probably aware. The priest was himself an
enthusiastic keeper of bees in odd, primitive hives. It was really
amazing to note the difference between the good, simple-mannered old man
in his humble home, where he received us in socks and a faded cassock,
and nearly suffocated us with vivaciously repetitious hospitality, tea,
and preserves, and the priest, with his truly majestic and inspired
mien, as he served the altar.

Among the wild creatures in our host's great forests were hares, wolves,
moose, and bears. The moose had retreated, for the hot weather, to the
lakes on the Crown lands adjacent, to escape the maddening attacks of
the gadflies. Though it was not the hungry height of the season with the
wolves, there was always an exciting possibility of encountering a stray
specimen during our strolls, and we found the skull and bones of a horse
which they had killed the past winter. From early autumn these gray
terrors roam the scene of our mushroom-parties, in packs, and kill
cattle in ill-protected farmyards and children in the villages.

It was too early for hare-coursing or wolf-hunting, but feathered game
was plentiful. Great was the rivalry in "bags" between our host and the
butler, a jealously keen sportsman. His dog, Modistka (the little
milliner), had taught the clever pointer Milton terribly bad tricks of
hunting alone, and was even initiating her puppies into the same evil
ways. When "Monsieur, Madame, and Bebe;" returned triumphantly from the
forest with their booty, and presented it to their indignant masters,
there were fine scenes! Bebe and his brothers of the litter were so
exactly alike in every detail that they could not be distinguished one
from the other. Hence they had been dubbed _tchinovniki_ (the
officials), a bit of innocent malice which every Russian can appreciate.

Of the existence of bears we had one convincing glimpse. We drove off,
one morning, in a drizzling rain, to picnic on a distant estate of our
host, in a "red" or "beautiful" forest (the two adjectives are
synonymous in Russian), which is composed entirely of pines. During our
long tramp through a superb growth of pines, every one of which would
have furnished a mainmast for the largest old-fashioned ship, a bear
stepped out as we passed through a narrow defile, and showed an
inclination to join our party. The armed Russian and Mordvinian
foresters, our guides and protectors, were in the vanguard; and as Misha
seemed peaceably di