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303
The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
·
Andrew Lang
89
THE
WRAITH
OF
THE
CZARINA
"In
the
exercise
of
his
duties
as
one
of
the
pages-in-waiting,
Ribaupierre
followed
one
day
his
august
mistress
into
the
throne-room
of
the
palace.
When
the
Empress,
accompanied
by
the
high
officers
of
her
court
and
the
ladies
of
her
household,
came
in
sight
of
the
chair
of
state
which
she
was
about
to
occupy,
she
suddenly
stopped,
and
to
the
horror
and
astonished
awe
of
her
courtiers,
she
pointed
to
a
visionary
being
seated
on
the
imperial
throne.
The
occupant
of
the
chair
was
an
exact
counterpart
of
herself.
All
saw
it
and
trembled,
but
none
dared
to
move
towards
the
mysterious
presentment
of
their
sovereign.
"After
a
moment
of
dead
silence
the
great
Catherine
raised
her
voice
and
ordered
her
guard
to
advance
and
fire
on
the
apparition.
The
order
was
obeyed,
a
mirror
beside
the
throne
was
shattered,
the
vision
had
disappeared,
and
the
Empress,
with
no
sign
of
emotion,
took
the
chair
from
which
her
semblance
had
passed
away."
It
is
a
striking
barbaric
scene!
"Spirits
of
the
living"
of
this
kind
are
common
enough.
In
the
Highlands
"second
sight"
generally
means
a
view
of
an
event
or
accident
some
time
before
its
occurrence.
Thus
an
old
man
was
sitting
with
a
little
boy
on
a
felled
tree
beside
a
steep
track
in
a
quarry
at
Ballachulish.
Suddenly
he
jerked
the
boy
to
one
side,
and
threw
himself
down
on
the
further
side
of
the
tree.
While
the
boy
stared,
the
old
man
slowly
rose,
saying,
"The
spirits
of
the
living
are
strong
to-day!"
He
had
seen
a
mass
of
rock
dashing
along,
killing
some
quarrymen
and
tearing
down
the
path.
The
accident
occurred
next
day.
It
is
needless
to
dwell
on
second
sight,
which
is
not
peculiar
to
Celts,
though
the
Highlanders
talk
more
about
it
than
other
people.
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