he
result that we turned our faces toward southern or "Little" Russia, as
the part least affected by cosmopolitan influences.

Kiev was our headquarters, and it is well to say at once that we found
what we sought,--ample opportunity to observe the genuine Russian, the
sturdy, dogged, plodding son of toil, who, more than any other European
peasant seems a part of the soil, which in sullen persistency he tills.
We knew already the Russians of Petrograd and Moscow; one meets them in
Paris, London, Vienna, at German and Austrian Cures and on the Riviera.
They are everywhere and always distinctive by reason of their Slav
temperament; a magnetic race quality which is Asiatic in its essence. We
recognise it, we are stirred by it, we are drawn to it in their
literature, their music, their painting and in the Russian people
themselves. The quality is an integral part of Russian nature; polishing
merely increases its attraction as with a gem. One instance of this is
the folk melody as treated by Tschaikowsky compared with its simple form
as sung or danced by the peasant.

PLATE XXVIII

A skating costume worn by Miss Weld of Boston, holder of
the Woman's Figure Skating Championship.

This photograph was taken in New York on March 23, 1917,
when amateurs contested for the cup and Miss Weld won--this
time over the men.

The costume of wine-coloured velvet trimmed with mole-skin,
a small close toque to match, was one of the most
appropriate and attractive models of 1916-1917.

[Illustration: _Courtesy of New York Herald_
_Modern Skating Costume 1917 Winner of Amateur Championship
of Fancy Skating_]

Some of the Russian women of the fashionable world are very decorative.
Our first impression of this type was in Paris, at the Russian Church on
Christmas (or was it some other holy day?) when to the amazement of the
uninitiated the Russian women of the aristocracy appeared at the morning
service hatless and in full evening dress, wearing jewels as if for a
function at some secular court. Their masculine escorts appeared in full
regalia, the light of the altar candles adding mystery to the glitter of
gold lace and jewels. Those occasions are picturesque in the extreme.

The congregation stands, as in the Jewish synagogues, and those of
highest rank are nearest the altar, invariably ablaze with gold, silver
and precious stones, while on occasions the priest wears cloth of gold.