The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1908-08-21
Observation-Disclosures
|TheH0noro Of
Nurse Joyce
cHAPTER XIII. (contInued.)

once Mary, in speaking to Christa-
bel. had described the place as beau
tiful old sort Of castle. 1t certainly
was a large, rambling house, not
without elements of the picturesque,
but Christabel had rather expected to
see medieval edifice with towers
and turrets and battlements and walls,
but these it lacked. Part of it was
built of wood and part of it of lime
stone. The wooden portion of it
dated back to the close of the eigh.
teenth century, but that of stone was
more recent. 1t had been the resi-
dence Of a noble of Catherine lis,
from one of whose descendants it had
been bought by the Sisterson's, be-
cause Of it's nearness to that strip on
the banks of the Dniester which they
had selected as the site of their
works. 1t stood in the midst of trees
surrounded by park; behind it was
large, spacious. and shady garden
which fell away in terraces of vines
to the park beyond. On that side Of
the park lay a village of the usual
Roman type, and farther beyond that
again was a stretch of sandy waste
land.
The station was close to the works,
which, if Christabel had known it,
were an edition in miniature of the
great Sisterson works near Tilbusy
There were the same kind of colossal
buildings with towering chimneys
belching forth black smoke, only there
were not so many of them; the same
sort of dust filled the air; the same
rows of workmen's cottages stood in
equally unlovely parallels. though
there was no more than third of the
number. Around the station itself
was great yard with many sidings,
on which stood trucks filled with lime
stone and coal and other materials
which were needed for the manufac-
ture of the famous cement.
But of all this those living in the
residence of the Anatovitches might
know nothing, for no more than the
tops of the chimneys could be seen;
screen of trees shut out the rest.
Inside the house all was Of the most
Partisan; everything was modern,
dainty, excellent, even exquisite. Had
not Katia herself, with her cultured
appreciation of everything FRENCH,
seen to it in every particular? Mary
had told Christabel that Katia had
perfect taste, and so she had in most
things; the youthfulness with which
she dressed might have been deemed
by the hypercritical a mistake, but
this is the kind of mistake any lady
may make without, surely, being call
ed to task very severely.
OF course, every one had tea when
they got into the house. though they
had already had tea on the train-the
delicious Flower" tea of rich Russia,
which is quite different from the tea
that poor Russia imbibes all day long
when it can procure it. There were
letters to be read. There were several
for Mary, and Christabel had two from
Norman and one from Philip. Katia
begged them to waive ceremony.
and read their letters at once, but
both ladies waited until they were
shown to their rooms, which was done
in a few moments after tea had been
drunk.
Dn,i,ri Anatovitch had been most
polite in his attentions, both to Chris
label as we'll as Mary, asking many
questions about their voyage, and
showing himself in every way most
agreeable host, but when they had
gone with Katia to their own quarters
he went to his special room and stood
by an open window. signing heavily.
He was thinking of Christabel, and his
thoughts were not pleasant ones. The
social mask he had worn had dropped
from him and the expression on his
face was grim. Christabel had been
delivered into his hands-this was the
chief thing in his mind; but it was not
the only thing, fer once again he was
sensible of her prettiness and charm,
and this was the reason why he sigh
ed so heavily.
Russia is land of extremes, for
which. perhaps, the climate is re-
sponsible. In the north there is a
long winter and there is short sum-
mer, the one extremely cold and the
other extremely hot; in the south it is
the summer that is long and the wip-
ter that is short. but both seasons ex-
hibit extremes OF temperature Yet
the cold strikes far to the south, and
the most general characteristic of the
empire, taken as whole, is the long
continued severity of the winter.
1t is this, more even than their in
herited fatalism, that has made the
Russian people, as a rule, patient,
much-enduring, slow of thought, un-
fastening. in action. If at times they
burst into a volcanic blaze Of energy,
the hot, burning sun of their summers
can account for it. 1t is the winter
however, that leaves the whole lump,
and the South Russian, though he en-:
joys more generous climate than his
northern compatriot, does not escape
the national immobiliay, but in his
case this immobility Is prone to be
broken more frequently and fiercely
by sudden and sinister eruptions.
Odessa, the commercial capital of
this region, has long been the chief
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