As if he sensed her thoughts, he said,
“For many years I was forced to work beyond my strength. I was ill but because I wished to keep alive I had to go on working. Now I have come into a little money, not a large amount, but to me it seems a fortune. So I can now afford to make this journey.”
“I am glad for you!” Alida exclaimed.
“It gives me a chance,” he said, “of finding my mother again.”
“You left Russia by yourself?” Alida asked.
Mr. Tatkenski took a deep breath.
“My father was a political prisoner,” he said. “Do you know what that means?”
Alida shook her head.
“In the reign of Nicholas I, father of the present Czar,” he said, “two hundred and fifty thousand political prisoners were banished to Siberia.”
“So many!” Alida cried.
“That is a conservative estimate,” Mr. Tatkens
