took a black tint between banks whitened by the snow. Before me lay the Kirghis steppes. I fell into a moody train of thought, for to me garrison life offered few attractions. I tried to picture

re to the fortress?" s

e it now,"

ge surrounded by a wooden palisade. On one side stood some hay-stacks half covered with snow; on the other a

ortress?" I ask

were thatched with straw. I ordered the coachman to drive to the Commandant's, and almost immediately my kibitka stopped before a wooden house built on an eminence near the church, which

r," said he, "our

engravings arranged around its frame; notably, the "Choice of the Betrothed," the "Taking of Kurstrin," and the "Burial of the Cat by the Mice." Near the window sat an old woman in

o enter the service, and that, according to rule, I hastened to present myself to the captain. In saying this, I turned to

am his wife. Deign to love us and have us in favor! Take a seat, my dear sir." She ordered a

he, "in what regiment yo

d him on t

hy you changed from the

t was by the ord

ming an officer of the Guards?" r

ontinued she, turning to me, "do not be too much afflicted that you are thrust into our little town; you are not the first, and will not be the last. Now, there is Alexis Chabrine, who has been transferred to us for

handsome Cossack. "Maxim," said the Captain'

the Cossack; "shall I lod

s, he is my child's godfather; and, moreover, he never forg

r Gri

of Simeon Kieff. That rascal let his horse i

orporal Kourzoff quarreled with the wom

n the two - decide which one is guilty, and punish both. Go, Maxim, Go

us, whilst I looked out of the narrow window. Before me stretched the bleak and barren steppe; nearer rose some cabins; at the threshold of one stood a woman with a bowl in her hand calling the pigs to feed; no other objects met my sight, save a few chickens scratching for stray kernels of corn in the street. And thi

d remarkable vivacity. "Pardon me," said he in French, "that I come so unceremoniously to make your acquaintance. I learned yesterday of your arrival, and the

He described with impulse and gayety the Commandant's family, society, and in general the whole country round. I was laughing heartily, when Ignatius, the same old pensioner whom I had s

tood the Commandant, a fresh and vigorous old man of high stature, in dressing-gown and cotton cap. As soon as he saw us, he approached, addressed me a few affable words, and then resumed his d

reating me like an old acquaintance. The pensioner

irl about sixteen entered the room;- a rosy, round-faced girl, wearing her hair in smooth bandeaux caught behind her ears, which were red with modesty and shyness. She did not please me very much at the first glance; I was prejudiced agains

s cooling. Thank God! the drills need not be lost; there

appeared with his

; "the table has been served some ti

usy with the service, inst

em, and as for you, you know nothing about it. You should have stayed at

h questions: Who were my parents? Were they living? Where did they reside? What was th

et, thank God, we live, somehow or other. We have but one care, that is Marie, a girl that must be married off. And what fortu

soup. I pitied her, and hastened to change the conversation. "

," replied I

it at O

d people; and the Kirghis have also had some good lessons. They dare not attack us, and if they shoul

ddressing Basilia, "to stay in a

eve how I feared the pagans. If I chanced to see their fur caps, if I heard their shouts, believe me, my heart was ready to faint

bserved Alexis, gravely. "Ivan Mi

"she does not belong to

d of her mother "is

embling in every limb. Two years ago Ivan had a pleasant fancy to fire off his cannon on my birthday; the poor pig

went to take their siesta. I went with Alexis t