through his own troops in order to escape from the trap. This was his
last battle. He escaped with sixty men, crossed the Volga, and hid
amongst the bushes of an uninhabited plain.

The Russian troops surrounded the plain whence Pugasceff and his men
could not escape. And yet he still dreamt of future glory! Amidst the
great desert his old ambition came back to him--he pictured the golden
dome of the Kremlin, and the conquered Czarina. And with these dreams he
suffered the tortures of hunger. For days and days he had no nourishment
but horseflesh roasted on the reeds, which was made palatable by meadow-
grass in place of salt. One night, as he was sitting over the fire and
roasting his meagre dinner on a wooden spit, one of the three Cossacks
who formed his body-guard said to him, "You have played your comedy long
enough, Pugasceff!" The adventurer sprang up from his place.

"Slave, I am your Czar!" and whilst saying this he slew the speaker. The
two others made a rush at him, struck him to the ground, bound him, tied
him to a horse, and thus took him to Ural Sorodok and delivered him to
General Szuvarof. It was the very same Ural Sorodok whence he had
started upon his bold undertaking. From here he was taken to Moscow. The
sentence passed upon him was that he should be cut up alive into small
pieces. The Czarina confirmed the sentence, though her beautiful eyes
had had great share of responsibility for the sinner's fate. The hangman
was more merciful. It was not specified in the sentence where he should
commence the work of slaughter, so he began at once with his head, and
for this oversight he was sent to Siberia! Katharine about this time
changed her favorite. Instead of Orloff, Potemkin, a fine fellow, was
chosen.