deserves it, and the child also, but I forbid you to beat him. You
have not been furnished with these whips in order to beat isolated
prisoners, but to charge the crowd when it does not obey the
governor's orders. In such a case you are ordered "Charge," and
you know what to do. You understand?' Feodor said roughly. 'I
am General Trebassof, your governor.'

"Feodor was thoroughly human in saying this. Ah, well, he was badly
ecompensed for it, very badly, I tell you. The student was truly
dangerous, because he had no sooner heard my husband say, 'I am
General Trebassof, your governor,' than he cried, 'Ah, is it you,
Trebassoff' and drew a revolver from no one knows where and fired
straight at the general, almost against his breast. But the general
was not hit, happily, nor I either, who was by him and had thrown
myself onto the student to disarm him and then was tossed about at
the feet of the soldiers in the battle they waged around the student
while the revolver was going off. Three soldiers were killed. You
can understand that the others were furious. They raised me with
many excuses and, all together, set to kicking the student in the
loins and striking at him as he lay on the ground. The subaltern
struck his face a blow that might have blinded him. Feodor hit the
officer in the head with his fist and called, 'Didn't you hear what
I said?' The officer fell under the blow and Feodor himself carried
him to the sleigh and laid him with the dead men. Then he took
charge of the soldiers and led them to the barracks. I followed,
as a sort of after-guard. We returned to the palace an hour later.
It was quite dark by then, and almost at the entrance to the palace
we were shot at by a group of revolutionaries who passed swiftly in
two sleighs and disappeared in the darkness so fast that they could
not be overtaken. I had a ball in my toque. The general had not