The Mission of Poubalov — page 52: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

48 LITIZKI AT WORK. as a logician, Miss Hilman, you are yet a woman, and you cling desperately to woman’s reasonless intuitions. ”’ | “Oh, pardon me if I am cruelly unjust,’’ cried Clara, as clearly the woman in her quick relenting as she was in following her intuitions; ‘‘have patience with me! You must know how distressed I am, and how hard it is to think clearly. Your very admission that you are a paid spy suggests deceit and trickery—I suppose | am making the matter worse. ”’ ‘‘By no means, Miss Hilman,’’ replied Poubaloy, hold- ing a cigarette between his fingers; ‘‘we shall come to an understanding presently, [am sure. I never take offense, not even when my loyalty to the czar is doubted; and nothing you may say will prevent me from doing what I can to clear away the mystery surrounding Mr. Strobel.”’ ‘‘Please light your cigarette,’’ said Clara; “if you wouldn’t make me talk, we should get on better.’’ . Poubalov smiled again, and when he had puffed a great cloud of fragrant smoke from his lips, he resumed: ‘‘T will proceed as if you cherished no doubts as to my sincerity. It follows, from my analysis, that Mr. Strobel could have had no fear of harm coming to him from an official of Russia. He never had reason to fear me as an indivdual; in fact, the individuality of Alexander Pouba- loy long since disappeared in the person of the official - agent. Poubalov has no enmities, no friendships; all men are hostile or friendly to him, as they are the enemies - or the adherents of the czar, whom God preserve! The next step in the analysis is to suggest the nature of Mr. | Strobel’s present enemies. You did not tell me so, but I presume you are aware that when Mr. Strobel was younger he permitted his generous sympathies to be enlisted in what he would then have called ‘the people’s party’ of j Russia. Without going into details with which every in- telligent person is more or less familiar, I will remind you that, incidental to the so-called democratic movement in Russia, was the organization of a secret society the -