CHAPTER IV

COUSINS


"So you have seen Mikail Suvaroff!" said Boris. He shook his head. "We
have seen little of him in the last few years. He and my father do not
agree. Mikail is on the side of the men about the Czar who want no
changes, who want to see the people crushed and kept down. My father
wants a new Russia, with all the people happier and stronger."

"Then I should think they wouldn't agree," said Fred, heartily. "Mikail
is like the Russians one reads about, dark and mysterious, and always
sending people to Siberia and that sort of thing."

"It isn't as bad as that, of course," said Boris, with a laugh. "Russia
isn't like other countries, but we're not such barbarians as some people
try to make out. Still, of course, there are a lot of things that ought
to be changed. Russia has been apart from the rest of the world because
she's so big and independent. That's why there are two parties, the
conservatives and the liberals. My father is all for the Czar, but he
wants the Czar to govern through the men the people elect to the Duma.
After this war--well, we shall see! There will be many changes, I think.
You see, this time it is all Russia that fights. Against Japan we were
not united. It is the Russian people who have made this war."