the delightful delirium, remembering Russia, his
duty, his ambition, the poor starving men of the
Sitka factory. At a party he dances with Concha
and they both know that for each there is none
other. So in that setting so wild, so strange, so
remote, so lovely for the old world grace that is
made native there by this bright, deep, fond girl,
the high gods proceed to have their will upon the
two. The little community life pulses around them
the faster because they are there. Their love be-
comes a motive in the diplomatic drama which has
for end, first, the securing of food for those fam-
ishing folk at Sitka, and beyond that, possibly the
seizing of the region for Russia, lest that new
young power of the West, the United States, pre-
empt the rich domain. Concha would help the Rus-
sian to those ends immediate which he reveals to
her, and succeeds. He tells her of Russia and his
mighty position there. He would have her for his
wife, his helper in the vast imperial affairs at the
Russian capitol, his princess in his palace, augment-
ing his official and personal distinction. She shares
his vision, rising to all the heights it unfolds in a
splendid future. Child she is, but she is transformed
into a woman by the prospect not of her own pleas-
ure, but of participation in splendid achievement
with this man so keen, so supple, yet so firm in
high purpose. And as the prospect opens to her
desire and his there looms the obstacle. They can-
not marry, for Rezanov is a heretic. And now the