"You will be shot," he said, quietly, and then to himself he added. "He's a fine fellow, with good stuff in him; we might do something after all. I'll have to look into the matter."
Platoff was right. The next day Captain Daroman returned, and the predicted change came with a vengeance. The supply of daily food was shortened, all conversation was strictly forbidden, and the wretched toilers in the mines were refused a moment's rest with the exception of a scant ten minutes for lunch.
For a time these hardships were borne without complaint, but it soon became evident that the commandant had a special hatred against the three political prisoners, and he lost no opportunity of displaying his feelings.
One bitterly cold morning the convicts were trudging in pairs over the snow-clad plains to their daily toil.
Maurice and Platoff marched in front, and close behind them was Phil, who had been transferred to their gang some time before. They had barely left the settlement, and were passing along the base of a hill part way up in which stood half a dozen straggling cabins.
"Some of the free command live there," whispered Platoff, and Maurice looked with envy at the homes of the unfortunate people who were yet ten times better off than himself.
Suddenly he saw to his great surprise a girl standing by the road-side a few yards ahead.
She was not more than sixteen, slender of figure, and dressed in a long fur cloak and cap. Her gaze was fixed compassionately on the approaching convicts, and Maurice's heart thrilled as he met a pitying glance from her dark eye."
The sight of this innocent young maiden in such a strange place reminded him irresistibly of home, and for a moment a mist swam before his eyes and he staggered against his companion.
"Who is that, Platoff?" he asked, in an undertone. "What can such a creature have to do with this miserable place?"
"She must belong to the free command, replied the Russian, "a daughter probably of one of the exiles. And yet she does not look it," he added, after a closer survey.
The convicts filed slowly past, and still the girl stood motionless as a status her dark eyes looking unutterable sympathy at the doleful procession.
Near the end of the line came Captain Daroman, mounted on a Cossack pony. He frequently accompanied the working parties to the mines, to see how much gold was being washed out, and this was one of his inspection days.
Strange to say, he was in a passably good humour this morning, and his flushed face showed that he had been indulging rather heavily in vodka.
From under his fur cap he observed the girl by the roadside, and as the pony brought him opposite, he slipped out of the saddle, and stepped up to her before she had time to move.
"Well, my pretty maiden, have you a kiss for me this morning?" he asked, with a smile. As the startled girl recoiled, he threw his arms around her.
She uttered one loud cry, and struggled fiercely to free herself.
Maurice wheeled round and took in the situation at a glance. There was no help for the girl. The convicts never even turned their heads, and the soldiers marched stolidly forward.
It was no business of theirs. She was only an exile's daughter.
One brief second Maurice stood thus, his eyes flashing, his hands clenched. Then loose from Platoff's detaining grasp, he bounded from the ranks. Two Cossacks ran forward, but he slipped easily between them, and springing at Captain Daroman, he seized him by the throat, tore him by main force from the struggling maid, and flung him with all his strength to the ground.
* * *
CHAPTER XIII
Cossacks and convicts alike were petrified at the lad's daring deed, and for a moment no one stirred.
Phil made a motion to follow his companion, but Platoff fiercely held him back. Then Captain Daroman staggered dizzily to his feet. He drew his sword and sprang with a savage cry at Maurice, who was standing calmly in front of the girl he had rescued.
The lad's fate seemed to be sealed, but just when the weapon was within a foot of his head, the captain stopped short, and cried, in a voice hoarse with passion: "No, no! my fine fellow, that's too merciful for you!" He sheathed his weapon, and turned to the soldiers:
"Bind him to that tree yonder," he shouted, "and shoot him instantly!"
The Cossacks sprang forward, and Maurice was speedily tied to a large tree that stood a few yards distant near the base of the hill.
The convicts huddled affrightedly together, and the girl, who seemed unable to comprehend the meaning of the scene, edged away from the spot, looking with unutterable terror at Captain Daroman.
The commandant gave several sharp, quick orders, and a dozen Cossacks advanced from the line. They dropped their rifle butts with a ringing clatter to the frozen ground, and then raised them to their shoulders.
Maurice, pale and trembling, faced the glaring muzzles.
He knew that in another moment the leaded volley would pierce his breast, and yet he faced the prospect with a calmness that surprised himself. All his past life was surging through his mind, but still he saw distinctly every detail of the scene before him, the awe-struck convicts, the agitated faces of Phil and Platoff, the firing squad of Cossacks, and the ferocious countenance of Captain Daroman.
"Why did they not fire?" he wondered, vaguely, and then he began to utter a silent prayer.
"Take aim!" shouted the commandant, and the twelve black muzzles centred together. Maurice closed his eyes with a shudder. A low sob burst from Phil, and Platoff ground his teeth.
"Fire!" was already trembling on Captain Daroman's lips, when a startling interruption occurred.
The young girl sprang across the rifles, and threw herself in front of Maurice.
"I forbid you to shoot," she exclaimed, facing the soldiers, "release this man or you shall all be punished; and you," she added to Captain Daroman—"you shall pay dearly for this insult."
The commandant swore a fearful oath.
"Take her away!" he shouted to his men—"drag her to one side. and finish this dog here!"
Half a dozen Cossacks advanced towards the courageous girl, but she held her ground, and met them with flashing eyes. In another instant they would have seized her roughly, but just then a clatter of hoofs was heard, and a young Cossack officer, mounted on a black horse, galloped up to the party.
He surveyed the scene for a moment, then flinging the lines to a soldier, he leaped from the saddle and approached the girl, doffing his cap respectfully as he did so.
"Miss Lora," he said, "your father the colonel has sent me in search of you. He feared you had strayed off and lost your way."
A revolving bomb-shell could not have caused greater consternation than did the quiet speech of this young officer. The soldiers lowered their rifles instantly, the convicts began to whisper excitedly among themselves, and Captain Daroman's face assumed an expression that none who saw it can ever forget.
"You have come just in time," replied the maiden. "I have suffered insult at the hands of that man," pointing to the trembling commandant, "and this convict here, who saved me from the wretch, was about to be shot for his noble deed."
The officer turned sternly and inquiringly towards Captain Daroman, who now came unsteadily forward. "Sudekin, who is that girl?" he asked in a husky voice. "I thought she belonged to the free command yonder."
"She is the daughter of Colonel Melikoff, the governor of the mines," replied the officer , "she went out for a walk this morning, and wandered up here from the Lower Diggings. I was sent in search of her. It looks as though you were in a pretty bad scrape this time, Daroman."
The commandant grew still paler. "But tell me," he whispered, "can nothing be done to smooth matters over? Why, I didn't even know that Colonel Melikoff had a daughter."
"She just came on a visit from Irkutsk," replied Sudekin, coldly. "Everything rests with her, Daroman; don't talk to me.
The commandant hesitated a second or two, and then in a cringing manner that must have been bitter as gall to his proud spirit, approached the girl.
"Miss Melikoff," he began humbly; but at the first word she indignantly moved to one side.
"Before you dare speak to me," she said, angrily, "release that brave man there."
The commandant gave the necessary orders, and then, while the soldiers were unbinding Maurice, he made an abject apology, and in the most piteous tones begged that his offence might be overlooked and kept from reaching her father.
It was a strange scene, the savage Captain Daroman suing for mercy in the presence of his own soldiers and of the convicts who had felt so often his iron rule.
The girl listened calmly to his appeal, and, when he had finished she walked proudly away like an offended princess, not deigning to give him so much as a glance.
"Take me home, Lieutenant Sudekin," she said; "I have heard quite enough."
The lieutenant pointed across the plain. "A sleigh was ordered to follow me," he replied. "I see it coming now." The conveyance quickly reached the spot with a merry ringing of bells.
Miss Lora darted a grateful glance at Maurice and stepped in among the furs. The driver whipped up the horses, and the sleigh sped rapidly off, attended closely by Lieutenant Sudekin on his black charger.
Captain Daroman watched until it was dim in the distance. Then turning on Maurice one glance so venomous and malignant that the lad shuddered, he put spurs to his pony and galloped off without a word.
"Get in line there," cried the sub-officer, harshly. The convicts instantly obeyed, the Cossacks surrounded them with shouldered rifles, and the interrupted march was resumed as calmly and monotonously as though the event had never occurred.
Maurice, assisted by his two companions, staggered forward with the utmost difficulty. He was suffering from a violent reaction. He had bravely attacked the commandant and faced the certainty of death without a tremor, but the sudden restoration to hope was too much for him.
The officer in command perceived his enfeebled condition, and feeling doubtful as to the bearing which the recent incident would have on the young convict, he wisely concluded to be on the safe side and act with leniency.
He gave Maurice a few drops of vodka from his own flask, and mounted him on a pony until the mines were reached. This treatment was speedily effective, and Maurice was able to work as usual with his fellow-prisoners, for the officer refused to extend his leniency any further. He was kept rigorously apart from Phil and Platoff, however, and put to work some distance away.
The rest of the day was not destined to pass uneventfully. During the noon period of rest an ominous incident occurred, and one from which Maurice drew an inference favourable to himself. Twenty mounted Cossacks rode up to the mines, headed by a middle-aged officer with dignified bearing, who sternly asked for Captain Daroman.
When told that the commandant had not accompanied the convicts to the mines, he appeared much concerned, and presently the whole party rode away at full speed.
Trudging home at sunset, three different squads of soldiers were encountered, and on reaching the settlement suppressed excitement was visible on the faces of all whom they met. Within the prison much whispering was going on among the convicts, and the new arrivals were speedily acquainted with a dozen different versions of what was indeed a startling tale.
The facts of the case, as gleaned from these different stories, which had entered the prison in some unaccountable manner, appeared to be as follows.
Captain Daroman, on leaving the convict gang that morning, had returned in haste to the prison, changed his clothes in his own apartment, armed himself heavily, and then galloped away on a fresh horse, in what direction none observed.
Shortly after his departure a troop of soldiers arrived from the Lower Diggings with a warrant for his arrest. It was no secret that the commandant had sought safety in flight, and now half the force in barracks was scouring the country in pursuit.
Maurice was jubilant, as he sat on the bare platform, eating his frugal supper, with Phil and Platoff by his side. Their fellow-convicts had been crowding about them, eagerly discussing the momentous affair, and now at last they were comparatively by themselves
"And how do you think this will affect us Platoff?" asked Maurice. "Will it lighten my sentence, or is it even possible that I shall obtain a fair hearing from the governor, and be permitted to tell him our story? I feel sure that I should convince him of the truth."
Platoff gravely shook his head.
"Don't be too hopeful, my friend," he replied. "There are complications in this affair that you are unable to see. To me, with my knowledge and experience, they are only too plain. You have performed a brave deed, it is true, and protected from insult the daughter of Colonel Melikoff; but, at the same time, you have broken the severest of prison rules and committed a flagrant crime, for which the penalty is death."
"And would not the one offset the other?" demanded Maurice, with indignation. "Would the circumstances count for nothing?"
"Colonel Melikoff is known as the most stern and rigid disciplinarian in all Siberia," answered Platoff, soberly. "I fear that he may insist on making your case an example to the other prisoners. You assaulted an officer—an unpardonable crime."
"Yes, and saved his daughter," assented Maurice, hotly. "Can he overlook that?"
"He can overlook anything," said Platoff grimly. "Listen, I can tell you what kind of a man Colonel Melikoff is in a few words. Do you remember in one of Victor Hugo's romances the gunner who allowed a huge cannon to tear loose from its fastenings on shipboard during a storm, and then, after a terrific combat, in which his life was jeopardised a hundred times, overturned the monster and saved his comrades?"
"Yes, I have read that," said Maurice.
"Very well," resumed Platoff, "the commander of that vessel first rewarded that man for his bravery, then shot him for his negligence Colonel Melikoff is a second Marquis de Lautenac."
"But you don't think I'm in any danger of being shot?" asked Maurice, in a horrified whisper.
"No," said Platoff, "it's not quite so bad. You may know all to-morrow, and then it is possible that I shall have something to say to you."
