ar that Iwanof might
betray the secrets of the society, and he went one night with two fellow
conspirators and shot Iwanof and threw the corpse into a pond. The
police, in following up the murder, sought out Nechayeff, who had
already fled from Russia and was hurrying back to Bakounin in
Switzerland.

From January until July, 1870, he was constantly with Bakounin, but
quarrels began to arise between them in June, and Bakounin writes in a
letter to Ogaref: "Our _boy_ (Nechayeff) is very stubborn, and I, when
once I make a decision, am not accustomed to change it. Therefore, the
break with him, on my side at least seems inevitable."[30] In the middle
of July it was discovered that Nechayeff was once more carrying out the
ethics they had jointly evolved, and, in order to make Bakounin his
slave, had recourse to all sorts of "Jesuitical maneuvers, of lies and
of thefts." Suddenly he disappeared from Geneva, and Bakounin and other
Russians discovered that they had been robbed of all their papers and
confidential letters. Soon it was learned that Nechayeff had presented
himself to Talandier in London, and Bakounin hastened to write to his
friend an explanation of their relations. "It may appear strange to you
that we advise you to repulse a man to whom we gave letters of
recommendation, written in the most cordial terms. But these letters
date from the month of May, and there have happened since some events so
serious that they have forced us to break all connections with
Nechayeff." ... "It is perfectly true that Nechayeff is more persecuted
by the Russian Government than any other man.... It is also true that
Nechayeff is one of the most active and most energetic men that I have
ever met. When it is a question of serving what he calls _the_ cause, he
does not hesitate, he stops at nothing, and is as pitiless toward
himself as toward all others. That is the principal quality which
attracted me to him and which made me for a long time seek his
cooeperation. There are those who pretend that he is nothing but a
sharper, but that is a lie. He is a devoted fanatic, but at the same
time a dangerous fanatic, with whom an alliance could only prove very
disastrous for everyone concerned. This is the reason: He first belonged
to a secret society which, in reality, existed in Russia. This society
exists no more; all its members have been arrested. Nechayeff alone
remains, and alone he constitutes to-day what he calls the 'Committee.'