Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-03-19
A Wide. Awake Russian Sentry.

name is still famous in Russia. ANY
old soldier you meet there will tell YOU
plenty of stories about him, and strange
enough stories, too, for he was a verv
curious kind of man. In the coolest
weather, when even the hardest SOL
diers were wrapping themselves up, he
would go about in his shirt sleeves lust
as If it were summer; and very often he
would be up before any one else i'm the
camp was astir, and startle the first of
ticer whom he saw coming out of his
tent by growing like rooster as loud
as he could, Just as if to say, "You
ought to have been out before.h Then.
too, Count and General though he was,
dining with the Empress herself almost
every week, and going about the palace
as he pleased, he dressed as plainly as
any peasant, and slept on straw like a
common soldier. Once or twice the
palace servants, seeing this untidy little
fellow coming up to the grand entrance,
took him for tramp and wanted to
drive him away; but they soon found
out that that would not do.
Another of his queer ways was to try
and puzzle any one he met by asking
him all sorts Of strange questions, such
as how many stars there were in the
sky, how many drops of water in the
sea, and so forth. He did puzzle a good
many people in this way, but once or
twice he got an answer quite as smart
as his questions, and that was just what
he liked.
One day a soldier came to him with
a dispatch, and Suvoroff, seeing that he
was quite young, simple-looling fell
lew, thought it would be good fun to
try his hand upon him.
How many fish are there in the
sea?" he asked.
Just exactly as many as haven't
been caught yet answered the lad at
once.
The General was rather taken aback,
but he went on, nevertheless:
If you were in a besieged town,
without food, how would you supply
yourselfP'
From the enemy"
"How far is it from here to the
moonPn
1.-Two of your Excellency's forced
marches"
Suvoroff smiled and looked pleased,
for he was very proud of being able to
move his men so quickly, and had won
many a victory by it.
(Which of your officers do you like
best?n was the next question.
Captain Maslof." "
Now this Captain Masloff happened
to be a very handsome young fellow,
while Suvoroff himself was frightfully
ugly, so he thought he would catch the
soldier in a trap by asking him, whats
the difference between your Captain
and MYSELF"
why" said the soldier, looking sly
ly at him, "my Captain can't make me
a Corporal but your Excellency has
only to say the word"
The General burst into loud laugh,
and clapping him on the shoulder, said,
"Well, then, l do say the word: you're
a Corporal from this day forth, and a
right good one you'll make. II 1 can
find another man as smart as you, I'll
make him a Sergeant"
Two or three months after this ad-
venture, Suvorof and his army were
down on the Lower Danube, keeping
watch over the Turks, in the middle of
the hardest winter that had been known
in that country for many year. But,
of course, being Russians, they didn't
mind that much, and Suvoroff went
about in the snow and frost as if ne
didn't know what cold was.
Well, one bitter night in the begin
ming of January, the old General was
making the round of the camp, as
usual, to see that his sentinels were all
keeping good watch at the outposts,
when suddenly he came upon a sentry
who seemed to have got the coldest
place of all, for he was right down
upon the bank of the river, with the
cold wind blowing through him as if it
would cut him in two.
GOOD evening, brother" said the
General, speaking as if he were only a
common soldier, too.
Good evening"" answered the SEN
tinel, pretending not to know him, al
though he had recognized the Generals s
voice in a moment.
"Plenty of stars out tonight" went
on Suvorof, looking up at the frosty
sky. "Can you tell me how many of
them there are altogetherP"
"Just wait a bit, and I'll count"
said the soldier, quite coolly. And
forthwith he began: Zone, two, three,
four, five, six,n and so on, as if he were
never going to leave Off
At first SuvOrOh was rather amused
at his smartness; but he soon found
the game getting much too cold to be
pleasant, for he was in his usual light
dress, while the sentry at least had on
a good, thick frieze coat. Keener and
keener blew the bitter night wind, till
the poor old General felt as if he
should never be warm again. For a
while he bore up manfully, hoping the
soldier would get tired and leave off;
but when the man got up to thou
sand, and was still counting away as if
he meant to keep it up all night, Su-
vorof could stand it no longer.
What's your name, my fine fell
lowT' asked he, as well as his chatter
ing teeth would let him.
"Vasili (BasiD Pushkin." an
swered the soldier, "private in the
Seventh Foot"
"Very good" said the Marshal; 81
won't forget you. Goodnight"
The next morning Pushkin was sent
for to the Generals quarters; and Su-
vorofi, turning to his staff officers,
said:
Gentlemen, here's man whom
tried to fool last night, but l met my
match, and something more. l said
I'd make any man Sergeant who was
smart enough for that, and must keep
my word"
And he did so that very day.-DaUtd
kerr IN Harpers Young People.