thers, "If there are any of you who fear to remain with me,
you may go. I cannot believe that they will come to Zukovo Castle, but
we will close the gate to the courtyard at once. I will talk with them
from the terrace wall."_

_"Master! Highness!" broke in the Huntsman violently, "you do not
understand. You cannot stay here. They are mad. They will kill you. It
is for that they come----"_

_"Nevertheless--I mean to stay----"_

_"It is death----"_

_"Go thou, then, and Vasili, and Ivan. For before they burn Zukovo, I
mean to talk with them----"_

_"It is madness----!"_

_"Come, Highness," broke in Leo Garshin, the head-groom, eagerly, "I
will put the saddle upon Vera, and you can go out of the iron gate from
the stable-yard into the forest. Nothing can catch you and you can reach
the river----"_

_"No, Leo----" put in the Grand Duke kindly. "I shall stay."_

_The servants glanced at one another, appalled at the Master's attitude.
Some of them, had already disappeared into the Castle but others, less
timorous, had already rushed to close the courtyard gate._

_"You say they are many, Friend Rylov?" he asked again._

_"As the hairs of your head, Master--from Ivanovna,
Jaroslav--everywhere--and women, Highness, more terrible than the
men----"_

_"And the leaders----?"_

_"Dmitri Sidorov of the Zemstvo and Michael Kositzin and Anton Lensky.
See, yonder! Where the road turns from the clearing--they come!"_

_The keen eyes of Boris saw further through the forest than those of
most men but in a moment those of the Grand Duke Peter confirmed him.
Figures were moving in the twilight, along the roads and bypaths._

_To Peter Nicholaevitch they seemed like a great river which had flooded
over its banks seeking new levels. Behind them the flames from the
wooden hunting lodge roared upward painting a lurid sky. He saw that the
flood came rapidly, and above the roar of the flames came the sound of
voices singing the Russian version of the "Marseillaise." The Grand Duke
stood at the terrace wall watching their approach. He knew that if they
meant to attack the Castle the gate could not hold long, but he had hope
that he might still be able to prevail upon them to listen to him. In a
moment they saw him and began running forward toward the courtyard gate.
He recognized individuals now--Anton Lensky, Michael Kuprin, with his
head tied in a dirty handkerchief--and Conrad Grabar. The defection of
his old instructor in wo