was deceived this time by the silence of Fedor. She attributed the chagrin of her brother to painful recollections, and fancied that the sight of the scenes where he had suffered, tended to revive his grief; but she still depended on love and fricndslnp to complete the cure of his wound.
On parting with her brother she promised often to come and see him in the cabin of her nurse.
Nevertheless, the last look of Fedor terrified the young maiden; there was something more than grief in this glance; there was the expression of a ferocious joy, blended with some unaccountable solicitude. A fear crossed her mind that he had become mad.
Madness had always inspired her with a terror which appeared to her supernatural, and as she attributed this fear to a presentiment, her superstition augmented her inquietude. When fears assume the shape of prophetic intimations, their influence becomes * indomitable, a vague and fugitive presentiment takes the aspect of an impending destiny, and imagination, thus acted upon, creates what it fears, and by its influence upon intermediate events, realises its own clrimeras.
Several days passed on, during which Thelenef frequently absented himself. Xenie, entirely absorbed in the grief which was caused by the incurable melancholy of Fedor, thought only of him, and saw only her nurse.
One evening, she was sitting reading in the castle, which her father had left in the morning, saying that she was not to expect his return before the morrow : Xenie was accustomed to these journeyings ; for the extent of the domains which her father superintended
THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.113
often obliged him to be absent for a considerable
о
time. While thus alone, the nurse of the young girl suddenly appeared before her.
' You must, however, to-day. Come, what should you fear with me ? '
Xenie, accustomed to the taciturnity of the Russian peasants, imagined that her nurse had prepared some surprise for her. She therefore rose and followed the old woman.
The village was deserted. At first Xenie believed that it only slept. The night was perfectly calm, and not dark: not a breath of wind disturbed the willows of the marsh, nor bent the long grass of the meadows; not a cloud veiled the stars of heaven. Neither the distant barking of the dog, nor the bleating of the sheep was to be heard; the cattle had ceased to low in the stall; the herdsman was no longer heard to chaunt his melancholy song, similar to the low trill which precedes the cadence of the nightingale; a silence more profound than the usual silence of the night, brooded over the plain, and weighed upon the heart of Xenie, who began to experience indefinable
* The poorest Russians possess a teapot and a copper kettle,
and drink tea morning and evening in log huts, whose crevices
are stuffed with moss, and whose extremely rude appearance
contrasts strangely with the elegance and delicacy of the
beverage ou which they regale. —
114THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.
sensations of terror, though she did not dare to hazard a question. Has the angel of death passed over Vologda ? Sueh was the silent thought of the trembling girl.
Suddenly a blaze of light appeared on the horizon.
' What is that ? ' cried Xenie, struck with terror.
' I eannot tell,' replied the nurse, ' it is perhaps the last beams of day.'
' A eastle,' responded Elizabeth, in a hollow voice; ' it is the nobles' turn полу.'
' What do you mean ? ' cried Xenie, seizing in her terror, her nurse's arm, ' are the dreadful predictions of my father going to be fulfilled ? '
' Let us make haste; I have to conduct you further than our cabin.'
' Where are you going to take me ? '
' To a place of safety ; there is no longer one for you in Vologda.'
' But my father ! — what has become of him ? I have nothing to fear for myself; but where is my father ? '
' He is saved.'
' Saved ! From what danger ? By whom ? What is it that you know ? You are trying to soothe me to make me comply with your wishes ! '
' I swear to you by the light of the Holy Spirit, my son has concealed him, and he has done it for your sake, at the peril of his own life; for all the traitors will perish this night.'
' Fedor has saved my father! What generous conduct! '
' I am not generous, mademoiselle,' said the young
THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.115
man, approaching to support Xcnie, who seemed about to faint.
Fedor had accompanied his mother to the castle gate, which he had not ventured to enter: on the two women coming forth, he had followed them at a little distance in order to protect the flight of Xenie. The weakness that came over his sister obliged him to show himself. But she soon recovered the energy which danger arouses in strong minds.
' The Russians are free, and they are going to avenge themselves; but make haste, and follow me,' he continued, leading her on.
' Going to avenge themselves ! But on whom ? I have never done evil to any one ! '
''Tis true, you are an angel; yet,I fear that in the first moment there will be no mercy for anybody. The madmen ! they see only enemies, not alone in our former masters but in all their kindred. The hour of carnage is arrived : let us make haste. If you do not hear the tocsin, it is because they avoid sounding the bells for fear of forewarning our enemies; besides, they could not be heard far enough : it was agreed that the last glimmer of the evening sun should be the signal for the burnino` of the castles, and the massacre of all their inhabitants.'
' Oh ! you make me shudder ! '
Fedor continued, still urging her forwards, ' I was
appointed to march with the youngest and bravest of
our people on the town of, where we are to sur
prise the gai`rison, which consists only of a few
veterans. We are the strongest, and I therefore
116THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.
thought they might dispense with me in the first expedition; thus I have wittingly failed in my duty, I have betrayed the sacred cause, and deserted my battalion to repair to the spot where I knew that I should find your father ; he has been timely warned, and is concealed in a cabin dependent on the domains of the crown, lint now I
