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226 MY TRANSFER TO STOCKHOLM [ch. xiv.
able honesty, almost insanely devoted to the Tsar and
to military honour, but at the same time rather
uncultivated and recognising no curb or limits to his despotism
except his own conscience, this curious specimen of a
bygone day attracted the particular attention of public
opinion and of the Russian Press. Extraordinary
stories were current of his administrative pranks, which
recalled the good old times of the Kaliphat of Baghdad
and of the Persia of Nadir-Shah. There was some
truth in these tales, and many private individuals had
cause for bitter complaint against the despotism of the
Pasha of Yalta. But on the other hand they affected to
ignore the highly respectable side—almost legendary
for modern times— of Dumbadze’s character and work.
He was absolutely inaccessible to considerations of
fortune and comfort. Father of a large family, he was
satisfied during the long years of his despotic rule with
a more than modest salary, and lived in four miserable
rooms which were reserved for him in the offices at
Livadia. During the last years only he was better paid,
and received an apartment in keeping with his rank and
functions. But during the whole period even his most
inveterate enemies could not accuse him of any
dishonesty with regard to money.
This was the man who was about to be appointed
to the late Dedulin’s post, and to be definitely attached
to the person of His Majesty the Emperor. But at this
moment an incident occurred which no one—except
Caucasian officers of the ’forties—could have foreseen
or understood.
At the height of his favour at Court, Dumbadze, who
was still fulfilling the duties of military governor of
Yalta, heard that the celebrated "old man," Gregory
Rasputin, had just arrived at one of the most modest
hotels in the town ; and the very next day, by the
governor’s orders, the said " old man " was sent away
from Yalta and its environs as "a person of no
occupations and without visible means of subsistence."
Given the small "state of siege" to which the town was
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