walked up to the front door. All the blinds on that side were down.
The officer told the servant who received him that he wanted to see his
master. He was answered that the master was away from home, which was
perfectly true.

I follow here the tale as told afterwards by the servant to my
grand-uncle's friends and relatives, and as I have heard it repeated.

On receiving this answer the Cossack officer, who had been standing in
the porch, stepped into the house.

"Where is the master gone, then?"

"Our master went to J--" (the government town some fifty miles off),
"the day before yesterday."

"There are only two horses in the stables. Where are the others?"

"Our master always travels with his own horses" (meaning: not by post).
"He will be away a week or more. He was pleased to mention to me that he
had to attend to some business in the Civil Court."

While the servant was speaking the officer looked about the hall. There
was a door facing him, a door to the right and a door to the left. The
officer chose to enter the room on the left and ordered the blinds to
be pulled up. It was Mr. Nicholas B.'s study with a couple of tall
bookcases, some pictures on the walls, and so on. Besides the big centre
table, with books and papers, there was a quite small writing-table
with several drawers, standing between the door and the window in a good
light; and at this table my grand-uncle usually sat either to read or