se in which Catharine then was. Once there,
every possible care was bestowed upon him. By degrees he recovered from
his lethargy, and looked around the room.

Catharine was sitting at his bedside. Suddenly she uttered a cry: she
had recognised the Polish lord Barezewski, her preserver and benefactor.

The Count recovered from his wounds, but he had only escaped one peril
to fall into another even more terrible; his name was on the list of
proscribed persons, and the mildest punishment for this in Russia means
degradation and exile to Siberia.

Catharine no sooner discovered the fresh misfortune impending over the
noble Pole than she determined to risk everything, and obtain an
audience of the Czar Nicholas, when, falling before him, she embraced
his knees, and with tears implored him to accord the pardon of her
generous protector, Barezewski.

Nicholas, much touched by her gratitude and her earnest entreaties on
behalf of the Polish lord, graciously granted his pardon.

Perhaps some of my readers may think Catharine need not have been so
frightened at what she had to do in seeking an interview with the
Emperor; but in our highly-favoured land we can scarcely enter into her
feelings, for in Russia the sovereign is all-powerful, and, especially
in past days, political offenders, or those taking their part in any
way, were punished with the greatest severity.

I will tell you what happened during the reign of the Empress Elizabeth
to the most beautiful and delicately nurtured lady at the court of
Russia, because, poor creature, she had the misfortune to offend her
imperial mistress. She was condemned to the _knout_, a fearful
instrument of punishment made of a strip of hide, which is whizzed
through the air by the hangman on the _bare_ back and neck of the
hapless victim, and each time it tears away a narrow strip of skin from
the neck along the back. These blows were repeated until the entire skin
of the lady's back hung in rags; then this woman's tongue was plucked
out by the roots, and she was at once sent off to Siberia.

What does 'sent to Siberia' imply? Worse, far, far worse than any
criminal, however vile and hardened, endures in our beloved country. We
frequently hear of persons being condemned to penal punishment for many
years, or even for life; but this is _absolutely nothing_ compared to
being exiled to Siberia, a place where the criminals of the Russian
empire, and persons suspected of intrigues, are o