St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-02-21
IVAN AND OLGA.


+ An Adventure of Two Russian Children.
1t was the 9th of January. that grea
4 holiday in Russia, when the River New;
is consecrated with pomp and ceremony
when soldiers parade and priests sa,
mass, and the Emperor is visible, anC
the cannon roar. And it was a glori
ously bright and beautiful day but war
and Olga, looking out on the broa,
street and the glittering pinnacles of tl1,
palace chapel, watching the sledges fl,
by with people all mnt1led in furs, were
two very disconsolate children They
had an English governess-for Russian
children have to study English as Amer
leans do French-and they had been s,
unruly, so impatient, and Indifferent t.
lessons, that Miss Stanley had forbid
| den their going out to see the sights
This was hard indeed, but it was need
ful;@ that the children could not under.
stand, and they walked from the great
porcelain stove, which reached to the
ceiling, over to the double windows, al
packed with sand, and having curious
little paper cornucopias of salt stuck in
it to keep the frost from making pic
lures on the glass, to and fro, to and fro,
in great unhappiness. Outside, the
thermometer was away below zero, but
| inside, thanks to the stoves and the
great copper heaters, it was as warm as
| toast.
"Now, Olga said Ivan, after an
hour or two of this tiresome way of
spending time, g am not going to stand
this any longer; if I can not 90 to the
Neva, am going to have a ride on one
of the ice mountains, and if You want to-,
you may 90 with me-
ooh, Ivan, how would you dare?
You know we are not allowed to 90
alone, and Marie is at church, and we
! have no sledges.''
"Tut, tut! have I not fifty kopeks
[about 50 cents and can | not hire All
isvochtchik [driver] to take us? and we
can be home again before they come
from chapel. Come, Olga, let US have
some fun
Clga's conscience said "no,' but the
temptation was overpowering, and after
repeated urging from Ivan they both
crept down softly to the little apartment
in the large hall where were kept their
fur cloaks and bashlyks, or cloth hoods,
which are put over hats and ears. No
one saw them. Every one was at
church, and the dvorl6ck, or porter who
guarded the front door, was snoozing
-soundly, wrapped up in his sheep-skins,
near the. heater. They got their fur
41nittens and tippetssand cleaks down
from the pegs where theywere hanging in
the heated air, and put them min silence.
In silence, too, they lifted the huge
bolts and slipped out into the street. It
was too cold to speak, for the air would
have frozen on their lips, and they hur-
ried to a corner where usually there
were to be found sledges, whose drivers
can endure any amount of cold, and
who even sleep out at night at theater
and opera while waiting for their mas
ters. Here Ivan found what he wanted,
though the mans dull gaze seemed to
question the propriety of taking two
children to the pleasure garden which
Ivan indicated. The kopeks, however,
were, forthcoming, and that was all he
cared about; so in they jumped, and
tucked the furs about them, and away
they went over the broad street, flying
past troiskas, with their three horses,
and gay little sledges of every descrip-
ton. Their route took them away from
the Neva, where was the greatest crowd,
and they soon reached the entrance of
the pleasure garden, climbed the great
flight Of wooden stairs to the pavilion
On top, where Ivan hired a sled,
and paid for a glass of tea
not from the big brass samQvar,
which is always boiling and ready for
Use. Olga had scarcely time to think
what she was about before she was seat
I'd behind Ivan, and away they flew {
Town the side of the frozen mountain, ;
III as hard as glass. But now it began t
o snow fast, thick, and furious, and the {
people could not keep it off the ice. {
van was getting tired, too, and his /
lands were cold. This fun of going 20 {
niles an hour had filled him with gIee;
tut Olga lost, her bashlyk, and he found {
+ hard toguide his sled. Suddenly he |
made swerye to the left, and, with a q
earful jerk, over they went 1t was a I
readful blow, and had it not been for
be kindness of the people in charge, i
9th might have been badly injured t
ut they were picked up and carried to G
LIZ Pttfhioii, luOUCu WIFI SION Oil IlcI
oses and ears, and finally packed in a
ledge and driven home. How differ 5
ntly they looked at the glittering crowd, 6
nd watched the animated scene! They 1
ad gone out full of excitement and dar- b
lg; resolved as Ivan was to resist au- a
1ority, he was full of shame that he a
ad gotten himself into a scrape. His a
myers aehed, and Olga was crying and l
of her ears. As they neared L
leir home troiska drove up with la- IL
les wrapped in sables, and their mother Il
nd Miss Stanley alighted. II
" Ivan! Olgo! where have you been9 r.
hat have you been doing?' lt
They told their story when they got Il
opeks with which to pay the waiting d
vochtchik-for his money had been ex- III
austed; and it was settled that they had W
zen sufficiently punished when it was
scovered that Ivan fingers and Olga's
rs were both frost-bitten. "
Both were sent to bed for fear of =. u
rther harm from the cold, which is u