He remembered how pleased he had been when Gertrude had once smiled
on him because, when all the others in the party were grumbling at
the discomforts of a certain picnic where the provisions had gone
astray, he had gaily made the best of it and ransacked the nearest
cottages for bread-and-cheese. He set to work bravely now; hoped
daily for his release; read all the books he was allowed to receive,
invented solitary games, began a novel, and drew caricatures.

In October he was again examined; but, having nothing to reveal, it
was inevitable that he could reveal nothing; and he was again sent
back to his cell "to reflect."

I perceived that after this his heart began to fail him.

There existed in the House of Preventive Detention a system of
communication between the luckless prisoners carried on by means of
tapping on the wall. Sigismund, being a clever fellow, had become a
great adept at this telegraphic system, and had struck up a
friendship with a young student in the next cell; this poor fellow
had been imprisoned three years, his sole offence being that he had
in his possession a book of which the Government did not approve,
and that he was first cousin to a well-known Nihilist.

The two became as devoted to each other as Silvio Pellico and Count
Oroboni; but it soon became evident to Valerian Vasilowitch that,
unless Zaluski was released, he would soon succumb to the terrible
restrictions of prison life.

"Keep up your heart, my friend," he used to say. "I have borne it
three years, and am still alive to tell the tale."