e conspiracy, but as yet had no idea of
its true depth.

It was not until a week later, when one night the Minister of War called
upon the monk, and in my presence they discussed the Svetchine affair.

"You did well, General," declared Rasputin, with an evil smile. "What has
really happened in Vilna?"

"Well, the woman Isembourg, though she was a spy of Germany, is now on
our side in the contra-espionage service," was his reply. "From the first
she assured me that the colonel was extremely honest and patriotic.
Though before the war she had several times tried to induce him to give
her military information, yet he always declined and endeavoured to avoid
her."

"Well, that difficulty can be overcome, surely?" asked the monk.

General Soukhomlinoff, a traitor himself, laughed lightly as he replied:

"Of course. There were other means. Elise, three days ago, handed over to
me a typewritten document revealing the secrets of the defences of
Grodno, which she reported had been given to her by Colonel Svetchine in
return for a promise of ten thousand roubles when she could obtain the
money from a secret source in Petrograd."

"Then he is a traitor!" exclaimed the monk eagerly.

The general winked, and replied: "Elise Isembourg declares that he is,
and that he gave her the document."

"He, of course, denies it?"

"He knows nothing as yet," said His Excellency. "I have issued orders for
his arrest to-day, and have given instructions for the court martial to
be held here, in Petrograd."

The evil monk laughed gleefully.

"Ah! I see," he remarked. "And probably the colonel has never yet seen
this typewritten document?"

"Probably," replied the Minister of War, with a mysterious smile. "There
have been such cases. I have fixed the court martial for next Thursday,
and I assure you it will be difficult for the colonel to prove his
innocence!"

From that conversation I gathered the diabolical nature of Rasputin's
plot against a perfectly innocent man, as revenge for his wife's insults.

Next day we were called to the palace, for the Empress was sorely worried
over the health of the Tsarevitch, and she implored the holy Father to
pray for him, little dreaming that the ever-recurring attacks were due to
the subtle poison administered in secret by her most trusted favourite,
Madame Vyrubova. For several days we remained at the palace, while
Rasputin performed one of his "miracles," namely, the restoration of the
lad t