Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/50

28 to such a country as Siberia. Finally he said with increasing seriousness and severity, "Yesterday you deigned to walk past the prison."

"Yes," I replied.

"What did you do that for?"

"We were going up on the hill to get a view of the town."

"But you did not go up on the hill—you merely walked past the prison, looked at it attentively as you passed, and then came back."

I explained that the hour was late and that after passing the prison we decided to postpone our excursion to the top of the hill until morning.

"Both in going and returning," he continued, "you devoted all your attention to the prison. This morning it was the same thing over again. Now, what were you looking at the prison in that way for?"

When I understood from these questions how we happened to fall under suspicion, I could not help smiling in the officer's face; but as there was no responsive levity, and as all four officers seemed to regard this looking at a prison as an exceedingly grave offense, I again went into explanations.

"Where are you staying in the city?" inquired one of the police officers.

"At the Bourse hotel."

"How long do you intend to remain here?"

"We intended to leave here to-night."

"For Ekaterínburg?"

"For Ekaterínburg."

"Where did you learn to speak Russian?" inquired the chief of gendarmes, taking up the examination in turn.

"In Siberia," I replied.

"You have been there before then?"

"I have."

"Do you speak German?"