and a new caftan, which he was not in a condition to accept
until several days afterward.

The supper which followed resembled the dinner, except that there
were fewer dishes and more bottles. When the closing course of
sweatmeats had either been consumed or transferred to the pockets
of the guests, the Princess Martha retired with the ladies. The
guests of lower rank followed; and there remained only some fifteen
or twenty, who were thereupon conducted by Prince Alexis to a
smaller chamber, where he pulled off his coat, lit his pipe, and
called for brandy. The others followed his example, and their
revelry wore out the night.

Such was the festival which preceded the departure of Prince Boris
for St. Petersburg.



IV.


Before following the young Prince and his fortunes, in the capital,
we must relate two incidents which somewhat disturbed the ordered
course of life in the castle of Kinesma, during the first month or
two after his departure.

It must be stated, as one favorable trait in the character of
Prince Alexis, that, however brutally he treated his serfs, he
allowed no other man to oppress them. All they had and were--their
services, bodies, lives--belonged to him; hence injustice towards