Year: 1875

"a light at lastr' exclaimed, fervent-
ly the young American who accompanied
a Russian Ambassador in this his third
stage from Uralsk, in the route of long
journey southwark. "Heaven be praised,
we are nearing human habitationp


Through the drifting sleet his keen eye
had discovered the twinkling of lamp
light. The good news failed, however,
to arouse his semi-dormant. companion.
The younger man turned toward him a
glance of compassion. Thrown from the
sledge some miles back on the days
journey, the poor Ambassador had sus-
tanned an injury SO painful that only for
the last hour, and under the influence of
opiates, he had ceased from moaning.


The isolated dwelling which the trav-
elers approached, and where the sledge
conveying their luggage had arrived,
proved to be the house of a Russian
peasant. No sooner had they passed its
wind guarded passages, carefully lined
with felt, and entered from the intense
cold of the outdoor air into the no less
intense heat of the stove warmed in
terror, than the Ambassador tainted.


The energies of the Ambassador were
devoted Immediately to the care of his
friend. He had already ordered his SER
want to bring the medicine chest from
the sledge, and he speedily selected and
applied, with expressions of tender
solicitude, the proper stimulants, lotions
and bandages. He had the satisfaction
to see the Ambassador slowly revive,
and to convince himself that the injury
was nothing more serious than sprained
ankle, which delay in affording remedy
and untoward exposure had rendered
acutely painful.


Not only handsome youth, tall.
straight, broad shouldered, and sunnily
blonde, was the young American, Hart
ley Berne, but dashipg, spirited, merry
voiced individual, who, as quickly as he
found his patient recovering, broke forth
into pleasant sallies, which had the effect
to make the Ambassadors face relax
from its dreary askew, and to draw his
big features into an approach to laugh.


1t was near midnight when the doctor
ing was finished. Tea had been steeped
in the great Russian tea-urn, and had
been swallowed in prodigious quantities.
The Ambassador, muttering many but
not various adjectives of depreciation,
had been hoisted upon the bed of state
the sole family bed, be il whispered
namely, the fur-spread roof of the huge
stove, where gradually his groans, in the
soothing spell of skillfully concocted
draught, subsidized into satisfied grunts.
Then Hartly Berne had leisure to study
critically his surroundings.


He was not long in comprehending the
contents of the cramped chamber, nearly
one-fourth of whose space was occupied
by the mud furnace, whose fattened
dome was now peacefully graced by his
comrade. A table of rude deal, occupy
ing the center, supported his own con-
templative elbows. A bench, rough like
the table, surrounded the room. On the
dinRy wall, between two double glazed
windows, hung gilded picture of Saint
Nicholas. In one corner pitcher OF
water, sacred to scanty ablution, was
suspended from the ceiling. and a shelf
opposite upheld crude black stone, re
sembling miscarved Otaheiten girl.


On the bench, under the gilded saint.
were seated the women who had watched
the strangers medicinal performance
with such admiring fascination. They
spoke Russian, and as our traveller was
no novice in that language, and had
patiently acquainted himself with such
phrases OF gallantry as usually give
pleasure, he lost no time in rendering
himself agreeable.


He did this the more readily since, al
though one Of the women was middle