreciate the confession involved
in his question.

"No; and she will not be. She has also broken with the nihilists. And,
Moret, I wish you to know that I honor you for not telling me her name.
I know to whom you refer."

He was silent a moment, until with some confusion in his manner, he
said:

"I would like to shake hands with you, Mr. Derrington. You are a good
man, and in whatever country Jean Moret finds a home, there you will
always find a friend of yours."

We had some other conversation, and then I gave him his passports,
together with sufficient money for his needs. I personally conducted
him from the place of imprisonment, and we finally parted in the
street. That was the last I ever saw of Jean Moret, but whatever his
ultimate fate, I knew him to be a man of sterling qualities.

From there I made my way to the office of my friend Canfield, where it
was arranged that I should receive the reports of my men, and there,
closeted with Canfield, I remained until daylight. Messengers were
coming and going constantly, and I knew long before dawn that every
plan that I had laid had worked out just as I intended it should. I
knew that when the sun rose, there would not be a half dozen real
nihilists at liberty in St. Petersburg, and that the order would be
paralyzed and broken throughout the empire. To just one portion of the
night's work, I paid particular personal attention, and that was to the
arrest and disposition of those who knew Zara and Ivan, personally, and
who were aware of her condemnation to death by the order. Many of those
who were arrested that night, were sent to Siberia for life, and
others, for long terms of impris