t was they who found me
and took care of me."

Julian understood the difficulty. He first inquired how much the village
could raise to pay for the expenses of a post-carriage to St.
Petersburg. He said that it would, of course, be only a loan, and would
be repaid by the count. This led to a considerable amount of discussion,
but the difficulty was much diminished when Julian said that he could
himself supply five napoleons towards the fund. It had been decided that
three times that amount would be required to pay all expenses of travel,
and the priest agreeing to contribute an equal amount to Julian's, the
remaining sum was speedily made up. It was then arranged that the
priest would himself go to Borizow and obtain the _podorojna_ or order
for the supply of post-horses at the various stations. He would have to
name those who would accompany him. The head man of the village was
unanimously elected to go with him, and after some talk it was settled
that Julian should be put down as Ivan Meriloff, as a foreign name would
excite suspicion and cause much trouble, and possibly he might be
detained as a prisoner, in which case the peasants saw that there would
be considerable difficulty in inducing the little countess to go with
them. The priest was absent three days, and then returned with the
necessary document authorizing him to start from Borizow in four days'
time. Julian was sorry when the time came for his departure. After four
months of incessant hardship and fatigue, the feeling of rest and
comfort was delightful. He had been more weakened than he was aware of
by want of food, and, as his strength came back to him, he felt like one
recovering from a long illness, ready to enjoy the good things of life
fully, to bask in the heat of the stove, and to eat his meals with a
sense of real enjoyment.

Rumours had come in every day of the terrible sufferings of the French
as they were hotly pressed by the triumphant Russians, and of the
general belief that but few would survive to cross the Niemen. Still,
while the French were thus suffering the Russians were in but little
better plight, following, as they did, through a country that had been
swept bare of everything that could be burned by the retreating French.
Their sufferings from cold were terrible, 90,000 perished, and out of
10,000 recruits, who afterwards marched for Wilna, as a reinforcement,
only 1500 reached that city, and the greater portion of these had at
onc