"Devil take me! If that is not a greater riddle than the Sphinx!" growled Pestel. "I have said what I know. Whether you like to believe it or not, is your affair." So saying the Polish magnate rose, and thrust his pipe between his teeth, which was as much as to say that he had said his say, and was intent on seeing that his pipe drew well. But Zeneida, approaching him, whispered: "Is not the key to this riddle called 'Johanna'?" A nervous contraction passed over his set face at the mention of the name. "If you have guessed it, tell it no further," he muttered under his mustache. "I?" "True. You are the 'tongueless lioness!'" returned the Pole, with a smile. * * * * * At that period lanterns were a luxury known but in few streets of the imperial city; and where a lantern did exist was posted a guard to watch that it was not stolen. Therefore, in the courtyards of great palaces huge fires were blazing, in order to give light to the guests' sledges, and that the jemsiks might protect themselves against the bitter night cold. These fires gave out warmth and light at one and the same time. With some difficulty Jakuskin found his sledge among the lines of others. Placing Diabolka between them, the two men wrapped her in their furs. She was too heedless ever to think of bringing her own. The jemsik, made loquacious by oft recurrence to his brandy bottle, told them that the distinguished gentleman who had driven the eight-in-hand into the courtyard had but just gone off in his sledge, and had given his man orders to drive to Araktseieff Palace. That was a piece of intelligence worth having. Jakuskin told his jemsik to drive to the Bear's Paw. "Never fear, children," returned the man; "I'll drive you safely through side streets, that you may not be robbed." "None of your side streets," said Jakuskin, "but just you drive along the Prospect and over the Fontanka Ringstrasse, where the patrols are. Don't be afraid about us, my man; we have our pistols." "Ah, there's no use in that, children. The robbers might let you pass scot-free when they saw your pistols; but the guards have no fear of firearms, and they would plunder you." And the jemsik was by no means joking. Under the police presidency not only the soldiers managed to slip out of barracks to act the light-fingered gentry, but the patrols shared in the spoil, and commissioners of police were the most reliable of accomplices. Great folk only ventured out at night with mounted escorts; their palace-doors were strengthened with iron bars. As they drove along the two men began scolding Diabolka for letting Chevalier Galban escape her, telling her how they had had to get rid of him at the cost of some thousands of rubles.