Thereupon, he stretched out his hand, seized the squint-eyed, left-handed smith by the collar with his stubby fingers, so that all the hooks flew off the man's coat, and flung him at his feet in the calash. "Sit here," says he, "in the manner of a poodle, until we get to Petrograd--you shall answer to me for all of them. And you," says he to the Cossacks of the Suite, "whip up, there! Don't dawdle! See that you get me to the Emperor in Petrograd the day after to-morrow." The artisans merely ventured to say to him, on behalf of their comrade: "How can you take him from us thus without a tugament?[23] He will not be able to come back." But Platoff, in place of answer, showed them his fist,--such a horrible fist,--dark red and all slashed, seemingly grown together here and there--and menacing them, he said: "Here's his tugament for you!" And to the Cossacks he said: "Whip up, my lads!" Cossacks, coachman, and horses all began to work simultaneously, and bore away the left-handed man without his tugament; and the next day but one, as Platoff had commanded, they whirled him up to the Emperor's palace, and even, having over-galloped as was befitting, they drove past the columns. Platoff rose, fastened on his Orders, and went to the Emperor, commanding the Cossacks of the Suite to stand guard at the entrance over the squint-eyed, left-handed smith. FOOTNOTE: [23] Document--that is to say, passport; the usual peasant word is "document." XI Platoff was afraid to present himself before the eyes of the Emperor, because Nikolai Pavlovitch was a terribly remarkable man, with a long memory--he never forgot anything. Platoff knew that he would, infallibly, question him about the flea. And so he, who feared no enemy in all the world, lost his courage there. He entered the palace with the casket, and slily thrust it behind the stove in the hall. Having thus concealed the casket, Platoff presented himself before the Emperor in his study, and began, with all possible speed, to report the internecine conversation of the Cossacks on the quiet Don. He reasoned thus: that he would engage the Emperor's attention in this manner, and then, if the Emperor himself remembered and mentioned the flea, it would be necessary to hand it over and answer for it; but if the Emperor should not refer to it, then he would hold his own tongue: he would order the valet attached to the study to put the casket away out of sight, and would confine the left-handed Tula man in a casemate of the fortress for an indefinite period, and allow him to sit there until he was needed. But the Emperor Nikolai Pavlovitch had forgotten nothing, and Platoff had barely terminated his internecine conversations, when he immediately inquired: "Well, and how have my Tula artisans justified themselves against the English nymfozoria?" "The nymfozoria, Your Majesty," says he, "is still in the same space, and I have brought it back, for the Tula artisans could make nothing more marvellous."