His horse shot from under him, but I
held him fast and Violette came to a stand. Sergeant Oudin of
the Hussars was the first to join us. He was an old soldier, and
he saw at a glance what I was after.
"Hold tight, Colonel," said he, "I'll do the rest."
He slipped out his knife, thrust the blade between the clenched
teeth of the Russian, and turned it so as to force his mouth
open. There, on his tongue, was the little wad of wet paper
which he had been so anxious to swallow. Oudin picked it out and
I let go of the man's throat. From the way in which, half
strangled as he was, he glanced at the paper I was sure that it
was a message of extreme importance. His hands twitched as if he
longed to snatch it from me. He shrugged his shoulders, however,
and smiled good-humouredly when I apologised for my roughness.
"And now to business," said I, when he had done coughing and
hawking. "What is your name?"
"Alexis Barakoff."
"Your rank and regiment?"
"Captain of the Dragoons of Grodno."
"What is this note which you were carrying?"
"It is a line which I had written to my sweetheart.
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