May 16, 2025 • 40 mins
When the British Consulate in Leghorn falls victim to a puzzling burglary, and an enigmatic English yacht pays an unexpected visit, it sparks an enthralling journey of espionage and hidden criminal machinations. This thrilling tale sweeps the reader from London to Scotland, and finally to the oppressed lands of Finland, under the harsh rule of imperial Russia. Our protagonist is a man of exceptional acumen, a precursor to the likes of Double O Seven, who finds himself pushed to his limits as he navigates this web of intrigue and deception to uncover the truth. - Summary by Nicholas Clifford
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eleven of The Tsar's Spy. This Liebervox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Tom Weiss. The Tsar
Spy by William Lequeue, Chapter eleven, The Castle of Terror,
Part two. A huge sentry stood with his back to
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the secret exit, his dark eyes shining beneath his peaked cap,
as he held his weapon to his shoulder. Within six
feet of us, The big bearded fellow demanded fiercely, who
I was? My heart sank within me. I had acted
recklessly and had fallen into the hands of his excellency,
the Baron Xavier Oberg, the unscrupulous Governor General. Fallen into
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a trap which it seemed had been very cleverly prepared
for me. I was a prisoner in the terrible fortress.
Whence no single person save the guards, had ever been
known to emerge the bastille of the Strangler of Finland.
I saw I was lost. The muzzle of the Sentry's
carbine was within two feet of my chest, speak, cried
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the fellow, who are you? At a glance, I took
in the peril of the situation, and without a second's hesitation,
made a dive for the man beneath his weapon. He
lowered it, but it was too late, for I gripped
him around the waist, rendering his gun useless. It was
the work of an instant, for I knew that to
close with him was my only chance. Yet if the
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boat was not in waiting below that closed door, if
my fin driver was not there in readiness, then I
was lost. The unfortunate girl whom I was there to rescue,
drew back in fright against the wall for a single second. Then,
seeing that I had closed with a hulking fellow, she
sprang forward and with both hands seized the gun and
attempted to wrest it from him. His fingers had lost
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the trigger, and he was trying to regain it to fire,
and so raised the alarm. I saw this, and with
an old trick learned at Uppingham, I tripped him so
that he staggered and nearly fell. An oath escaped him.
Yet in that moment Alma succeeded in twisting the gun
from his sinewy hands, which I now held with the
strength begotten of my imminent peril. My whole future, as
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well as hers, depended upon my success in that desperate encounter.
He was huge and powerful, with a strength far exceeding
my own. Yet I had been reckoned a good wrestler
at Uppingham, and now my knowledge of that most ancient
form of combat held me in good stead. The man
shouted for help, his deep, hoarse voice sounding along the
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stone corridors. If heard by his comrade in arms, then
the alarm would at once be given. We struggled desperately,
swaying to and fro, he trying to throw me, while I,
at every turn practiced upon him the tricks learned in
my youth. It seemed an even match, however, for he
kept his feet by sheer brute force, and his muscle
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seemed hard and unbending his steel. Suddenly, however, as we
were striving so vigorously and desperately, the English girl slipped
past us with a carbine in her hand, and with
a quick movement, dragged open the heavy door that gave
exit to the lake. At that instant, I unfortunately made
a false move, and his hand closed upon my throat
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like a band of steel. I fought and struggled to
loose myself, exerting every muscle, but at last he gained
the advantage. I heard a splash, and saw that Alma
no longer held the sentry's weapon in her hands, having
thrown it into the water. Then at the same moment
I heard a voice outside cry in a low tone, Courage, excellency, courage,
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I will come and help you. It was the faithful
Finn who had been awaiting me in the deep shadow,
and with a few strokes pulled his boat up to
the narrow rickety ledge outside the door. Take the lady.
I succeeded in, gasping in Russian. Never mind me, and
I saw, to my satisfaction, Betty guided Alma to step
into the boat, which at that moment drifted past the
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little Platini. I struggled valiantly, but against such a man
of brute strength, I was powerless. He held my throat,
causing me excruciating pain, and each moment I felt my
chance of victory grow smaller. My strength was failing. While
I held his arms at his sides, I could keep
him secure without much effort. But now with his fingers
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pressing in my windpipe, I could not breathe. I was
slowly being strangled. To be vanquished meant imprisonment, there perhaps
even death. Victory meant Elma's life as well as my
own mine was therefore a fight for life. A sudden
idea flashed across my mind, and I continued to struggle
at the same time, gradually forcing my enemy backward towards
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the door. He shouted for help, but was unheard. He
cursed and swore and shouted, until with a sudden and
almost superhuman effort, I tripped him, bringing his head into
such violent contact with the stone lintel of the door
that the sound could surely be heard considerable distance. For
a moment he was stunned, and in that brief second
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I released his grip from my throat and hurled him
backwards beyond the door. There was a sound of the
crashing of wood as the rotten platform gave way a
loud splash, and next instant the dark waters closed over
the big bearded fellow who would have snatched Elma heath
from me and have held me prisoner in that castle
of terrors. He sank like a stone, for although I
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stood watching for him to rise, I could only distinguish
the woodwork floating away with the current. In a moment, however,
even as I stood there in horror at my deed
of self defense. The place suddenly resounded with shouts of alarm,
and in the tower above me, the great old rusty
bell began to swing, ringing its brazen note across the
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broad expanse of waters. The fair bearded thin again shot
the boat across to where I stood trying jump, excellency,
for your life. Jump. The guards will be upon us.
Behind me in the passage, I saw a light and
the glitter of arms. A shot rang out, and a
bullet whizzed past me, but I stood unharmed. Then I
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jumped and nearly upset the boat. But taking an oar,
I began to row for life. And as we drew
away from those grim black walls, the fire belched forth
from three rifles. Row. I shrieked, turning to see if
my fear of companion had been hit. Keep cool, Excellency,
urged the fin see right away. There in the shadow
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we might trick them, for the patrol boat will be
at the head of the river waiting to cut us off. Again.
The guards fired upon us, but in the darkness their
aim was faulty. Lights appeared in the high windows of
the castle, and we could see that the greatest commotion
had been caused by the escape of the prisoner. The
men at the door in the tower were shouting to
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the patrol boats, which were nowhere to be seen, calling
them to row us down and capture us. But by
plying our oars rapidly, we showed straight across the lake
until we got under the deep shadow of the opposite shore,
and then crept gradually along in the direction we had come.
If we meet the boat's excellency, we must run ashore
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and take to the woods. Explained to Finn, it is
our only chance. Scarcely had he spoken, when out in
the center of the lake, we could just distinguish a
long boat with three rowers, going swiftly towards the entrance
to the river, which we so desired to gain. Look,
cried our guide, backing water and bringing the boat to
a standstill. They are in search of us. If we
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are discovered, they will fire. It is their orders. No
boat is allowed upon this lake. Alma sat watching our pursuers,
but still calm and silent. She seemed to intrust herself
entirely to me. The guards were rowing rapidly, the oars
sounding in the row locks, evidently in the belief that
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we had made for the river, but the Finlander had
apparently foreseen this, and for that reason we were lying,
safe from observation, in the deep shadow of an overhanging tree.
A gray mist was slowly rising from the river, and
the thin noticing it, hoped that it might favor us.
In Finland in late autumn, the mists are often as
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thick as our proverbial London fogs, only whiter, denser, and
more frosty. If we disembark, we shall be compelled to
make a detour of fully four days in the forest
in order to pass the marshes, he pointed out in
a low whisper. But if we can enter the river,
we can go ashore anywhere and get by foot to
some place where the lady can lie in hiding. What
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do you advise We are entirely in your hands. The
chief of police told me he could trust you. I
think it will be best to risk it, he said
in Russian, after a brief pause. We will tie up
the boat and I will go along the bank and
see what the guards are doing. You will remain here
and I shall not be seen. The rushes and undergrowth
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are higher further along. But if there is danger, while
I am absent. Get out and go straight westward until
you find the marsh. Then keep along its banks due south,
and drawing up the boat to the bank, the shrewd,
big boned fellow disappeared into the dark undergrowth. There were
no signs yet of the break of day. Indeed, the
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stars were now hidden, and the great plain of water
was every moment growing more indistinct. As we both sat
in silence, my ears were strained to catch the dipping
of an oar or a voice, But beyond the lapping
of the water beneath the boat, there was no other sound.
I took the hand of the fair faced girl at
my side and pressed it. In return, she pressed mine.
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It was the only means by which we could exchange confidences. She,
whom I had sought through all those months, sat at
my side, yet powerless to utter one single word. Still
holding her hand in both my own, I gripped them
to show her that I intended to be her champion,
while she turned to me in confidence, as though happy
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that it should be so. What I wondered was her history?
What was the mystery surrounding her? What could be that
secret which had caused her enemies to thus brutally maim
and mutilate her, and afterwards send her to that grim,
terrible fortress that still loomed up before us in the gloom.
Surely her secret must effect some person very seriously, or
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such drastic means would never be employed to secure her silence.
Suddenly I heard a stealthy footstep approaching, and next moment
a low voice which I recognized as that of our
friend the Finn. There is danger, excellency, a grave danger,
he said in a low half whisper. Three boats are
in search of us. And scarcely had he uttered those words,
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when there was a flash of a rifle from the haze,
a loud report, and again a bullet whizzed past just
behind my head. In an instant, the truth became apparent,
for I saw the dark shadow of a boat rapidly rowed,
bearing full upon us. The shot had been fired as
a signal that we had been sighted and were pursued.
Other shots rang out, mingled with the wild exultant shouts
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of the guards as they bore down full upon us,
And then I knew that, notwithstanding our escape, we were
now lost. They were too close upon us to admit
of eluding them. The peril we had dreaded had fallen.
The fin's presence on the shore had evidently been detected
by a boat drawn up at the shore, and he
had been followed to where we had lain in what
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we had so foolishly believed to be a safe hiding place.
Naught else was to be done but to face the inevitable.
Three times, the red fire of a rifle belched angrily
in our faces, and yet by good fortune, neither of
us was struck. Yet we knew too well that the
intention of our pursuers was to kill us. Excellencey fly
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while there is yet time, gasped the Finn, grasping my
hand and half dragging me from the boat, while I
in turn placed Alma on the bank Haida. This way swiftly,
cried our guide, and the three of us, heedless of
the consequences, plunged forward into the impenetrable darkness, just as
our fierce pursuers came alongside where we had only a
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moment ago been seated. They shouted wildly as they sprang
to land after us. But our guide, who had been
born and bred in these forests, knew well how to
travel in a semicircle, and how to conceal himself. It
was a race for freedom, nay for very life. So
dark that we could see before us hardly afoot, we
were compelled to place our hands in front of us
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to avoid collision with the big tree trunks. While ever
and anon we found ourselves entangled in the mass of
dead creepers and vegetable parasites that formed the dense undergrowth
around us. On every side we heard the shouts and
curses of our pursuers, while above the rest we heard
an authoritative voice, evidently that of a sergeant of the guard, cry,
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Shoot the man, but spare the woman. The colonel wants
her back. Don't let her escape. We shall be well rewarded,
so keep on, comrades, mannie e Damski. But the trembling
girl beside me heard nothing, and perhaps indeed it was
best that she could not hear. My only fear was
that our pursuers, of whom there now seemed to be
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a dozen, had extended with the intention of encircling us.
They no doubt knew every inch of that giant forest,
with its numerous bogs and marshes, And if they could
not discover us, would no doubt drive us into one
or other of the bogs, where escape was impossible. Our
gallant guide, on the other hand, seemed to utterly disregard
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the danger, and kept on every now and then, stretching
out his hand and helping along the afflicted girl we
had rescued from that living tomb. Headlong, we went in
a straight line until suddenly we began to feel our
feet sinking into the soft ground. And then the Finlander
turned to the left at right angles, and we found
ourselves in a denser undergrowth, where in the darkness our
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hands and faces became badly scratched. Another gun was fired
as signal, echoing through the wood, but the sound came
from the opposite direction to that we were traveling. Therefore,
we hoped that we had eluded those whose earnest desire
it was to capture us for the reward. Suddenly, however,
a second gun, an answering signal, was fired from straight
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before us, and that revealed the truth. We were actually
between the two parties, and they were closing in upon us.
They had already driven us to the edge of the bog.
The Finlander recognized our peril as quickly as I did.
And halted. Let us turn straight back, he urged, breathlessly,
we may yet elude them. And then we again turned
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off at right angles, traveling as quickly as we were able,
back towards the lake shore. It was an exciting chase
in the darkness, for we knew not whither we were going,
nor into what pitfall, or ravine or treacherous marsh we
might fall. Once we saw afar through the trees the
light of a lantern held by a guard, and already
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the sweet faced girl beside me seemed tired and terribly fatigued.
But we hurried on and on, striving to make no noise.
And yet the crackling of wood beneath our feet seemed
to us to sound like the noise of thunder. At last, breathless,
we halted to listen. We were already in sight of
the gray mist, where lay the silent lake that held
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so many secrets. There was not a sound. The guards
had gone straight on, believing they had driven us into
that deathly bog, wherein if we had entered we must
have been slowly sucked down and engulfed. They were surrounding it,
no doubt, feeling certain of their prey but we crept
along the water's edge until in the gray light we
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could distinguish two empty boats, that of the Guards and
our own. We were again at the spot where we
had disembarked. Let us row to the head of the lake.
Suggested to Finn, we may then land and escape them,
And a moment later we were all three in the
guard's boat, rowing with all our might under the deep
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shadow of the bank northward in the opposite direction to
the town of Nystad. We kept a sharp lookout for
any other boat, but saw none. The signals ashore had
attracted all the guards to that spot to join in
the search, and now having doubled back and again embarked,
we were every moment increasing the distance between ourselves and
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our pursuers. I think we must have rowed several miles
for ere. We landed again upon a low, flat and
barren shore. The first gray streak of day was showing
in the east. Alma noticed it and kept her great
ground eyes fixed upon it. Thoughtfully, it was the dawn
for her, the dawn of a new life. Our eyes met.
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She smiled at me, and then gazed again eastward, full
of silent meaning. Having landed, we drew the boat up
and concealed it in the undergrowth, so that the guards
on searching should not know the direction we had taken.
And then we went straight on northward across the low
lying lands, to where the forest showed dark against the
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morning ray. The mist had now somewhat cleared, but the
air was keen and frosty. This wood we found was
of tall, high pines, where walking was not difficult, a
wide wilderness of trees, which, hour after hour, which traversed
in the vain endeavor to find the rough path which
our guide told us led for a hundred miles from
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Alavaux down to Tamersfores, the manufacturing center of the country.
But to discover a path in a forest forty miles
wide is a matter of considerable difficulty, And for hours
we wandered on and on, but at last, always in vain,
faint and hungry, yet we still kept our courage. Fortunately
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we found a little spring, and all three of us
drank eagerly with our hands. But of food we had
nothing save a small piece of hard rye bread which
the fin had in his pocket, the remains of his
evening meal, and this we gave to Alma who half
famished ate it quickly. We knew quite well that it
would be an easy matter to die of starvation in
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that great trackless forest. Therefore we kept on, undaunted, while
the yellow autumn sun struggled through the dark pines, glinting
on the straight gray trunks and reflecting a golden light
in that dead, unbroken silence. How many miles we trudged,
I have no idea. It was a consolation to know
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that we now had no pursuers. Yet what fate lay
before us, we knew not. If we could only find
that forest road, we might come across some woodcutter's hut
where we could obtain rough food of some sort. Yet
our guide, used as he was to those enormous woods
of central Finland, was utterly out of his bearings, and
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no mark of civilization attracted his quick experienced eye. The
light above gradually faded, and over a sharp stone, Alma
stumbled and ripped her shoe. I looked at my watch
and found that it was already five o'clock. In an hour,
it would be dark, the beginning of the long northern night. Elma,
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who was weary and footsore, asked by signs to be
permitted to lay down and rest. Therefore, we gathered a
bed of dried leaves for her, and she laid down,
and while we watched, she was soon asleep. The Finn,
who declared that he did not suffer from the cold,
removed his coat and placed it tenderly upon her shoulders.
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While there was still a ray of light. I watched
her white, refined features as she slept, and was sorely
tempted to bend and imprint a kiss upon that soft,
inviting cheek. Yet I had no right to do so,
no right to take such an advantage. The long cold
night passed wearily, and the howling of the wolves caused
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me to grip my revolver. Yet at daybreak we arose refreshed,
and notwithstanding the terrible pangs of hunger now gnawing at
our vitals, we were prepared to renew our desperate dash
for liberty. Although I had paper, I possessed no pencil
with which to write. Therefore I could only communicate by
signs with the mysterious prisoner of Kajana, the beautiful, dark
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eyed girl who held me irrevocably beneath the spell of
her beauty. All the little acts of homage I was
able to perform. She accepted with a quiet, calm dignity,
while in her deep luminous eyes I read an unfathomable mystery.
The mist had not cleared, for it was too soon
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after dawn when we again moved along, hungry, chill, and
yet hopeful. At a spring, we obtained some water, and then,
in silent procession, pressed forward in search of the rough
tract of the wood cutters. Alma's torn shoe gave her
considerable trouble, and noticing her limping, I induced her to
sit down while I took it off, hoping to be
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able to mend it. But having unlaced it, I saw
that upon her stocking was a large pat of congealed blood,
where her foot itself had also been cut. I managed
to beat the nails of the shoe with a stone
so that its sole should not be lost, and she
readjusted it, allowing me to lace it up for her,
and smiling the while forward. We trudged ever forward across
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that enormous forest, where the myriad tree trunks presented the
same dismal scene everywhere, a forest untrodden save by wild
half savage lumber men Throughout that dull, gray day, we
marched onward, faint with hunger, yet suffering but little pain,
for the first pangs were now passed and were succeeded
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by slight light headedness. My only fear was that we
should be compelled to spend another night without shelter, and
what its effect might be upon the delicately reared girl,
whose hand I held tenderly in mine. Surely my position
was a strange one. Her terrible affliction seemed to cause
her to be entirely dependent upon me. Suddenly, just as
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the yellow sunlight overhead had begun to fade, the flat
faced Finn, whose name he had told me was Felix Slander,
cried joyfully, Pole sate look, excellency, Ah the road at last,
And as we glanced before us, we saw that his quick,
well trained eyes had detected away in the twilight at
some distance, a path traversing ar vista among the gray
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green tree trunks. Then, hurrying along, we found ourselves upon
a track on which we turned to the right, a
track rough and deeply rutted by the felled trunks that
were dragged along it to the nearest river. Alma made
a gesture of renewed hope, and all three of us
redoubled our pace, expecting every moment to come upon some
log hut, the owner of which would surely give us
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hospitality for the night. But darkness came on quickly, and
yet we still pushed forward. Poor Alma was limping, and
I knew that her injured foot was painting her, even
though she could tell me nothing. At last, however, after
walking for nearly four hours in the almost impenetrable forest gloom,
always fearing lest we might miss the path, our hearts
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suddenly beat quickly by seeing before us a light shining
in a window, and five minutes later Felix was knocking
at the door and asking in finish the occupant to
give hospitality to a lady lost in the forest. We
heard a low growl, like a muttered imprecation within, and
when the door opened, there stood upon on the threshold
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a tall, bearded, muscular old fellow in a dirty red shirt,
with the big revolvers shining in his hand. A quick
glance at us satisfied him that we were not thieves,
and he invited us in, while Felix explained that we
had landed from the lake and our boat having drifted away,
we had been compelled to take to the woods. The
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man heard the fin's picturesque story and then said something
to me which Felix translated into Russian. Your excellency is
welcome to all the poor fare he has. He gives
up his bed in the room yonder to the lady
so that she may rest. He is honored by your
Excellency's presence. And while he was making this explanation, the
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herculean woodcutter in the red shirt stirred the red embers,
whereon a big pot was simmering and sending forth an
appetizing odor. And in five minutes we were all three
sitting down to a stew of Capercaeli with a foaming
light beer as a fitting beverage. We finished the dish
with such lightning rapidity that our hosts boiled us a
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number of eggs, which I fear denuded his larder. The
place was a poor one of two low rooms, built
of rough log pines, with double windows for the winter,
and a high brick stove. Cleanliness was not exactly its characteristic. Nevertheless,
we all passed a very comfortable hour and received a
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warm welcome from the lonely old fellow who passed his
life so far beyond European civilization, and whose house, he
told us, was often snowed up and cut off from
all the world for three or four months at a time.
After we had finished our meal, I asked the sturdy
old fellow for a pencil, But the nearest thing he
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possessed was a stick of thick charcoal, and with that
it was surely difficult to communicate with our fair companion. Therefore,
she rose, gave me her hand, bowed smilingly, and then
passed into the inner room and closed the door. The
old woodcutter gave us some coarse tobacco, and after smoking
and chatting for an hour, we threw ourselves wearily upon
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the wooden benches and slept soundly. Suddenly, however, at early dawn,
we were startled by a loud banging at the door,
the clattering of hoofs, and authoritative shouts in Russian. The
old woodcutter sprang up, and, looking through a chink in
the heavy shutters, turned to us with blanched face, whispering breathlessly.
The police, what can they want of me? Open, shouted
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the horseman outside. Open in the name of his majesty.
Felix and I sprang up, facing each other. We are
entrapped in an instant our guide. Felix made a dash
for the door of the inner room where Alma had retired,
but next second he reappeared, gasping in Russian, excellency, why
the door's open? The lady has gone gone, I cried, dismayed,
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rushing into the little room, where I found the truckle
couch empty and the door leading outside wide open. She
had actually disappeared. The police again banged at the opposite door,
threatening loudly to break it in if it were not
opened at once, whereupon the old woodcutter drew the bolt
and admitted them. Two big, hulking fellows, in heaving riding
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coats and swords, strode in, while two others remained mounted
outside holding the horses. Your names, demanded one of the fellows,
glancing at us as we stood together in expectation. Our
host told them his name and asked why they wished
to enter. We are searching for a woman who has
escaped from Kajana, was the reply. Have you seen any
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woman here? No, responded the woodcutter. We never see any
woman out in these woods. The police officers strode into
the inner room, glanced around to make certain that no
one was concealed there, and then, returning to me, asked,
who are you? That is my own affair? I answered.
The mystery of Alma's disappearance while we had sleptnnoyed me.
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She seemed to have fled from me in secret. Yet
could she have received some warning that the police were
in search of her? She was deaf, therefore she could
not have been alarmed by the banging on the door.
Your identity is my affair, declared the man with a
fair bristly beard, an average type of the uncouth officer
of police. Who is your chief, I inquired, as a
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sudden thought occurred to me, Melnikoff at Helsingfors. Then this
is not in the district of a beau. No, but
what difference does it make. Who are you? Gordon Gregg
British subject, I replied, And you are the Drosky driver
from a beau, remarked the fellow, turning to Felix, Exactly
as I thought. You are the pair who bribed the
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nun at Kajana had succeeded in releasing the englishwoman. In
the name of the Tzar, I arrest you. The old
woodcutter turned pale as death. We certainly were in grave peril,
for I foresaw the danger of falling into the hands
of Baron Oberg, the strangler of Finland. Yet we had
a satisfaction in knowing that be the mystery what it
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might Elma had escaped? And on what charge, pray, do
you presume to arrest me? I inquired, as coolly as
I could for aiding a prisoner to escape. Then I
wish to say first that you have no power to
arrest me, and secondly that if you wish me to
give you satisfaction, I am perfectly willing to do so,
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providing you first accompany me down to Aboe. It is
outside my district, growled the fellow. But I saw that
his hesitancy was due to his uncertainty as to whom
I really might be. I desire you to take me
to the Chief of Police Barenski, who will make all
the explanation necessary until we have an interview with him.
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I refuse to give you any information concerning myself, I said,
but you have a passport. I drew it from my pocket,
saying it proves I think that my name is what
I have told you. The fellow standing astride read it
and handed it back to me. Where is the woman,
he demanded? Tell me I don't know, was my reply.
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Perhaps you will tell me, he said, turning to the
old woodcutter with a sinister expression upon his face. Remember,
these fugitives are found in your house, and you are
liable to arrest. I don't know, Indeed I don't, protested
the old fellow, trembling beneath the officer's threat. Like all
his class, he feared the police and held them in dread.
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Ah you don't remember, I suppose, he smiled. Well, perhaps
your memory will be refreshed by a month or two
in prison. You are also arrested. But your excellency, I enough,
blared the bristly officer. You have given shelter to conspirators.
You know the penalty in Finland for that, surely, But
these gentlemen are surely not conspirators. The poor old man protested.
(30:54):
His excellency is English, and the English do not plot.
We shall see afterwards, he laughed, and then, turning to
the agent of police at his side, he gave him
orders to search the log hut carefully an investigation in
which one of the men from the outside joined. They
upset everything and pride everywhere you may find papers or letters,
(31:16):
said the officer. Search thoroughly and in every corner. They rummaged,
even to taking up a number of boards in the
inner room, which Elma had occupied, but they found nothing.
A dozen times was the old woodcutter questioned, but he
stubbornly refused to admit that he had ever set eyes
upon Elma. While I insisted on my right to return
(31:38):
to a bow and see Baranski. I knew, of course,
by what we had overheard said by the prison guards,
that the Governor General was extremely anxious to recapture the
girl with whom I frankly admit I had now so
utterly fallen in love. And it appeared that no effort
was being spared to search for us. Indeed, the whole
(31:59):
of the police in the provinces of a Beau and
Helsingfors seemed to be actively making a house to house search.
But what could be the truth of Elma's disappearance? Had
she fled of her own accord, or had she once
more fallen a victim to some ingenious and dastardly plot.
That gray dress of hers might, I recollected, betray her
(32:21):
if she dared to venture near any town. While her
affliction would of itself be plain evidence of identification. All
I hoped was that she had gone and hidden herself
in the forest somewhere in the vicinity, to wait until
the danger of recapture had passed. For nearly half an hour,
I argued with the police officer, whose intention it was
(32:42):
to take me under arrest to Helsingford's. Once there, however,
I knew too well that my liberty would be probably
gone forever. Whatever was the baron's motive in holding the
poor girl a prisoner, it would also be his motive
to silence me. I knew too much for his liking.
I refused to go to Helsingfors. I said defiantly, I
(33:05):
am a British subject, and demand to be taken back
to the port where my passport was visade. This argument
I repeated time after time, until at length I succeeded
in convincing him that I really had a right to
be taken to a bow and to seek the aid
of the British Vice Consul, if necessary, for as long
as possible I succeeded in delaying our departure, but at length,
(33:29):
just as a yellow sun began to struggle through the
gray clouds, we were all three compelled to depart in
sorrowful procession. What we wondered had really happened to Elma.
It was evident that she had not fallen into the
hands of the police. Nevertheless, the fact that the door
of the inner room was open caused them to look
(33:50):
upon the statement of the woodcutter with distinct suspicion and disbelief.
Our captors seemed quite well aware of all the circumstances
of our escape from Kajana, and were consequently filled with
chagrin that Elma, the person they so much desired to recapture,
had slipped through their fingers. While the police rode, we
(34:11):
were compelled to walk before them, and after trudging ten
miles or so through the forest, we came across another
small posse of police, who were apparently in search of us,
for they expressed delight when they saw us under arrest.
Where is the woman, inquired one officer of the other,
still at liberty, replied the man who held us as
(34:31):
prisoners in hiding. Twenty versts back I think, ah, we
shall find her before long, he said, confidently, within twelve
hours we shall have searched the whole forest. She can
not escape us. Our captors explained who we were, and
then we were pushed forward again, skirting a great wide
lake called the Nasjarvi, along the wooden shore of which
(34:54):
we walked the whole day long, until at sundown we
came to a picturesque little log built town facing the
water called Fipula. Here we obtained a hasty meal, and
afterwards took the train down to a bow, where we
arrived next morning after a very uncomfortable and sleepless journey.
(35:14):
At nine o'clock I stood in the big bear office
of Michael Baranski, where only a few days before we
had had such a heated argument. As soon as the
chief of police entered, he recognized me under arrest and
dismissed my guards with the wave of a hand. All
save the officer who had brought me there, The finished
(35:35):
driver and the old wood cutter were in another room.
Therefore I stood alone with the police officer of Helsingfors
and the chief of Police at a bow. The latter
listened to the officer's story of my arrest without saying
a word. The prisoner, your excellency, desired to be brought
here to you before being taken to Helsingfors. He said
(35:55):
you would be aware of the facts, and so I am,
remarked Boransky with a smile. There is no conspiracy. You
must at once release this gentleman and the other two prisoners.
But Excellency, the Governor General has issued orders for the
prisoner's arrest and deportation to Helsingfors. That may be, But
(36:17):
I am chief of police and a beau, and I
release him. The officer looked at me in such blank
astonishment that I could not resist smiling. I am well
aware of this englishman's visit to the north, added Boransky.
More need not be said. Has the lady been arrested, No,
your excellency. Every effort is being made to find her.
(36:38):
Colonel Smirnov has already been relieved of his post as
governor of Kajana, and many of the guards are under
arrest for complicity in the plot to allow the woman
to escape. Ah. Yes, I see from the dispatches that
a reward is offered for her recapture. The Governor General
is determined that she shall not escape, remarked the other.
She is probably hidden in the far somewhere or other.
(37:02):
Of course, they are making a thorough search over every
verse of it. If she is there, she will most
certainly be found, no doubt, remarked Baransky, leaning back in
his padded chair and looking at me meaningly across the
littered table. And now I wish to speak to this
Englishman privately, so please leave us. Also inform the other
(37:23):
two prisoners that they are at liberty. But your Excellency
does this upon his own responsibility, he said, anxiously. Remember
that I brought them to you under arrest, and I
released them entirely at my own discretion, he said. As
chief of police of this province, I am permitted to
use my jurisdiction, and I exercise it in this matter.
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You are liberty to report that at Helsingfors if you
so desire, but I should suggest that you say nothing
unless absolutely obliged. You understand the manner in which Boransky spoke, apparently,
decided my captor. For After a moment's hesitation, he said, saluting,
if that is really your wish, then I will obey,
(38:07):
and he left. Excellency, exclaimed the chief of police, rising
quickly and walking towards me as soon as the door
was closed and we were alone. You have had a
very narrow escape. Very I did my best to assist you.
I succeeded in bribing the water guards at Kajana in
order that you might secure the lady's release. But it
(38:28):
seems that just at the very moment when you were
about to get away, one of the guards turned informer
and roused the governor of the castle, with the result
that you all three nearly lost your lives. The whole
matter has been reported to me officially, and he added,
with a grim smile, my men are now searching everywhere
for you. But why is Baron Oberg so extremely anxious
(38:50):
to recapture miss Heath, I asked earnestly. I have no idea,
was his reply. The secret orders from Helsingfors to me
are to arrest her at all hazards, alive or dead,
which means that the Baron would not regret if she
was dead, I remarked, in response, to which he nodded
in the affirmative. I told him of the faithful services
(39:13):
of Felix the Finlander, whereupon he said, simply, I told
you that you might trust him implicitly. But now that
you have shown yourself my friend, I said, you will
assist miss Heath to escape this man who deserves to
hold her prisoner in that awful place they are driving
her mad. I will do my best, he answered, but
shaking his head dubiously. But you must recollect that Baron
(39:36):
Oberg is Governor General of Finland with all the powers
of the Czar himself, and if Elma Heath again falls
into his unscrupulous hands, she will die, I declared, Ah,
he sighed, looking me straight in the face. I fear
that what you say is only too true. She evidently
holds some secret which he fears she will reveal. He
(39:58):
wishes to rearrest her in order well, he added in
a low tone, in order to close her lips. It
would not be the first time that persons have been
silenced in secret at Kajana. Many fatal accidents take place
in that fortress, you know. End of Chapter eleven, Part
two recording by Tom Wess
Chapter eleven of The Tsar's Spy. This Liebervox recording is
in the public domain. Recording by Tom Weiss. The Tsar
Spy by William Lequeue, Chapter eleven, The Castle of Terror,
Part two. A huge sentry stood with his back to
(00:21):
the secret exit, his dark eyes shining beneath his peaked cap,
as he held his weapon to his shoulder. Within six
feet of us, The big bearded fellow demanded fiercely, who
I was? My heart sank within me. I had acted
recklessly and had fallen into the hands of his excellency,
the Baron Xavier Oberg, the unscrupulous Governor General. Fallen into
(00:44):
a trap which it seemed had been very cleverly prepared
for me. I was a prisoner in the terrible fortress.
Whence no single person save the guards, had ever been
known to emerge the bastille of the Strangler of Finland.
I saw I was lost. The muzzle of the Sentry's
carbine was within two feet of my chest, speak, cried
(01:07):
the fellow, who are you? At a glance, I took
in the peril of the situation, and without a second's hesitation,
made a dive for the man beneath his weapon. He
lowered it, but it was too late, for I gripped
him around the waist, rendering his gun useless. It was
the work of an instant, for I knew that to
close with him was my only chance. Yet if the
(01:27):
boat was not in waiting below that closed door, if
my fin driver was not there in readiness, then I
was lost. The unfortunate girl whom I was there to rescue,
drew back in fright against the wall for a single second. Then,
seeing that I had closed with a hulking fellow, she
sprang forward and with both hands seized the gun and
attempted to wrest it from him. His fingers had lost
(01:50):
the trigger, and he was trying to regain it to fire,
and so raised the alarm. I saw this, and with
an old trick learned at Uppingham, I tripped him so
that he staggered and nearly fell. An oath escaped him.
Yet in that moment Alma succeeded in twisting the gun
from his sinewy hands, which I now held with the
strength begotten of my imminent peril. My whole future, as
(02:12):
well as hers, depended upon my success in that desperate encounter.
He was huge and powerful, with a strength far exceeding
my own. Yet I had been reckoned a good wrestler
at Uppingham, and now my knowledge of that most ancient
form of combat held me in good stead. The man
shouted for help, his deep, hoarse voice sounding along the
(02:33):
stone corridors. If heard by his comrade in arms, then
the alarm would at once be given. We struggled desperately,
swaying to and fro, he trying to throw me, while I,
at every turn practiced upon him the tricks learned in
my youth. It seemed an even match, however, for he
kept his feet by sheer brute force, and his muscle
(02:54):
seemed hard and unbending his steel. Suddenly, however, as we
were striving so vigorously and desperately, the English girl slipped
past us with a carbine in her hand, and with
a quick movement, dragged open the heavy door that gave
exit to the lake. At that instant, I unfortunately made
a false move, and his hand closed upon my throat
(03:15):
like a band of steel. I fought and struggled to
loose myself, exerting every muscle, but at last he gained
the advantage. I heard a splash, and saw that Alma
no longer held the sentry's weapon in her hands, having
thrown it into the water. Then at the same moment
I heard a voice outside cry in a low tone, Courage, excellency, courage,
(03:38):
I will come and help you. It was the faithful
Finn who had been awaiting me in the deep shadow,
and with a few strokes pulled his boat up to
the narrow rickety ledge outside the door. Take the lady.
I succeeded in, gasping in Russian. Never mind me, and
I saw, to my satisfaction, Betty guided Alma to step
into the boat, which at that moment drifted past the
(03:59):
little Platini. I struggled valiantly, but against such a man
of brute strength, I was powerless. He held my throat,
causing me excruciating pain, and each moment I felt my
chance of victory grow smaller. My strength was failing. While
I held his arms at his sides, I could keep
him secure without much effort. But now with his fingers
(04:20):
pressing in my windpipe, I could not breathe. I was
slowly being strangled. To be vanquished meant imprisonment, there perhaps
even death. Victory meant Elma's life as well as my
own mine was therefore a fight for life. A sudden
idea flashed across my mind, and I continued to struggle
at the same time, gradually forcing my enemy backward towards
(04:44):
the door. He shouted for help, but was unheard. He
cursed and swore and shouted, until with a sudden and
almost superhuman effort, I tripped him, bringing his head into
such violent contact with the stone lintel of the door
that the sound could surely be heard considerable distance. For
a moment he was stunned, and in that brief second
(05:05):
I released his grip from my throat and hurled him
backwards beyond the door. There was a sound of the
crashing of wood as the rotten platform gave way a
loud splash, and next instant the dark waters closed over
the big bearded fellow who would have snatched Elma heath
from me and have held me prisoner in that castle
of terrors. He sank like a stone, for although I
(05:28):
stood watching for him to rise, I could only distinguish
the woodwork floating away with the current. In a moment, however,
even as I stood there in horror at my deed
of self defense. The place suddenly resounded with shouts of alarm,
and in the tower above me, the great old rusty
bell began to swing, ringing its brazen note across the
(05:49):
broad expanse of waters. The fair bearded thin again shot
the boat across to where I stood trying jump, excellency,
for your life. Jump. The guards will be upon us.
Behind me in the passage, I saw a light and
the glitter of arms. A shot rang out, and a
bullet whizzed past me, but I stood unharmed. Then I
(06:10):
jumped and nearly upset the boat. But taking an oar,
I began to row for life. And as we drew
away from those grim black walls, the fire belched forth
from three rifles. Row. I shrieked, turning to see if
my fear of companion had been hit. Keep cool, Excellency,
urged the fin see right away. There in the shadow
(06:30):
we might trick them, for the patrol boat will be
at the head of the river waiting to cut us off. Again.
The guards fired upon us, but in the darkness their
aim was faulty. Lights appeared in the high windows of
the castle, and we could see that the greatest commotion
had been caused by the escape of the prisoner. The
men at the door in the tower were shouting to
(06:51):
the patrol boats, which were nowhere to be seen, calling
them to row us down and capture us. But by
plying our oars rapidly, we showed straight across the lake
until we got under the deep shadow of the opposite shore,
and then crept gradually along in the direction we had come.
If we meet the boat's excellency, we must run ashore
(07:13):
and take to the woods. Explained to Finn, it is
our only chance. Scarcely had he spoken, when out in
the center of the lake, we could just distinguish a
long boat with three rowers, going swiftly towards the entrance
to the river, which we so desired to gain. Look,
cried our guide, backing water and bringing the boat to
a standstill. They are in search of us. If we
(07:36):
are discovered, they will fire. It is their orders. No
boat is allowed upon this lake. Alma sat watching our pursuers,
but still calm and silent. She seemed to intrust herself
entirely to me. The guards were rowing rapidly, the oars
sounding in the row locks, evidently in the belief that
(07:57):
we had made for the river, but the Finlander had
apparently foreseen this, and for that reason we were lying,
safe from observation, in the deep shadow of an overhanging tree.
A gray mist was slowly rising from the river, and
the thin noticing it, hoped that it might favor us.
In Finland in late autumn, the mists are often as
(08:17):
thick as our proverbial London fogs, only whiter, denser, and
more frosty. If we disembark, we shall be compelled to
make a detour of fully four days in the forest
in order to pass the marshes, he pointed out in
a low whisper. But if we can enter the river,
we can go ashore anywhere and get by foot to
some place where the lady can lie in hiding. What
(08:40):
do you advise We are entirely in your hands. The
chief of police told me he could trust you. I
think it will be best to risk it, he said
in Russian, after a brief pause. We will tie up
the boat and I will go along the bank and
see what the guards are doing. You will remain here
and I shall not be seen. The rushes and undergrowth
(09:01):
are higher further along. But if there is danger, while
I am absent. Get out and go straight westward until
you find the marsh. Then keep along its banks due south,
and drawing up the boat to the bank, the shrewd,
big boned fellow disappeared into the dark undergrowth. There were
no signs yet of the break of day. Indeed, the
(09:23):
stars were now hidden, and the great plain of water
was every moment growing more indistinct. As we both sat
in silence, my ears were strained to catch the dipping
of an oar or a voice, But beyond the lapping
of the water beneath the boat, there was no other sound.
I took the hand of the fair faced girl at
my side and pressed it. In return, she pressed mine.
(09:47):
It was the only means by which we could exchange confidences. She,
whom I had sought through all those months, sat at
my side, yet powerless to utter one single word. Still
holding her hand in both my own, I gripped them
to show her that I intended to be her champion,
while she turned to me in confidence, as though happy
(10:08):
that it should be so. What I wondered was her history?
What was the mystery surrounding her? What could be that
secret which had caused her enemies to thus brutally maim
and mutilate her, and afterwards send her to that grim,
terrible fortress that still loomed up before us in the gloom.
Surely her secret must effect some person very seriously, or
(10:31):
such drastic means would never be employed to secure her silence.
Suddenly I heard a stealthy footstep approaching, and next moment
a low voice which I recognized as that of our
friend the Finn. There is danger, excellency, a grave danger,
he said in a low half whisper. Three boats are
in search of us. And scarcely had he uttered those words,
(10:54):
when there was a flash of a rifle from the haze,
a loud report, and again a bullet whizzed past just
behind my head. In an instant, the truth became apparent,
for I saw the dark shadow of a boat rapidly rowed,
bearing full upon us. The shot had been fired as
a signal that we had been sighted and were pursued.
Other shots rang out, mingled with the wild exultant shouts
(11:16):
of the guards as they bore down full upon us,
And then I knew that, notwithstanding our escape, we were
now lost. They were too close upon us to admit
of eluding them. The peril we had dreaded had fallen.
The fin's presence on the shore had evidently been detected
by a boat drawn up at the shore, and he
had been followed to where we had lain in what
(11:38):
we had so foolishly believed to be a safe hiding place.
Naught else was to be done but to face the inevitable.
Three times, the red fire of a rifle belched angrily
in our faces, and yet by good fortune, neither of
us was struck. Yet we knew too well that the
intention of our pursuers was to kill us. Excellencey fly
(12:01):
while there is yet time, gasped the Finn, grasping my
hand and half dragging me from the boat, while I
in turn placed Alma on the bank Haida. This way swiftly,
cried our guide, and the three of us, heedless of
the consequences, plunged forward into the impenetrable darkness, just as
our fierce pursuers came alongside where we had only a
(12:22):
moment ago been seated. They shouted wildly as they sprang
to land after us. But our guide, who had been
born and bred in these forests, knew well how to
travel in a semicircle, and how to conceal himself. It
was a race for freedom, nay for very life. So
dark that we could see before us hardly afoot, we
were compelled to place our hands in front of us
(12:45):
to avoid collision with the big tree trunks. While ever
and anon we found ourselves entangled in the mass of
dead creepers and vegetable parasites that formed the dense undergrowth
around us. On every side we heard the shouts and
curses of our pursuers, while above the rest we heard
an authoritative voice, evidently that of a sergeant of the guard, cry,
(13:06):
Shoot the man, but spare the woman. The colonel wants
her back. Don't let her escape. We shall be well rewarded,
so keep on, comrades, mannie e Damski. But the trembling
girl beside me heard nothing, and perhaps indeed it was
best that she could not hear. My only fear was
that our pursuers, of whom there now seemed to be
(13:27):
a dozen, had extended with the intention of encircling us.
They no doubt knew every inch of that giant forest,
with its numerous bogs and marshes, And if they could
not discover us, would no doubt drive us into one
or other of the bogs, where escape was impossible. Our
gallant guide, on the other hand, seemed to utterly disregard
(13:48):
the danger, and kept on every now and then, stretching
out his hand and helping along the afflicted girl we
had rescued from that living tomb. Headlong, we went in
a straight line until suddenly we began to feel our
feet sinking into the soft ground. And then the Finlander
turned to the left at right angles, and we found
ourselves in a denser undergrowth, where in the darkness our
(14:10):
hands and faces became badly scratched. Another gun was fired
as signal, echoing through the wood, but the sound came
from the opposite direction to that we were traveling. Therefore,
we hoped that we had eluded those whose earnest desire
it was to capture us for the reward. Suddenly, however,
a second gun, an answering signal, was fired from straight
(14:33):
before us, and that revealed the truth. We were actually
between the two parties, and they were closing in upon us.
They had already driven us to the edge of the bog.
The Finlander recognized our peril as quickly as I did.
And halted. Let us turn straight back, he urged, breathlessly,
we may yet elude them. And then we again turned
(14:56):
off at right angles, traveling as quickly as we were able,
back towards the lake shore. It was an exciting chase
in the darkness, for we knew not whither we were going,
nor into what pitfall, or ravine or treacherous marsh we
might fall. Once we saw afar through the trees the
light of a lantern held by a guard, and already
(15:17):
the sweet faced girl beside me seemed tired and terribly fatigued.
But we hurried on and on, striving to make no noise.
And yet the crackling of wood beneath our feet seemed
to us to sound like the noise of thunder. At last, breathless,
we halted to listen. We were already in sight of
the gray mist, where lay the silent lake that held
(15:39):
so many secrets. There was not a sound. The guards
had gone straight on, believing they had driven us into
that deathly bog, wherein if we had entered we must
have been slowly sucked down and engulfed. They were surrounding it,
no doubt, feeling certain of their prey but we crept
along the water's edge until in the gray light we
(16:01):
could distinguish two empty boats, that of the Guards and
our own. We were again at the spot where we
had disembarked. Let us row to the head of the lake.
Suggested to Finn, we may then land and escape them,
And a moment later we were all three in the
guard's boat, rowing with all our might under the deep
(16:22):
shadow of the bank northward in the opposite direction to
the town of Nystad. We kept a sharp lookout for
any other boat, but saw none. The signals ashore had
attracted all the guards to that spot to join in
the search, and now having doubled back and again embarked,
we were every moment increasing the distance between ourselves and
(16:45):
our pursuers. I think we must have rowed several miles
for ere. We landed again upon a low, flat and
barren shore. The first gray streak of day was showing
in the east. Alma noticed it and kept her great
ground eyes fixed upon it. Thoughtfully, it was the dawn
for her, the dawn of a new life. Our eyes met.
(17:08):
She smiled at me, and then gazed again eastward, full
of silent meaning. Having landed, we drew the boat up
and concealed it in the undergrowth, so that the guards
on searching should not know the direction we had taken.
And then we went straight on northward across the low
lying lands, to where the forest showed dark against the
(17:28):
morning ray. The mist had now somewhat cleared, but the
air was keen and frosty. This wood we found was
of tall, high pines, where walking was not difficult, a
wide wilderness of trees, which, hour after hour, which traversed
in the vain endeavor to find the rough path which
our guide told us led for a hundred miles from
(17:50):
Alavaux down to Tamersfores, the manufacturing center of the country.
But to discover a path in a forest forty miles
wide is a matter of considerable difficulty, And for hours
we wandered on and on, but at last, always in vain,
faint and hungry, yet we still kept our courage. Fortunately
(18:11):
we found a little spring, and all three of us
drank eagerly with our hands. But of food we had
nothing save a small piece of hard rye bread which
the fin had in his pocket, the remains of his
evening meal, and this we gave to Alma who half
famished ate it quickly. We knew quite well that it
would be an easy matter to die of starvation in
(18:33):
that great trackless forest. Therefore we kept on, undaunted, while
the yellow autumn sun struggled through the dark pines, glinting
on the straight gray trunks and reflecting a golden light
in that dead, unbroken silence. How many miles we trudged,
I have no idea. It was a consolation to know
(18:53):
that we now had no pursuers. Yet what fate lay
before us, we knew not. If we could only find
that forest road, we might come across some woodcutter's hut
where we could obtain rough food of some sort. Yet
our guide, used as he was to those enormous woods
of central Finland, was utterly out of his bearings, and
(19:14):
no mark of civilization attracted his quick experienced eye. The
light above gradually faded, and over a sharp stone, Alma
stumbled and ripped her shoe. I looked at my watch
and found that it was already five o'clock. In an hour,
it would be dark, the beginning of the long northern night. Elma,
(19:35):
who was weary and footsore, asked by signs to be
permitted to lay down and rest. Therefore, we gathered a
bed of dried leaves for her, and she laid down,
and while we watched, she was soon asleep. The Finn,
who declared that he did not suffer from the cold,
removed his coat and placed it tenderly upon her shoulders.
(19:55):
While there was still a ray of light. I watched
her white, refined features as she slept, and was sorely
tempted to bend and imprint a kiss upon that soft,
inviting cheek. Yet I had no right to do so,
no right to take such an advantage. The long cold
night passed wearily, and the howling of the wolves caused
(20:16):
me to grip my revolver. Yet at daybreak we arose refreshed,
and notwithstanding the terrible pangs of hunger now gnawing at
our vitals, we were prepared to renew our desperate dash
for liberty. Although I had paper, I possessed no pencil
with which to write. Therefore I could only communicate by
signs with the mysterious prisoner of Kajana, the beautiful, dark
(20:41):
eyed girl who held me irrevocably beneath the spell of
her beauty. All the little acts of homage I was
able to perform. She accepted with a quiet, calm dignity,
while in her deep luminous eyes I read an unfathomable mystery.
The mist had not cleared, for it was too soon
(21:01):
after dawn when we again moved along, hungry, chill, and
yet hopeful. At a spring, we obtained some water, and then,
in silent procession, pressed forward in search of the rough
tract of the wood cutters. Alma's torn shoe gave her
considerable trouble, and noticing her limping, I induced her to
sit down while I took it off, hoping to be
(21:23):
able to mend it. But having unlaced it, I saw
that upon her stocking was a large pat of congealed blood,
where her foot itself had also been cut. I managed
to beat the nails of the shoe with a stone
so that its sole should not be lost, and she
readjusted it, allowing me to lace it up for her,
and smiling the while forward. We trudged ever forward across
(21:45):
that enormous forest, where the myriad tree trunks presented the
same dismal scene everywhere, a forest untrodden save by wild
half savage lumber men Throughout that dull, gray day, we
marched onward, faint with hunger, yet suffering but little pain,
for the first pangs were now passed and were succeeded
(22:06):
by slight light headedness. My only fear was that we
should be compelled to spend another night without shelter, and
what its effect might be upon the delicately reared girl,
whose hand I held tenderly in mine. Surely my position
was a strange one. Her terrible affliction seemed to cause
her to be entirely dependent upon me. Suddenly, just as
(22:30):
the yellow sunlight overhead had begun to fade, the flat
faced Finn, whose name he had told me was Felix Slander,
cried joyfully, Pole sate look, excellency, Ah the road at last,
And as we glanced before us, we saw that his quick,
well trained eyes had detected away in the twilight at
some distance, a path traversing ar vista among the gray
(22:53):
green tree trunks. Then, hurrying along, we found ourselves upon
a track on which we turned to the right, a
track rough and deeply rutted by the felled trunks that
were dragged along it to the nearest river. Alma made
a gesture of renewed hope, and all three of us
redoubled our pace, expecting every moment to come upon some
log hut, the owner of which would surely give us
(23:15):
hospitality for the night. But darkness came on quickly, and
yet we still pushed forward. Poor Alma was limping, and
I knew that her injured foot was painting her, even
though she could tell me nothing. At last, however, after
walking for nearly four hours in the almost impenetrable forest gloom,
always fearing lest we might miss the path, our hearts
(23:39):
suddenly beat quickly by seeing before us a light shining
in a window, and five minutes later Felix was knocking
at the door and asking in finish the occupant to
give hospitality to a lady lost in the forest. We
heard a low growl, like a muttered imprecation within, and
when the door opened, there stood upon on the threshold
(24:01):
a tall, bearded, muscular old fellow in a dirty red shirt,
with the big revolvers shining in his hand. A quick
glance at us satisfied him that we were not thieves,
and he invited us in, while Felix explained that we
had landed from the lake and our boat having drifted away,
we had been compelled to take to the woods. The
(24:21):
man heard the fin's picturesque story and then said something
to me which Felix translated into Russian. Your excellency is
welcome to all the poor fare he has. He gives
up his bed in the room yonder to the lady
so that she may rest. He is honored by your
Excellency's presence. And while he was making this explanation, the
(24:43):
herculean woodcutter in the red shirt stirred the red embers,
whereon a big pot was simmering and sending forth an
appetizing odor. And in five minutes we were all three
sitting down to a stew of Capercaeli with a foaming
light beer as a fitting beverage. We finished the dish
with such lightning rapidity that our hosts boiled us a
(25:04):
number of eggs, which I fear denuded his larder. The
place was a poor one of two low rooms, built
of rough log pines, with double windows for the winter,
and a high brick stove. Cleanliness was not exactly its characteristic. Nevertheless,
we all passed a very comfortable hour and received a
(25:24):
warm welcome from the lonely old fellow who passed his
life so far beyond European civilization, and whose house, he
told us, was often snowed up and cut off from
all the world for three or four months at a time.
After we had finished our meal, I asked the sturdy
old fellow for a pencil, But the nearest thing he
(25:44):
possessed was a stick of thick charcoal, and with that
it was surely difficult to communicate with our fair companion. Therefore,
she rose, gave me her hand, bowed smilingly, and then
passed into the inner room and closed the door. The
old woodcutter gave us some coarse tobacco, and after smoking
and chatting for an hour, we threw ourselves wearily upon
(26:07):
the wooden benches and slept soundly. Suddenly, however, at early dawn,
we were startled by a loud banging at the door,
the clattering of hoofs, and authoritative shouts in Russian. The
old woodcutter sprang up, and, looking through a chink in
the heavy shutters, turned to us with blanched face, whispering breathlessly.
The police, what can they want of me? Open, shouted
(26:31):
the horseman outside. Open in the name of his majesty.
Felix and I sprang up, facing each other. We are
entrapped in an instant our guide. Felix made a dash
for the door of the inner room where Alma had retired,
but next second he reappeared, gasping in Russian, excellency, why
the door's open? The lady has gone gone, I cried, dismayed,
(26:56):
rushing into the little room, where I found the truckle
couch empty and the door leading outside wide open. She
had actually disappeared. The police again banged at the opposite door,
threatening loudly to break it in if it were not
opened at once, whereupon the old woodcutter drew the bolt
and admitted them. Two big, hulking fellows, in heaving riding
(27:17):
coats and swords, strode in, while two others remained mounted
outside holding the horses. Your names, demanded one of the fellows,
glancing at us as we stood together in expectation. Our
host told them his name and asked why they wished
to enter. We are searching for a woman who has
escaped from Kajana, was the reply. Have you seen any
(27:38):
woman here? No, responded the woodcutter. We never see any
woman out in these woods. The police officers strode into
the inner room, glanced around to make certain that no
one was concealed there, and then, returning to me, asked,
who are you? That is my own affair? I answered.
The mystery of Alma's disappearance while we had sleptnnoyed me.
(28:01):
She seemed to have fled from me in secret. Yet
could she have received some warning that the police were
in search of her? She was deaf, therefore she could
not have been alarmed by the banging on the door.
Your identity is my affair, declared the man with a
fair bristly beard, an average type of the uncouth officer
of police. Who is your chief, I inquired, as a
(28:23):
sudden thought occurred to me, Melnikoff at Helsingfors. Then this
is not in the district of a beau. No, but
what difference does it make. Who are you? Gordon Gregg
British subject, I replied, And you are the Drosky driver
from a beau, remarked the fellow, turning to Felix, Exactly
as I thought. You are the pair who bribed the
(28:44):
nun at Kajana had succeeded in releasing the englishwoman. In
the name of the Tzar, I arrest you. The old
woodcutter turned pale as death. We certainly were in grave peril,
for I foresaw the danger of falling into the hands
of Baron Oberg, the strangler of Finland. Yet we had
a satisfaction in knowing that be the mystery what it
(29:05):
might Elma had escaped? And on what charge, pray, do
you presume to arrest me? I inquired, as coolly as
I could for aiding a prisoner to escape. Then I
wish to say first that you have no power to
arrest me, and secondly that if you wish me to
give you satisfaction, I am perfectly willing to do so,
(29:27):
providing you first accompany me down to Aboe. It is
outside my district, growled the fellow. But I saw that
his hesitancy was due to his uncertainty as to whom
I really might be. I desire you to take me
to the Chief of Police Barenski, who will make all
the explanation necessary until we have an interview with him.
(29:48):
I refuse to give you any information concerning myself, I said,
but you have a passport. I drew it from my pocket,
saying it proves I think that my name is what
I have told you. The fellow standing astride read it
and handed it back to me. Where is the woman,
he demanded? Tell me I don't know, was my reply.
(30:09):
Perhaps you will tell me, he said, turning to the
old woodcutter with a sinister expression upon his face. Remember,
these fugitives are found in your house, and you are
liable to arrest. I don't know, Indeed I don't, protested
the old fellow, trembling beneath the officer's threat. Like all
his class, he feared the police and held them in dread.
(30:31):
Ah you don't remember, I suppose, he smiled. Well, perhaps
your memory will be refreshed by a month or two
in prison. You are also arrested. But your excellency, I enough,
blared the bristly officer. You have given shelter to conspirators.
You know the penalty in Finland for that, surely, But
these gentlemen are surely not conspirators. The poor old man protested.
(30:54):
His excellency is English, and the English do not plot.
We shall see afterwards, he laughed, and then, turning to
the agent of police at his side, he gave him
orders to search the log hut carefully an investigation in
which one of the men from the outside joined. They
upset everything and pride everywhere you may find papers or letters,
(31:16):
said the officer. Search thoroughly and in every corner. They rummaged,
even to taking up a number of boards in the
inner room, which Elma had occupied, but they found nothing.
A dozen times was the old woodcutter questioned, but he
stubbornly refused to admit that he had ever set eyes
upon Elma. While I insisted on my right to return
(31:38):
to a bow and see Baranski. I knew, of course,
by what we had overheard said by the prison guards,
that the Governor General was extremely anxious to recapture the
girl with whom I frankly admit I had now so
utterly fallen in love. And it appeared that no effort
was being spared to search for us. Indeed, the whole
(31:59):
of the police in the provinces of a Beau and
Helsingfors seemed to be actively making a house to house search.
But what could be the truth of Elma's disappearance? Had
she fled of her own accord, or had she once
more fallen a victim to some ingenious and dastardly plot.
That gray dress of hers might, I recollected, betray her
(32:21):
if she dared to venture near any town. While her
affliction would of itself be plain evidence of identification. All
I hoped was that she had gone and hidden herself
in the forest somewhere in the vicinity, to wait until
the danger of recapture had passed. For nearly half an hour,
I argued with the police officer, whose intention it was
(32:42):
to take me under arrest to Helsingford's. Once there, however,
I knew too well that my liberty would be probably
gone forever. Whatever was the baron's motive in holding the
poor girl a prisoner, it would also be his motive
to silence me. I knew too much for his liking.
I refused to go to Helsingfors. I said defiantly, I
(33:05):
am a British subject, and demand to be taken back
to the port where my passport was visade. This argument
I repeated time after time, until at length I succeeded
in convincing him that I really had a right to
be taken to a bow and to seek the aid
of the British Vice Consul, if necessary, for as long
as possible I succeeded in delaying our departure, but at length,
(33:29):
just as a yellow sun began to struggle through the
gray clouds, we were all three compelled to depart in
sorrowful procession. What we wondered had really happened to Elma.
It was evident that she had not fallen into the
hands of the police. Nevertheless, the fact that the door
of the inner room was open caused them to look
(33:50):
upon the statement of the woodcutter with distinct suspicion and disbelief.
Our captors seemed quite well aware of all the circumstances
of our escape from Kajana, and were consequently filled with
chagrin that Elma, the person they so much desired to recapture,
had slipped through their fingers. While the police rode, we
(34:11):
were compelled to walk before them, and after trudging ten
miles or so through the forest, we came across another
small posse of police, who were apparently in search of us,
for they expressed delight when they saw us under arrest.
Where is the woman, inquired one officer of the other,
still at liberty, replied the man who held us as
(34:31):
prisoners in hiding. Twenty versts back I think, ah, we
shall find her before long, he said, confidently, within twelve
hours we shall have searched the whole forest. She can
not escape us. Our captors explained who we were, and
then we were pushed forward again, skirting a great wide
lake called the Nasjarvi, along the wooden shore of which
(34:54):
we walked the whole day long, until at sundown we
came to a picturesque little log built town facing the
water called Fipula. Here we obtained a hasty meal, and
afterwards took the train down to a bow, where we
arrived next morning after a very uncomfortable and sleepless journey.
(35:14):
At nine o'clock I stood in the big bear office
of Michael Baranski, where only a few days before we
had had such a heated argument. As soon as the
chief of police entered, he recognized me under arrest and
dismissed my guards with the wave of a hand. All
save the officer who had brought me there, The finished
(35:35):
driver and the old wood cutter were in another room.
Therefore I stood alone with the police officer of Helsingfors
and the chief of Police at a bow. The latter
listened to the officer's story of my arrest without saying
a word. The prisoner, your excellency, desired to be brought
here to you before being taken to Helsingfors. He said
(35:55):
you would be aware of the facts, and so I am,
remarked Boransky with a smile. There is no conspiracy. You
must at once release this gentleman and the other two prisoners.
But Excellency, the Governor General has issued orders for the
prisoner's arrest and deportation to Helsingfors. That may be, But
(36:17):
I am chief of police and a beau, and I
release him. The officer looked at me in such blank
astonishment that I could not resist smiling. I am well
aware of this englishman's visit to the north, added Boransky.
More need not be said. Has the lady been arrested, No,
your excellency. Every effort is being made to find her.
(36:38):
Colonel Smirnov has already been relieved of his post as
governor of Kajana, and many of the guards are under
arrest for complicity in the plot to allow the woman
to escape. Ah. Yes, I see from the dispatches that
a reward is offered for her recapture. The Governor General
is determined that she shall not escape, remarked the other.
She is probably hidden in the far somewhere or other.
(37:02):
Of course, they are making a thorough search over every
verse of it. If she is there, she will most
certainly be found, no doubt, remarked Baransky, leaning back in
his padded chair and looking at me meaningly across the
littered table. And now I wish to speak to this
Englishman privately, so please leave us. Also inform the other
(37:23):
two prisoners that they are at liberty. But your Excellency
does this upon his own responsibility, he said, anxiously. Remember
that I brought them to you under arrest, and I
released them entirely at my own discretion, he said. As
chief of police of this province, I am permitted to
use my jurisdiction, and I exercise it in this matter.
(37:45):
You are liberty to report that at Helsingfors if you
so desire, but I should suggest that you say nothing
unless absolutely obliged. You understand the manner in which Boransky spoke, apparently,
decided my captor. For After a moment's hesitation, he said, saluting,
if that is really your wish, then I will obey,
(38:07):
and he left. Excellency, exclaimed the chief of police, rising
quickly and walking towards me as soon as the door
was closed and we were alone. You have had a
very narrow escape. Very I did my best to assist you.
I succeeded in bribing the water guards at Kajana in
order that you might secure the lady's release. But it
(38:28):
seems that just at the very moment when you were
about to get away, one of the guards turned informer
and roused the governor of the castle, with the result
that you all three nearly lost your lives. The whole
matter has been reported to me officially, and he added,
with a grim smile, my men are now searching everywhere
for you. But why is Baron Oberg so extremely anxious
(38:50):
to recapture miss Heath, I asked earnestly. I have no idea,
was his reply. The secret orders from Helsingfors to me
are to arrest her at all hazards, alive or dead,
which means that the Baron would not regret if she
was dead, I remarked, in response, to which he nodded
in the affirmative. I told him of the faithful services
(39:13):
of Felix the Finlander, whereupon he said, simply, I told
you that you might trust him implicitly. But now that
you have shown yourself my friend, I said, you will
assist miss Heath to escape this man who deserves to
hold her prisoner in that awful place they are driving
her mad. I will do my best, he answered, but
shaking his head dubiously. But you must recollect that Baron
(39:36):
Oberg is Governor General of Finland with all the powers
of the Czar himself, and if Elma Heath again falls
into his unscrupulous hands, she will die, I declared, Ah,
he sighed, looking me straight in the face. I fear
that what you say is only too true. She evidently
holds some secret which he fears she will reveal. He
(39:58):
wishes to rearrest her in order well, he added in
a low tone, in order to close her lips. It
would not be the first time that persons have been
silenced in secret at Kajana. Many fatal accidents take place
in that fortress, you know. End of Chapter eleven, Part
two recording by Tom Wess
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