“On the night of our arrival he called in his son, who had traveled with us from Petersburg, and in writing again demanded that I should marry him.  I wrote my reply—­a firm refusal.  He struck the table angrily with his fist and wrote saying that I should either marry his son or die.  Then next day, while walking alone out beyond the town of Helsingfors, as I often used to do, I was arrested upon the false charge of an attempt upon the life of Madame Vakuroff and transported, without trial, to the terrible fortress of Kajana, some of the horrors of which you have yourself experienced.  The charge against me was necessary before I could be incarcerated there, but once within, it was the scheme of the Governor-General to obtain my consent to the marriage by threats and by the constant terrors of the place.  He even went so far as to obtain a ministerial order for my banishment to Saghalien and brought it to me to Kajana, declaring that if in one month I did not consent he should allow me to be sent to exile.  While I was in Kajana he knew that his secret was safe, therefore by every means in his power he urged me to consent to the odious union.

“All the rest is known to you—­how Providence directed you to me as my deliverer, and how Woodroffe followed you in secret, and pretending to be my friend took me with him to Petersburg.  He had learnt of my fortune from the Baron, and intended to marry me himself.  But now that all is over it appears to me like some terrible dream.  I never believed that so much iniquity existed in the world, or that men could fight a defenseless woman with such double-dealing and cruel ingenuity.  Ah! the tortures I endured in Kajana are beyond human conception.  Yet surely Oberg and Woodroffe will obtain their well-merited deserts—­if not in this world, then in the world to come.  Are we not taught by Holy Writ to forgive our enemies?  Therefore, let us forgive.”

* * * * *

There my silent love’s strange story ended.  A bald, straightforward narrative that held us all for some moments absolutely speechless—­one of the strangest and most startling stories ever revealed.

She watched every expression of my countenance, and then, when I had finished reading and placed my arm tenderly about her slim waist, she raised her beautiful face to mine to receive the passionate kiss I imprinted upon those soft, full lips.

“This, of course, makes everything plain,” exclaimed Jack.  “Polovstoff was a very liberal-minded and upright official who was greatly in the favor of the Czar, and a serious rival to Oberg, whose drastic and merciless methods in Finland were not exactly approved by the Emperor.  The Baron was well aware of this, and by ingeniously enticing him on board the Iris he succeeded by handing that small bomb concealed in a cigar—­a Nihilist contrivance that had probably been seized by his police in Finland—­in freeing himself from the rival who was destined to occupy his post.”