We need recite but one other interview which Princess Zara undertook

that day. Several follow upon it, and there were many such during her

stay of more than a week in New York City.

Many came, were received and went away again; and the princess herself

was frequently abroad in the streets, or at places of amusement, or was

entertained by those who worship at the shrine of nobility.

But there was one who called upon her the evening of the day of

Saberevski's interview, to which it is necessary that we should refer.

He came at ten o'clock, and was expected, for he was conducted to her

presence immediately and was received without question, although it

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would have been immediately plain to an observer that these two had

never met before.

The things which they discussed were largely technical, and had to do

with the conduct and activities of various nihilistic agents who were

scattered about over the world, outside of Russia. He was a man whose

name does not appear again in this story and which therefore need not

be mentioned now, but he was nevertheless one well known at the courts

of Europe, and on the streets of New York and Washington.

At the end of their discussion and interchange of confidences, when he

rose to leave her and she gave him her hand, he said, recurring to the

subject of their conversation: "Princess, if we had others like you, as sincere in their efforts for

the betterment of our people, nihilism would soon become the dominant

factor of Russian politics, and official oppression would cease to

exist. If we had others like you, as good and as beautiful as you are,

the czar would abdicate, or would consent to give us a parliament. As

it is, the struggle has only just begun, and I greatly fear that

neither I nor you, young though you are, will live to see its end."

"Thank you," she said. "I understand thoroughly what you mean. It is

true that I am heart and soul in this movement. It is equally true that

I am prepared to devote my fortune and my life to an attainment of the

ends we seek."

"Are you an extremist?" he asked her. "We have not touched upon that

part of the subject as yet, princess."

She hesitated.

"If you mean by that expression, do I seek the life of Alexander? I

could answer you in the affirmative without hesitation; but I would

have to confess that my desire for vengeance upon him is more of a

personal quality, than of a political character. I am mindful of the

fact that we cannot destroy a tree by lopping off one of its branches,

and whenever a czar is dead, another lives to take his place and to

permit the injustices practiced in his name, to continue. He is like

the hydra-headed monster of childhood's tales, and another head grows

as fast as one may be cut off."




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