however, was still a matter of doubt, as it was necessary to
release him from the tower, and after several days of forced
abstinence he always manifested a raging appetite. Prince Alexis,
in spite of this doubt, had been assured by Boris that the dramatic
part of the entertainment would not be a failure. When he
questioned Sasha, the poet's strong-shouldered guard, the latter
winked familiarly and answered with a proverb,--

"I sit on the shore and wait for the wind,"--which was as much as
to say that Sasha had little fear of the result

The tables were spread in the great hall, where places for one
hundred chosen guests were arranged on the floor, while the three
or four hundred of minor importance were provided for in the
galleries above. By noon the whole party were assembled. The
halls and passages of the castle were already permeated with rich
and unctuous smells, and a delicate nose might have picked out and
arranged, by their finer or coarser vapors, the dishes preparing
for the upper and lower tables. One of the parasites of Prince
Alexis, a dilapidated nobleman, officiated as Grand Marshal,--an
office which more than compensated for the savage charity he
received, for it was performed in continual fear and trembling.
The Prince had felt the stick of the Great Peter upon his own back,
and was ready enough to imitate any custom of the famous monarch.

An orchestra, composed principally of horns and brass instruments,
occupied a separate gallery at one end of the dining-hall. The
guests were assembled in the adjoining apartments, according to
their rank; and when the first loud blast of the instruments
announced the beginning of the banquet, two very differently