shall be guided by you, papa, and do as you
direct."

"You, Ivan?"

"Paris, for me, of all places in the world!" replied Ivan, without any
suspicion that the answer would be displeasing to the father.

"I might have known so," muttered the baron, with a slight frown
clouding his forehead.

"O papa!" added Ivan, noticing the shade of displeasure which his answer
had produced; "I don't care particularly about Paris. I'll go
anywhere--to America, if Alexis likes it best--_all round the world_ for
that matter."

"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the baron; "that sounds better, Ivan; and, since
you offer no objection to it, _all round the world you shall go_."

"Indeed? I'm glad to hear it," said Alexis.

"What! visit all the great cities of the world?" exclaimed Ivan, whose
mind was evidently occupied with the delights of great cities.

"_So_" replied his father; "it is just that which I do not intend you
shall do. There is a great deal to be learnt in cities, but much that
would be better not learnt at all. I have no objection to your passing
through cities--for you must needs do so on your journey--but one of the
conditions which I shall prescribe is, that you make stay in no city,
longer than you can arrange for getting out of it. It is through
_countries_ I wish you to travel--amidst the scenes of nature--and not
in towns and cities, where you would see very little more than you can
in Saint Petersburg itself. It is Nature I wish you to become
acquainted with, and you must see it in its most primitive forms. There
only can you appreciate Nature in all its sublimity and grandeur."

"Agreed, papa!" exclaimed both the boys at once. "Which way do you wish
us to go?"

"All round the world, as Ivan has suggested."

"Oh, what a long voyage! I suppose we shall cross the Atlantic, and
then by the isthmus of Panama to the Pacific; or shall we go as Magellan
went, around Cape Horn?"

"Neither way--I wish you to make great journeys by land, rather than
voyages by sea. The former will be more instructive, though they may
cost more time and toil. Remember, my sons! I do not send you forth to
risk your lives without a purpose. I have more than one purpose.
First, I wish you to complete your studies of natural science, of which
I have taught you the elements. The best school for this is the field
of Nature herself, which you shall explore in your travels. Secondly,
as you both know, I am fond of all natural objects, b