THE NOVELIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 1989, 10 April 1890, Page 37

THE NOVELIST.

[NOW FIEST PUBLISHED.]

BY ORDER OF THE CZAR.

THE TRAGIC STORY OF ANNA KLOSSTOCK, THE QUEEN OF THE GHETTO.

By JOSEPH E ATT ON, Author of " Oruel London," " The Three Recruits," " John Needham'a Double," &o.

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

PART IV.

Chapter I.

Die Countess Tells her Story to the Brotherhood and Philip. HE foreign quarter of London with which the public is supposed to be most familiar is in truth the leaat known of the , many, mysterious districts of ■ the great metropolis. ■ f Soho, in its own peculiar way, possesses as many strange ramifications as the black circle

of Whitechapel, which environs the tragic footsteps of the most terrible of modern assassins. The police have the key to many of the retreats in which political exiles and foreign conspirators meet to hold

friendly intercourse, and to hatch plots of social regeneration and personal vengeance. But Scotland Yard has no special reason for interfering with the meetings of these Continental outcasts, so long as they do not offend the English laws. The liberty of the subject in these islands covers the stranger as well as the native. To plot against the life of potentate, statesman, or private citizen, however, of this or any other country would, of course, bring conspirators under legal restraint ; but it is not the business of the London police to act the part of spies upon political exiles ; and who is to interpret the secret thoughts of the solemn mysterious men and women who live quiet lives in the regions of Soho, or report to the police the spoken words of their private gatherings ? England, America, and Switzerland have for many years been the plotting grounds of Nihilists and Social Democrats.

If it were possible to separate the patriot, whose faith and hopes are satisfied by a wholeEome agitation from the patriot whose bitter political programme is one of dagger, dynamite, and violent social upheaval, the Government would no doubt be ready to draw a hard and fast line on the ; side of pacific operations as against the violence of revolution. But liberty is compelled to allow a large margin for license, and it is better that an occasional culprit, who might deserve death or life-long imprisonment, should receive the protection of our shores rather than an unchecked despotism should work its will upon the high-minded agitator, whose only crime is a national enthusiasm for the regeneration of his country.

And so it comes about that London is the sanctuary of the political exile, not being actually a proved murderer liable to extradition ; though it must be confessed that Soho has sheltered many a conspirator who has been associated with attacks on authority entitled to condemnation as outside the pale of mere political conspiracy. Of such was more than one of the persons met together, some two weeks after the Venetian fetes, at the Parisian Cabaret, in a certain cul de sac known as Thomas' alley, within a stone's throw of Dean street.

The Parisian Cabaret was a small, unpretentious cafe, at the extreme end of Thomas' alley ; smuggled away in one corner of it, as if it had been built into an unintentional architectural vacancy — an after-thought in the higgledy-piggledy plan of the original builders. The lower part of the house was occupied with a large bow window and a quaint doorway, with an over-decoration in the centre of which was a date indicating that the architecture belonged to the picturesque period before the age of stucco and iron. The upper stories were curiously gabled ; and the quaint windows, glazed in much smaller squares than is usual in these days, were prettily decorated with French blinds neatly tied back with coloured ribbons. The place had a singularly clean look ; and the principal, and, indeed, only saloon for eating, drinking, and dominoes had a white sanded floor and white painted panelling that where pleasantly characteristic. The Parisian Cabaret .was, indeed, much cleaner and far more agreeable to look upon than most of its customers, one or two of whom lived on the premises: notably, Ivan Kostanzhoglo, who was a moving spirit of that brotherhood in which Anna Klosstock had been enrolled as one of the two women who had been considered worthy of its confidence.

Ivan Kostanzhoglo had been for some time stationed in London as a controlling agent of certain movements that had been made more or less in combination with other sections of the Young Russian party; but, under orders, he was about to run the risk of reappearing in St. Petersburg, when a rendezvous had been settled for himself, Paul Petroski, Anna Kloestock, Andrea Ferrati, and other earnest confederates.

The startling incident of the far-reaching power of Nihilistic vengeance at Venice, while it had stiffened the surveillanoe of the Russian police at all the ports of entry into Russia, and led to numerous arrests in the interior, had exercised a tremendous revivifying influence on the widespread conspiracy which aimed at the overthrow of the Imperial power, The guides and chiefs of the party of action believed in following up the assassination of Petronovitch with a striking dramatic demonstration at headquarters.

It was in connection with this so-called patriotio action of the Young Russian party that the private doors of the small underground apartment, which was rented by Ivan Kostanzhoglo, were opened to receive company some two weeks after the Ghost of the Lagoons had startled Venice from its customary repose. Sitting at a round table, lighted with a lamp, were our friends Ferrari, in his shirtsleeves, a loose light coat hanging over his chair (it was a very hot night) ; Anna Klosstook, in a simple, sober black gown, without collar or cuffs, her hair gathered up beneath a black bonnet ; Paul Petroski, of Moscow, who had kept his faith at the little hotel on the quay at Venice, and also at the Fazio Palace; Ivan Kostanzhoglo, a swarthy, thick-set Muscovite, attired in semi-fashion-able French garments; and three other 3 whom it is unnecessary to name. " I olaim," said Anna Klosstook, " the right to acquaint him with my history in your presence, before the final oath is administered to him."

" Madame knows best," said Ivan, who sat opposite to her, quietly rolling cigarettes and smoking them, as if to do so was the one chief duty in life.

" We know Madame's history," said Paul. •' Why repeat it in our presence 1 "

" Have our friends," asked Anna, turning to Ferrari and then glancing at the three persons unnamed, "been made acquainted with our victory at Venice 7 "

" We only know," said one of them, " that Petronovitch, our bitterest foe, has fallen before the triumphant onslaught of the brotherhood."

" It will give encouragement to your hopes and strength to your arm to hear that recital, I count it a part of my duty to record unto you an account of my stewardship, and that of our brethren, Ferrari and Petroski."

"We shall thank you for the revelation," said one.

" It is no doubt our due to know it," said the other. 11 And there is nothing so inspiriting as a

general's own story of his victory," said the" third. " In a few minutes," said Anna Kloßstock, "there will arrive for admission to the brotherhood a young Bnglish gentleman who is devoted to me and my poor fortunes. He has accepted, at the hands of Andrea Ferrari, tlje oath of seorec3% but not the oath of comradeship, which would entitle him to our pass-words and to share the glories and dangers of our cause. Brothers," she said, rising, " this young man has none of the motives that we have for the labours and dangers we have undertaken. He was born in Moscow, it is true, and in his early youth saw our brother and sister exiles of the past go forth upon their fatal journey ings to Siberia. He has a sensitive and generous nature-; the memory of those things has sunk deep into his heart ; but he is young. His mother is a widow; a patriot, a devoted friend of all exiles. It is his misfortune to have fallen in love with your humble companion." The smile that for a moment illuminated the face of Ivan Kostanzhoglo vanished at a glance from Ferrari ; and Anna Klosstock continued to speak as if she were alone, unconscious ofthe men who sat around her.

" It is not necessary for me to say to what extent I have returned his strange devotion."

" Not very strange," whispered one o f the unnamed to his neighbour, "if a lovely face and figure have anything to do with inspiring love."

" But," she continued, " I am unwilling that- for my sake this young English gentleman shall further jeopardise his position and his liberty. He professes to be under the spell of our great cause, to desire no other life than one that shall be devoted to it, in memory of his young life in Moscow, and that he may be at least my comrade. He only knows me as "the Countess Stravensky. To him Anna Klosstock is nothing. Her life, her love, her miseries, her motives for revenge, her part in our great victory o£ Venice are to him an entire blank. While reporting, as one of our secret brotherhood, to this meeting, I desire to convey to him the particulars of my career, that they may disenchant him and show him the abyss upon which he stands. Should he then persist in throwing in his lot with ours, I ask you to accept him."

As she sat down there was a murmur of dissent, question, and admiration ; and the entire brotherhood for a few moments seemed all to be talking at once, but not much above a whisper. Presently Ferrari was heard alone. " To me, Madame's wish," he said, "is law. Throughout all our operations, in every instance of peril, Madame has never made a mistake. I have to this young man administered the first oath of secrecy. I believe him worthy, and capable of being one of us. My vote is for Madame." "And mine,'" said Ivan Kostanzhoglo ; though it is a dangerous element, the admission of a sentiment beyond patriotism." "But love," said Taul Petroski, "is a power that has helped us often, and in many straits."

" And we agree," said one of the three unnamed, " that it is to the frank, open statement of Madame that we should not oppose her judgment in this, when it has always been true."

" Qo, then," said Anna to Ivan Kostanzhoglo. "In the saloon you will find our visitor. He will be sitting at the table in the right hand corner, by th 6 pillar near the fireplace. He is young, dark, handsome. You cannot mistake him. His drets, a shabby disguise ; yet you cannot fail to see through it the features, the figure of a gentleman."

Ivan rolled another cigarette, and left the room through its double doorway, which was guarded until his return by Ferrari. It was not altogether an uncomfortable apartment, though it lacked ventilation, which was obtained chiefly through an orifice in the chimney, where a strong gaslight was burning, and around which there was a continual halo of smoke from the cigarettes which all, including Anna herself, were more or less smoking. There were a few odd engravings upon the dark wall paper, one or two easy chairs, a small book-case, and a map of Europe. Anna leaned back thoughtfully in her chair, and breathed a few whiffs of smoke from an Egyptian cigarette, a bundle of which lay before her. She pushed these aside and ceased smoking as Ivan Kostanzhoglo entered with Philip Forsyth, who was indeed disguised in shabby habiliments ; and in face and feature for that matter, his cheeks pale and sunken, his eyes surrounded with a black rim, his hair long and straggly. He wore a pair of bluish French trousers and a thin alpaca frock coat, buttoned to the throat ; and in spite of hot weather and the closeness of the underground atmosphere, he looked cpld and chilly ; but when later on he spoke, his voice was strong and his manner expressed the physical strength, which, to look at him, you would not have expected him to possess.

" Brethren," said Anna Klosstock, rising, leaving her seat, and taking Philip by the hand, "this is our Bnglish friend, whose heart has bled for the miseries of our country, who is anxious to join our brotherhood, and who has sworn the first oath of secrecy." Philip looked round with a quiet inquiring gage, and then fixed his eyes upon Anna with an expression of astonishment.

She was still beautiful; but it was the beauty of the street and the alley, the beauty of despair, the beauty that shines sadly through the surroundings of rags and poverty. Her figure seemed to have shrunk into her thin, shabby black gown ; and the shadow that fell upon her, as she stood by the radiance of the somewhat dim lamp upon the table, gave a sombre look to her face which was unusual in Philip's experience of its varied characteristics.

It was borne in upon his mind that it lacked even the tragic beauty that belonged to the despairing, defiant face he had seen at the opera and conveyed to his canvas. " Welcome, brother," said the confederates one after the other, as they shook him bvthe hand.

"Be seated," said Ivan, "and we will pledge you to our better acquaintance • " whereupon, turning to the little bookcase and opening a cupboard beneath, Ivan brought forward a couple of bottles of red.