rue faith to victory. But keep our holy Russia uncontaminated by the
poison of that heretical spirit, which would be a worse foe than any
foreign power can be."

He sat down, and for a moment absolute silence reigned. The Grand Duke
made a serious face, and exchanged a few whispered words with both his
nephews.

Then he said: "All the gentlemen who have here given us their views on
the situation are agreed that a declaration of war upon England is
an exceedingly lamentable but, under the circumstances, unavoidable
necessity; yet before I communicate to His Majesty, our gracious
Lord, this view, which is that of us all, I put to you, gentlemen, the
question whether there is anyone here who is of a contrary opinion. In
this case, I would beg of him to address us."

He waited a short while, but as no one wished to be allowed to speak, he
rose from his chair, and with a few words of thanks and a gentle bow to
the dignitaries, who had also risen in their places, notified that
he regarded the sitting, fraught with momentous consequences for the
destiny of the world, as closed.

II

THE OFFICERS' MESS

The place was Chanidigot, in British East India. The blinding brightness
of the hot day had been immediately followed, almost without the
transition to twilight, by the darkness of evening, which brought with
it a refreshing coolness, allowing all living things to breathe again
freely. In the wide plain, which served as the encampment ground for the
English regiment of lancers, all was alive again with the setting of
the sun. The soldiers, freed from the toil of duty, enjoyed themselves,
according to their ideas and dispositions, either in playing cards,
singing, or merrily drinking. The large tent, used as a messroom by the
officers, also showed signs of life. Dinner was over, and a number of
gentlemen sat down to a game of cards, as was their daily custom. But
here the amusement was of a less harmless character than in the case of
the private soldiers. For not innocent bridge, but "poker" was the order
of the day, a game much affected in America and also in some parts of
England, a game which is solely determined by chance together with a
certain histrionic bluffing on the part of the players, and the stakes
were rather high. It was mostly played by the younger gentlemen, who
could not do without their nerve-tonic in the evenings, in the monotony
of camp life. The older men sat apart at tables, talking and drink