Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

THE HISTORY OF THELENEF.127

without uttering a word. The funeral cortege traversed in silence the country, lit up with conflagrations in every direction. The horizon appeared each moment to lessen in circumference. A circle of fire bounded the plain. Vologda was burning; the town

ofwas on fire, together with all the castles and

farms of the prince, and several of the surrounding villages. The woods themselves did not escape. The carnage was universal. The conflagration illuminated the secret depths of the forest. Solitude existed no longer. "Who can conceal himself on a plain when the forests are on fire ? There can be no safe asylum against a flood of light pouring on all sides equally. Terror was at its height; night had fled, and yet the sun had not risen.

The escort of Fedor was increased by the marauders who were everywhere scouring the country. The crowd had become great by the time they reached the castle.

What a spectacle there awaited the prisoners !

The castle of Vologda, built entirely of wood, appeared like an immense funeral pyre, the flames of which reached to the heavens! The peasants, who had plundered this ancient mansion before setting it on fire, imagined they had burned Xenie in the habitation of her father.

A line of boats on the water, placed closely together, completed the blockade that had been established. In the midst of the semicircle formed by the army of the insurgents before the castle, the unfortunate Thclenef, torn from his retreat, and brought by force to the place destined for his execution, stood chained to a post; while the crowd of conquerors, g 4