re suffering much more than we are," the governor said,
"and before the spring comes we may find that there are none left to
conquer. If the soldiers of the Czar, accustomed to the climate as
they are, feel the cold, although they have warm barracks to sleep in,
what must be the case with the enemy on the bleak heights? I hear that
the English newspapers are full of accounts of the terrible sufferings
of their troops. They are dying like sheep."

"Poor creatures!" the countess said gravely. "They are our
fellow-beings, you know, Count Smerskoff, although they are our
enemies, and one cannot but feel some pity for them."

"I feel no pity for the dogs," the count said fiercely. "How dare they
set foot on the soil of Holy Russia?"

"Hating them as you do," the countess said, "it must be annoying for
you indeed, count, to occupy even so exalted a position as that of
governor of this town, instead of fighting against the English and
French."

The count muttered something between his teeth, which was certainly
not a blessing. Then turning to Katinka, he changed the subject by
asking her if she would favor him with some music.

Without a word, the girl seated herself at the piano and played. When
she had finished the piece, she began another without stopping, and
continued steadily for an hour. The countess leaned back in her chair,
as if she considered that conversation would be out of place while her
daughter was playing.

Count Smerskoff sat quietly for a quarter of an hour. Then he began to
fidget in his chair, but he stoically sat on until, when at the end of
an hour Katinka showed no signs whatever of leaving off, he rose, and
ceremoniously regretting that his duties prevented him from having the
pleasure of hearing the conclusion of the charming little piece which
the young countess was playing (for in Russia all children bear the
title of their parents) he took his leave.

When the door had closed behind him, and the sound of his footsteps
along the corridor ceased, the girls burst into a fit of laughter, in
which the midshipmen joined heartily.

"Well done, Katinka!" Olga said, clapping her hands. "That was a
splendid idea of yours, and you have routed the governor completely.
Oh, dear, how cross he did look, and how he fidgeted about as you
played on and on without stopping! I thought I must have laughed
out-right."

"It was a clever thought," the countess said, "and yet the count
cannot complain of want