f chap, more or less shrouded by a mystery you could
not fathom. And you were right."

"I have never----" I began. But he raised a hand to arrest me.

"I know it," he said. "You do not need to assure me of that. You are
too much of a man, and your character is too broad and deep, for you
ever to attempt an intimacy which was not invited. But it is my
pleasure just now, old man, to give you a little bit of my history. It
may interest you. And it may lead to a change in your views; not
regarding you, but in connection with myself. I am a much older man
than you are; fifteen years and more, I should say. All my life, up to
the time we last parted, has been passed in the personal service of his
majesty, the czar. I have been as close to him as any man can ever
obtain, and I am probably the only one who has enjoyed his confidence
to the extent of retaining it in the face of studied opposition on the
part of the greatest nobles of the empire. But I have retained it, Dan,
and to such an extent that I suppose myself to be the only man living
to-day, against whom Alexander would not permit himself to be
influenced. There is a reason for it and a good one, but I need not go
into that."

"No," I said. "You need not tell me this at all, Alexis. I am quite
glad enough to see you and to have you here, without explanation."

He made a gesture of impatience.

"As if I did not know that," he added; "but as I said a moment ago, it
is my pleasure to recite some of these things to you, because since I
came into this room and grasped your hand I have been impressed by the
idea that there is a great work for you to do; a great duty for you to
perform. A stupendous obstacle to human development exists in one part
of Europe to-day, which I believe you could overcome and demolish, if
only you could be convinced of it. I wonder, Dan, if you would give the
subject any thought if I were to suggest it to you?"

"Try," I said.

"I wonder if you would seriously consider one of the greatest
achievements that remains undone in Europe to-day," he added,
meditatively.

"The obstacle to which you just now referred?" I asked.

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"Nihilism."

"Hell!" I replied with emphasis.

But he took me literally, and not even the suggestion of a smile showed
in his face as he replied:

"That is the fitting word, Dan. It is hell. It is worse than that to
hundreds of thousands of human beings, from the lowest _mujik__ of the
stepp