Anonymous

“ Do you know the difference between a serf and a free-man? Would you rather live like your father, having nothing that he can call his own, or would you live like the Baron Popoff, with wealth, and houses, and lands, and forests, and people, that no one could take from you, except, perhaps, the emperor?"
Sasha's heart gave a great thump before he could open his mouth. The old man smiled, and he said to himself, "I was right." Then he continued: "I should be a free man now, if our colonel had lived. ”

“ That evening the baron asked Sasha, "Would you like to be one of my house-servants, boy?"
Just as his grandfather had advised him, Sasha answered, "It is not for me to choose, my lord; but I think I can serve you much more to your profit if you will let me try to become a merchant."
"A merchant!" exclaimed the baron.
"Not all at once," said Sasha. "I could be of use now as a boy to help carry and sell things, because I can count, and speak a little in other tongues. I could make myself so useful to some merchant that he would give me a chance to learn the whole business in time. ”

“ Will you?"
"Yes, grandfather, yes!" exclaimed Sasha eagerly.
"Promise me that you will say nothing to any living person; that you will obey me and remember all I say to you while I live, and be none the less faithful to the purpose when I am dead!"
Sasha promised everything at once. After a moment's silence Gregor took his hand from the boy's breast, and said:
"Yes, you truly mean it. The people of old used to say that if any one broke a promise made before this stone, the black heathen god would have power over him."
"Perhaps the bear was the black god," suggested Sasha. ”

“ I've seen many a brave man in my time, sure enough," said old Ivan Starikoff, removing his short pipe to puff out a volume of smoke from beneath his long white moustache.
"Many and many a one have I seen; for, thank heaven, the children of holy Russia are never wanting in that way, but all of them put together wouldn't make one such man as our old colonel, Count Pavel Petrovitch Severin. It was not only that he faced danger like a man—all the others did that—but he never seemed to know that there was any danger at all. ”

“ Sasha sprang to his feet, seized the bridle, and gasped, "The robbers! the robbers!"
"Who are you?—and what does this mean?" asked the baron in a stern voice.
But Sasha was too much in earnest to feel afraid of the great lord. "I am Sasha, the son of Ivan, the son of Gregor," he replied; and then related as rapidly as he could all that he had seen and heard.
The baron looked at his pistols.
"Ha!" he cried, "the caps have been taken off! You may have done me good service, boy. Wait here: it is not enough to escape the rascals; we must capture them!" ”

“ As the clouds grew darker, the wind blew in louder gusts, and the waves rose with whiter and taller crests, and lashed the shores with an ever-increasing vehemence. Along the beach on the north side of the Gulf of Finland are some twenty or thirty fishermen's huts, which form part of the straggling town of Lachta. Hard by is the spot where a ferry-boat starts—or rather started a century ago—for the opposite side of the gulf some twice or three times a week. ”

“ Nicholas took the bowl which she held towards him, but his hand trembled so that it would have fallen if she had not herself held it to his lips. As he tasted the warm nourishing soup new life seemed to come to him, and he grasped the bowl eagerly, drinking till the last drop was gone; then, looking up with a grateful smile he said simply, "Ah! we were so hungry, my little ones and I! Thanks, barishna."
"Now for my good news," said the lady. "Here is the money for your rent; and here are ten roubles more, for clothes for your little ones. ”

“ Katinka jumped quickly down, and entering the little isba stood fairly speechless at seeing Lady Feodorovna, whom she had left so shortly before in her own beautiful home.
"Ah, Katinka! I have stolen a march on you," said the good fairy. "There is nothing you can do here."
"Is there not?" said Katinka. "See! here is the starosta's receipt for a year's rent, and there," turning towards the door as a venerable old man entered, "is the Torjok doctor, who has come to make neighbour Nicholas well." ”

“ No person of observation can pass these primeval forests without discovering wonders at every turn. The monster trees—whose thick trunks and arms are twisted into fantastic distortions, darken the road with the thick caverns they form where the wind has uprooted them by dozens, and they lean supported by their branches across the way—seen in the gray morning as we glide along our silent path of snow have a solemn and imposing influence on the mind, like that produced by the ruins of some grand old temple, whose foundation, like that of our Russian forest, is hidden in remote antiquity. ”

“ Just then Ivan came home hungry; and as she hastened to prepare his supper of tea and black bread and raw carrots, and a kind of mushroom stewed in oil, she almost forgot of her neighbour Nicholas while waiting on her father, who was always so glad to come home to her and his snug, warm room.
But to-night, for a wonder, he was cross. All day he had waited in the cold, bleak public-square of Torjok, beating his arms and feet to keep himself warm; and occasionally, I fear, beating his patient little pony for the same reason. ”

“ It will be already dark."
Just beyond the thicket the road made a sharp turn and entered the woods. Sasha never afterwards could quite explain the impulse which led him to dart under the trees as soon as he was out of sight, to get in the rear of the thicket, crawl silently nearer on his hands and knees, and then lie down flat within hearing of the men's voices. For a moment he was overcome with a horrible fear. They were silent, and his heart beat so loudly that he thought they could no more help noticing it than the sound of a blacksmith's hammer. ”

“ It was oblong, and flat on the top, like a great black trunk; and on this flat top, with the fire smouldering away beneath him, Ivan always slept at night in the winter; and sometimes, when it was very cold, Katinka would bring her sheep-skin blanket and sleep there too! Not one Russian isba in fifty contains a bed; when there is a large family, father, mother, and little children all crowd upon the top of the stove in winter, and in summer they roll themselves up in their blankets and sleep outside by the door! ”

“ As the door of one of these cottages opened, a young sailor came out, followed by his mother, who saw that he was bent on crossing the lake for the purpose of transacting some business at the little village of Liborg, and was vainly endeavouring to stay him by pointing out the signs of the growing storm.
"Only see, my dear son," she cried, "how rough and angry the lake is now; see what madness it is to venture out in an open boat upon its waves on such a day. If the ferry-boat must go, let it start without you, and do you stay at home, my Steenie, for your poor mother's sake." ”

“ The food there is sufficient for to-day; to-morrow I will send you more. Do not thank me," she added, as Nicholas tried to speak; "you must thank Katinka Kassaloff for it all."
Just then a great noise was heard outside, and little Todeloff came prancing merrily up to the door, shaking his head and rattling the little bells on his douga (the great wooden arch that all Russian horses have attached to their collars) as proudly as if he had the finest drosky in all St. Petersburg behind him. ”

“ The lamp was lighted and shone brightly on Katinka, who made quite a pretty picture as she rested a while from her work to speak to Dimitri. She wore a white chemise with very full, long sleeves, and over it a sarafane of red linen with a short boddice and shoulder-straps of dark blue. On her head she had tied a gay-coloured kerchief, to keep the dust of the flax from her glossy black hair, which hung in a single heavy braid far down her back. One of these days, if she should marry, she would have to divide it in two braids, and wear a kerchief always. ”

“ A drive of four versts (about three miles) brought them to their journey's end, and Katinka's heart beat anxiously as the old drosky rattled up through the courtyard to the grand hall door; but she went bravely up to the fine porter, and asked to see Lady Feodorovna.
"Bosja moia!" (bless me) ; "what do you want with my lady?" asked the gorgeous Russ who, in crimson and gold livery, serf though he was, looked scornfully down on free Katinka in her poor little sheepskin jacket. ”

“ A crowd of people—men, women, and children—were standing round the mouth of an ore-pit, some ten fathoms deep, and about as much like an ordinary English draw-well without the brick-lining as could possibly be conceived. All were talking at once, and all agreed that they had caught no less a personage than the very devil himself, as they felt quite sure that the miner who had last come out of the pit could not possibly be mistaken. ”

“ Old Gregor's method of instruction would simply have confused a pupil less ignorant and eager to be taught; but Sasha was so sure that knowledge would in some way help him to become a free man, that he seized upon everything he heard. In a few months he knew as much German and French as his grandfather, and when they were alone they always spoke, as much as possible, in one or the other language. ”

“ But old Gregor made the sign of the cross, and muttered something which seemed to be like a prayer. Then he went to the black stone, and put his hand upon it.
"Sasha," he said, "this is one of the places where the old Russian people came many thousand years ago, before ever the name of Christ was heard of. They were dreadful heathens in those days, and this place was what served them for a church. A black stone had to be the altar, because they had a black god, who was never satisfied unless they fed him with human flesh."
"Where is the black god now?" asked Sasha. ”

“ There was no big, clumsy stove to be seen—for in the houses of the rich, in a recess in each room, is a kind of oven, in which a great wood fire is allowed to smoulder all day—but a delicious feeling of warmth prevailed, and a soft, sweet perfume floated on the air. ”

“ Beyond the water there was a great stretch of grazing meadow, then long rolling fields of rye and barley, extending to the woods which bounded the view in every direction. The village was situated within a few miles of the great main highway running from Warsaw to Moscow, and the waters of the lake fed the stream which flowed into one of the branches of the river Dnieper.
The whole region, including the village and nearly all the people in it, belonged to the estate of Baron Popoff, the roofs of whose residence were just visible to the southward, on a hill overlooking the road to Moscow. ”

“ The Russians are not a sporting people, and it is only the bear that gives them anything like a desire for the hunt.
If a moujik can only find bruin in his winter quarters he is happy, as it gives him that which he loves so much—a "pot" shot.
There are always several peasants in every neighbourhood who spend the winter in searching for bear-holes, primarily with the idea of selling the "find" to some local gentleman, or, if that fails, of making a few roubles out of the animal's skin and fat. ”

“ Sasha and the other living members of his family were free, and his ancestors also would have been free if they had not been dead. With the parchment signed and sealed in his pocket he took a carriage and post-horses and travelled day and night until he reached his native village. No one knew the stranger in his rich merchant's dress; his father and brothers were at work, and his mother had gone to see a neighbour:—old Gregor was alone in the house. ”

“ Alexis—who had acted as waiter, removing all the empty dishes in turn—placed this in the middle of the table, giving to each one a birch-wood spoon and refilling the glasses with tea; then he sat down by Katinka again at the plain uncovered table.
Let me tell you that tea is prepared in Russia in a very different manner to what it is in this country. It is made very strong, and is drunk always from glasses instead of from cups, and so hot that it would bring tears from the eyes of any one but a Russian. Milk is not used; a slice of lemon instead floats on the top. ”

“ Then the servants each gave a great push, and the sledges started off so quickly and lightly down the slope to the river that they could scarcely keep up with them. When they reached the banks of the Blankow, which flowed past the count's grounds and was frozen over for miles, the servants stooped and put on their skates, binding them by long straps over their feet, and round and round their ankles. Then they started down the river, and oh, how they flew! while the sledges, with their gorgeous birds, fairly sparkled in the sunlight. ”

“ Yes; the memory of Peter the Great to this day is dear among all classes of the Russians, from the noblest of the Boyards down to the meanest peasant. But if among the towns and villages of his vast empire there be one in which his name is cherished with especial honour, it is that little fishing town of Lachta; and in proof of our assertion we may add, that the cottage in which "Steenie" and his mother lived and died is still familiarly known to every traveller in those parts as "Peter's House." ”