Praga

“ And there too gleamed the lance-points and the armor, and moved the ghostly figures of the winged hussars. With the loaded wagon once more in the centre began the march back to the castle.
Fast they rode and without much converse; yet in each man's breast the exaltation of a supreme adventure, of an hour lived, of an hour snatched from the buried and thrice buried past: from the past that was before the massacre of Praga, the past that had beheld the first great revolution, and then the second. To them it was an hour to have lived for, be the near future what it might. And Slavin shared it. ”

“ Von Nauheim did not move, and Praga, seizing him by the arm, half led, half dragged him forward.
"You can do an act of justice for once in your life."
He clipped the words, and followed them with a short, sneering laugh, a curious mixture of humor and anger.
"We are not alone here, and I have a fancy that you shall tell what you know about the death of young Gustav von Gramberg."
At this von Nauheim looked up, and stared rather wildly about him. I saw Praga's motive then, and was glad.
"Halt! most noble and honorable of counts," he cried when they stood about twenty paces from us. ”

“ The attack on me and you will commence at the moment they believe they have outwitted us; and the danger will spread to us all the instant they find we have outwitted them. But our holding of their duke as a hostage will disarm them."
"You are sure of Praga, and that he can get hold of the duke?" ”

“ Minna, do you hear? For God's sake, have mercy," and he caught hold of her dress and clung to her—the type of broken, abject, fright-becrazed cowardice.
"Don't touch me!" she cried. "Your hands are red with my brother's blood."
"Get up, you crawling, unclean brute, and cease your whining," said Praga, dragging him to his feet.
"Don't let him be killed, cousin Hans," whispered Minna. "He is not fit to die. But, oh, take me away. This scene is killing me," she cried in distress.
At that von Nauheim broke out with more pleas and entreaties, his voice shaking as he trembled in his fear. ”

“ On the night of March 30 the Praga bridge was covered with straw and the army marched noiselessly across. At daybreak, in the midst of a thick fog, it fell on a body of sleeping Russians, who had not dreamed of such a movement. Hurled back in disorder and dismay, they were met by a division which had been posted to cut off their retreat. The rout was complete. Half the corps was destroyed or taken, and the remainder fled in terror through the forest depths. ”

“ I took von Krugen into my confidence as to my discoveries and plans. I showed him the documents I had brought back from Munich; told him of my meeting with Praga; the secret history of the duel which had ended young Gustav's life; and, at the close, invited him to say plainly what he thought of the counter-scheme, and of our chances of carrying it through.
"It is about the only chance," he said, "and once on the throne there is no reason why the countess should not stay there." ”

“ Warsaw still held out. Here all who had escaped from the field took refuge, occupying Praga, the eastern suburb of the city, where twenty-six thousand Poles, with over one hundred cannon and mortars, defended the bridges over the Vistula. Suwarrow, the greatest of the Russian generals, was quickly at the city gates. He was weaker, both in men and in guns, than the defenders of the city; but with his wonted impetuosity he resolved to employ the same tactics which he had more than once used against the Turks, and seek to carry the Polish lines at the bayonet's point. ”

“ I could not see that there was any permanent safety for Minna that way. As Praga had put it, it was a canon of the Ostenburg position that there should be no Gramberg claimant to the throne left alive or fit to claim the throne; and I did not doubt for a moment that she might still be the object of attack wherever she went. Their arm would be long enough to reach her. Thus flight would thwart the Ostenburg scheme, but it would not achieve what was far more important to us, the safety of all concerned. ”

“ It is a suburb of New Praga, just across the Alexandrovsk Bridge. Rents are much cheaper there. I can get a room for two roubles. Here in Warsaw the same room would cost me three.”
“Dear me!” exclaimed Lily, “what a saving! And is life in Tiraspol exciting?”
“Not very,” answered the girl. “The lives of the poor are almost always dull. Mine is like all of them. I have only one half-holiday a month. Sometimes I go to a concert.”
“But have you no lovers?” inquired the Countess, removing her bodice.
Sophie turned away, and a dark red spread itself over her neck and cheeks. ”

“ I was shown to a room at once, and as the door closed on me I heard a rush of footsteps, a cry or two of anger, a shout from Praga that we were betrayed, and then the quick gallop of horses down the drive.
Before I had recovered from my consternation the door was opened again quickly, and an officer appeared at it, accompanied by a couple of men, who covered me with their guns.
"What is the meaning of this?" I cried angrily. "Where is Major Gessler? I am the Prince von Gramberg, and am here with an authority from Baron Heckscher to the major. You will repent this attack, sir, whoever you are." ”

“ There was a significance in his tone which did not escape me.
"I must first learn the reason of your all being here, if you please."
"I was returning to——" began von Nauheim, when Praga cut him short.
"Silence!" he thundered; "you will only lie." Then to the major he said, "I know no reason why I should explain my conduct to you."
"I can best explain this, I think," I said. "The Count von Nauheim had induced or compelled the Countess Minna here to leave your custody, and after some time she escaped from him. ”

“ I cried in astonishment. "What is her name? It must be a mistake. There can be no one——Stay; show her up," I broke off, for it occurred to me that after all there might be some one with information to give or sell; or, perhaps, a messenger from Praga. It would do no harm to see her.
She came in very closely veiled, and very beautifully, if very showily, dressed.
"You wish to see me, madam? What is your name?"
She stood silent until the servant had left the room; and I looked at her with considerable curiosity.
"So you are the Prince von Gramberg. I trust your Highness is in excellent health." ”

“ I went back to Minna.
The on-coming horseman was now in full sight of us on the slope of the white hill, the moonlight showing up the figures of both horse and rider, as he turned to look behind him, and sat listening intently. The silence was so intense that we seemed to feel it, and even the creak of the saddle leather, as he turned, reached our ears.
Then we saw him face round quickly and dash his heels into his horse's ribs as if to gallop forward; but, at the same instant, he caught sight of Praga, and he checked his horse again almost as he was in the very act of urging it forward. ”

“ Meanwhile the cries for the Queen Minna were growing in volume and echoing all around us, and I saw the Baron Heckscher look across at me. The men about the throne had unmasked. I thought rapidly. It was no use wasting time in reproaching or abusing the woman who had fooled us. We were in a mess which might ruin not only my scheme, but the whole of us. While the people were still shouting for the Queen, I hurried back to where Praga was standing, and in a few words told him what had occurred.
"She is the devil. ”

“ After that we stood in silence listening to the now fast approaching gallop of the horse.
Then came to our ears the whinnying of another horse. The galloping stopped. The horse was pulled up short.
"What does that mean?" asked Minna in a whisper of alarm; for all sounds breathed the language of danger in her present agitation.
"I left my horse tied to the hedge some distance behind there, and Praga has found it, I expect."
Almost directly after that Minna started again and cried:
"There is another horseman coming from the opposite direction. That will be the Count von Nauheim." ”

“ I would not only let her reappear at the very moment when they would be reckoning on her absence to push the claims of their own man, the Duke Marx; but I would get hold of this duke himself and put him away in her place. We would thus hold the throne against them for long enough to make such terms of compromise as we chose to dictate.
It would be a dare-devil piece of work, and call for one or two desperate men. But I had two already to hand—von Krugen and Praga, with Steinitz as a faithful third—and we might find one or two more among those who were faithful to Minna's interests. ”

“ Alexander of Russia put his Court in mourning (only three years before he had been cognisant of the plot which brought about the murder of his own father) ; the King of Sweden tried to organize a crusade of revenge; but a month after d’Enghien died the Senate begged Napoleon to assume the Imperial title. It is curious, indeed, that so much notice should have been taken of one more murder by a generation which witnessed, without one quarter so much emotion, the partition of Poland, the storming of Praga, the sack of Badajoz, the shooting of Ney, and Wellington’s devastation of the Tagus Valley. ”

“ Petersburg, Dantzig, Kiev, and Odessa, with good climatic conditions, and fertile soil; with the pick of natural talent in art and science, and the love for enterprise that is innate in the Polish character, Warsaw cannot help being a prosperous place.
The city has very extensive suburbs. The best known to foreigners, Praga, on the opposite bank of the Vistula, is connected with Warsaw by two iron bridges. Warsaw itself is built on terraces, one above another, along the bank of the river, but the main portion of the city stands on a high undulating plain above. ”

“ Between the city and the main railway stations flows the river Vistula, broad, deep, and rapid—the greatest military obstacle in Eastern Europe. The capture of the city alone would not be sufficient for von Hindenburg's purpose. If the Russians could hold the eastern bank they could still bring up reinforcements, and could still maintain communications with their armies to the north and south. If, however, the stations in Praga could be seized, the Russians could not use their railways, and, as you know, a modern army cannot live long without railways. ”

“ I asked.
"Yes, the major is on their track, I think. They are supposed to have taken the south road, von Nauheim's object being apparently to strike the railway when some miles out, and presumably get out of Bavaria as soon as possible."
"I have no horse," I said. "You had better give me yours, and then try to get one and follow me as soon as you can. I am on fire. I cannot wait."
"It's not much of a beast, and very tired, but it may serve till you can get a better," said Praga. "Make for Waal first, and then try to find some traces, and leave word for me where I am to follow. ”

“ The literary style is good.”
Truth.—“I much prefer the ghastly story ‘Seven Nights with Satan,’ a very clever study of degeneration.”
The Green Passion. The Study of a Jealous Soul. A Powerful Novel. By Anthony P. Vert. Cover designed by Alfred Praga. Crown 8vo, art cloth, 3s. 6d.
Mr Douglas Sladen in The Queen.—“A remarkably clever book.... There is no disputing the ability with which the writer handles her subject. I say her subject, because the minuteness of the touches, and the odd, forcible style in which this book is written, point to it being the work of a female hand. ”

“ So stands Strahov, Mount Zion, between the Castle Hill and Petřin looking out over Prague from its terraced gardens and its bower of fruit-trees. It is always beautiful, this haunt of old-world peace, whether the garden and the orchard be all a mass of blossom creamy white in the sunshine, pale purples in the shadows, in the shade of midsummer foliage when Golden Prague below glitters in the midday heat, or in autumn when the valley is all a blaze of gold and russet, and the distant hills stand out in strong blue masses. Winter also brings fascination. ”

“ The town is extending considerably, growing up the distant slopes on the far side of the river and trickling down into the little valleys, but the general outline of Prague is much the same as it has been for centuries; the eternal hills may be scarred and patched by us who have here no "abiding city," but they remain. ”

“ Old Prague, the somnolent city of centuries after Bohemia's freedom went, is regaining her place and rising to her high mission as capital of a free and independent State, the most promising of those that arose out of the ruins of the Habsburg dynasty's dominions. Old customs, no doubt, are vanishing: I have looked in vain for the bootmakers' Fidlovačka and the tailors' revels in Stromovka, the butchers' special form of annual rejoicing seems also to have fallen into desuetude. ”

“ The good people of Prague live by the river, on the river, and in warm weather in the river. This has been the pleasant custom of the Pragers from time immemorial; it has not been appreciated by some of the visitors to Prague. So, for instance, this so-called English lady, Elizabeth, wife of him whom history nicknames the "Winter King," was shocked at the very liberal display of pink flesh one day when crossing the Charles Bridge. It was probably a sunny day, and many people of Prague were disporting themselves in the Vltava, as they do to-day. ”

“ Losing one's-self is not difficult in Prague—easier, indeed, than in any city I have yet visited; for the Altstadt so abounds in queer nooks and corners, narrow streets and lanes all crooked and angular, running hither and thither in such unexpected directions, or coming to 119 a sudden stop, as completely to puzzle a stranger. ”