I easily guessed that he was the officer dismissed from the Guards for
the affair of the duel--Alexis Chabrine. He was very intelligent; his
conversation was sprightly and interesting. He described with impulse
and gayety the Commandant's family, society, and in general the whole
country round. I was laughing heartily, when Ignatius, the same old
pensioner whom I had seen mending his uniform in the Captain's waiting-
room, entered, and gave me an invitation to dinner from Basilia
Mironoff, the Captain's wife. Alexis declared that he would accompany
me.

Approaching the Commandant's house we saw on the square some twenty
little old pensioners, with long queues and three-cornered hats. These
old men were drawn up in line of battle. Before them stood the
Commandant, a fresh and vigorous old man of high stature, in dressing-
gown and cotton cap. As soon as he saw us, he approached, addressed me
a few affable words, and then resumed his drill. We were going to stay
to see the manoeuvering, but he begged us to go on immediately to the
house, promising to join us at once; "for," said he, "there is really
nothing to be seen here."

Basilia received us kindly, and with simplicity, treating me like an
old acquaintance. The pensioner and the maid Polacca were laying the
table-cloth.

"What is the matter with my dear Ivan Mironoff, today, that he is so
long instructing his troops?" said the mistress. "Polacca, go and
bring him to dinner. And where is my child, Marie?" Scarcely had she
pronounced this name, than a young girl about sixteen entered the
room;--a rosy, round-faced girl, wearing her hair in smooth bandeaux