Accordingly she went next door, where lived a woman with five sons. They
were all out except one, and he had a sore leg. She brought him to me,
and I cried very bitterly. He also. His name was Ivan, and I wished it
had been Peter.

The next day we were betrothed, and all our friends came to eat the
feast that my grandmother provided. A school-fellow of mine, a very
beautiful girl, was angry because I had a husband and not she. She
scratched my face, and the blood ran on to my dress. Our friends
congratulated us, and when they had gone my grandmother said it had been
a great success. She and I finished what was left of the feast and went
to bed. I remember that my feet were very cold, and when I fell asleep I
dreamed that my betrothed's name was Peter. When I awoke I cried very
loud, and my grandmother slapped my cheeks.

Shortly afterwards she died, and I went to live with my uncle, who was a
pawnbroker in Moscow.

* * * * *

THE LONG-FACED CHUMS.

When Alexander won the world he knew not bombs nor guns,
His simple forms of frightfulness were quite unlike the Huns';
'Twas not by barking mortars that the pushful CAESAR scored;
He trusted close formations and the silent stabbing sword.

When ROLAND'S rearguard turned at bay, and from the furious press
The scuppered Paladin sent forth his famous S.O.S.,