ds'
village, and for long years they had borne with him patiently. He was
crafty and had "influence" in some mysterious fashion, which made him a
dangerous customer to deal with. But at last he was sent off. Now,
during our visit, the village was trembling over a rumor that he was on
his way back to wreak vengeance on his former neighbors. I presume they
were obliged to have him banished again, by administrative order from
the Minister of the Interior,--the only remedy when one of this class
of exiles has served out his term,--before they could sleep
tranquilly.

When seen in his village home, it is impossible not to admire the
hard-working, intelligent, patient, gentle, and sympathetic _muzhik_, in
spite of all his faults. We made acquaintance with some of his
democratic manners during a truly unique picnic, arranged by our
charming hosts expressly to convince us that the famous sterlet merited
its reputation. We had tried it in first-class hotels and at their own
table, as well as at other private tables, and we maintained that it was
merely a sweet, fine-grained, insipid fish.

"Wait until we show you _zhiryokha_ [sterlet grilled in its own fat] and
_ukha_ [soup] as prepared by the fishermen of the Volga. The Petersburg
and Moscow people cannot even tell you the meaning of the word
'_zhiryokha_'" was the reply. "As for the famous 'amber' soup, you have
seen that even Osip's efforts do not deserve the epithet."

Accordingly, we assembled one morning at seven o'clock, to the sound of
the hunting-horn, to set out for a point on the Volga twelve miles
distant. We found Milton, the Milliner, and the whole litter of
officials in possession of the carriage, and the coachman's dignity
relaxed into a grin at their antics, evoked by a suspicion that we were
going hunting. Our vehicle, on this occasion, as on all our expeditions
to field and forest, was a stoutly built, springless carriage, called a
_lineika_, or little line, which is better adapted than any other to
country roads, and is much used. In Kazan, by some curious confusion of
ideas, it is called a "guitar." Another nickname for it is "the
lieutenant's coach," which was bestowed upon it by the Emperor Nicholas.
The Tzar came to visit one of the Volga provinces, and found a _lineika_
awaiting him at the landing, for the reason that nothing more elegant,
and with springs, could scale the ascent to the town, over the rough
roads. The landed proprietors of that govern