's true,--it's true; oh, thank God for all His mercies! The end is in
sight, Maurice; the new era is beginning--has begun. The Tzar has
yielded; he has issued the manifesto, granting all demands--"

I stood staring at her, stricken dumb, not by the news she told, but by
her unearthly beauty. The face that was so worn with all the toil and
conflict and anxiety of these strenuous days and weeks was transfigured;
and above it her red-gold hair shone like a crown of glory.

I know what was in her mind at that moment,--the thought that all had
not been in vain, that the long struggle was almost ended, victory in
sight; with freedom for the oppressed, cessation of bloodshed, a gradual
return to law and order, the patient building up of a new civilization.
Had I not heard her and Loris speak in that strain many times, the last
only a few hours back, when the reassuring rumors began to strengthen?

"They were dreamers, dreaming greatly!"

For a few seconds only did I stand gazing at her, for the mob was upon
us. It jostled us apart, swept us along with it, and, as I fought my way
to rejoin her--she and Natalya still supported the woman whose little
son had just been killed--a quick revulsion of feeling came over me, and
with it a queer premonition of imminent evil.

The mob was so horrible; made up for the most part of the scum of
Warsaw, reeking with vodka, drunk with liquor and excitement.

Pah! They were not fit for the freedom they clamored for, and yet it was
for them and for others like them, that she toiled and plotted in peril
of her life!

Before I could win to her side, a warning cry arose ahead, followed
instantly by the crackle of rifle fire, the _phut_ of revolver shots,
yells, shrieks, an infernal din. A squadron of Cossacks was charging the
crowd from the front, and as it surged back, the same hellish sounds
broke from the rear. More soldiers were following, the mob was between
two fires,--trapped.

Gasping, bleeding, I struggled against the rush, striving to make my way
back to where I could see the gleam of Anne's golden hair, close against
the wall. I guessed that, with her usual resource, she had drawn her
companions aside when the turmoil began, and they had their backs to the
wall of one of the houses.

The soldiers were right among the mob now, and it was breaking into
groups, each eddying round one or more of the horsemen, who had as much
as they could do to hold their own with whip and sabre. It