s she
had received all these years from the noble Polish lord and his lady,
who had loaded her with constant benefits, and had in every respect
treated her as their own child.

In a few days Catharine's father had quite recovered from the effects of
his wound. His business required attention, and he was impatient to
restore his beloved child to her mother's arms, so father and daughter
bade adieu to the Polish Count and Countess, but not before assuring
them that their gratitude would never cease as long as they lived.

M. Somoff and his long-lost Catharine returned to Moscow, where they
were welcomed with surprise and joy by the delighted mother, who forgot
all her sorrows when once more embracing her child, who had been lost to
her for so many long years.

Very soon the young Russian's marvellous history became known. She was
asked in marriage by an officer holding high rank in the army, and in
due time she became his wife.

Ten years passed.

Great changes had taken place on the Continent of Europe. Poland had
proclaimed its independence, and Nicholas, the Emperor of all the
Russias, had an immense army in the field to repress the efforts of this
brave but most unfortunate nation.

The horrors that were perpetrated, and the sad issue of this too
unequal warfare, are well known.

Catharine's husband had taken part in this campaign, and she had
followed him to the camp.

We will not stop to describe the heartrending scenes connected with this
war, but merely inform the reader that Warsaw was taken by assault; and
in this is included a whole chapter of misery. On this fatal day many
thousand Poles as well as Russians lost their lives. In the course of
the evening after the battle, the superior officers of the triumphant
army went to inspect the scene of the late bloody combat, where heaps of
dead and dying were lying in confusion, for there might be seen the
victor and the vanquished side by side.

Moved by charity, touched with compassion for the fate of those to whom
fortune had been so unpropitious, Catharine's husband sent all who still
retained a breath of life to the hospitals and ambulances. He was just
on the point of leaving this desolate spot, when, casting his eye on a
heap of corpses being covered over with earth, he noticed a Polish
officer of high rank, decorated with numerous crosses and medals. He
thought he saw some signs of animation, so he had him removed, and
carefully conveyed to the hou