I took the paper from his hand; it was his reply to my father’s letter.

I could not help smiling at the old man’s letter.  I was in no condition to write to my father, and to calm my mother his letter seemed sufficient.

From that day, Marie scarcely spoke to me, and even tried to avoid me.  The Commandant’s house became insupportable, and I accustomed myself, little by little, to remain alone in my room.  At first Basilia reasoned with me, but seeing my persistency she let me alone.  I saw Ivan Mironoff only when the service required it.  I had but rare interviews with Alexis, for whom my antipathy increased, because I thought I discovered in him a secret enmity which confirmed my suspicions.  Life became a burden; I gave myself up to a melancholy which was fed by solitude and inaction.  Love burned on in silence and tortured me, more and more.  I lost all taste for reading and literature; I let myself become completely depressed; and I feared that I should either become a lunatic or rush into dissipation, when events occurred that had great influence on my life and give a strong and healthy tone to my mind.

VI.  POUGATCHEFF.

Before beginning the recital of the strange events of which I was witness, I ought to say a few words about the situation of affairs toward the end of the year 1773.  The rich and vast province of Orenbourg was inhabited by a number of tribes, half civilized, who had just recognized the sovereignty of the Russian Czars.  Their continual revolts, their impatience of law and civilized life, their inconstancy and cruelty, demanded on the part of the government a constant watchfulness to reduce them to obedience.  Fortresses had been erected in favorable places, and Cossacks, the former possessors of the shores of the Iaik, in many places formed a part of the garrisons.  But these very Cossacks, who should have guaranteed the peace and security of their districts, were restless and dangerous subjects of the empire.  In 1772 a riot occurred in one of their chief towns.  This riot was caused by the severity of the measures employed by General Traubenberg to bring the army to obedience.  The only result of these measures was the barbarous murder of Traubenberg, a change of Imperial officers, and in the end, by force of grape and canister, the suppression of the riot.

This happened shortly before my arrival at the fortress of Belogorsk.  Then all seemed quiet.  But the authorities had too easily believed in the feigned repentance of the rebels, who nursed their hate in silence, and only awaited a propitious moment to recommence the struggle.

I return to my story.  Once evening, it was in the month of October, 1773, I was alone in the house, listening to the whistling of the Autumn winds, and watching the clouds gliding rapidly before the moon.  An order came from the Commandant, calling me to his presence.  I went that instant.  I found there Alexis, Ignatius and the Corporal of the Cossacks, but neither the wife nor daughter of the Commandant.  My chief bade me good evening, had the door closed, and every one seated, except the Corporal who remained standing; then he drew a paper from his pocket and said to us: