CHAPTER IX.
THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS.
On the 6th of March 1904, just six months after Arnold's journey toRussia, a special meeting of the Inner Circle of the Terrorists tookplace in the Council-chamber, at the house on Clapham Common.
Although it was only attended by twelve persons all told, and thosemen and women whose names were unknown outside the circle of theirown Society and the records of the Russian police, it was the mostmomentous conference that had taken place in the history of the worldsince the council of war that Abdurrhaman the Moslem had held withhis chieftains eleven hundred and seventy-two years before, and, bytaking their advice, spared the remnants of Christendom from thesword of Islam.
Then the fate of the world hung in the balance of a council of war,and the supremacy of the Cross or the Crescent depended, humanlyspeaking, upon the decision of a dozen warriors. Now the fate of thecivilisation that was made possible by that decision, lay at themercy of a handful of outlaws and exiles who had laboriously broughtto perfection the secret schemes of a single man.
The work of the Terrorists was finally complete. Under the wholefabric of Society lay the mines which a single spark would nowexplode, and above this slumbering volcano the earth was tremblingwith the tread of millions of armed men, divided into huge hostilecamps, and only waiting until Diplomacy had finished its work in thedark, and gave the long-awaited signal of inevitable and universalwar.
To-night that spark was to be shaken from the torch of Revolution,and to-morrow the first of the mines would explode. After that, ifthe course to be determined on by the Terrorist Council failed toarrive at the results which it was designed to reach, the armies ofEurope would fight their way through the greatest war that the worldhad ever seen, the Fates would once more decide in favour of thestrongest battalions, the fittest would triumph, and a new era ofmilitary despotism would begin--perhaps neither much better nor muchworse than the one it would succeed.
If, on the other hand, the plans of the Terrorists were successfullyworked out to their logical conclusion, it would not be war only, bututter destruction that Society would have to face. And then withdissolution would come anarchy. The thrones of the world would beoverthrown, the fabric of Society would be dissolved, commerce wouldcome to an end, the structure that it had taken twenty centuries ofthe discipline of war and the patient toil of peace to build up,would crumble into ruins in a few short months, and then--well, afterthat no man could tell what would befall the remains of the humanrace that had survived the deluge. The means of destruction were athand, and they would be used without mercy, but for the rest no mancould speak.
When Nicholas Roburoff, the President of the Executive, rose in hisplace at eight o'clock to explain the business in hand, every memberpresent saw at a glance, by the gravity of his demeanour, that thecommunication that he had to make was of no ordinary nature, but eventhey were not prepared for the catastrophe that he announced in thefirst sentence that he uttered.
"Friends," he said, in a voice that was rendered deeply impressive bythe emotion that he vainly tried to conceal, "it is my mournful dutyto tell you that she whom any one of us would willingly shed ourblood to serve or save from the slightest evil, our beautiful andbeloved Angel of the Revolution, as we so fondly call her, Natasha,the daughter of the Master, has, in the performance of her duty tothe Cause, fallen into the hands of Russia."
Save for a low, murmuring groan that ran round the table, the newswas received in silence. It was too terrible, too hideous in theawful meaning that its few words conveyed, for any exclamations ofgrief, or any outburst of anger, to express the emotions that itraised.
Not one of those who heard it but had good reason to know what itmeant for a revolutionist to fall into the hands of Russia. For a manit meant the last extremity of human misery that flesh and bloodcould bear, but for a young and beautiful woman it was a fate that nowords could describe--a doom that could only be thought of in silenceand despair; and so the friends of Natasha were silent, though theydid not yet despair. Roburoff bowed his head in acknowledgment of theinarticulate but eloquent endorsement of his words, and went on--
"You already know the outcome of Richard Arnold's visit to Russia;how he was present at the trial of the Tsar's war-balloon, and wascompelled to pronounce it such a complete success, that the Autocratat once gave orders for the construction of a fleet of fiftyaerostats of the same pattern; and how, thanks to the warningconveyed by Anna Ornovski, he was able to prevent his specialpassport being stolen by a police agent, and so to foil the designsof the chief of the Third Section to stop him taking the secret ofthe construction of the war-balloon out of Russia. You also know thathe brought back the Chief's authority to build an air-ship after themodel which was exhibited to us here, and that since his return hehas been prosecuting that work on Drumcraig Island, one of thepossessions of the Chief in the Outer Hebrides, which he placed athis disposal for the purpose.
"You know, also, that Natasha and Anna Ornovski went to Russia partlyto discover the terms of the secret treaty that we believed to existbetween France and Russia, and partly to warn, and, if possible,remove from Russian soil a large number of our most valuable allies,whose names had been revealed to the Minister of the Interior,chiefly through the agency of the spy Martinov, who was executed inthis room six months ago.
"The first part of the task was achieved, not without difficulty, butwith complete success, and of that more anon. The second part wasalmost finished when Natasha and Anna Ornovski were surprised in thehouse of Alexei Kassatkin, a member of the Moscow Nihilist Circle, inthe Bolshoi Dmitrietka. He had been betrayed by one of his ownservants, and a police visit was the result.
"Added to this there is reason to believe that she had, quite apartfrom this, become acquainted with enough official secrets to make herremoval desirable in high quarters. I need not tell you that that isthe usual way in which the Tsar rewards those of his secret servantswho get to know too much.
"The fact of her being found in the house of a betrayed Nihilist wastaken as sufficient proof of sympathy or complicity, and she wasarrested. Natasha, as Fedora Darrel, claimed to be a British subject,and, as such, to be allowed to go free in virtue of the Tsar's safeconduct, which she exhibited. Instead of that she was taken beforethe chief of the Moscow police, rudely interrogated, and thenbrutally searched. Unhappily, in the bosom of her dress was found apiece of paper bearing some of the new police cypher. That wasenough. That night they were thrown into prison, and three days latertaken to the convict depot under sentence of exile by administrativeprocess to Sakhalin for life.
"You know what that means for a beautiful woman like Natasha. Shewill not go to Sakhalin. They do not bury beauty like hers in such anabode of desolation as that. If she cannot be rescued, she will onlyhave two alternatives before her. She will become the slave andplaything of some brutal governor or commandant at one of thestations, or else she will kill herself. Of course, of these two shewould choose the latter--if she could and when she could. Should shebe driven to that last resort of despair, she shall be avenged aswoman never yet was avenged; but rescue must, if possible, comebefore revenge.
"The information that we have received from the Moscow agent tells usthat the convict train to which Natasha and Anna Ornovski areattached left the depot nearly a fortnight ago; they were to be takenby train in the usual way to Nizhni Novgorod, thence by barge on theVolga and Kama to Perm, and on by rail to Tiumen, the forwardingstation for the east. Until they reach Tiumen they will be safe fromanything worse than what the Russians are pleased to call'discipline,' but once they disappear into the wilderness of Siberiathey will be lost to the world, and far from all law but the will oftheir official slave-drivers.
"It has, therefore, been decided that the rescue shall be attemptedbefore the chain-gang leaves Tiumen, if it can be reached in time. Asnearly as we can calculate, the march will begin on the morning ofFriday the 9th, that is to say, in three nights and one day from now.Happily we possess the means
of making the rescue, if it can beaccomplished by human means. I have received a report from RichardArnold saying that the _Ariel_ is complete, and that she has made aperfectly satisfactory trial trip to the clouds. The _Ariel_ is theonly vehicle in existence that could possibly reach the frontier ofSiberia in the given time, and it is fitting that her first dutyshould be the rescue of the Angel of the Revolution from the clutchesof the Tyrant of the North.
"Alexis Mazanoff, it is the will of the Master that you shall takethese instructions to Richard Arnold and accompany him on the voyagein order to show him what course to steer, and assist him in everyway possible. You will find the Chief's yacht at Port Patrick readyto convey you to Drumcraig Island. When you have heard what isfurther necessary for you to hear, you will take the midnight expressfrom Euston. Have you any preparations to make?"
"No," replied Mazanoff, or Colston, to call him by a name morefamiliar to the reader. "I can start in half an hour if necessary,and on such an errand you may, of course, depend on me not to losemuch time. I presume there are full instructions here?"
"Yes, both for the rescue and for your conduct afterwards, whetheryou are successful or unsuccessful," said the President. Then turningto the others he continued--
"You may now rest assured that all that can be done to rescue Natashawill be done, and we must therefore turn to other matters. I said ashort time ago that the conditions of the secret treaty betweenFrance and Russia had been discovered by the two brave women who arenow suffering for their devotion to the cause of the Revolution. Afull copy of them is in the hands of the Chief, who arrives in Londonto-day, and will at once lay the documents before Mr. Balfour, thePremier.
"It is extremely hostile to England, and amounts, in fact, to acompact on the part of France to declare war and seize the SuezCanal, as soon as the first shot is fired between Great Britain andRussia. In return for this, Russia is to invade Germany and Austria,destroy the eastern frontier fortresses with her fleet ofwar-balloons, and then cross over and do the same on the Rhine, whileFrance at last throws herself upon her ancient foe.
"Meanwhile, the French fleet is to concentrate in the Mediterraneanas quietly and rapidly as possible, before war actually breaks out,so as to be able to hold the British and Italians in check, and shutthe Suez Canal, while Russia, who is pushing her troops forward tothe Hindu Kush, gets ready for a dash at the passes, and a rush uponCashmere, before Britain can get sufficient men out to India by theCape to give her very much trouble.
"As there also exists a secret compact between Britain and the TripleAlliance, binding all four powers to declare war the moment one isthreatened, the disclosure of this treaty must infallibly lead to warin a few weeks. In addition to this, measures have been taken todetach Italy from the Triple Alliance at the last moment, ifpossible. Success in this respect is, however, somewhat uncertain.
"To make assurance doubly sure, the Chief informs me that he hasordered Ivan Brassoff, who is in command of a large reconnoitringparty on the Afghan side of the Hindu Kush, to provoke reprisals froma similar party of Indian troops who have been told off to watchtheir movements. Captain Brassoff is one of us, and can be dependedupon to obey at all costs. He will do this in a fortnight from now,and therefore we may feel confident that Great Britain and Russiawill be at war within a month.
"With the first outbreak of war our work for the present ceases, sofar as active interference goes. We shall therefore withdraw from thescene of action until the arrival of the supreme moment when thenations of Europe shall be locked in the death-struggle, and the fateof the world will rest in our hands. The will of the Master now isthat all the members of the Brotherhood shall at once wind up theirbusinesses, and turn all of their possessions that are not portableand useful into money.
"A large steamer has been purchased and manned with members of theOuter Circle who are sailors by profession. She is now being loadedat Liverpool with all the machinery and materials necessary for theconstruction of twelve air-ships like the _Ariel_. This steamer, whenready for sea, will sail, ostensibly, for Rio de Janeiro with a cargoof machinery, but in reality for Drumcraig, where she will embark theworkmen who will be left there by the _Ariel_ with all the workingplant on the island, and from there she will proceed to a lonelyisland off the West Coast of Africa, between Cape Blanco and CapeVerde, where new works will be set up and the fleet of air-ships puttogether as rapidly as possible.
"The position of this island is in the instructions which AlexisMazanoff takes to Drumcraig to-night, and the _Ariel_ will rendezvousthere when the work that is in hand for her is done. The members ofthe Brotherhood will, of course, go in the steamer as passengers forRio, so that no suspicions may be aroused, and every one must beready to embark in ten days from now.
"That is all I have to say at present in the name of the Master. Andnow, Alexis Mazanoff, it is time you set out. We shall remain hereand discuss every detail fully so that nothing may be overlooked. Youwill find that everything has been provided for in the instructionsyou have, so go, and may the Master of Destiny be with you!"
As he spoke he held out his hand, which the young man graspedheartily, saying--
"Farewell! I will obey to the death, and if success can be earned wewill earn it. If not, you shall hear of the _Ariel's_ work in Russiabefore the week is out."
He then took leave of the other members of the Council, coming lastto Radna. As their hands clasped she said--
"I wish I could come with you, but that is impossible. But bringNatasha back to us safe and sound, and there is nothing that you canask of me that I will not say 'yes' to. Go, and God speed your goodwork. Farewell!"
For all answer he took her in his arms before them all. Their lipsmet in one long silent kiss, and a moment later he had gone to strikethe first blow in the coming world-war, and to bring the beginning ofsorrows on the Tyrant of the North.
The Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror Page 10