"Nothing discovered yet. Felix stopped on his way to Crimea. How I wish you were here.--Alec." And again at midnight she sent two further telegrams. The first read: "Tsarskoe-Selo, December 30th, 11:47 p.m. "Father (Rasputin) is no more. Punish the enemies of Russia and of our House. Come back at once. I can bear it no longer.--Alec." The second was addressed: "To Father Makarius, Verkhotursky Monastery, Perm. "December 30th, midnight. "Great misfortune. Something happened to Father (Rasputin). Pray for him and for us. Those responsible will be punished. Come at once to us.--Alexandra." For days the sensational affair was hushed-up from the public by order of the Tsar, and with the connivance of Protopopoff. Many fictitious accounts have appeared in the Press regarding the final hours of the amazing rascal who, as tool of the Emperor William, brought to an end the Imperial House of Romanoff. I am here enabled, however, to explain the truth from an authentic source, namely, from the statement of a lady--a Russian nursing-sister-- who was an eye-witness and who is in London at the moment when I write. The lady in question is well known in London, and I have begged her to allow me to disclose her name, but for certain reasons she has held me to my promise of secrecy. There are, one must remember, still influential friends of Rasputin in Russia, and as she is returning there, her objection is obvious. It seems that on December 15th (Russian style) the "Saint" had been invited to the elegant house of Prince Youssoupoff to a merry supper. The _penchant_ of the monk for a pretty face and a mysterious adventure being well-known, it had been hinted to him that a certain lady who desired to remain incognito, wished to meet him. Now the house of Prince Youssoupoff in Petrograd--who, by the way, had a house in London before the war and was well-known in Mayfair--runs from the Moskaya to the Offitzerskaya, where at a back entrance, the wine from the famous estate in the Crimea is sold, just as wine is sold at the mediaeval palaces of Florence. The Prince was supposed to be alone to meet his guest and this mysterious young and pretty lady who desired to enter the cult of the "Sister-Disciples." As a matter of fact, however, there were assembled in a room on the first floor several persons determined to rid Russia of this erotic traitor who was daily betraying her into the hands of the Huns. They were the Prince Youssoupoff, the Grand Duke Dmitri (who was suspected by the Empress), the Deputy of the Extreme Right, Pourichkevitch, a man named Stepanoff, a well-known _danseuse_ (the mysterious lady who acted as decoy, named Mademoiselle C--), and the lady who has described the scene to me. Eleven o'clock struck. It was a dramatic scene. All were anxious for Rasputin's arrival, but he did not come. The Prince went to the telephone and asked for the monk at his house.