and leads him aside.)
Prof. (from our brothers at Paris and Berlin. What answer shall we send to them?to Vera). And the letters
Vera ( I might have loved him. Oh, I am a fool, a traitor myself, a traitor myself! But why did he come amongst us with his bright young face, his heart aflame for liberty, his pure white soul? Why does he make me feel at times as if I would have him as my king, Republican though I be? Oh, fool, fool, fool! False to your oath! weak as water! Have done! Remember what you are — a Nihilist, a Nihilist!takes them mechanically). Had I not strangled nature, sworn neither to love nor be loved, methinks
Pres. (to Michael). But you will be seized, Michael.
Mich. I think not. I will wear the uniform of the Imperial Guard, and the Colonel on duty is one of us. It is on the first floor, you remember; so I can take a long shot.
Pres. Shall I tell the brethren?
Mich. Not a word, not a word! There is a traitor amongst us.
Vera. Come, are these the proclamations? Yes, they will do; yes, they will do. Send five hundred to Kiev and Odessa and Novgorod, five hundred to Warsaw, and have twice the number distributed among the Southern Provinces, though these dull Russian peasants care little for our proclamations, and less for our martyrdoms. When the blow is struck, it must be from the town, not from the country.
Mich. Ay, and by the sword not by the goose-quill.
Vera. Where are the letters from Poland?
Prof. Here.
Vera. Unhappy Poland! The eagles of Russia have fed on her heart. We must not forget our brothers there.
Pres. Is this true, Michael?
Mich. Ay, I stake my life on it.
Pres. Let the doors be locked, then. Alexis Ivanacievitch entered on our roll of the brothers as a Student of the School of Medicine at Moscow. Why did you not tell us of this bloody scheme of martial law?
Alex. I, President?
Mich. Ay, you! You knew it, none better. Such weapons as these are not forged in a day. Why did you not tell us of it? A week ago there had been time to lay the mine, to raise the barricade, to strike one blow at least for liberty. But now the hour is past. It is too late, it is too late! Why did you keep it a secret from us, I say?
Alex. Now by the hand of freedom, Michael, my brother, you wrong me. I knew nothing of this hideous law. By my soul, my brothers, I knew not of it! How should I know?
Mich. Because you are a traitor! Where did you go when you left us the night of our last meeting here?
Alex. To mine own house, Michael.
Mich. Liar! I was on your track. You left here an hour after midnight. Wrapped in a large cloak, you crossed the river in a boat a mile below the second bridge, and gave the ferryman a gold piece, you, the poor student of medicine! You doubled back twice, and hid in an archway so long that I had almost made up my mind to stab you at once, only that I am fond of hunting. So! you thought that you had baffled all pursuit, did you? Fool! I am a bloodhound that never loses the scent. I followed you from street to street. At last I saw you pass swiftly across the Place St. Isaac, whisper to the guards the secret password, enter the palace by a private door with your own key.
Conspirators. The palace!
Vera. Alexis!
Mich. I waited. All through the dreary watches of our long Russian night I waited, that I might kill you with your Judas hire still hot in your hand. But you never came out; you never left that palace at all. I saw the blood-red sun rise through the yellow fog over the murky town; I saw a new day of oppression dawn on Russia; but you never came out. So you pass nights in the palace, do you? You know the password for the guards! you have a key to a secret door. Oh, you are a spy — you are a spy! I never trusted you, with your soft white hands, your curled hair, your pretty graces. You have no mark of suffering about you; you cannot be of the people. You are a spy — a spy — traitor.
Omnes. Kill him! Kill him! (draw their knives.)
Vera (Do not dare lay a hand upon him! He is the noblest heart amongst us.rushing in front of Alexis). Stand back, I say, Michael! Stand back all!
Omnes. Kill him! Kill him! He is a spy!
Vera. Dare to lay a finger on him, and I leave you all to yourselves.
Pres. Vera, did you not hear what Michael said of him? He stayed all night in the Czar’s palace. He has a password and a private key. What else should he be but a spy?
Vera. Bah! I do not believe Michael. It is a lie! It is a lie! Alexis, say it is a lie!
Alex. It is true. Michael has told what he saw. I did pass that night in the Czar’s palace. Michael has spoken the truth.
Vera. Stand back, I say; stand back! Alexis, I do not care. I trust you; you would not betray us; you would not sell the people for money. You are honest, true! Oh, say you are no spy!
Alex. Spy? You know I am not. I am with you, my brothers, to the death.
Mich. Ay, to your own death.
Alex. Vera, you know I am true.
Vera. I know it well.
Pres. Why are you here, traitor?
Alex. Because I love the people.
Mich. Then you can be a martyr for them?
Vera. You must kill me first, Michael, before you lay a finger on him.
Pres. Michael, we dare not lose Vera. It is her whim to let this boy live. We can keep him here tonight. Up to this he has not betrayed us.
(Tramp of soldiers outside, knocking at door.)
Voice. Open in the name of the Emperor!
Mich. He has betrayed us. This is your doing, spy!
Pres. Come, Michael, come. We have no time to cut one another’s throats while we have our own heads to save.
Voice. Open in the name of the Emperor!
Pres. Brothers, be masked all of you. Michael, open the door. It is our only chance.
(Enter General Kotemkin and soldiers.)
Gen. All honest citizens should be in their own houses at an hour before midnight, and not more than five people have a right to meet privately. Have you not noticed the proclamation, fellows?
Mich. Ay, you have spoiled every honest wall in Moscow with it.
Vera. Peace, Michael, peace. Nay, Sir, we knew it not. We are a company of strolling players travelling from Samara to Moscow to amuse His Imperial Majesty the Czar.
Gen. But I heard loud voices before I entered. What was that?
Vera. We were rehearsing a new tragedy.
Gen. Your answers are
