rough improvised bench; the servant stood beside them. The
peasants seemed shy. They hesitated and argued a good deal over
beginning each song. Finally they joined hands and circled slowly to the
tones of the generally monotonous airs. Some of the melodies were lively
and pleasing, but the Great Russian peasant woman's voice is undeniably
shrill. The dancing, when some bold peasant ventured to enter the
circle, after much urging and pushing, was far tamer and more unvarying
than I had seen elsewhere. We felt very grateful to our maid, Tatiana,
for stepping forward with spirit and giving us a touch of the genuine
thing.

Alas! the fruits of Tatiana's civilization were but too visible in her
gown of yellow print flounced to the waist and with a tight-fitting
bodice. The peasant costume suits the dance far better. Her partner was
unworthy of her, and did not perform the squat-and-leap step in proper
form. She needed Fomitch, the butler, who had been obliged to stay at
home and serve tea; to his regret, no doubt, since we were informed that
"he danced as though he had ten devils in his body." As we saw no
prospect of any devils at all,--and they are very necessary for the
proper dash in Russian dancing,--we strolled home, past the pond where
the women were wont to wash their clothes, and up the dark avenue.
Perhaps the requisite demons arrived after our departure. It was a
characteristic scene, and one not readily to be forgotten.

One of the most enjoyable incidents of the evening was the rehearsal of
the maid's coquettish steps and graces given by one of our young
hostesses for the benefit of those members of the family who had not
been present. It reminded us of the scene in "War and Peace" after the
hunt, when charming young Countess Natalya Ilinitchna astonishes her old
relative by her artistic performance of the Russian dance, which she
must have inherited with the traditions of her native land, since she
had never learned it.

Balalaika duets were one of the joys of our evenings under the trees,
after dinner. The young men played extremely well, and the popular airs
were fascinating. Our favorite was the "_Barynya-Sudarynya_," which
invariably brings out volleys of laughter and plaudits when it is sung
on the stage. Even a person who hears it played for the first time and
is ignorant of the words is constrained to laughter by the merry air. In
the evenings there were also hare-and-hounds hunts through the meadows