ers may ill-treat them,
pull their hair, and strike them with impunity. The officers have
generally a fair supply of professional knowledge, and some are highly
educated. The men have a larger amount of passive courage than of
dashing bravery; yet they will usually follow where their officers lead
them. The private has a possibility of rising to the rank of an officer
after twelve years' probation, and even sooner by some dashing act of
bravery; and several even thus have become generals. There are numerous
military colleges in which cadets are educated, but a commission may
also be obtained by a youth of family by his serving two years in the
ranks. No officer may appear on any occasion without his uniform, nor
carry an umbrella. The cadets are exercised during the summer in camps,
as, indeed, is the greater part of the army, to prepare them for actual
warfare."

Mr Allwick had got thus far in his description of the people of Russia,
when, as the horses were galloping along at a great rate, a crash was
heard, and over went the carriage on its side;--one of the long poles of
the tarantasse had broken. The travellers got out in dismay, not
knowing how long this accident might delay them. As they looked out
they saw some cottages ahead. A peasant standing at the door of one of
them had observed the occurrence, and now came running up with his axe
in his hand to ascertain the amount of the damage. Two or three other
men followed. "Oh, it is nothing," said they; "we will soon put this
all right." They were as good as their word. While the travellers
stood at the roadside watching what they would do, they disappeared into
the forest, out of which they speedily issued with a young fir-tree,
which in an incredibly short space of time they stripped of its bark and
fitted to the carriage. A rouble amply satisfied them for their
trouble. They were merry fellows, evidently, for they laughed and joked
or sung all the time they were at work, so that Fred and Harry were
quite sorry that they could not understand what they were saying. The
tarantasse was soon moving on as before. In the evening they stopped at
a place with a name too difficult to pronounce, to take tea. The inn
was an unclean, straggling-looking mansion, with a long whitewashed
corridor, and whitewashed rooms, very scantily furnished, opening out of
it. The whole place was redolent of an odour which appears to be a
mixture of vodka, onions, or rathe