Page:Elizabeth, or, The exiles of Siberia (1).pdf/19

                                  19 During her journey, Elizabeth sometimes saw wretched beings, chained two and two, who were being conveyed to the mines of Nertshink, to labour till death. She was overtaken by a tempest ; and when stopped by a band of robbers, she showed them the boatman’s piece of money, being all she had then left; she was unharmed, one of the party exclaiming—“ Leave her alone, for God is near her.” Elizabeth now hastened on till she came to a convent of nuns, to whom she told her tale of sorrow. Here she found a temporary asylum and assistance; and after returning her grateful thanks, she set off on the road to Moscow, which she found crowded with people, in carriages, sledges, and on foot. Meanwhile the ringing of bells was heard, and on every side the name of the Emperor sounded in the ears of Elizabeth. On inquiring the cause of all this, she was informed, it was on account of the Emperor’s entry into Moscow, where he is to be crowned. Elizabeth now felt overjoyed, while she thought the time was near when she hoped to obtain from the Emperor her father’s pardon Elizabeth entered the immense capital of Muscovy in March, 1801, believing herself at the end of all her troubles, and not imagining that she could encounter fresh calamities. As she proceeded along the city, she rested for a moment in the great walk. The peoj plo walking there talked much of the coronation. The tumult was great towards the Kremlin, where large fires were lighted —Elizabeth approached one of them, and sat down timidly by the side of it. Exhausted with cold and fatigue, the joy which filled her heart in the morning was turned to melancholy, for, in traversing the streets, she could nowhere find an asylum. She knocked at the doors of some of the meaner habitations, and was everywhere repulsed. The hope of making considerable gain, dui-ing the festival, had steeled the heart of the pettiest innkeeper of the place. She consequently returned to the fire in the Kremlin. She wept in silence, and had not strength to eat a bit of broad given her by an old woman. The crowd began to ditainish, and the fires to decay ; when the guard of the palace-gates came to her, asking her why she remained there. The maiden said she had come from Tobolsk, to solicit from the Emperor her father’s pardon, and had performed the journey on foot, and, being without money, no person would receive her. The soldiers accused her of falsehood, and the girl being alarmed, wished to escape, but the soldiers held her. Many people coming up, expressed their disapprobation of the severity of the soldiers, while Elizabeth swore by the name of heaven that she had told the truth, and begged they would save her till she had accomplished her errand. Her appeal reached every heart, and a lodging was