And they signed the compact with a kiss. Then joyously running to the table, Bethsaba drank her wine soup almost at a breath. There was a little left in the glass. "That you must drink; I left it for you." And the bond was sealed. "I am quite ready; let us go," said Bethsaba. "Wait just a few minutes. We will let the gentlemen get away first. We will go out by the garden gate, and take only one man to steer and another for the boat-hook." "Then we will row, won't we? I am accustomed to it, and strong as iron." "It would be no use. The boat can only be sculled through the ice, especially against the current, and that will be done with the boat-hook." "Well, I am still convinced that you are a good fairy, Zeneida. You will call me Betsi, won't you? And I must tell you that I am not at all afraid of good spirits. Oh, we have so many at home! Tamara is queen of them. For if you were not a fairy, how could you know that the flood was going to last two or three days longer?" "There is no magic in that, dear little Betsi, for the barometer hanging over there against the wall is pointing to continued storms. Moreover, the city archives tell us that the danger always lasts several days when a southwest wind causes the Neva to overflow its bank." "Well, that certainly is simple enough. So it was no prophecy? But then you said something else--that that gentleman, Sophie's only protector, could not go to her help. Now what barometer told you that?" "Humph!" Zeneida, pressing her lips together, reflected for a moment, then said, "Do you know who that illustrious person is?" "Of course I do. Why, how often have I met him at Sophie's and have told him fairy tales! And Sophie has told me everything; things that no one else knows anything about. But I will tell them to you, for people who love each other must have no secrets--don't you think so?" "Certainly! Well, then, dear child, all this time that illustrious personage has been unable to go to Sophie, because, since the flooding of the Greater Neva, it has been necessary for him to show himself wherever the danger was greatest, in order, by his presence, to stimulate others to the task of assistance and to insure success. Had he, instead of this, gone to Sophie, who lives on the Lesser Neva, there would have been fearful rioting. Do you understand this?" "Yes, indeed, I understand too well," returned Bethsaba, sorrowfully. "But to-day they do not allow that illustrious personage to show himself in the inundated streets." "Who?" "His advisers." "Why not?" "Because they have discovered a plot against his life." "Oh, how sad!" sighed Bethsaba. Then her mind flew to the last link of her chain of thought: "A plot against the life of the Czar, and known to Zeneida! From whom could she have obtained the knowledge so quickly? From those two men; but from which?" Timidly approaching Zeneida, and leaning over her shoulder, she whispered: