[To Michael.] But you will be seized, Michael.
michael
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.
president
Shall I tell the brethren?
michael
Not a word, not a word! There is a traitor amongst us.
vera
Come, are these the proclamations? Yes, ·37· 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.
michael
Ay, and by the sword, not by the goose-quill.
vera
Where are the letters from Poland?
professor
Here.
vera
Unhappy Poland! The eagles of Russia have fed on her heart. We must not forget our brothers there.
president
Is this true, Michael?
michael
Ay, I stake my life on it.
·38· president
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?
alexis
I, President?
michael
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?
alexis
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?
michael
Because you are a traitor! Where did you go when you left us the night of our last meeting here?
·39· alexis
To mine own house, Michael.
michael
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!
michael
I waited. All through the dreary watches of our long Russian night I waited, that I might ·40· 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
[Rushing in front of Alexis.] Stand back, I say, Michael! Stand back all! Do not dare lay a hand upon him! He is the noblest heart amongst us.
omnes
Kill him! Kill him! He is a spy!
vera
Dare to lay a finger on him and I leave you all to yourselves.
·41· president
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!
alexis
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!
alexis
Spy? You know I am not. I am with you, my brothers, to the death.
michael
Ay, to your own death.
·42· alexis
Vera, you know I am true.
vera
I know it well.
president
Why are you here, traitor?
alexis
Because I love the people.
michael
Then you can be a martyr for them?
vera
You must kill me first, Michael, before you lay a finger on him.
president
