ising to his feet.

"Sit down," Godfrey said sternly. "We want no tricks. Tell the women to
fetch in the clothes."

The man, seeing that Godfrey was determined, abandoned his intention of
seizing a club and making a fight for it, and told one of the women to
fetch some clothes down. She returned in a minute or two with a large
bundle.

"Pick out two suits, Luka, one for you and one for me." Luka was making
a careful choice when Godfrey said, "Don't pick out the best, Luka, I
don't want Sunday clothes, but just strong serviceable suits; they will
be none the worse for a patch or two. Now," he said to the men, "name a
fair price for those clothes and I will pay you."

The peasants had not in the slightest degree believed that the convicts
were going to pay them, and their faces lighted up. They hesitated as to
the price.

"Come, I will give you ten roubles. I am sure that is more than they are
worth to you now."

"Very well," the man said, "I am contented."

Godfrey placed a ten-rouble note upon the table. "Now," he said, "we
want a couple of hats." Two fairly good ones were brought down.

"Is there nothing else?" the man asked, ready enough to sell now that he
saw that he was to be paid fair prices.

"We want some meat and bread, ten pounds of each if you have got it."

"We have a pig we salted down the other day," the man said. "We have no
bread--we are going to bake to-morrow morning but you can have ten
pounds of flour."

"That will do. We want a small frying-pan, a kettle, and two tin mugs.
Have you got any tea in the house?"

"I have got about a pound."

"We will take it all. We can't bother ourselves about sugar, Luka, we
must do without that; every pound tells. We have brought plenty of
tobacco with us to last some time. Have you got a gun?" he asked the man
suddenly.

"Yes," he said, "we have got two. The wolves are troublesome sometimes
in winter. Fetch the guns, Elizabeth."

The guns were brought down. One was a double-barrel of German make, the
other a long single-barrel. "How much do you want for this?" he asked,
taking up the former.

"I don't use it much," the man said, "one will be enough for me, I will
take fifty roubles."

"No, no," Godfrey said. "You value your goods too high; money is not as
plentiful with me as all that. I can't go higher than twenty roubles,"
and he laid the gun down again.

"I will take thirty," the man said.

After a good deal of bargaining Godfrey obtaine