"Paul Letchitzki, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Munitions, has been arrested for embezzlement of public funds," she wrote. "It is highly necessary, for our peace, that the prosecution shall be instantly stopped. Every moment's delay means danger. I will explain when you return. Telegraph your order for his immediate release and the end of all proceedings against him. I await your acknowledgment.--Alec." Then, having read the telegram, of which both men approved, she gave Rasputin her golden bangle from her wrist. From it was suspended the tiny master-key of the escritoire in her boudoir. "Will you, my Holy Father, fetch me my private cipher-book?" she asked the mock-monk, at the same time bending and kissing his hand. The fellow knew where the little book was kept in such privacy, and in a few moments he had brought it. Then Sturmer at once sat down and put the message into cipher, afterwards taking it himself to the clerk in the telegraph room on the other side of the Palace, for transmission to the Emperor. At ten o'clock next morning a reply in code was handed to the Empress. When, with the aid of her little book, she de-coded it, she read: "I cannot understand how the prosecution of a thief of whose name I am ignorant can affect us adversely. I have, however, at your desire ordered his release and the suppression of all proceedings.--Nikki." To this, the Tsaritza, after she had sent a copy of the reassuring despatch to Rasputin, replied: "I thank you for your kind generosity. How noble of you! Accused was an innocent victim of his enemies, and our action shows that you are open and just. Our Father and myself anxiously await your return.-- Alec." The moment Rasputin received the message from the hands of the trusted Cossack, Ivan Khanoff, the personal guardian of the young Tsarevitch, whom the Empress trusted with all her private correspondence, he telegraphed to Boris Sturmer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, telling him of the order of the Tsar. And both laughed triumphantly at each other over the telephone. Yet both certainly had had a very narrow escape of exposure, and for the first time the Tsaritza saw the handwriting on the wall. CHAPTER FIVE. RASPUTIN'S SECRET ORDERS FROM BERLIN. Some pages of Rasputin's _dossier_ concern his intimate friendship with the Imperial family, and more especially with the Tsar's daughters, whom the Empress herself had placed beneath his "tuition" and influence. It seems that the monk Helidor--who because of his patriotism fell out of favour when Rasputin commenced to perform his conjuring tricks, which the Imperial Court believed to be miracles--still retained his friendship with the Grand Duchess Olga, and the governess of the Imperial children, the honest and straightforward Madame Tutcheva.