"It is as you please, my dear V----," replied the conspirator with a slightly baffled air. "You have made a good beginning, apparently, with the Princess Y----."

I put on the self-satisfied air of the man who is a favorite with women.

"The Princess has been extremely kind," I said. "She has pressed me to visit her frequently. Oh, yes, I think I may say we are good friends."

Petrovitch nodded. I had purposely prepared his mind for the story which I antic.i.p.ated he would hear from my beautiful protector.

Evidently it would be necessary for her to tell the Syndicate that she was feigning affection for me in order to draw me into a trap.

"Then, as my carriage is outside, may I take you to the Winter Palace?"

"That seems the best plan," I acquiesced. "It will convince the Czar that we are on good terms."

We drove off together, sitting side by side like two sworn friends. I do not know what thoughts pa.s.sed through his mind; but I know that all the way I kept my right hand on the stock of my revolver, and once, when one of the horses stumbled, M. Petrovitch was within an instant of death.

At the Palace he put me down and drove off. I was admitted to the Czar's presence without difficulty, and found him, as usual, surrounded by piles of state papers.

Nicholas II. looked up at my entrance with evident pleasure.

"Ah, that is right, M. V----. I hope that, since you have come so promptly in response to the message I gave that worthy M. Petrovitch, you and he are now good friends."

I could only bow silently. I was a j.a.panese, related to the sovereign with whom he was at war, and I was acting in the service of Great Britain. Petrovitch had just forced on the war which Nicholas had wished to avert, and he was still acting secretly in the interests of Germany. And the Czar was congratulating himself that we were friends. It was useless to try to undeceive him.

"Sit down, if you please, M. V----. I have something of the greatest importance to tell you. Stay--Perhaps you will be good enough to see first that the doors are all secured. I dislike interruptions."

I went to the various entrances of the room, of which there were three, and turned the keys in the doors.

"Even M. Petrovitch does not know what I am going to tell you,"

Nicholas said impressively as I returned to my seat.

"Your majesty does not trust him entirely, then?" I exclaimed, much pleased.

"You mistake me. I do not distrust M. Petrovitch; but this is a matter of foreign politics, with which he is not familiar. He admits frankly that he knows nothing about diplomacy."

I gazed at the benevolent young monarch in consternation. It was the spy of Wilhelm II., the agent of the most active diplomatist in the world, of whom he had just spoken!

There was no more to be said.

The Emperor proceeded to put a most unexpected question.

"Are you a believer in spirits, M. V----?"

"I am a Roman Catholic, sire. Whatever my Church teaches on this subject, I believe. I am rather neglectful of my religious duties, however, and do not know its att.i.tude on this subject."

"I honor your loyalty to your communion, M. V----. But as long as you do not know what is the att.i.tude of your Church on this subject, you cannot feel it wrong to listen to me."

I perceived that if his majesty was no politician, he was at least something of a theologian.

The Czar proceeded:

"There is in Petersburg one of the most marvelous mediums and clairvoyants who has ever lived. He is a Frenchman named Auguste. He came here nearly a year ago--just when the difficulty with j.a.pan was beginning, in fact; and he has given me the most valuable information about the progress of events. Everything he has foretold has come true, so far. He warned me from the first that the j.a.panese would force me into war, just as they have done. In short, I feel I can rely on him absolutely."

This was not the first time I had heard of the spiritualist who had established such an extraordinary hold on the Russian ruler's mind.

The common impression was that he was a mystic, a sort of Madame Krudener. At the worst he was regarded as a charlatan of the ordinary spirit-rapping type, cultivating the occult as a means of making money.

But now, as I listened to the credulous monarch, it suddenly struck me what an invaluable tool such a man might prove in the hands of a political faction, or even of a foreign Power astute enough to corrupt him and inspire the oracles delivered by the spirits.

I listened anxiously for more.

The Emperor, evidently pleased with the serious expression on my face, went on to enlighten me.

"Last night M. Auguste was here, in this room, and we held a private _seance_. He succeeded in getting his favorite spirit to respond."

"Is it permissible to ask the spirit's name?" I ventured respectfully.

"It is Madame Blavatsky," he answered. "You must have heard of her, of course. She was practically the founder of rational psychical knowledge, though she died a victim to persecution."

I nodded. I had heard of this celebrated woman, who still numbers many followers in different parts of the world.

"Last night, as soon as we found that the spirit of Madame Blavatsky was present, I asked Auguste to question it about the Baltic fleet.

"I had been holding a preliminary review of the fleet in the morning, as you may have seen from the papers. The officers and men seemed thoroughly nervous, and very doubtful whether it would ever be in a condition to sail. Even the Admiral, Rojestvensky, did not seem quite happy, and he found great fault with the stores and equipments.

"I had to authorize a delay of another month, and the Marine Department would not promise to have the fleet ready even then.

"Naturally, I wished to know what would become of the fleet when it did sail. Auguste questioned the spirit."

His majesty broke off to feel in his pocket for a small slip of paper.

"I took down the answer myself, as the spirit rapped it out." And he read aloud:

Baltic Fleet threatened. j.a.panese and English plotting to destroy it on the way to Port Arthur.

I started indignantly.

"And you believe that, sire! You believe that the British Government, which has been straining every nerve to maintain peace, is capable of planning some secret outrage against your Navy?"

"It does not say the Government," he announced with satisfaction.

"The spirit only warns me against the English. Private Englishmen are capable of anything. At this very moment, two Englishmen are arranging to run a torpedo boat secretly out of the Thames, disguised as a yacht, and to bring her to Libau for us."

This piece of information silenced me. It was no doubt possible that there might be Englishmen daring enough to a.s.sist the j.a.panese in some secret enterprise against a Russian fleet. But I felt I should like to have some better authority for the fact than the word of Madame Blavatsky's spirit.

"The warning is a very vague one, sire," I hinted.

"True. But I hope to receive a more definite message to-morrow night.

I was going to ask you if you would have any objection to be present.

You might then be able to put pressure on the British Government to prevent this crime."

Needless to say I accepted the imperial invitation with eagerness.