until now, then, and then only, was Monsieur Fourger convinced it must be true. Madame de Bresinsky, and the other gentlemen, all came, and we had a grand consultation of what was to be done. The conductor was there, of course. He had heard of the alarm before we sent for him, and he came in, looking the picture of fear. I cannot say that any of us looked very comfortable.

After various plans had been proposed and rejected, we came at last to the unanimous conclusion that it would be wisest for us to have extra borses, sixteen again: and to have two mounted police, well armed, and for the gentlemen to have their rifles and pistols loaded. The innkeeper assured us we should be equally well attended on, and well cared for, by the landlord of the next station, where he advised us to remain the night.

We thanked him much, and started with heavy, anxious hearts on our dreaded journey. Our two gens d'armes were fine, strong-looking men, and their horses seemed to suit and match their riders. Each rode on the sides of the diligence. Besides their rifles, they had each a pistol in their belts. Our three gentlemen had seen to their arms being ready; the conductor had done the same.

But I must mention what to me seemed a strange proceeding of Monsieur Fourger. Before entering the carriage he drew me aside and gave me the leather bag that I had seen him always wear well strapped under his great coat and fur cloak, and in doing this he said to me, 'You see, Mademoiselle Vera, why I do this? It is because it will be safer with you than with me. The bag does contain a good many very valuable diamonds, and also a good deal of money. And if we should be stopped, our enemies will never imagine that you carry such valuables about you. There, let me strap it well under your jacket; indeed nobody could tell what you have under that jacket.'

I did not like this arrangement at all, but I saw it was useless to resist; besides, the conductor requested us to come at once, the police were already mounted. A gens d'armes on each side of the diligence awaited our coming. We had not had our lamps lighted, to avoid attracting attention. And there we sat, each one of us looking out of the window, peering into darkness; for it was a dismal night, with the wind howling in the tall trees of that big forest. I suppose we had not traversed half the distance, when we were alarmed by distant shouts people calling to each other. The conductor urged his good horses on, and from a good quick trot they broke into a canter. The carriage swung from side to side; its jolts and shakes were terrific. What if the carriage should now break down! I was much alarmed; I had not even strength to whisper my fears to Monsieur Fourger. I sat holding his hand and staring into darkness, when suddenly we saw several moving objects quite close by under the trees.

There they were-the dreaded banditti ! They shouted to us to stop, or they would fire. Strange to say, my fear seemed to vanish

with the certainty of danger; poor M. Fourger wrung his hands, and in a whisper prayed to all the saints to protect him. I took his pistol from him, and luckily I knew how to handle it. And I sat holding the pistol out of the window, and feeling quite ready to fire if any one attempted to approach. I suppose one of the gens d'armes saw some immediate danger, for he fired. The aim must have been good and true, for almost directly afterwards we heard a piercing shriek.

On and on we drove; the poor old carriage swinging from side to side, but yet keeping safe. Then suddenly we were startled by a shot flying past us; where it went we did not know! We earnestly trusted that all of us were safe and unhurt. As the banditti seemed to come all from one side, both our police came on to that side, and with the two gentlemen and the conductor they all fired. And I must also confess that I could not resist doing the same, and I fired off my pistol. Six different shots, I suppose, rather startled the enemy, for we heard nothing more; and after a quarter of an hour's hard driving we slackened our pace. I am sure the poor horses needed it; but they had done their work most bravely and well. And to our intense relief and astonishment we saw welcome lights in the distance.

It was the next station. How thankful and how grateful we were to find ourselves safe; and when we saw every one of us all sound and unhurt, we hardly knew what to do for joy. M. Fourger found his tongue the quickest; for although we all looked relieved, yet none of us had said as yet a word. We had been shaking hands with each other all round, conductor and inn-keeper and all. I felt ready to cry; all my courage and strength had fled again as soon as the danger was over. But I held the pistol unknowingly still in my hand.

Nicolai came up to me, and exclaimed, 'Vera! why, what is this in your hand? Were you also armed? Why, generally girls are afraid of such weapons; they are afraid of even looking at them. But, monsieur, what has she been doing with it?' and he turned to Monsieur Fourger.

'Doing with it? Why, she would take it from me when the banditti were close upon us, and she fired at them. Indeed, I myself could not have done it better; I doubt if I could have fired at all, my hand shook so,' said old M. Fourger, and he sank down quite exhausted.

It had been a terribly trying time, and the reaction of the sudden safety was almost as trying to one's overwrought nerves as the fear. We agreed with the conductor, it would be wisest, however, to continue our journey at once, that the banditti could not have time to collect en masse, and thus to attack us again. I longed to remain the night there; but we had to start as soon as sixteen fresh horses had been harnessed. This time we had to go unaccompanied by the police, for we could not procure other horses.

Wishing our kind protectors a hearty good-bye and safe return on the morrow, we again continued our journey. I had told my cousin

how I had the care of all the valuables belonging to M. Fourger, and how nervous it had made me, especially when I saw how frightened M. Fourger himself had been. Nicolai upon this turned to M. Fourger, and requested him to allow him to take charge of his leather bag, or to let me change places with the other gentleman, as he felt that it must be a great risk to let a young girl have charge of so much of M. Fourger preferred my changing places to giving up the bag, as he said my jacket concealed it so well. I felt much relieved at this change, for I knew that now I was not alone responsible for the care of that precious bag.

All our caution was needless. I am happy to say we were not alarmed by anything, and I fell asleep from pure exhaustion till we arrived at the station where we were to have breakfast.

This was Sunday-a strange Sunday! I should hardly have known it were Sunday except for some distant bells, calling people to church. But whilst I had been sleeping it had begun to snow, and we drove through quite a quantity of snow. The country seemed quite different here. After such a bright morning, it became a most stormy day; the snow fell thicker and thicker, and faster and faster. The horses did their utmost, but they could do no more; the wheels sank deep into the soft snow, and the further we drove the worse it seemed to get. All seemed here thorough winter.

At last there came a great crash, and we knew something had given way. One after another the gentlemen jumped out, and so also did we two ladies. The poor carriage had at last broken down; one of the wheels was utterly broken to pieces, and some other parts had also given way. What on earth was to be done? A pleasant state of affairs! Are our adventures never to end? and are we never to reach Warsaw? It was not surprising that such exclamations escaped us. This was the fifth day, and we were not near Warsaw; and now, here we were in the middle of a bare road, with nothing to be seen but miles of snow! The conductor told us we were just between the two stations, about ten werste off each; to return or to proceed was the same. He hoped that one or two of us would volunteer to walk on to send some one to patch up our broken equipage. Nicolai and I said we would walk on; but Nicolai thought it would be wisest that the postilion should ride on one of the horses, to get help the quicker. This was done. Madame de Bresinsky, Nicolai, and myself, began walking; but this time we took our fur cloaks with us. It continued to snow very fast; but snow in Russia does not moisten at all; nobody ever puts up an umbrella when it snows.

After walking but a little way, we saw three little sledges; in one were a man and a woman, in each of the other two only a man. As soon as they neared us, Madame de Bresinsky accosted them, and requested them to take us up at all events a little way. She told them our mishap in the diligence, and promised them half a rouble! We could not speak to them, they being Poles; but she kindly made all

arrangements. They were civil people, and the man in the biggest sledge offered to take Nicolai and myself, and Madame Bresinsky went into the other. I was glad I was not alone. It was a strange but pleasant feeling, this driving in this little sledge. We were rather tightly packed. I sat, of course, in the middle; our driver on the right, and my cousin on my other side-each man with one foot out. This acts like a steerage or oar; for when the sledge, as it so often happens, slides very much and suddenly on to one side, the foot helps to prevent it overturning. Whether, however, my cousin and I were chattering too fast or not I cannot tell, but suddenly I found myself pitched right out into a heap of snow. With all the amount of wraps that I had on, it was impossible to extricate myself. I felt as if I must be suffocated, when I was luckily quickly helped out of my w-bed by the peasant; then I saw Nicolai looking as white as I did, for he also had been tossed out of the sledge, and had only just then managed to crawl out of the snow. It was most mysterious to us both how and why we should have been sent flying in this strange manner! As we were not hurt or damaged at all, we laughed heartily at our strange appearance. We looked like snow-men-like those that children delight to make; but shaking ourselves effectually made us look respectable, and we begged to get into the sledge again. In due time we arrived at the Church where these people were going.

snow

Whilst we were nearly buried in the snow, Madame de Bresinsky had seen a man drive past us with the postilion and some fresh horses. As we had now no occasion to look for a man who could bind up the broken limbs of the poor diligence, we thought we might just as well not lose this good opportunity of going to Church. On entering, we found it was not a Greek Church, but a Roman Catholic; we joined in part of the service, feeling a great comfort in having been able to get to a church at all.

We found the station but a little further, and after refreshing ourselves with some coffee, we went out to look about the little town; but it being so very uninteresting, we very soon returned. The time passed very slowly, and not till eight o'clock did the others arrive. Poor things they had had a terrible journey, and most of the time they had had to walk, to lighten the load for the horses, in that deep snow. Whilst we had dinner, the carriage was thoroughly mended; although it was Sunday it had to be done.

It was quite late when we resumed our journey. There was less snow; we were in a less sheltered place; the wind seemed to have cleared the roads, but instead of two hours, we were four, in reaching the next halting-place. It was two o'clock in the morning when we woke up the people at the inn, to ask them for the samavar, that we might refresh ourselves with some tea. The people were civil and quick, spite of the late hour, and we soon had everything we wished for; but on inquiry we found that they had been equally attentive to our conductor, and had made him so comfortable, that we heard he

was sound asleep, and had given the order that he should not requir horses until six or seven in the morning. We all grumbled at the loss of time, although we knew it would not mend matters; but, as everybody knows, it is sometimes a great relief to one's feelings to grumble. We all had hoped to have been in Warsaw the next day; and now, with these continued delays, we began quite to despair of ever reaching that city.

There was again only the one room: but it had an alcove with a bed -quite a strange sight to us! How I longed to be able to undress and go to bed! But what a bed it was, when I went to inspect it! No, tired as I was, I could not have had the courage to lie on that bed. In the bed was nothing but very dirty-looking straw, with no covering of kind whatever! any One after another we inspected that bed, but

one after another we turned disgusted away. A large sofa, and a few wooden chairs and a table, made up the furniture of the room, which as usual was delightfully warm. Madame threw herself into one corner of the sofa, and putting her feet on to a chair, said she was very comfortable, and persuaded old M. Fourger to follow her example. This he gladly did, and in a few seconds this pair were asleep; and now began a duet of unearthly noises.

At last Nicolai proposed I should go into the carriage, but I refused to do that; the chair was quite as pleasant, and at all events it was in the warmth.

'Then what in the world is to be done? I cannot say much for that old gentleman taking care of you! Come with me, and I will see whether another room cannot be procured.'

And we went on a voyage of discovery, and soon found a maid, whom Nicolai accosted, and who luckily understood a little Russian; and with the help of a little silver coin, she promised to take me into a room, and see that I should have a comfortable bed. Nicolai told her from where we had come, and what a trying journey we had had; and she answered so prettily, and told us what pity she had for us. Then bidding Nicolai good-night, I followed the kind little maid into a nice warm room. In it was a comfortable-looking clean bed. I quickly took off my fur wraps and jacket and shawls, and lay down. That bed was indeed to me the most luxurious couch I ever had slept on. Nobody can tell the luxury of lying down full length on a soft bed, except those who have travelled in such a vehicle for several days and nights, as I had.

It seemed to me only such a short time before I had to get up again. The little maid came and knocked at the door, and called out the hour. It was past six! She helped me on with all my wraps, and led me back to the sitting-room, where Nicolai had some hot coffee all ready for me. We two were sitting and drinking our coffee in a very selfish way, when the conductor came in, and called out in his loud voice, We start in less than five minutes, ladies and gentlemen.' His voice always did rouse everybody, except this morning the