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project, according to which he proposed to blow up the railway bridge which crosses the river, Volkhoff, a little way before the station Zvanka. What is particularly singular is that lieutenant Riley did not in any way conceal from himself the extreme gravity of the consequences that the realisation of his project might have, for he observed guite coldly that the wrecking of this bridge cuts off Petrograd from ail communication, not only from the North but also from the East (Vologda—Viatka line) from which Petrograd exclusively received ail the trains of wheat, cereals, and, in general, almost ail its provision already so precarious, so insufficient for its population. And Riley himself concluded that the wreching of the bridge could have as its direct consequence the complete starvation of Petrograd, that is to say not of the fortunate minority of rich bourgeois who had and would always have the means of emigrating south, but principally, exclusively, of the working population and clerks, including old men, women and children.—Nevertheless, the frightful perspective did not prevent him from continuing the study of this infernal plan, any more than it for one second troubled the peace of mind of the Consul-General of the United States and France, who, probably, had not heard of this affair for the first time. The French agent to whom Lieutenant Riley addressed himself, more particularly than to the other persons present, was M. de Vertamond. He had been introduced to me recently at the French Consulate by M. Grenard, as an officer of the French navy, occupied with „work of destruction“ in the Ukraine (where at that time, the most
