BY NEVA’S WATERS [Illustration: “REMAIN HERE,” SAID THE DUCHESS, ADDRESSING HER TWO ATTENDANTS. “_By Neva’s Waters._” _(Page 146) Frontispiece._] BY NEVA’S WATERS Being an Episode in the Secret History of Alexander the First, Czar of All the Russias BY JOHN R. CARLING AUTHOR OF “THE SHADOW OF THE CZAR,” “THE VIKING’S SKULL” “THE WEIRD PICTURE,” ETC. BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1907 _Copyright, 1907_, BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. _All rights reserved_ Published October, 1907 ALFRED MUDGE & SON, INC., PRINTERS, BOSTON. MASS., U. S. A. TO MY DAUGHTER, WINIFRED CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A MODERN FREE-LANCE 1 II. BARANOFF’S PROPOSAL 10 III. THE INN OF THE SILVER BIRCH 22 IV. IN THE PRINCESS’S BED-CHAMBER 33 V. DISCOVERED, OR NOT DISCOVERED? 45 VI. HEIRESS TO THE THRONE! 54 VII. WILFRID DEFIES THE CZAR 63 VIII. A CHARMING TÊTE-À-TÊTE 76 IX. A DOCUMENT MISSING 88 X. THE DOCUMENT FOUND 98 XI. “THOU SHALT BRUISE HIS HEEL” 108 XII. A GRIM BEGINNING OF A REIGN 117 XIII. THE TRIUMPH OF BARANOFF 129 XIV. IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT 137 XV. HOW PAUL DIED 149 XVI. THE FALL OF THE REGICIDES 160 XVII. A VOW TO SLAY! 172 XVIII. THE MASQUERADE 180 XIX. THE PRINCESS’S KISS 190 XX. WILFRID RECEIVES A CHALLENGE 201 XXI. “YOUR OPPONENT IS AN EMPEROR!” 210 XXII. “THIS DUEL MUST NOT BE” 221 XXIII. WILFRID’S ABDUCTION 230 XXIV. THE FIGURE IN THE GREY DOMINO 241 XXV. THE DOCTOR’S PLOT 246 XXVI. WITHOUT A MEMORY! 254 XXVII. THE CZAR’S PORTRAIT 263 XXVIII. PAULINE REPENTS 271 XXIX. WOOING A CZARINA 280 XXX. BEHIND THE CURTAIN 287 XXXI. “I BELONG TO WILFRID, NOT TO YOU!” 295 XXXII. FLIGHT 300 XXXIII. RECONCILIATION 309 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE