At headquarters, which proved to be a veritable hive of military activity, I posed to a sergeant as Tchernine's brother, and begged that I might see him. It was nearly dark as I stood with the man, who had roughly demanded my business there. "I fear you will not be able to see him," he replied. "The Emperor has just arrived on a visit to headquarters, and he is with the general, and your brother is in attendance upon them." Tchernine, a spy of Germany, was actually in attendance upon the Emperor, and hence could listen to the conversation between His Majesty and the army commander! "But I have come all the way from Petrograd," I whined. "I have a message to give my brother from his wife, whom I fear is dying." This moved the honest sergeant, who, calling one of his men, told him to go to Tchernine and tell him he was wanted immediately. "Only for a few moments," I said. "I will not keep him from his duty more than two or three minutes--just to give him the message." I waited alone in a small, bare hut for nearly half an hour, when the man returned with Brusiloff's servant. "Ah, dear brother Peter!" I cried, rushing forward and embracing him ere he could express astonishment. "So I have found you at last--at last!" As I expected, the man who had accompanied him, not wishing to be present at the meeting, turned and left us alone. The instant he had gone I pressed the box of matches into his hand, whispering: "Take this. It has been sent to you from our friends in Berlin. Inside is a tube of white powder, which you will mix with the powdered sugar which General Brusiloff takes with fruit. It is highly dangerous, so be very careful how you handle it. Death will occur quickly, but the doctors will never discover the reason. It has already been used with effect by our friends among the Allies." "I understand," was the spy's grim reply. "Tell our friends that I will put it into the sugar to-night, and both His Majesty and the general shall have some. How fortunate, eh?" he grinned. I held my breath. It had never crossed my mind that Nicholas was to dine with the general. "No," I said. "Keep it till to-morrow, so that the general has it alone. It is intended for him. Those are the instructions." "I shall not," was his reply as he placed the box in his pocket. "If one has it, so shall the other. The German advance will be made all the more easy by the removal of both of them. I----" Footsteps sounded outside, and the sergeant appeared an instant later; hence we were compelled to separate after exchanging farewells as good brothers would. Back to Minsk I drove rapidly, and two hours later was in an ambulance train on my way to Petrograd, full of wonder as to what was happening at Gorodok. Peter Tchernine, spy of Germany, had no doubt mixed the contents of that tiny tube with the powdered sugar served to the general and his Imperial guest.