Messenger

Messenger of the Czar

by

Adventure drama in five acts after Jules Verne’s "Michel Strogoff"

Christian Lanciai (2000)

The characters:

The Czar

An officer

Alcide Jolivet, journalist

Harry Blount, correspondent

Michael Strogoff, imperial messenger

Ivan Ogareff, traitor

Sangarre, gipsy

Nadia

three policemen host at an inn

Feofar Khan of Bokhara A postillion

A farmer and his wife at Irkutsk:

Grand Duke Nikolai an officer a general a major a priest a farmer

Vasiliy Fyodorovich, Nadia’s father

guests of high society train passengers tartars

Grand Duke Nikolai’s attendance

The play is a dramatization of Jules Verne’s most dramatic novel.

The action is in Russia in about the 1860s.

Copyright ã Christian Lanciai 2000

Messenger of the Czar

Act I scene 1.

Palace interior with high militaries and diplomats with ladies in long dresses, mostly white with plenty of jewellry, also some correspondents.

An elderly honourable prudently dressed officer Could you repeat that. Another oficer (whispers in his ear)

The older This could only mean one thing. officer I am afraid so.

The older Come, we can’t talk here. Let’s go aside. (They go aside for some excited and serious talk.)

Jolivet Monsieur Blount, I did not expect to find you here.

Blount It is mutual.

Jolivet What brought you here?

Blount The same instinct as you, I presume.

Jolivet Do you know anything?

Blount If I did I would not tell you.

Jolivet Then you know as much as I.

Blount Obviously you know nothing.

Jolivet But we feel the same scent.

Blount Of what?

Jolivet News!

Blount I am only checking the moods.

Jolivet Haven’t you observed those troubled faces over there at the corner? (indicates the two officers)

Blount What else do you think I am standing here for?

Jolivet I thought so!

Blount Do you know anything?

Jolivet What little I know I already cabled to my cousin Madeleine.

Blount I think I got ahead of you.

Jolivet So you know something.

Blount Only what I already cabled.

Jolivet As usual we have reached about equally far.

Blount You don’t know what I know.

Jolivet But we both know that we know more than everyone else, for we are both in the front line and have reached equally far and are both on the right track in the hunt for more news.

Blount You mean, that as long as we follow the same trace we are on the right track?

Jolivet That you are here confirms all my suspicions: this is where it happens.

Blount But we will not learn what.

Jolivet Yet.

Blount I am watching you, colleague.

Jolivet Yes, let’s watch each other, so that none of us loses track.

Older officer We have no choice.

officer I am afraid so.

older Do you know anyone suitable?

officer The most suitable of all happens to be available here right now.

older Who is it?

officer Michael Strogoff.

older I know him. I need him instantly.

officer I will have him brought here at once. (leaves in haste)

Jolivet It’s getting started.

Blount It’s heating up.

Jolivet Civil war?

Blount Problems.

Jolivet Rebels?

Blount Worse.

Jolivet War?

Blount No.

Jolivet May one dare to ask what you suspect, Sir?

Blount Surely you have learned, colleague, that the line to Tomsk has been disrupted.

Jolivet All Russia knows that already.

Blount No, only those who need it. And that is the Czar first of all.

Jolivet What are your conclusions?

Blount What conclusions do you draw yourself?

Jolivet Could anyone have cut the line?

Blount Obviously.

Jolivet Why?

Blount Can’t you think for yourself, Mr. Jolivet?

Jolivet I wish to know what you think.

Blount Who else would have any interest in cutting the only communication line between Moscow and Irkutsk if not subversive elements?

Jolivet What subversive element?

Blount The Tartars, of course. It’s always the Tartars

Jolivet Exactly what I thought.

Blount Then we are on the right track again.

Jolivet But if the line is broken in Siberia, we can’t learn what happens in Siberia.

Blount Unless we go there.

Jolivet We seem, Monsieur Blount, to have common interests in Siberia.

Blount Obviously.

(The officer returns with Michael Strogoff.)

Jolivet Here it happens.

Blount Right now.

(The officer presents Michael Strogoff to the older man. Strogoff greets him respectfully. All three retire into the adjoining room.)

Jolivet More is not for us to know.

Blount Right now.

(The scene turns away from the festive salon. The three are seen in private.)

The older Michael Strogoff, I have heard very much good about you. You are the only one I could trust.

Michael Your word is my law.

older You always obeyed and carried through an order.

Michael I always waged all my honour on that duty.

older This letter must immediately be delivered to my brother in Irkutsk. (gives him a sealed letter.)

Michael Your brother shall have it.

older There are many dangers on the way. The greatest danger is Ivan Ogareff.

Michael Ivan Ogareff? I have heard the name. Isn’t he an officer?

Older He was. He is the brain behind the new crisis.

Michael The cut connections between Tomsk and Irkutsk?

older Among other things. He has allied himself with the fearful khan Feofar Khan of Bokhara. His aim is probably to separate Siberia from Russia by a tartar invasion.

Michael An impossible ambition.

older You don’t know Ivan Ogareff. He is driven only by the force of hatred. He was one of our most ambitious careerists and quickly became an officer and colonel, but he had a knack for intrigue, was caught in the middle of his duplicity, disgraced and sent to Siberia to serve four years' imprisonment, was released after six months, and has since devoted himself to new intrigues. Now we know that these intrigues are political and treasonous. And the one who first exposed him was my brother. Ivan Ogareff has sworn to take revenge for his fractured officer career, and he blames my brother.

Michael Ivan Ogareff will be stopped.

older Only you can stop him. He has already gone too far.

Michael I never failed to implement an order, (bows) your imperial majesty

older Good. I trust you. Get going. (Michael Strogoff leaves.)

Will he make it?

officer We send him straight to death, but he will make it.

Czar Doesn’t he have a mother living in Omsk?

officer Yes.

Czar He must not see her.

officer He will not see her.

Czar He must go incognito.

officer He knows that. You can safely rely on us.

Czar I hope so, for the sake of Russia. All our future depends on if Michael Strogoff succeeds in outwitting Ivan Ogareff.

Scene 2. On the train.

Jolivet We were lucky enough to get on the same train, Monsieur Blount.

Blount We had better not know each other, colleague.

Jolivet You are exaggeratedly cautious, Monsieur Blount.

Blount There are spies everywhere.

Jolivet Aren’t we two of them?

Blount You are welcome to be one. I prefer holding my tongue.

Jolivet As an honest correspondent I am not ashamed of taking risks.

Blount Yes, but do so just for yourself then and don’t put others at risk as well.

Jolivet Just going to Nishniy-Novgorod could endanger your life.

Blount That’s why I do it. The whole Orient is gathering now in NishniyNovgorod.

Jolivet That’s what is so exciting.

Blount (more intimately) How many in this compartment do you think are real and how many are disguised spies and agents?

Jolivet An intriguing question. That merchant over there (indicating the disguised Strogoff) seems honest and real, like the lady next to him. All peasants are surely genuine. But that character looks doubtful. (indicates a gipsy)

Blount I just wondered whether you would notice him. I have also observed him.

Jolivet He is probably both a spy, agent and traitor.

Blount And what do you think about his lady? (indicates a gipsy woman)

Jolivet A distict seductress, as false as water. They must both be crooks.

Blount I agree with you. (enter some militaries.)

military 1 Passport control! Everyone must show their documents!

(All start fussing about their papers.)

Military 1 (examining Strogoff’s) Everything in order. No problem.

military 2 (examining Blount’s) You are a correspondent for a paper in England?

Blount Yes, the Daily Telegraph.

military 2 I hope you will not write anything unfavourable about Russia.

Blount I only recount what I see. It’s for Russia to make it favourable.

military 3 (examining Jolivet’s passport) French journalist?

Jolivet Correct.

3 Your papers are in order.

1 (examining the gipsy’s papers) You are aware that you must proceed to Siberia directly?

Gipsy That’s where we are going.

Gipsy Sangarre (his companion) Nothing would suit us better than to get speeded up on the way.

1 There will be problems only if you stop on the way.

2 (inspecting Nadia’s papers) You are from Riga?

Nadia Yes.

2 I am sorry, but you may not proceed beyond Ural.

Nadia But I did get permission…

2 It’s not valid any more. There are new regulations since there were troubles in Siberia.

Strogoff She is with me.

2 What?

Strogoff She is my sister. My podaroshna also includes her.

2 It’s on your reponsibility in that case.

Strogoff Of course.

2 She can only travel to Siberia in your company.

Strogoff Naturally.

2 Well, happy journey than. (moves on with the other militaries)

Nadia (cautiously, when they are gone for certain) Thanks, brother.

Michael You couldn’t have travelled to Siberia alone anyway.

Nadia Has it turned so dangerous?

Michael That’s the reason for these new regulations. The tartars are trying to invade Siberia.

Nadia Again! Won’t they ever give up?

Michael Evil will never leave goodness in peace.

Nadia So you belong to the good ones. But if we are to be siblings, I should know your name.

Michael Nikolai Korpanoff, merchant.

Nadia The fact that you are an ordinary well-ordered merchant shows a long way. Nice to have you as a brother, Nikolai. And do you travel alone to Siberia to profit on the unrest?

Michael Business is business.

Nadia Yes, of course. But there must be something else behind it? Perhaps you come from there?

Michael Yes, I was born at Omsk, and my mother is still living there. But don’t ask me anything more. I am still your brother.

Nadia Yes, we must never forget that now. (cuddles up to him, as if she enjoyed his security) And we have a long journey ahead of us to look forward to.

Michael (to himself) Perhaps longer than any of us could imagine.

Jolivet Did you understand the new regulations of the police?

Blount Yes, I actually did. No Russian from west Russia is allowed to go over to Siberia, and everyone belonging to Siberia must at once leave European Russia.

Jolivet What does that mean?

Blount They are looking for some special person belonging in Siberia but who exists on this side of the Ural.

Jolivet Who could that be?

Blount That’s what we are here to find out.

Jolivet Did you notice the merchant and the girl?

Blount Yes. She is not his sister. And the police understood that very well.

Jolivet He must have some special authorization.

Blount Yes, he has a podaroshna.

Jolivet What’s that?

Blount A special letter of appointment by the Czar.

Jolivet So an agent?

Blount Yes, but on the right side.

Jolivet Things are improving!

Blount Everything is indicating we are on the right track.

Sangarre (to the gipsy) That merchant seems fake. Do you think it could be the messenger?

gipsy Impossible. He can’t have reached this far already.

Sangarre You never know with these sanctimonious fanatical Russians. Sometimes they just challenge perdition for nothing.

Gipsy All we know is that the Czar has dispatched a messenger, that he has been too late about it and that the man never will reach Irkutsk. What more do we need to know?

Sangarre I still intend to examine the matter. gipsy Go ahead.

(Sangarre rises, pretends to be needing to go out and pretends to stumble over Michael Strogoff.)

Sangarre Pardon me, little brother.

Strogoff No problem.

Sangarre I didn’t intend to disturb such a lovely couple.

Strogoff We are just brother and sister.

Sangarre Really? You are so different from each other. One would rather believe that you had eloped together in a romantic adventure.

(Nadia’s eyes blaze.)

Strogoff You shouldn’t insult my sister.

Sangarre I beg your pardon. But how come that the police would let you pass but not your sister?

Strogoff They didn’t know she was my sister. Who are you yourself? A spy?

Sangarre Like all gipsies. Surely you must see, little brother, that I am just a gipsy, a wanderer without a country and without rest or peace. Who are you yourself?

Strogoff A merchant from Irkutsk.

Sangarre From your language I would rather believe you were from Omsk. Strogoff That is correct. It is my home town.

Sangarre But your sister comes from Riga. How does that add up?

Strogoff (without hesitating) We are half siblings.

Sangarre Aha! That explains it. Everything has its explanation. And you are on your way to Irkutsk?

Strogoff Yes. Our father lives in Irkutsk.

Sangarre I understand. And just because you wish to visit your half sister’s father you get a podoroshna from the Czar.

Strogoff My business is important, and I have good connections.

Sangarre Yes, you must have. But don’t you know that all Siberia is in turmoil and that the roads there are impassable?

Strogoff We intend to take that risk.

Sangarre Good luck, litle brother. (leaves)

Jolivet Did you notice?

Blount Don’t you think I heard? All roads in Siberia are impassable.

Jolivet Did you intend to go there?

Blount Why not? That’s where things are happening.

Jolivet We had better join hands and keep each other informed.

Blount Don’t rely on me, colleague. All my news is reserved for my paper.

Jolivet Of course., And all mine are eserved for my cousin.

Blount Which paper is your couisn?

Jolivet My cousin is called Madeleine, nothing else.

Blount You are cunning, my dear colleague, but I am more honest, for I have no cousin but only a paper called the Daily Telegraph.

Jolivet The more open, the more vulnerable.

Blount The more secrets, the more insidious.

Jolivet Let our common interest unite us in spite of all competition. We are after all heading straight out into mortal danger.

Blount (laconically) Yes.

gipsy Well?

(Sangarre returns.)

Sangarre I am not sure. They are half siblings. That could mean anything including that’s what they actually could be.

gipsy Did you learn anything?

Sangarre He is from Omsk.

gipsy (fto himself) Could that be Michael Strogoff, the most dangerous of all messengers?

Sangarre What?

gipsy Nothing. I was just thinking aloud.

Sangarre Whoever he is, he is likely to get through to Irkutsk, and his sister with him.

Gipsy Let’s just hope then that he is not the messenger. For if he is the messenger, he has already caught up with us.

Sangarre If he is the messenger we know him. But he does not know who we are.

gipsy Stay alert, Sangarre. Our plans must not be thwarted. Sangarre I am your slave, Ivan Ogareff. (cuddles up to him.)

Scene 3. An inn in the Ural mountains. Thunder and lighning and pouring rain. (enter Jolivet and Blount all soaked through.)

Blount It’s unacceptable!

Jolivet We were still lucky, my dear colleague.

Blount Lucky? Pouring rain! Incessant lightnings! A driver abandoning us with only half a tarantass! Earthquake! Landslides! What more do you want?

Jolivet Fortunately we found this inn on the way.

host What do you wish, gentlemen?

Blount An end of the storm! A new carriage! A more reliable coachman! An end to all unwelcome cataclysms!

host I assure you that you are in complete safety here.

Blount Certainly! Marooned in the middle of an earthquake! The mountains are coming tumbling down around us, and our coachman abandons us in the middle of the flood!

Jolivet Take it easy, Monsieur Blount. We are still together.

Blount And that’s the worst thing of all!

(enter Strogoff and Nadia.)

Strogoff We need two separate rooms for the night. host Glad to oblige.

Strogoff (notices Jolivet and Blount) I have seen you before, but you appear like two drowned cats. What has happened?

Blount Nothing, except that our coachman abandoned us, the mountains fell down on us, the flood has drowned us and we are forced to spend the night here without any hope to get any further.

Jolivet We still have a roof over our heads, Monsieur Blount.

Blount For the moment.

Strogoff Where are you heading?

Blount Down into darkest Siberia.

Strogoff Where do you come from?

Jolivet Allow us to present ourselves. This is Harry Blount, corresponcdent for the Daily Telegraphi in London, and I am myself Alcide Jolivet exploring the country on account of my cousin Madeleine at home in France.

Strogoff So you are both correspondents?

Blount Your guess is right.

Strogoff I am myself a merchant, Nikolai Korpanoff from Irkutsk on my way with my sister Nadia to Omsk. But you appear rather at a loss here. Can’t you get any further?

Blount No, for our blasted coachman has left us with only half a tarantass!

Jolivet (corrects) Telega.

Blount Call the damned cart whatever you will!

Strogoff Curses won’t help. I might on the other hand. We have three horses and an entire tarantass. We only have two seats in the tarantass, but we could offer one of our horses. Could that be of any help to you?

Jolivet Most kind of you, Monsieur?

Strogoff Nikolai Korpanoff.

Jolivet And your sister?

Strogoff Nadia.

Jolivet Enchanté, mademoiselle Korpanoff. (kisses her hand)

Nadia Korpanova.

Jolivet (is confused) What?

Blount Korpanova. Korpanoff becomes Korpanova in the female form, you fool.

Jolivet A thousand apologies, mademoiselle. (kisses her hand again)

Blount Don’t make pretenses, colleague.

Strogoff Since we are going the same way we might do wise in sticking together From here it is downhill to Yekaterinburg, and then it’s just straight across the steppe.

Blount So we might have left the worst behind?

Strogoff No, ahead. On the steppes the Tartars will be waiting for us.

Jolivet (to Blount) That’s what I told you, Monsieur Blount. Siberia is just a vast cauldron of civil wars.

Strogoff How do you know?

Jolivet I heard a thing or two in Kazan.

Blount Like what?

Jolivet This time you appear not to have been very alert, dear colleague.

Strogoff I am very interested. What have you heard?

Jolivet A certain traitor called Ivan Ogareff appears to have escaped from Russia across the Ural mountains disguised as a gipsy. He has succeeded in organizing a general tartar insurrection with the support of Feofar Khan of Khirgisia, which they are trying to spread all across Siberia.

Strogoff (to himself) So Ivan Ogareff is ahead of us!

Nadia What did you say, brother?

Strogoff Nothing.

Jolivet (stealthily) Do you know anything more about it?

Strogoff No.

Blount So let’s then dry up and go on tomorrow.

Jolivet Well said, Monsieur Blount.

Blount There is nothing else to do, is there?

Jolivet We were lucky to find this inn right in our way and even two travelling companions who could help us!

Blount Yes, we have been lucky with this bad weather, these cataclysms, this pouring rain, our wrecked carriage and the treacherous coachman who left us to rot in the middle of the earthquake!

Jolivet But without these two friends we could not have gone any further. Without this roof we could hardly have survived. Without this providence it would have looked nice indeed with us stuck in a tremendous jam! In brief, without this young couple and these friendly Russians we would have been lost!

Blount Are you finished, colleague?

Jolivet Yes?

Blount Then wipe your tail. (leaves)

Jolivet (to Strogoff and Nadia) My dear colleague is not in his best mood today. You must excuse us. (leaves after Blount.)

Strogoff Do you have two separate singles? We are brother and sister. värden No problem, little brother. Here in Russia everything can be arranged for the best even in the worst storm in the Ural.

Strogoff Worse storms are expecting us in Siberia. Here we may at least sleep in peace and quiet, sister.

Nadia Thanks for that, my brother.

Strogoff You have been amazingly brave.

Nadia Thanks to your help. Good night, brother. (follows the host)

Strogoff Ivan Ogareff alfready in Siberia! Then the gipsy on the train and on the boat was he himself! If only I had known!

Act II scene 1. The postilion station. Enter Michael Strogoff with Nadia.

Michael Do you have any horses?

postilion We only have three horses available.

Strogoff That’s good. That’s all we need. Could you tie them to my tarantass immediately?

Postilion You seem to be in a hurry.

Strogoff You bet I am. (offers him a pouch of money)

postilion I’ll arrange it at once.

Strogoff Thank you (enter Harry Blount and Alcide Jolivet.)

Blount You blow across the steppe like a tornado. What is the hurry?

Strogoff The Kirgisians are on their way north towards Irtysh. It’s a about a race with time.

Jolivet You seem to have acquired the last horses. But it doesn’t matter. We are not in such a hurry.

Blount We could easily remain here and find out the latest news. But you seem more pressed than ever.

Strogoff Did you notice the berliner when we passed by?

Jolivet Yes.

Strogoff He commanded me to stop when I overtook him.

Jolivet He bawled that to us as well.

Strogoff I would rather get away before he comes here.

Blount Too late. Here is our man.

(enter Ivan Ogareff, a vulgar thug and commanding military with a whip)

Ogareff I need fresh horses, at once! postilion I am sorry, but they are all taken

Ogareff What are those three fresh horses then put to the tarantass over there?

postilion They belong to the merchant here.

Ogareff Release them at once and put them to my berliner! postilion But the merchant was here first, and he has paid for them.

Ogareff Can’t you see that I am a military, you pig?

postilion If the merchant doesn’t mind…

Ogareff I am sure he doesn’t.

Strogoff I am sure he does.

Ogareff Soo? (turns threatening to Strogoff with his hands on his hips) Do you want to fight about it?

Nadia (interferes) Don’t fight, Nikolai. We can wait.

Strogoff (crossing his arms) I don’t intend to fight. And I don’t intend to give up my horses.

Blount That’s right, Korpanoff! Keep it up!

Jolivet (tries to restrain him) Don’t get mixed up. That could cost you dear.

Blount But the merchant is right against that intolerable conceited bully! He shames his uniform by his manners!

Ogareff You don’t meet such a coward merchant every day. Will you give up the horses or not? (raises his whip)

Strogoff (imperturbable) I will not give them up willingly.

Ogareff (hits him. Strogoff staggers, clenches his hands but does not hit back. Ogareff bawls to the positilion:) Release the horses!

Postilion (afraid) Yes, colonel.

Ogareff Well, you poor miserable coward! Your woman here says you can wait. But I can’t wait! Therefore I take your horses! Understood? (raises his whip again)

Strogoff (remains silent)

Ogareff Such a miserable coward as you are is a shame for the entire corps of merchants! Well, perhaps you are under the slipper and a slave to your girl! Stick to her then, while I take care of the horses! (laughs brutally and leaves.)

Jolivet A most unpleasant type! Are all Russian militaries like that?

Blount You should have hit back, Korpanof! You had every right, and you had witnesses! You must not insult a lady like that! And your sister at that!

Nadia It is my fault. (embraces him)

Strogoff Don’t cry, sister. We will have to wait.

Nadia I have delayed your journey!

Strogoff No, you haven’t. (comforts her)

Blount In your place I would have made mincemeat of that blasted fellow!

Jolivet A Russian civilian does not use violence against a Russian officer, my dear Blount.

Blount No, perhaps not.

Strogoff Well, what’s happened has happened, and we will have to wait. What about finding ourselves a nice place to eat in the meanwhile?

Jolivet Splendid idea!

Blount My dear Russian merchant, this is your best idea so far. If there is anything the body is in constant need of, it is food!

Strogoff (sees the postilion returning) You go in advance. We will join you later. How soon could my horses be ready?

postilion Tomorrrow at the earliest.

Strogoff I am in a great hurry. (wants to give him more money)

Postilion You should have taken the horses you already had.

Strogoff A bully in the army is not to be trifled with. You should know that as a Russian.

postilion A scoundrel is a scoundrel, whether an officer or minister. And you didn’t even want to defend yourself. If you give way to the oppression you add to the oppression.

Nadia You did right, little brother. Violence has never solved any problem postilion But sometimes when you don’t take to violence, the problems grow worse by it, while they might have been solved by violence.

Strogoff You are a philosopher.

postilion No, just honest. You will have your horses early in the morning. (Sudden eruption of wild screams, and you hear wild galloping horses.)

Nadia (scared) What is the matter?

postilion The Tartars! The Tartars1 Take cover!

(The Tartars break in everywhere with wild cries like “Saryn na kitcho!” The postilion tries to escape but gets killed.)

Strogoff To the river, Nadia! To the river! Quick!

(tries to escape with Nadia, but she is separated from him by Tartars, who cut him down from behind. He falls.)

tartar 1 There, sweet duchess, just come along nicely!

tartar 2 The Khan will have another tasty bridal prey!

tartar 3 You will be treated like a queen in his harem! Just don’t make any resistance! (They bind her hands in front of her and drag her along. Michael Strogoff is seen slipping away and out of sight.)

Scene 2. Camp of the Tartars. Feofar Khan’s sumptuous tent.

Feofar Khan Tell me all about that miserable messenger from Moscow now.

Ogareff We still don’t know who he is. But we have our suspicions.

Feofar If you know a messenger has been sent out from Moscow to Irkutsk, how come you have neither caught him nor learned who he is?

Ogareff We have our suspicions.

Feofar That is no answer, Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff Many are travelling incognito between Yekaterinburg and Omsk Among those I encountered were two completely harmless correspondents from western Europe, ridiculous idiots, who didn’t even know what they were trying to poke their noses into.

Feofar Go on!

Ogareff I also met a merchant on his way to Omsk. He overtook me on the way from Perm and got Ishim’s three last available horses. The remarkable thing is that he let me take them away from him.

Feofar Without protest?

Ogareff I insulted him and challenged him to a duel, but he just swallowed the insults and gave me the horses, as if he he wanted to avoid the risk of an open conflict.

Feofar Do you know who he was?

Ogareff Certainly. One Nikolai Korpanoff on his way to Omsk together with his sister. But such a merchant Korpanoff does not exist.

Feofar Incognito?

Ogareff He might have been our messenger.

Feofar And you took his horses and let him live?

Ogareff I raised your tartars to get him. They took his sister, but he got away.

Feofar Have you had your suspicions confirmed by his sister?

Ogareff Yes. She is not his sister. She knows nothing about him.

Feofar Then he could be our man.

Ogareff Sangarre already had some suspicions about him.

Feofar What do you know, Sangarre?

Sangarre He is probably Michael Strogoff, one of the Czar’s bravest and most trusted messengers.

Feofar Michael Strogoff? Have I heard that name before?

Ogareff A dangerous man, born in Omsk. He knows all Siberia. If he is the one we must catch him.

Feofar And how do you intend to catch him, Ivan Ogareff?

Ogareff We know his mother is living in Omsk. He has to pass Omsk, and if he is the one he has to visit his mother. We keep her carefully watched.

Feofar If the Czar has sent a messenger to Irkutsk, it’s on your responsibility that he will not reach it. You promised me that.

Ogareff I always keep my word.

Feofar Or else our entire enterprise falls flat.

Sangarre Feofar Khan trusts you, Ivan Ogareff. So do I.

Ogareff Don’t fail me, and I will not fail you.

Sangarre I am your ears and your eyes, Ivan Ogareff.

Feofar And what about the girl? What do you intend to do with her?

Ogareff She will have to follow the other prisoners to Tomsk, until further.

Feofar And then?

Ogareff If we prevail she is yours.

Feofar And then I give her to you for a reward, with Sangarre’s permission.

Sangarre She will have to adapt to our measures. Obey or die is our only law.

Feofar Good, Sangarre. Take well care of Ivan Ogareff. Our entire enterprise depends on him.

Ogareff I will not let you down.

Sangarre (to Ogareff) And I will not let you down.

Ogareff Then we are all satisfied.

Feofar Until we get hold of the messenger.

Ogareff Our net is too subtle to let any fish of that noble sort get through.

Feofar That’s good, Ivan Ogareff. Catch him!

Ogareff Yes, great Khan. (bows and leaves with Sangarre.)

Feofar Our rebellion is led by the greatest scoundrel in the world, but that way it might succeed. Without him we would be just a chaotic anarchy, but when led by organised discipline it will become an irresistible terror which can but prevail. We need your evil, Ivan Ogareff, so make sure you will win.

Scene 3. The cabin of a poor farmer. Michael Strogoff in bed alone.

farmer He is moving. He starts waking up to life.

Farmer’s wife We have succeeded! After three days!

farmer I knew he wouldn’t die.

Strogoff (faintly) Where am I?

farmer You are safe, my boy. We fished you out of the river. You will survive.

Strogoff You saved my life. Why?

farmer You are on an important mission.

Strogoff How do you know?

farmer You had such a thick wallet, and we haven’t touched it.

Strogoff I owe my life to you.

Farmer’s wife Not at all. Lie still now, and you will have some soup.

Strogoff How long have I been lying here?

wife Only for three days.

Strogoff (terrified) Three days! Three days lost!

wife Keep calm. It almost became eternity.

Strogoff I have come too late. Three days lost!

farmer Did you think you could stop the tartar invasion?

Strogoff Of course!

farmer Then you thought wrong.

Strogoff How far is it to Omsk from here?

farmer Only five verst.

Strogoff Thank heavens! Is the city taken?

farmer It is taken and occupied. Only the citadel holds out. But the city is badly damaged, so anyone could pass. There are spies everywhere.

Strogoff I have to go to Omsk immediately.

wife Take it easy. You don’t have the strength yet. You are too weak.

farmer I will help you reach the city as soon as you have strength enough. But you must be patient with yourself.

Strogoff Impossible!

Farmer (to his wife) An obnoxious patient.

wife Then he will recover quickly. You will be able to walk tomorow.

Strogoff Did you say the city was occupied? By whom? By Feofar Khan?

farmer By Feofar Khan and his military commander, a hard colonel called Ivan Ogareff.

Strogoff The worst traitor of Russia!

farmer Yes, we know that. But he aims for Tomsk. They intend to march east to take Irkutsk.

Strogoff Each day is invaluable! Help me up!

wife You can’t even stand yet.

Strogoff Sure I can. (forces himself to rise with atrocious pains. The farmer rushes to help him.)

wife There you are. You were almost dead.

Strogoff Almost does not count. Either you are dead, or you are not.

farmer (to his wife) He reasons like a farmer.

wife You must be a Siberian.

Strogoff Born in Omsk.

farmer That settles it. We’ll leave tomorrow.

Strogoff At dawn!

farmer (meaningly to his wife) Of course.

wife We’ll just have to teach you to walk first. (supports. Strogoff learns how to walk.)

Scene 4. Omsk. A public place.

Ogareff This is a good place, Sangarre. Take your seat here and listen. Be my ears. You are my best spy.

Sangarre To become more than that.

Ogareff You are.

Sangarre You can trust me, but I can never trust you.

Ogareff That’s the case in all relationships. You have to take risks.

Sangarre For love everyone risks more than just his life.

Ogareff Or else there would never be any love. (leaves)

Sangarre He doesn’t know his own destiny. If he ever gets killed it will be by love, and it might very well be by me.

Marfa (has recognized Strogoff) My son! (rushes up to him but hesitates) My beloved son! Strogoff Who are you, my good woman?

Marfa Don’t you recognize your own mother?

Strogoff You are mistaken, my good woman. I am a merchant of Irkutsk. (passes her by.)

Marfa I could have sworn… (doesn’t know what to think) a merchant You see your son everywhere nowadays, Marfa Strogovna.

Marfa (realizes, understands) Yes, of course it wasn’t he. I must be seeing things. I am only getting older all the time and am getting confused. Ten times I have seen him the last week. I am sorry. I am just old and lonesome, and my only son is in Moscow. How stupid can you get! (Sangarre has meanwhile glided out but returns now with Ivan Ogareff.)

Ogareff Marfa Strogovna?

Marfa Yes, that is my name.

Ogareff Come along with me.

Marfa What is the matter?

Ogareff Just a few simple questions. Nothing dangerous. (Marfa follows without resistance.)

Strogoff (together with the farmer, has seen Ogareff take away Marfa) Who is he? farmer Ivan Ogareff in person

Strogoff Him!

farmer Beware of him. No one gets out alive from his clutches.

Strogoff Just you wait. One day he will not get out alive from mine.

Scene 5. The interrogation.

Ogareff You are Marfa Strogovna and has a son called Michael Strogoff in the Czar’s service as an imperial messenger.

Marfa Yes.

Ogareff You appear to have seen your son here in Omsk today.

Marfa I was mistaken.

Ogareff You recognized him at first. It was noticed by many Marfa But he didn’t recognize me, for it was not my son.

Ogareff Do you really think he would take the risk of making himself known to you here in Omsk in the middle of an ongoing Tartar invasion if he was sent to Irkutsk as an imperial messenger?

Marfa I thought I saw him ten times in the last week. Many can testify to that. He is my only son, and he is always risking his life. He is all I have, and risking his life is part of his profession. Of course I always think I see him when I don't. If I really saw him, I probably wouldn't recognize him, because he would be disguised. But he would immediately recognize me.

Ogareff (roars) You are lying, you old witch! You know it was he, you know he is on a secret mission, you just want to protect him!

Marfa I know nothing. All I know is that he is in Moscow.

Ogareff (shouts) You are lying!

Sangarre Take it easy, Ivan Ogareff. She is an old woman. Do you want to give her a heartstroke?

Ogareff Not until I have drawn the truth out of her. Who was it you saw then?

Marfa An unknown merchant from Irkutsk, whom no one knows.

Ogareff He is known as Nikolai Korpanoff. He has come here to Omsk from Moscow.

Marfa I know nothing about that.

Ogareff (roars) You are lying, you clever bitch! You know everything! But you wish to protect your son for natural reasons.

Marfa I know nothing! I haven’t seen him! He has not been here in Omsk! I swear! I don’t know where he is! He always comes to visit me when he is here in Omsk, but he hasn’t done so! I was mistaken! I am just old and weak and confused! I know nothing!

Ogareff (roars) You are lying!

(Marfa has prostrated herself on the floor and cries miserably.)

Take her away!

A constable Shall we release her?

Ogareff No. We must get her to talk. Make sure she follows the other prisoners to Tomsk. (roars) There, you witch, you will die if you don’t talk! (Marfa is shaking in silent convulsive crying.) Next time we meet I shall make you more talkative with the knout! (Marfa is brought out with the help of the constable and Sangarre.)

If there is anything I cannot stand it is the softness of women. Sentimentality has brought about the fall of every victor, but it shall never bring me down!

Scene 6. A telegraph.

telegraphist Damn idiots! What do they think I'm doing here far out in the heart of Siberia? Playing solitary? As long as the line is working, I'm doing my job, but I don't fucking take messages after hours, even when there is a war going on! It is not my duty to keep track of any war! I am not paid for that! Let the cursed government and those who don't like it handle it themselves! I only do what I'm paid for!

(removes his headphones and throws them into the wall, just as Strogoff enters.)

Strogoff Is this really a telegraph?

telegraphist Yes, what did you think? Some laundry?

Strogoff I thought all telegraph lines in Siberia were broken.

telegraphist They are being cut, but this one is still working so far.

Strogoff How far east and how far west does the line work?

Telegraphist West at any distance. East not even to Tomsk.

Strogoff So the line is cut east but not west?

telegraphist But you are real intelligent, little father.

Strogoff What do you know about the war?

telegraphist Nothing. That’s not my job.

Strogoff But you are employed by the government?

telegraphist Yes, for no one else will pay my salary.

Strogoff May other than government employees use the telegraph?

telegraphist That’s what I am here for. It costs ten kopeks a word. (noise outside)

Strogoff I haven’t been here. (steals aside and hides)

telegraphist No, I have seen that you’ve never been here.

(Harry Blount and then Alcide Jolivet come stumbling in, dusty and worn but fanatical)

Blount A telegraph! At last!

Jolivet I saw it first!

Blount But you came last! Is the line working?

telegraphist It is working for people like you, if you can pay. If you can’t pay it does not work for people like you.

Blount That seems fair enough. Get to work at once! (squeezes a fistful of bills in his hand) To the Daily Telegraph in London. I'm in the middle of the civil war between Omsk and Tomsk. Russians and Tartars are fighting each other frantically. Neither side seems to be winning, but the Russians are hard pressed. We hear bomb blasts in the distance that are getting closer all the time. (bomb explosions at a distance)

Jolivet Now it’s my turn!

Blount Shut up!

telegraphist Shall I cable that?

Blount No! The Tartars have taken Omsk and Tomsk, but Russian reinforcements are expected from Tobolsk any day! But the Tartars are ravaging all central Siberia and constantly enlarging the front… (explosions quite near)

telegraphist There the last line east went down. Now only the west line is clear.

Blount You are to cable to the west, you dumbbell!

telegrafisten Shall I cable that?

Blount No, damn it!

telegraphist That neither?

Blount Go to hell!

telegraphist Go to hell. Cabled. I only cable what you tell me.

Blount You bloody nitwit of incompetent extremism!

telegraphist That was too long. Such extreme words are not allowed.

Blount The Tartars are getting closer every second.

Jolivet You already said that.

Blount I did no such thing.

telegraphist I did no such thing.

Blount No!

telegraphist No!

Jolivet You can’t handle this. Let me take over.

telegraphist The gentleman is still dictating.

Jolivet It isn’t fair!

Blount No war is fair. Here it is a matter of life or death. Will Russia survive this? Things are looking bad for the Czar, but not all Russian forces have yet been exhausted. Blood can still be shed for the cause of Russia, even if it has to fill the Ob, Yenisei and Volga....

telegraphist I am not sure the censorship of Moscow will let this get through.

Strogoff (standing by a window) I see a group of Tartars riding in this direction.

Blount How many are they? Do we have any chance? Are they coming for us or for the telegraph? But haven’t we met before? Aren’t you that man of Tobolsk who got bullied by that bloody villain…

Jolivet (gets his chance) Now it’s my turn. To my dear cousin Madeleine Jolivet in Montmartre. The Russian civil war is approaching a crisis which could result in the disintegration of the whole country unless we have a miracle…

Blount Hallo there! I was the one working here!

Jolivet But now I am the one doing the job.

telegraphist (meticulously) Now I am the one doing the job.

Jolivet The Tartars could decide the fate of Siberia any moment, for they have taken both Omsk and Tomsk and now intend to spread to Tobolsk and Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk, and then all Siberia will be at their mercy… telegraphist (interrupts) The line is broken. (sneaks out and disappears) (the station is suddenly overwhelmed by Tartars.)

tartar 1 You are our prisoners! Come along here!

Blount (to Strogoff) We constantly seem to end up in the same boat.

Jolivet Don’t say boat when we are on dry land.

Blount What is it then?

Jolivet Same camel, possibly.

Blount (to Strogoff) What’s happened to your sister?

Strogoff I thought you knew.

Jolivet We thought you were only going to Omsk.

Strogoff But now all three of us seem to be going to Tomsk. (to a Tartar) Am I right?

tartar Shut up!

tartar 1 Smash these instruments of hell! They won’t be needed any more now when we impose the law of the Quran in all Siberia. (they ruin the telegraph)

Blount What kind of a law is that except lawlessness giving licence to shedding innocent blood everywhere?

Jolivet Wasn’t that what you wanted to fill up all Yenisey, Irtysh and Volga with?

tartar Shut up!

tartar 1 Take them out! Let them follow the rest to Tomsk!

Jolivet This is constantly getting more exciting.

Blount That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? But now it will probably take some time before we will be able to cable any more news.

Jolivet And that is a pity, for now we will probably learn all the hottest news first hand directly.

Blount How so?

Jolivet We are taken to Tomsk, from which the whole rebellion is being organised, and there we will face even Ivan Ogareff himself.

Blount Who the hell is Ivan Ogareff?

Jolivet Yes, that’s exactly what he is!

Blount What?

Jolivet The devil himself in hell!

Blount (laconcally) I believe you.

tartar Shut up!

tartar 1 Get them out of here!

(The prisoners are taken out. The telegraph is smashed up completely.)

Act III scene 1.

The prisoners are driven like cattle by the tartars.

Tartar chief Hurry on, if you don’t want to fall behind and die! Surely you know the law of the steppes? We can’t wait! Let those who wait in that case wait for their death! Come on and follow us to Tomsk if you desire to stay alive!

(The prisoners stagger forth, starved and exhausted, many burdened by chains and shackles.)

A tartar (catches sight of the staggering Marfa) You there. Old tart! Hang on or die!

Nadia (hurries to the help of Marfa and supports her) Don’t you muslims then have any sense of human charity? Can’t you see that she is dying of fatigue, age and sorrows?

Marfa Leave me to my destiny, my daughter, and let me die, if that is the wish of those dogs.

Nadia Never! The ignorant dogs must learn that Christian charity is superior to muslim cruelty!

tartar (impressed) You are improving, my girl. Very well, let’s have a break! Let’s camp! Too many of the prisoners are dying! A moment of rest!

Tartar chief (appears with his hands on his hips) What’s this? Are you dallying with the prioners?

tartar Do you want them to Tomsk dead or alive?

chief It doesn’t matter.

tartar I will gladly act a slave-driver for Christians but not for corpses!

Chief Your human pathos leaves me completely indifferent!

tartar Do you think Ivan Ogareff and Feofar Khan will be pleased by finding all the roads from Tobolsk to Tomsk strewn with the corpses of old people, women and children?

chief That’s none of your business!

tartar Be sensible then! What pleasure and profit do we get from killing prisoners?

chief None at all.

tartar No, that’s what I mean.

Chief But you only spoil them, to make them die of welfare!

tartar Would you call that an example of welfare? (indicates the decrepit Marfa)

chief That old tart! Let her die! We have no use of such old carcasses!

Sangarre (interferes) She might be our most important prisoner. She is the mother of Michael Strogoff

Chief And who the hell is Michael Strogoff?

Sangarre The only one Ivan Ogareff is afraid of and who might disrupt the entire enterprise.

chief I don’t know what you are talking about. I hope you know what you are talking about.

Sangarre Michel Strogoff is the messenger of the Czar on his way to Irkutsk with the description and identification of Ivan Ogareff.

Chief Whether you know what you are talking about or not, you certainly know more than I. Very well, let’s take a rest then, you blasted sloths! (disappears)

Nadia (takes care of Marfa) You may rest now, mother.

Marfa Why are you so kind to me?

Nadia Because you are a mother

Marfa You should think of yourself. You might yourself be a mother one day.

Nadia Only if I serve life.

Marfa I am close to death anyway.

Nadia The closer death advances, the more important it is to serve life.

Marfa You talk as if you were in love.

Nadia Perhaps I am.

Marfa Who is he?

Nadia His name is Nikolai Korpanoff. He allowed himself to be insulted by Ivan Ogareff without moving a muscle.

Marfa A villain like Ivan Ogareff insulted him?

Nadia Yes, he hit him in his face.

Marfa And he was not tempted to take up a fight?

Nadia All wondered at his total self control.

Marfa Tell me more about this Nikolai Korpanoff.

Nadia Do you know him?

Marfa He could be my son.

(They speak very cautiously but eagerly with each other. Sangarre makes vain efforts to hear what they are saying.)

(enter Ivan Ogareff with armed following.)

Ogareff Why have you camped here? We have no time for delays.

tartar The old girls must have a rest.

Ogareff We have no time for any old girls! Let them die! And we’ll be rid of them!

Sangarre (comes forth) Also the mother of Michael Strogoff?

Ogareff Is she making problems now again?

Sangarre No, she is just resting. Be patient, Ivan Ogareff. Your man could be among the prisoners.

Ogareff (alters his tone) Have you identified him?

Sangarre If he is among the prisoners, she could identify him (with a meaning glance towards Marfa)

Ogareff By all djinns, you are right, bitch! Sometimes the slyness of women transcends the greatest ambitions of men! But do you really think we could be that lucky?

Sangarre Can we afford, Ivan Ogareff, not to tempt happiness?

Ogareff You are right. We have nothing to lose. And what does it matter if an old magpie goes down in the process? We will then just be relieved of a moment of bothersome old age care! Bring her on! Bind her! Put the sabre pointed at her throat! She will speak or die!

(His hoodlums procedd immediately, drags Marfa up, pinion her hands, force her down facing Ivan Ogareff and set a sabre in front of her pointed at her breast. Ivan Ogareff takes up a knout and rolls up his sleeves.)

Nadia Beasts! What are you doing to her? Consider her old heart! (to Ivan) Are you a Russian capable of such inhumanity?

Ogareff Remove the girl. Keep her out of this. This is politics, my lass. It has nothing to do with humanity. Well, you witch of a wasted scarecrow! Was it your son Michael Strogoff you saw today at Omsk or not?

Marfa (to herself) Break, my heart, but stay quiet even when you break (Blount and Jolivet appear among the spectators.)

Jolivet What’s going here?

Blount It’s that villain Ogareff again.

Jolivet What does he mean? Does he intend to lash an old lady?

Blount It doesn’t look any better.

Jolivet (forces his way up to Ogareff) My good sir, this will not do. In the name of France I must protest.

Ogareff What business has France with this? And who the devil are you?

Jolivet Journalist in the service of France. And the world shall know, if you as much as touch a hair on the head of an old unarmed lady! (takes up his pen and notebook)

Ogareff (to some Tartars) Take away this fool. Let him try to be funny afterwards.

Blount (interferes) My good man, my French colleague is perfectly right! You are no gentleman if you go on harassing an old lady!

Ogareff Another one! No, this is going too far!

Jolivet And you have no right to hold us prisoners. According to international law…

Ogareff What the devil are you doing in Siberia?

Blount What the devil are you as a Russian doing among the Tartars?

Ogareff (looks from one to the other) May I see your papers. (Jolivet and Blount produce their papers.)

Jolivet According to international law…

Ogareff I know, I know. (examines the papers) You are perfectly right both of you. We have no right to hold you prisoners. You are free, gentlemen. Get on your way, and leave us in peace.

Jolivet (tries) But the old lady…

Ogareff She is Russian, and you have no authority over her. Be off now, before I use the nagayka on you as well! (raises his whip as a threat. To some Tartars:) Get them out of here!

(Jolivet and Blount are brusquely brought away while Ivan Ogareff raises the whip aiming at Marfa’s exposed back:) Speak, witch, or die! Where is your son Michael Strogoff?

(Exactly as he raises the knout to let it tear Marfa’s back to shreds, Michael Strogoff, who has turned up, grabs the whip out of his hand from behind and has the next moment allowed it to whiz over Ogareff’s face, where blood immediately trickles forth.)

Nadia (exclaims) Nikolai!

Marfa (groans) My son!

Ogareff (roaring with pain) Arrest him!

(Michael is immediately overpowered.)

Blount (has seen it all with Jolivet) How was the old saying? An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?

Jolivet The interest ran high for Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff (fizzing and frothing in anger) The effort succeeded even if it cost some blood! We caught the Czar’s messenger! Bind him tight! (Michael is tied back with severe tightness.) Let the ropes cut into his flesh! Finally! You have given Siberia into our hands by making yourself known! Search him! (He is quickly searched. The letter is found inside the chest.)

tartar A letter with the Czar’s own seal!

Ogareff (enjoys the moment, although he has to wipe the blood off his front) Jackpot in one throw! How does it feel to have betrayed the Czar, Michael Stroganoff? You are finished! Your career is over! You are dead! You are worthless to Russia!

Michael But your mark of Cain will stay as long as you live, Ivan Ogareff, for I am the one who marked you. Everyone will now always recognize you as the Traitor.

Ogareff It was worth the price! For now I can butcher Russia! And I am not finished with you yet.

Michael At least let my mother free. You have abused her enough. Ogareff Release her. She has done her job.

(Marfa is liberated. Nadia takes care of her.)

(enter Feofar Khan with all his following.)

Feofar What’s the uproar here? You are holding up the entire army!

Ogareff To catch a messenger of the Czar is worth some hours’ delay.

Feofar Messenger of the Czar?

Ogareff Here he is live! (wipes the blood off his front)

Feofar Don’t tell me he has hit you, Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff Yes, and I’ll give him hell for that!

Feofar You Christians are always so childish. You are always getting into war with each other. Can’t you get together in a more friendly manner?

Ogareff I give all religions the damn and especially yours, Feofar Khan! My only interest is to get a bloody revenge on all the Russias and especially on that bloody archduke of Irkutsk!

Feofar Don’t work yourself up, Ivan Ogareff. Take it easy.

Ogareff You know very well that we had the messenger’s mother at bay, that old miserable hag over there. Someone whispered in my ear that the messenger could be among the prisoners. So I tempted him to appear by pretending to lash his mother.

Feofar (shocked) You used violence against an old woman?

Ogareff I didn’t touch a hair on her head. But I got the messenger to appear.

Feofar Well done, Ivan Ogareff. You are beginning to learn our methods! And he thanked you by giving you those horribly ugly scars in your face. You will never get rid of them, Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff I know! And for this that miserable dog must die!

Feofar Don’t be unjust, Ivan Ogareff. He only hit you in your face. You can’t insist on a death penalty for that kind of thing.

Ogareff But he is a messenger of the Czar!

Feofar But still a man. Let’s see what the Prophet says about the matter. Fetch the Quran. (The Quran is brought to Feofar Khan. He opens it at random and points with his finger on a page without seeing it.) What does the Prophet say?

Sangarre (reads) "And he shall no longer see things as they are on the earth.”

Feofar The Prophet is just. Russian spy, you have come to spy out a tartar camp. Look then! Spy out everything to the maximum of your ability! I will give you the opportunity to enjoy your sight before you lose it! You will have a visual memory which you never shall forget! Come, my slave girls and bayaderes! Dance for our pinioned prisoner! Expose and offer yourselves! (beautiful female slaves perform challenging dances to Michael.)

Sangarre Have you ever seen such beautiful girls before, Russian spy? They could all have been yours if you hadn’t been so hopelessly loyal to the Czar. Thank your ridiculous sense of duty for your tragedy.

Feofar Watch, Russian spy! Watch to the maximum of your ability!

(Marfa hides the sight of the spectacle with her hands. She can’t endure it. Nadia watches the performance terrified, supported by Blount and Jolivet.)

Ogareff How do you intend to do it, Feofar Khan?

Feofar Look and learn, Ivan Ogareff. Muslim justice is infallible. Glow the sabre, Abdul. (An impressive hangman with a naked torso, a real Tartar, starts glowing a real crooked sabre.)

Sangarre (makes manners to Michael, rubs his body with her own, taunts and teases him)

Behold, Russian spy! Behold all the most beautiful girls in Russia, who never can be yours just because you are so obstinate! You could have had me, but Ivan Ogareff got me instead, because he betrayed your aborted Russia. He will also have all these lovely girls as a reward by Feofar Khan for having betrayed his country.

Strogoff Your talk is like the buzz of flies to my ears, gipsy woman. And my eyes are only for my poor mother, whom your seductor of a traitor wanted to lash without reason.

Marfa (heartrending) What will you do to my son?

Ogareff You’ll see, old tart! But he will not see my blood any more for long. Glow the sabre, Abdul! The Tartars have a much more efficient way to neutralize the most intrepid fighters without touching a hair on their heads. Your self control did not last all the way, Michael Strogoff! It is your funeral!

Nadia (horrified) What do you intend to do?

Blount What devilry are they now thinking of?

Jolivet I have no idea.

Marfa My son! My son!

Ogareff Keep the witch back! Is the sabre glowing hot and red enough? a tartar It is prepared.

Ogareff Allow me to do it myself, Feofar Khan. I have seen it done before.

Feofar It’s on your responsibility, Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff Give it here! (indicates the sabre)

Marfa No! No!

Ogareff Keep her back, I said!

Mikael My mother! Forgive me!

Marfa (succeeds in rushing up to him) My son!

Ogareff (passes the blade over the eyes of Michael Strogoff)

The most efficient execution ion the world! And the most charitable! (laughs scornfully)

You will never hit a Russian officer’s face again, Michael Strogoff!

Michael (blind) Mother! Mother!

Marfa (faints)

Nadia (hurries up to Michael, moves her hand in front of his eyes, without reaction) What have you done to him?

Feofar We are finished here, Ivan Ogareff.

Ogareff Break the camp! Let’s be off! Leave the invalids behind! We won’t need them any longer!

(The Tartars urge the prisoners to rise and move. All march off except Nadia, Marfa, Michael, Blount and Jolivet.)

Blount (fuming with his pipe) That was the bloody damnedest thing I’ve ever seen!

Jolivet There is no place for comments now, colleague. Let us help the ladies instead. (helps Nadia to liberate Michael)

Nadia (with pain) He is completely blind.

Blount (tries to wake up Marfa) Mylady, it is over now. (Marfa wakes up faintly.)

Michael How is my mother?

Blount She is alive. You are worse off. Bind something over his eyes, Jolivet, and there might be a chance for him to get back his sight.

Nadia Are you an ophthalmologist?

Blount No, just a journalist, but that profession involvs a number of other professions.

Jolivet (relieves himself of his fine black scarf, which he ties over Michael’s eyes)

It is of the finest flannel. Does it feel good?

Michael Thank you, my friend. As your colleague just said: the worst is over.

Blount But now begins a long convalescence, which could last for the rest of your life.

Michael I appreciate your realism, colleague.

Blount And we appreciate that you at last gave that villain Ogareff what he deserved.

Marfa (recovering) My son, you are alive! That’s the main thing. You can still make everything go right. (caresses him)

Michael How, mother? I have no eyes any more.

Marfa You could get to Irkutsk before Ogareff.

Blount The woman is right. But you need a hell of a good luck.

Michael Nadia, could you help me?

Nadia My brother, I will be your eyes.

Blount And we must quickly find a telegraph. Our news will beat all the world news.

Jolivet Who will get there first? Could you manage, dear friends?

Michael We all have our own business to attend to. Go and find your news agencies. We have to get to Irkutsk.

Blount And the old lady?

Marfa Don’t bother about me. I’ll always manage. Even if all Russia goes down the drain, her old mother will always remain standing.

Michael And the Russian mother is not just any mother. In Russia she is a virgin in spring, a bride in summer, a mother in autumn and in winter a stepmother, who feeds her rapist, who are the constantly returning destroyers of society, who today are the Tartars with Ivan Ogareff for their leader. But the true mother survives them all, and to me there is only one of them, and you are the one.

Nadia We will never leave you, mother, until you are in safe hands.

Marfa I trust my son. His hands have always been the safest in the world, but only when he performed his duty as far away from me as possible. I know that you can make it. Just go on your way.

Michael You don’t spite your mother. We had better obey, Nadia.

Nadia It will take time for me to get used to your real name, Michael Strogoff.

Michael You will have time enough. Come, sister. We have no time to lose.

Marfa That’s the spirit!

Michael (to the journalists) I trust you, gentlemen, with my mother to bring her to a safe place as real gentlemen

Jolivet That’s the least thing we can do, isn’t it, colleague?

Blount A man is as good as his word. Being gentlemen we have no choice. (They both take a stand to support Marfa.)

Marfa As usual I am in your good hands, my son. Hurry on now to Irkutsk!

Mikael You will not see me again until I have succeeded. Come, my sister. The more impossible the task, the greater the challenge.

Nadia (embracing Marfa) Farewell, mother. I will remain your daughter. (Michael and Nadia leave.)

Blount (offers Marfa his arm) At your service, mylady.

Marfa Oh, I am most grateful.

Jolivet (offers his arm) You do us the honour.

(With Marfa between themselves, they escort her out.)

Act IV scene 1. Irkutsk.

Grand Duke Gentlemen, the situation is worrisome general It has to be, since you have called for a war council in the middle of peace time. What is actually going on?

Grand duke I wish someone knew. That’s why I have called you all together in the hope of being able to patch together a clear picture of the situation from different pieces and fragments of information.

A priest All Siberia is in flames. That’s all I know.

Grand duke Irkutsk is not ablaze and will never be ablaze if I may rule. We must accept rumours with a pinch of salt. Exaggerations are of no use to us. a farmer I only know that we were commanded to leave our houses and homes and bring along everything of any value, and the only explanation we had was people yelling: ”The Tartars are coming!”

grand duke That is about as much as we know. The Tartars are coming. They have proceeded from Bokhara in Tataristan and conquered Omsk and Tomsk but not Tobolsk. On the other hand, they want to conquer Irkutsk and detach the whole of Siberia from Russia, but fortunately we stand in their way in Irkutsk and expect an auxiliary army from the Far East of 50,000 men to crush all the Tartars in Siberia, even if they are a hundred million murderers. What we cannot understand is how

the khan of Bokhara, Feofar Khan, an old cunning man without any real ambitions, could have organized such a gigantic war enterprise. We have heard rumours that he is being incited and controlled by a traitor from the Russian army, who for some reason wants to take revenge on all of Russia, but we do not know who this man is. a major Rumours say he is a certain Michael Strogoff from Omsk generalen That must be wrong. Michael Strogoff is the Czar’s most trusted messenger. I have on the contrary heard that Michael Strogoff is on his way here with important information from the Czar about the master mind of the uprising. Grand duke So if this Michael Strogoff comes here, what shall we make of him? Shall we take him as a traitor or a friend? Does anyone even know what he looks like?

generalen I don’t know him.

major Neither do I.

priest I have met his mother in Omsk once. She was very proud of him.

Grand duke Omsk is unfortunately in the hands of the Tartars, so we could hardly bring her here, since all the lines between Irkutsk and Yekaterinburg are broken. major It will have to depend on whether the letter is genuine or not. If he brings a letter from the Czar with an unbroken seal, the case is clear.

general If he at all gets through with any letter. He has probably got caught by the Tartars, who have taken his letter, tortured him to death and buried him alive.

priest Yes, that’s what they usually do.

Grand duke A bleak prospect. Has no one any better news?

major Not for the moment.

(enter an officer with a worn farmer)

officer Pardon me for disturbing the conference. This man of honour brings news of the war.

Grand duke Good! Welcome! Let’s hear it!

farmer Pardon a poor old tramp, but I was lucky enough to get away alive.

Grand duke To the point!

farmer When the Tartars came to our shore of the Baykal… Grand duke (upset) Have the Tartars reached the Baykal?

farmer Pardon me, but I can’t get to the point if you will interrupt me.

Grand duke I beg your pardon. Go on, my good man.

Farmer Our only way out was to escape on a raft towards Angara, but it was running the gauntlet, for the Tartars fired at us from both sides of the Angara…

Grand duke (upset) Have the Tartars taken both sides of the Angara?

farmer Yes, that’s what I am telling you.

Grand duke Go on.

farmer I am finished. That’s all.

major No good news I am afraid.

Grand duke No indeed.

general This means that Irkutsk could be besieged at any moment by the Tartars.

Grand duke But we shall crush them! Just you wait!

major If only someone could inform us who our enemy really is!

general Yes, we need that messenger who could allow us to know what only the Czar knows.

priest May he come soon to save us in our ignorance and dire need!

Grand duke No one can save us but God. What we need is information. (Noise outside.)

What noise is that?

a voice (outside) Let me through!

Grand duke (to the officer) Go out and see what it is.

(Officer leaves and opens the door. Ivan Ogareff bursts in, rugged and dirty.)

Ogareff Letter from the Czar! I am the Czar’s messenger!

major (covering his nose) Aren’t we getting enough of stinking peasants here in the palace?

Grand duke Who are you, my good man?

Ogareff Michael Strogoff, special envoy of the Czar.

Grand duke Do you carry a letter from my brother?

Ogareff If I have! That’s exactly what I have! (offers the letter)

Grand duke (examines the letter) The seal is broken, but the letter is real. Did you break the seal yourself?

Ogareff To learn the letter by heart, in case I would be caught by the Tartars. major A messenger of the Czar may not break the seal of the Czar’s post. It is equal to high treason and punishable by death.

Ogareff I couldn’t take any risks. The Tartars will do anything. They torture children hang women, cut up those pregnant, lash aged people to death and bury prisoners alive. If I had to eat up the letter I had to preserve its contents.

farmer Contents of the stomach can not be preserved. priest (to the farmer) He means the literal contents of the letter.

farmer I know. Paper can cause constipation, but even constipations will finally break loose, and then nothing can stop them.

Grand duke (reads) Everything is in order. My brother the Czar warns me against a certain traitor of the Russian army whose name is Ivan Ogareff. Does anyone know him?

(All deny it and know nothing about it.)

major I think I have heard of him. An unpleasant type, known for sadistic brutality, ambitions without limits and an intolerant cruelty worse that that of the Tartars.

Grand duke He is thus our enemy and the brain behind the disaster. Do you know him, Michael Strogoff?

Ogareff Yes, he lashed me once without knowing who I was. He was the one who gave me this scar.

Grand duke So you would recognize him if you saw him again?

Ogareff Without any doubt.

Grand duke Good! You’ll stay with us. You can help us as an advisor with the defense. You know the enemy better than any of us, for you have escaped his clutches. According to my brother the Tsar (demonstrating the letter), this Ivan Ogareff will probably try to get into Irkutsk incognito and get in with us in order to then be able to let the Tartars into the city. Thank you, Michael Stroganoff! You will be our main defense against the traitor Ivan Ogareff!

major But please for goodness’ sake take care of the man and wash him clean so he might be socially tolerable!

Grand duke You will have our finest bedchamber with servants and a sauna of your own. You are welcome to Irkutsk as our saving angel. Isn’t he, father Feodor? Could this be the saviour you wished for?

farmer (to the priest) I wouldn’t trust him for five kopeks. priest (back) Neither would I. (to the Grand Duke) I don’t know, little father. But if he can save us from the traitor Ivan Ogareff, why not?

major So why did Ivan Ogareff hit your front with a knout? It seems most irregular.

Ogareff I arrived before him at a carriage station, where there was only one tarantass left to rent. I seized it, but he demanded it of me, and when I protested, he struck me in the face with the knout.

general And you didn’t hit back?

Ogareff Then I would have to have my identity revealed.

Grand duke He really must have been an unpleasant type, this traitor Ivan Ogareff. Ogareff The most unpleasant imaginable. And I know even more about him. He wants to take your life, Grand Duke Nikolai, since he considers you responsible for his degradation, which became the reason for his desertion and treason.

Grand duke Thank´s for the warning. You may leave. You will be well provided for. (to the officer) Take well care of him. He will have all the treatment that he deserves. He has obviously been through a great deal. (The officer escorts Ogareff out.)

(to the others) Well, what do you htink?

major Perhaps we will have a better impression of him when his skin has been rubbed off.

general Let’s hope so.

Grand duke You don’t take a very sympathetic attitude towards him. Still he might have saved the lives of all of us.

general That remains to be seen.

Grand duke No defeatism, please.

general I am never a defeatist, only realistic.

Grand duke Has no one else anything else to say?

Farmer I only think he smelled more like Tartar than like a Russian. priest I agree with the last speaker. He smelled more of a heathen than of a Christian.

Grand duke So you are then experts on the inner smells of people?

farmer All people are not without an instinct.

Grand duke So what do you smell? A wolf in sheep’s clothes?

major No wonder. In these times all the country and especially Siberia is swarming with traitors. Naturally even the most honest one must give reason to the utmost suspicion.

general I was mostly disturbed by his stench. Who does not turn against someone who smells?

Grand duke Very well, gentlemen, the council is concluded.

Scene 2. A raft.

Many freezing people on board, among them Blount and Jolivet.

Jolivet (rubs his hands) It is cold in Siberia.

Blount You don’t have to remind me. Not even my accursed pipe will light in Siberia. What kind of a place is this really that we have arrived at?

Jolivet Well, it’s not exactly any luxury cruiser. They haven’t even got a toilet on board.

Blount No toilets are needed here in Siberia, for everyone starves until he freezes to death.

Jolivet They could at least make some coffee for us.

Blount What more do you want? A bed with clean sheets? Be glad that you’ll won’t have to swim. (knocks his pipe)

Jolivet You have at least your tobacco.

Blount Yes, if it just would burn. (makes another afffort. Succeeds.)

A neighbour Pardon me, but it is forbidden to make fire on board.

Blount Do you mean that we could catch fire, burn up or get heated up to death?

neighbour No, but the Tartars could discover the fire from the shore and start firing at us.

Jolivet You’ll have to put out your pipe, colleague. Security measures.

Blount Yes, evidently they keep enforcing such bureaucracy even on board of a temporary saving raft that doesn’t even hold together! And if we reach a desert island there will probably be sign saying, ”forbidden to tread on the grass”!

Several voices Hush! Not so loud!

Jolivet You are disturbing the neighbours, colleague.

Blount Thank the devil for that!

Nadia (comes up to them, has not been seen earlier) We heard your voices.

Jolivet The girl!

Blount Nadia! Are you here with us on board?

Nadia My brother would like to speak with you.

Jolivet But how did you manage to reach this far?

Nadia In the same way as you – forcing all blocks.

Jolivet You must have plenty of things to relate.

Nadia You too. But come now!

(Nadia brings them across the raft among freezing shaking refugees, cuddling together, towards Michael.)

Blount Michael Strogoff! That we would find you alive once again!

Michael Hush! We’ll soon reach Irkutsk.

Blount But how could you pass all the lines of the Tartars?

Nadia We got caught several times.

Michael We got help from a driver called Nikolai Pigasoff a great part of the way.

Nadia He was going to Krasnoyarsk, but the city was evacuated, so we had to just go on.

Blount Yes, we also passed through there. There wasn’t even any tobacco to be found. I have never seen a city so dreadfully dead.

Nadia Then we got caught by the Tartars again. They mocked Michael horribly and gave him a blind horse to ride.

Michael The they tried to harass Nadia, but then Nikolai interfered and shot the hoodlum.

Blount He must have been angry.

Nadia And for that they murdered Nikolai.

Jolivet But you got through.

Michael Yes, this far.

Jolivet (to Michael) So you intend to go to Irkutsk, although they blinded you and took the Czar’s letter away from you.

Michael I have to reach there before Ivan Ogareff. That’s the Grand Duke’s only chance.

Blount And do you with your blindness and without the Czar’s letter stand any chance against Ivan Ogareff?

(silence)

Or is it just obstinacy?

Michael Let’s say it’s like this. I have duties to attend to, and I know my duty.

Blount In that case nothing can stop you (Shootings break out. Panic on board.)

Jolivet Except the Tartars.

Michael We can’t stay here, Nadia. They have discovered the raft.

Nadia We will all get massacred!

Blount Perhaps we could escape across the ice.

Michael We have to escape across the ice, Nadia. That is our only possibility.

Nadia Take my hand, brother. May we rather be victims to the ice than to the Tartars.

Jolivet Good luck, young folks! (Nadia and Michael disappear behind the raft.)

Blount And what about us then?

Jolivet What do you prefer? A bullet between your eyes, decapitation or getting crushed in the ice, drowned and deep frozen?

Blount (puts his pipe in his mouth) Those Tartars are getting on my nerves. Come on! (They leave the raft. The panic and the shootings continue into the blackout.)

Act V scene 1. Irkutsk.

Ogareff (in fine new clothes, very much brushed up in posh excellence) My compliments to your fortifications, Vasiliy Feodorovich.

Vasiliy Thanks, captain Strogoff. It is my honour to show you around.

Ogareff What haven’t we seen yet?

Vasiliy I think we have inspected everything. But the Great Gate is probably most important of all. It has to be watched night and day, because if anyone lets through some Tartars there, they will have the key to the entire city.

Ogareff I understand. But what was the matter with your daughter again, dear Vasili Feodorovich?

Vasiliy Yes, it is very strange, and I am very much worried. It is remarkable that you didn’t meet her on your way, captain Strogoff, because she left Moscow at the same time as you and should have made about the same journey as you…

Ogareff Do you mean that she could have started on her journey to Siberia shortly before the order came that no Russian was allowed to go to Siberia any more because of security reasons?

Vasiliy That’s exactly what I fear.

Ogareff What was her name again?

Vasiliy Nadia. A nice young girl in the bloom of her age.

Ogareff And she confirmed that she would come travelling to you from Riga after her mother’s death?

Vasiliy Yes, she wanted to comfort me after my wife’s departure.

Ogareff In that case, my dear Vasiliy, your only hope is that she may have stopped her journey in time, for if she once went into Siberia after the Tartar invasion she could only have become a prisoner of these brutal barbarians, and if so, one can only guess what they may have done to her....

Vasiliy What are you saying, captain Strogoff? You are tearing my heart to shreds!

Ogareff I am just realistic.

Vasiliy God knows we are grateful that you have slipped through the lines to warn us, but at the same time your so-called realistic news is anything but edifying....

Ogareff Look, here is the Grand Duke.

Grand duke I see that you are in good hands, captain Strogoff. I trust Vasiliy here has shown you all the fortifications?

Ogareff Yes, I now know them by heart.

Grand Duke That pleases me. But is it true as you say that the army of Feofar Khan amounts to 400,000 men?

Ogareff Yes, after the battle of Krasnoyarsk that is the case.

Grand duke And has there really been a battle at Kransnoyarsk then? I have had no other reports about it.

Ogareff Yes. The entire Siberian Russian army was thoroughly defeated there, in spite of its its great bravery. Not a man escaped with his life. They fought to the last man and died with their boots on.

Grand duke This is nothing less than a military disaster. It would mean that the entire Siberian Russian army is annihilated. I find that hard to accept.

Ogareff Naturally those facts are hard to digest, but so are all facts.

Grand duke Anyway we don’t give up that easily here in Irkutsk. We intend to fight and to the last man even if we have no chance. How does it look, Vasiliy?

Vasiliy I just learned by captain Strogoff here that my daughter Nadia hardly could have made it alive through Siberia.

Grand duke Yes, but that is devastating news.

Vasiliy That’s exactly what it is. (bursts into tears)

Grand duke (embraces and comforts him) I am so sorry, Vasiliy.

Ogareff Facts are facts.

Grand duke We cannot express how deeply grateful we are that you are here, Captain Strogoff. You are our only contact with Russia, and only through you, we have been able to discern a glimmer of hope. Without you, we would be lost.

Ogareff (aside) You are the more so by me.

Grand duke Only thanks to you we know that the Czar my brother is still thinking of us.

Vasiliy (overwhelmed by emotion, falls on his knees to Ogareff) Thank you, captain Strogoff! (kisses his knees and cries)

Ogareff It’s all right, Vasiliy Feodorovich. We do as well as we can.

Grand duke Come, Vasiliy. We need something to strengthen us. (leaves with Vasiliy)

Ogareff (whistles) Tsst! Sangarre! Are you there?

Sangarre (turns up from behind a wall) Always close to you, colonel Ogareff.

Ogareff Tonight it will happen. Ask Feofar Khan to look out for the signal. It’s the Great Gate that counts. I will open it for you. Then we have the whole city, and the Grand Duke is already in my hands.

Sangarre It will all be as you say, colonel Ogareff. The Great Gate is the point.

Ogareff The Great Gate. Two o’clock after midnight.

Sangarre Two o’clock after midnight. Am I yours already?

Ogareff For always and in eternity, lovely Sangarre.

Sangarre Thanks, comrade Ogareff. (vanishes)

Ogareff (alone) Now life begins. All Siberia shall be mine, and all the world will fear me at the same time as Islam will become a world power again by Feofar Khan. The world is in the melting pot, and I am keeping it and deciding what will become of it (Jolivet and Blount appear aside, discover Ogareff)

Jolivet Haven’t we seen that Russian officer somewhere before?

Blount Yes, he seems somewhat familiar.

Jolivet But we haven’t seen him dressed up like that before.

Blount Good lord, if it isn’t that arch villain… (Jolivet puts his hand to the mouth of him)

Jolivet Exactly my thought. But we have to be careful. He hasn’t noticed us. Blount We must do something about this.

Jolivet Imagine if we could save the city by our discovery! Then we would have a scoop indeed!

Blount At last we can do something about the war!

Jolivet If only that blind messenger were here, so we could give him the exoneration he deserves afterwards.

Blount If I know him right he is already ahead of us.

Jolivet Do you feel it?

Blount No, my pipe informed me. (lights it) Come on! (they leave)

Scene 2. Like act IV scene 1.

officer (enters) Michael Strogoff is not on his room.

Grand duke Have you been inside?

officer His door is locked, and he does not answer when we knock. He must have gone out.

Grand duke We can’t wait for him. We will have to manage the defense without him.

(enter Vasiliy.)

Welcome, Vasiliy Feodorovich! Is everything under control?

Vasiliy There might be traitors in the city. I have ordered to double the guard at the Great Gate, since strategically it is the most important entry to the city.

Grand duke Good! Come along! We have to inspect the fortifications. I don’t believe in that attack from the west. I think it is a diversion.

Vasiliy I think so too.

Grand duke Then we are of the same mind, and we could be right. Come! (all leave in some hurry)

Ogareff (peeks in after a short while) No one here. Good! Then I can give my signals from the window. (goes to the window, takes a candle and signals) (A door opens. A woman enters. You only see the silhouette.)

Ogareff Sangarre! What are you doing here?

Nadia (horrified) Ivan Ogareff! (She has entered the light. Now you see it is Nadia.)

Ogareff Wrong! What unblessed spirit has brought the wrong woman here?

Michael (enters after Nadia) Do you recognize me, Ivan Ogareff?

Ogareff The blind messenger! Do you lead a blind man to his death, poor girl?

You don’t stand a chance! You are both dead! (pulls his sword) It is my duty to defend the Grand Duke’s palace against intruding marauders!

Michael I am not defenseless this time, Ivan Ogareff. (pulls his hunting knife)

Ogareff (scornfully) Point blank at an armed officer, you blind fool?

Michael Yes, you traitor.

Ogareff Blame yourself then, poor idiot.

(He attacks with his sabre. Michael fends off quick as lightning with his knife.)

Ogareff (horrified) He can see! He can see!

Michael (advances) Yes, you lousy traitor, I can see, I have always been able to see, and do you know why you failed in blinding me? Because the last thing I saw was my mother, why my eyes filled with tears! My tears rendered your glowing blade worthless! Ordinary tears saved my eyes! Have you ever cried, Ivan Ogareff? Hardly, for you do not know what feelings of tenderness are. You know only the blind hatred and jealousy of passion and the lust of cruelty, you monstrous failure of a wicked bastard! Your forehead scars glow where I put them! They scream to the whole world about the great fiasco of your life, your utterly botched cruelty! You are useless, Ivan Ogareff, for you cannot love! You can only envy and hate. You are a lizard, a reptile, a useless zero, because you have never been able to do anything constructive! You couldn't even blind me even though I was tied behind and completely in your power! You have failed, Ivan Ogareff! Cry, before it's too late, if after all you have a soul to save! You have no idea how good it feels to cry, Ivan Ogareff! But you cannot cry, for you have denied your life by betraying your honour! (He has driven Ogareff against the wall and now cuts him up. Ogareff dies.)

One traitor less.

Grand duke (enters suddenly with company) What is going on here?

Michael I have just dispatched a traitor, your highness. Grand duke (rushes in, examines the body) Michael Strogoff! You have killed him! Arrest him!

Michael (calmly) No, your highness. The man lying there is the traitor Ivan Ogareff. Grand duke (astonished) And who are you then?

Mikael Michael Strogoff. I have never been anyone else.

Vasiliy (discovers Nadia) My daughter! (embraces her)

Nadia Father! At last!

Vasilij How did you get here?

Nadia I followed Michael Strogoff here. I can vouch for that he is really the one. (runs from the father’s bosom to Michael’s) Michael! You can see!

Michael (tenderly) It is over now, sister. Without your help it would never have worked.

Grand duke You must have quite some story to tell.

Michael (without letting go of Nadia) How is the war going?

Grand duke The Tartars are leaving now. They thought some traitor would let them in by the Great Gate. Now we know who the traitor was.

(Blount and Jolivet burst in. They immediately get the whole picture.)

Blount Too late, as usual, Jolivet.

Jolivet Strogoff! Seeing! And Ogareff! Dead!

Grand duke What kind of odd blokes are those? Friends of yours?

Michael Completely harmless reporters from abroad, your highness. Give them exclusive rights of the end of the game, and they will be happy.

Blount How on earth did you manage this bloody jam, Stroganoff?

Michael It’s a long story, my dear friend. Let’s all get out and have something to eat, and I will try to make you understand how it all hangs together. The risk is that none of your readers will believe you.

Jolivet We’ll take that risk.

Grand duke Come then, my children! Be my guests!

(smiling to Nadia and Michael) Obviously we have something to celebrate.

(All leave in a great happy mood, Nadia between Michael and Vasiliy. The Grand Duke is last and closes the door behind them.)

Grand duke (to the audience, good-naturedly) Now it begins! (closes the door.)

Curtain