Several times Rasputin had been attacked, but had escaped. At last, on the 29th of December, 1916, Prince Yusapov, a young man of wealth and position, invited him to dine with him at his own home. The Prince came for him in his own car. Entering the dining-room, they found there the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovitch. M. Purishkevitch, a member of the Duma, had acted as chauffeur, and he followed him in. The three told him that he was to die and he was handed a pistol that he might kill himself; instead of doing so, he shot at the Grand Duke, but missed, and then was shot in turn by his captors. The noise attracted the attention of the police who inquired what had happened. “I have just killed a dog,” was the reply. His body was taken in an automobile to the Neva River, a hole cut in the ice, and weighted with stones, it was dropped into the waters. On the next day his executioners notified the police of what they had done, and the news was announced at the Imperial Theatre, whose audience went wild with enthusiasm, and sang the National Hymn. No legal action was ever taken against Rasputin’s executioners. His body was recovered and given honorable burial. The Czarina, according to report, following the coffin to the grave. And so disappeared from the Imperial Court one evil force. But his tool, Alexander Protopopov, still survived. Protopopov was an extraordinary man. In 1916 he had visited England and France and made a splendid impression. His speeches, full of fire and patriotism, were regarded as the best made by any deputation that had come from Russia. But on his return to Petrograd he fell completely into the hands of the Court party. He became associated with Rasputin, and his wild talk and restless conduct suggested to many that his mind had become affected. After the death of Rasputin, the meeting of the Duma, which should have taken place on January 25, 1917, was postponed for a month. The censorship was drawn tighter, the members of the secret police were greatly increased, and a deliberate endeavor, under the direction of Protopopov was made to encourage an abortive revolution, so that its overthrow might establish the reactionaries in power. But the attempt failed.