eriousness of the situation. Nevertheless he did nothing. Of the many
personal pictures of the czar which have been painted by those who
have known him personally one stands out predominantly: a little man
with a weak face, twirling his mustache with one hand and alternately
looking out of the window or fixing the speaker with a semi-vacant
stare.

Nicholas stood so when Alexiev explained to him the situation in the
capital and then pleaded with him to grasp his last opportunity. But
this last opportunity he allowed to slip by. Undoubtedly he could then
have saved himself. Had he been a man of broad intelligence he might
have come forward and averted the rising storm by granting even less
than the autocracy of Germany has conceded to the German masses. Thus
he might have emerged more firmly fixed in his high position than ever
before. There are those who assert that Nicholas is mentally
defective. Certainly the facts bear them out.

Finally there came an urgent appeal from his wife to return to
Tsarskoe Selo, and this, a purely domestic matter, he understood.
Together with his suite he started on a train, his escort under the
command of General Tsabel. All had been drinking heavily, and when
finally the news of the uprising came through in full detail, they
were all inclined to minimize the importance of what had happened. On
the morning of the 14th General Voyeykov briefly summarized the
situation to the czar, then added that General Ivanov, the one
commander at the front who still remained faithful to the autocracy,
was advancing on Petrograd with a regiment of picked men and he would
soon restore order. General Tsabel overheard this conversation. He
thereupon showed a telegram which he had just received from Petrograd
in which he was ordered to bring the czar's train direct to the city
instead of to Tsarskoe Selo.

"How dare they give such orders!" demanded Nicholas.

"This order," replied General Tsabel, "is backed by sixty thousand
officers and soldiers, who have gone over to the revolutionists."

Nicholas was now finally impressed by actual fact.

"Very well," he said, suddenly, "if it must be so, it must. I will go
to my estate in Livadia and spend the rest of my days among my
flowers."

But even that was not a final decision. On approaching Petrograd and
Tsarskoe Selo the news came through that the garrison at the latter
place had gone over to the revolutionists. The czar now insisted that
he would go t