THE MOVEMENTS OF THE RUNAWAYS.
While the voyagers were taking leave of Captain Ekovetz, who had been so attentive to them, an officer spoke to him in Russian.
"The police have your runaways," added the captain.
"Indeed! Where are they?" asked the doctor.
"At the police office. They came down in the boat from Tver, and were about to take the steamer for Kazan," said the captain, after some further conversation with the officer. "This man will conduct you to the police office."
The party followed him, and in a short time came to the place where De Forrest and Beckwith were held, not exactly "in durance vile," but in the office of the police. The runaways looked decidedly crestfallen.
"This is rather unexpected. I thought you were going only to Moscow; but it appears that you have not even been there at all," said Dr. Winstock.
"No, sir, we have not," replied De Forrest. "I suppose you will think we ran away; but we did not."
"I must acknowledge that the course you have taken is open to that interpretation," added the doctor.
"I knew you would think so," said Beckwith, trying to look honest andinnocent.
"Nothing of the sort, sir," continued De Forrest. "We took a cup of coffee at Tver, and then stepped out in the rear of the station to get a sight of the town and the river. The conductor told me the train would not start for fifteen minutes, or I didn't understand him. I don't know which."
"Did he tell you in Russian?"
"No, sir; in German."
"Do you remember what he said?"
"'Fünfzehn minuten.'"
"What question did you ask him?"
"'Wie lange bleiben sie hier?'"
"You asked him how long he remained at the station, after he had been there ten minutes?"
"Yes, sir."
"Your German was better than your logic."
"I supposed he meant fifteen minutes more."
"You had no right to suppose so, if you did suppose any such thing. However, it is not for me to decide on this case."
"The train went off in less than five minutes. We ran after it, and yelled with all our might. Didn't you hear us, sir?"
"I confess that I did not," replied the doctor, with a smile; "but that doesn't prove that I am hard of hearing. You came down the Volga?"
"Yes, sir. I thought Moscow was on the Volga, but Beckwith said it was not," replied De Forrest.
"I knew it was not, and told him so," protested Beckwith.
"But still you went with him?"
"The captain spoke English a little, and told us we could take the train to Moscow. We didn't like to wait in that station till five o'clock the next morning."
"A train left Tver at about eleven that forenoon, and I supposed, if you were left, that you would come down in that."
"We didn't know it."
At this moment Captain Ekovetz came into the office, and through him it was ascertained that the runaways were captured while they were going on board of a steamer about to start for Kazan, and had their tickets, for which the police compelled the seller to refund the money. De Forrest attempted to explain, but his statement was rather improbable—quite as much so as the rest of his story.
"How long have you been here?" inquired the doctor.
"Three days, sir."
"As prisoners?"
"We staid at the Hotel Odessa, but the police and the servants watched us all the time."
"This isn't a good country to run away in," laughed the doctor.
"We had no idea of running away, sir."
"Getting left is about the same thing. But we will move on, for we have not much time to spare."
Droskies were taken, and the captain directed them to drive to Minin's Tower. It is on a bluff, where the old town stood, including a part of the Kremlin, and commands a fine view of the river and the fairgrounds, on the tongue of land between the Volga and the Oka. The party enteredthe Cathedral of the Transformation, where Minin is buried.
"Who was Minin?" asked Lincoln, as they stood by the obelisk erected to his memory.
"You remember Mr. Mapps told you about the false Dimitris, and that, in the confusion and anarchy brought about by them, the crown was offered to Vladislas, son of the King of Poland, for the Poles were really the masters of the country. The Russians had been beaten by them in many battles, for the former had no suitable leader. When everything seemed to be lost, Kosma Minin, a butcher of this town, obscure and uneducated, but possessed of good judgment, brave, honest, and unselfish, roused his fellow-citizens to a sense of their peril. His words and his example induced the people to take up arms, and appropriate all their fortunes for the deliverance of the nation from its oppressors. This spirit of patriotic devotion extended to other places, and Prince Pojarski, was soon able to take the field at the head of a large force. Minin seconded all the efforts of the prince, and by this sudden uprising the Poles were driven from the country. The movement was followed by the election to the throne of Michael Romanoff. The bronze statues which you saw in Moscow, opposite the bazaar, represents Minin urging Pojarski to deliver Moscow from the Poles."
The tourists returned to the droskies, and the doctor directed his driver by pointing in the direction of the fair grounds.
"This does not look much as it does during the fair," said the surgeon, as they drove across the bridge of boats. "The rivers are crowded withboats of every description, from all parts of the vast empire. The Oka here is literally filled with them, so that there is hardly a channel for the passage of others. These craft are quite a study, for they comprise an immense variety, and it is said that thefloatingpopulation of this vicinity during the fair is about fifty thousand. This bridge is quite as crowded as London Bridge during business hours, and mounted Cossacks are stationed upon it to keep it from being obstructed. These soldiers are also on duty in the crowded streets, to preserve order. The mud here is sometimes a foot deep—at least it was when I visited the fair several years ago. Even the paved streets are ploughed and furrowed by the wheels of heavily-loaded vehicles."
"It is a hard road to travel now," added Lincoln; for the vehicle jolted so that it was not easy for the passengers to keep their seats.
"Most of the goods for the fair come in boats, and have to be hauled to the shops in wagons, making bad work of the roads. When not muddy, it is very dusty."
The party entered the grounds of the fair, the doctor instructing his driver by signs. The entire space between the Volga and the Oka is laid out in streets and squares. There are ten miles of wharf on the two rivers. There are about four hundred steamers on the Volga, many of which were built in England, Belgium, and other countries, and have been brought to the river through the various canals, or in pieces, and put together again; but Russia can build her own steamers now. The streets are lined with shops, most of the buildings being of brick, a few of stone. Some of the open spaces are covered with booths and tents. Thestores are generally quite small, not more than twenty by fifteen feet. In the rear of them are living-apartments for the merchants and their employees. In the centre of the fair are the headquarters of the governor; but the ground floor of the building is devoted to a bazaar for the sale of fancy articles and manufactured goods, and a band of music usually plays here. Concerts are also given in the square by a military band. Near the official residence are theatres and exhibitions of every description.
The Great Fair is the harvest time of beggars, and thousands of them visit it, some of them coming from great distances. The lame, the halt, and the blind come, and very many of them are impostors, who pretend to have bodily ailments, or who have produced sores on their persons by artificial means, to excite the sympathies of the benevolent.
The number of persons in attendance on the fair is estimated by the amount of bread consumed, and the bakers are required to make daily returns to the governor of the quantity sold. By this means it is ascertained that the fair is visited, during the season of eight weeks, by from one hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand persons. The amount of business transacted by sale and purchase, is about one hundred million dollars.
There is as much variety in the shops as in different parts of a large city. Certain sections are devoted to the wholesale trade, and others to the retail. Many of the shops are filled with large bundles and bales, while others glisten with ornamental articles. Some of the avenueshardly differ in appearance from Broadway in New York, except in the uniformity of the buildings. The windows are filled with displays of jewelry, fancy goods, toys, dry goods, clocks, and watches, furs, silks, and, indeed, everything that one would see in a great city. Some shops are devoted exclusively to furs, and the assortment is large and fine. Dried fish is a great article of commerce here. The value of the sturgeon fisheries on the Volga is estimated at two and a half million rubles, while thirty thousand casks ofcaviarhave been sent up from Astrakhan in one year. The productions of Asia are largely represented at the fair, the most important of which is the tea of China. The Chinese quarter is fitted up in Celestial style, with verandas and pagodas; but very few Chinese attend the fair of late years. Fifteen million pounds of the finest tea are brought into Russia, most of it to this bazaar. It is transported to Perm by boats, sledges, and camels, and thence by the Kama and Volga to Nijni.
Along the rivers are the coarser articles of merchandise—iron in bars and sheets, and manufactured into kettles and household utensils, millstones, vast quantities of wheat, rolls of leather from Kazan, boxes of candles from Asia, copper and platinum from the Ural Mountains, and bells of all sizes, hung so that their tone can be tested.
Perhaps the most interesting feature of the fair to an American or Englishman is the people that gather there, especially the Asiatics. But the variety is by no means as great as the visitor will expect to find after reading the descriptions of them which have been published. There are plenty of Persians and Tartars in full costume, the former withknives and pistols in their belts, placed there for ornament rather than use. A few grave Chinamen may also be seen; but the great majority of the people are Russians. Unless one wishes to make it study of it, a few hours are enough to enable the stranger to see the fair.
A canal extends through the ground, as a protection against fire, and no smoking is allowed in the streets, on penalty of twenty-five rubles, and the rule is enforced by the Cossacks on duty. Under the streets there is a system of sewers for the draining of the land and the carrying off of refuse matter. A stream of water is made to flow through them several times a day, to remove the deposits there. In the streets there are, at regular intervals, small white towers over staircases to descend into the sewers, where are small apartments for men, in which alone they are allowed to smoke. These improvements have cost large sums of money, and the merchants are taxed to the amount of forty thousand dollars a year to pay the expenses.
The tourists drove through the principal avenues of the deserted grounds, and the doctor told them what he had seen there during his former visit when the fair was held. During the ride De Forrest and Beckwith were not much interested in the sights to be seen, or in the descriptions of the surgeon. They realized that the explanation of their absence was not accepted by the surgeon, and probably would not be better received by the principal.
"We have made a mess of it," said Beckwith. "I didn't believe in the scrape at all."
"You wouldn't have come with me, if you had not," replied the purser.
"We haven't been to Kazan, or down the Volga, and we haven't even seenMoscow, as the rest of the fellows have."
"We are going there to-night."
"Yes; but we leave in two or three hours after we arrive. We shall go on board at Cronstadt, and not be allowed any liberty again. That's all we shall make by running away."
"Perhaps not. You may go back to the ship, but I shall not," replied De Forrest, doggedly.
"What will you do?"
"I told you what I wouldn't do, and that is just the same as telling you what I will do. As you seem to be dissatisfied with what you have done, you can do as you please," growled the purser.
"I don't think we have made anything so far by the course we have taken," added Beckwith.
"Of course we haven't; we were tripped up."
"We may be tripped up again. These Russian policemen don't make anything of stopping a fellow."
"We ran right into a trap here in Nijni. The doctor and his party got here before we did, and were looking for us. We shall do well enough if we take another track."
"But where do you mean to go?"
"If you are going to back out, I won't say anything about it."
"I'm not going to back out. I will go with you to the end of the earth."
"All right. That sounds like something. We will go right through from Moscow to Warsaw. You know that GermanCours-Buchwe found at the hotel yesterday?"
"Yes; but I couldn't make anything of it."
"I laid out a route, and wrote it down on a piece of paper."
"But how will you get away? The doctor will keep watch of us all the time now," suggested Beckwith. "Besides, the other divisions of the squadron are coming to Moscow, and the principal may be there by the time we arrive."
"No matter if he is; we can easily manage it. You follow my lead, and I will bring you out all right."
By this time the droskies arrived at the railroad station, where the travellers dined, and obtained their tickets for Moscow. As the students paid their own fare, they were permitted to take first or second class cars, as they preferred. Following the example of the surgeon, most of them went first class, and when they came to take their seats it was found that only Scott and Beckwith had elected to go by the second class. There were very few passengers, and as the doctor gave the conductor a ruble, he disposed of the party so that there were only two or three in a compartment, which afforded them plenty of room to lie down and sleep. As a specimen of the Russian letter, we give a copy of the surgeon's ticket:—
Surgeon's Ticket
It is translated:
Nijni Novgorod.Moscow.1stClass 12R. 30 C.
The train arrived at Moscow at nine the next morning, and the tourists went to the Hotel de Hambourg. The third division of the squadron had come, and the second was to leave that day. Mr. Lowington and Mr. Fluxion were both at the hotel, and as soon as De Forrest saw the doctor shaking hands with the principal, he decided that he would not wait to be introduced to him. Nodding to Beckwith, he led the way through one of the long halls of the hotel, and found a staircase which led down to an arch under the house. On the other side of it was the dining room, which they entered. This room was on the ground floor, and the windows were open. No one was in sight, and they stepped out through one of them into the street.
MOSCOW PHOTOGRAPHS.
MOSCOW PHOTOGRAPHS.
"Where are you going, De Forrest?" asked Beckwith, nervously.
"I thought we had better keep out of the principal's sight," replied the purser, as he led the way up theRue Lubianka. "Here is another hotel," he added, as they came to the corner on which is the house kept by Mr. Billot.
"But we can't do anything here, without a word of the language."
"We will go into the hotel;" and De Forrest entered, followed by his companion.
"Good morning, young gentlemen," said the proprietor, in good English.
"Good morning, sir," replied De Forrest; "can you give us a room?"
"O yes."
"And send breakfast to the room?"
"Certainly."
"That suits our case," said De Forrest; and a servant was sent up stairs with them.
The apartment to which they were shown was on the second floor, with windows opening into the Rue Lubianka, so that the runaways could observe the movements of the party. Presently the landlord called to see them, and asked if the room suited them. Then he inquired who and what all the young men in uniform were whom he had seen during the past week, and De Forrest explained the whole matter to his satisfaction.
"But why don't they come to my hotel?" asked Mr. Billot.
"I don't know, sir; it must have been a mistake on the part of the principal."
"A very great mistake," added the landlord, laughing.
"We preferred to come here, but very likely the principal will blame us for it; so, if you please, don't mention to any one that we are here."
"I will not."
"Thank you."
The landlord was vexed to have his house passed by, and, afraid that he should lose his two customers if he mentioned them, he was content to keep still. Breakfast was sent up to the runaways, at an extra charge. They staid in their room all day, not daring to leave it lest theyshould be seen by some of their shipmates. If they had been condemned to such an imprisonment on board of the ship, even for running away, they would have called it tyranny. They looked through the apertures at the sides of the curtains, and saw the second division depart for St. Petersburg, and the third starting for the Kremlin. They dined in their room at five, and at half past eight in the evening, when the party at the other hotel had gone to the Petrofski Gardens, they paid their bill, and took a drosky for the Kief Railway station. The lady who sold the tickets spoke French, so that they had no difficulty there. At noon the next day they arrived at Orel, from which they departed at half past one for Dunaburg, on the line from St. Petersburg to Warsaw. They reached this town at six o'clock on the evening of the next day, and were obliged to wait till two o'clock the next morning for a train, by which they proceeded to Warsaw. They had been three days on the road, and had slept three nights on the train, travelling eleven hundred miles, and paying fifty rubles each for the fares, besides six more for meals. They were tired out, and utterly disgusted with railroad travelling. Taking a carriage at Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, where the station is located, they crossed the high bridge over the Vistula, and were left at the Hotel de l'Europe. They were shown to a room twenty feet square, for which the charge was two rubles a day.
In the restaurant on the lower floor, where the waiters spoke German as well as Polish, they found themselves seated near a party who were conversing in English. It consisted of a gentleman and two ladies, oneof the latter being but about seventeen years old. They were dressed in black, and the younger was very pretty,—so pretty that De Forrest could not help looking at her, as opportunity favored him. But the young lady seemed as much inclined to look at the runaways, and their eyes often met. The party spoke in a low tone, and were evidently talking about the young officers. Presently the gentleman rose from his chair and approached them.
"I beg your pardon," said he; "but I think we have met before."
"Indeed! I was not aware of it; though I am very glad to see any one who speaks the English language," replied De Forrest.
"You belong to the school ship, if I mistake not. We went on board of her at Christiansand; you had just arrived from America, and we had come in the Orlando from Hull."
"Yes, sir; I remember that steamer, and the party that came on board the ship."
"My name is Kinnaird."
"I am happy to see you, Mr. Kinnaird. My name is De Forrest, and my friend is Mr. Beckwith."
"Now permit me to present you to the ladies, who were much interested in your ship, and especially in her young officers," added the polite gentleman, as he conducted them to the table his party had taken. "Mrs. Kinnaird, my wife."
De Forrest and Beckwith made their best bows.
"Miss Julia Gurney, my wife's sister," added Mr. Kinnaird.
"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Miss Gurney," answered DeForrest, as he bowed to the pretty young lady.
"I was so pleased with the ship in which you sail, and the nice-looking young officers, that I have been wishing I might meet them again," said Miss Gurney.
For half an hour they talked about the ship and the other vessels, and each party told where they had been.
"And you are one of those fine young officers," said the young lady, suddenly, laughing her satisfaction as she spoke.
"I am," replied De Forrest, though he had some doubts on this point.
"And where is your ship now?"
"At Cronstadt. The squadron will go to Königsberg or Danzig next; then to Stettin or Swinemünde. The students will make a trip to Berlin and Dresden."
"O, then I shall see them again," exclaimed Miss Gurney. "But don't you sail with the others?"
"Yes, yes; but you see we make journeys on shore. We all went to Moscow, and some of us down the Volga to Kazan."
"How delightful! I wish I was a boy! If I were I would be a sailor, and join your ship. It must be elegant?"
"O yes—yes; very," replied De Forrest, glancing at his shipmate, who could hardly keep from laughing.
"I think I should like it so well, that I wouldn't go on shore. It is so stupid to be dragged through all these old palaces, and churches, and tombs, though I like to look at the pictures."
De Forrest was fascinated by the beauty and sprightliness of MissGurney. Her innocence and simplicity imparted a candor to her speech which pleased him, and, fatigued as he was, he was sorry to lose sight of her when the party retired to their rooms. Then her image went with him, and followed him into his dreams. He met her again in the morning, and the runaways were invited to accompany the party to Villenoy, and to see the sights of the capital of Poland. In a few days they left for Bromberg, and though Beckwith protested, De Forrest insisted upon accompanying them. Then he could not resist his inclination to go with the party to Königsberg, where Mr. Kinnaird desired to see a friend; but he hoped the squadron would not come there. It did not go to Königsberg, because the water was not deep enough, but it anchored at Pillau, the port of the city, twenty-six miles distant. While the runaways were dining with their new friends at theHôtel de Prusse, feeling perfectly secure because they had heard nothing of the squadron, the officers and students marched through the room to another, where dinner had been prepared for them.
"O, I am so delighted to see them!" exclaimed Julia. "How glad you must be, Mr. De Forrest!"
"Yes—yes—very glad," stammered the purser. "Will you excuse us for a few moments? I want to speak to some of them."
"O, certainly! How delighted you must be!" chattered the pretty Miss Gurney.
Before they had time to retire, the principal confronted them, and prevented their escape.
De Forrest and Julia. Page 294.
De Forrest and Julia. Page 294.