Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/288

278 'my head would have been turned.' Surely he was not thinking of the lifeless statue on its pinnacle of stone, but of the living man on the proud summit of this world's dominion and glory."

"Barrinka, the Czar is there now, and his head is not turned."

"Thank God; for it is his grace that keeps him safe. Michael, my friend, do you remember the oath we swore that morning in the camp at Tarovtino, with the explosion still sounding in our ears that laid half the Kremlin in ruins?"

Michael's eyes kindled and his dark cheek glowed. "How could I forget it, Barrinka?" he said. "Did we not swear to take such vengeance on Napoleon and the French as the world has never heard of yet? Woe is me! we have had the chance and lost it."

"Not lost it—used it nobly. Do you not see, Michael, that the Czar has indeed taken such vengeance as the world never heard of before? To comfort and help our enemies, to give back good for evil, is not indeed the world's way, but it is the way of Christ; and perhaps in the end even the world may come to see it is the best."

The day after this conversation took place Ivan became the guest of Madame de Salgues. It was a happy change for him. Now, for the first time in his life, he was thrown into the society of good, refined, and noble-hearted women. He enjoyed its pleasures with keen appreciation; though, as it happened, the beginning of his acquaintance with Madame de Salgues was not particularly promising. When the ceremony of presentation was over, the old lady began to compliment him upon the magnanimity of his sovereign in restoring to France her rightful monarch.

"Madame," answered Ivan, who was anxious in his turn to say something agreeable, "the Czar has only been desirous of consulting the wishes of the French people. He and his Allies