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At last Pugatchéf was taken, and the war was at an end. A few days later I should have been in the bosom of my family, when an unforeseen thunderbolt struck me. I was ordered to be arrested and sent to Khasan, to the commission of inquiry appointed to try Pugatchéf and his accomplices. No sooner had I arrived in Khasan than I was lodged in prison, and irons were placed on my ankles.
I determined to tell the judges the whole truth, convinced that it was at once the simplest and surest way of justifying myself. I reached Khasan, a miserable town, which I found laid waste, and well-nigh reduced to ashes. All along the street, instead of houses, were to be seen heaps of charred plaster and rubbish, and walls without windows or roofs. These were the marks Pugatchéf had left.
"Read what I have just received." It was a secret dispatch, addressed to all Commanders of detachments, ordering them to arrest me wherever I should be found, and to send me under a strong escort to Khasan, to the Commission of Inquiry appointed to try Pugatchéf and his accomplices. The paper dropped from my hands. "Come," said Zourine, "it is my duty to execute the order.
But Pugatchéf had not been taken; he reappeared very soon in the mining country of the Ural, on the Siberian frontier. He reassembled new bands, and again began his robberies. We soon learnt the destruction of Siberian forts, then the fall of Khasan, and the audacious march of the usurper on Moscow. Zourine received orders to cross the River Volga. I shall not stay to relate the events of the war.
After receiving Zourine's affectionate farewell I got into my "telega," two hussars, with drawn swords, seated themselves, one on each side of me, and we took the road to Khasan. I did not doubt that the cause of my arrest was my departure from Orenburg without leave.
My friendly relations with Pougatcheff, however, wore a suspicious look. Arriving at Khasan, I found the city almost reduced to ashes. Along the streets there were heaps of calcined material of unroofed walls of houses a proof that Pougatcheff had been there. The fortress was intact. I was taken there and delivered to the officer on duty.
It was confidential order addressed to all the chiefs of detachments to arrest me, and send me under guard to Khasan before the Commission of Inquiry, created to give information against Pougatcheff and his accomplices. The paper fell from my hands. "Do not be cast down," said Zourine, "but set out at once." My conscience was easy, but the delay!
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