standing on a raised deck beyond. Before me on a table, marvellously
inlaid, were my credentials. I was surrounded by curtains of sky-blue
silk and panels of polished lacquer inwrought with the Imperial arms in
gold. The awning of blue and white silk was lined with a delicate and
beautiful tapestry, and the reverse sides of the silken partitions were
of canvas painted by the masters of the country. The polished floor
was covered by a magnificent carpet woven with alarming dragons whose
jaws pointed directly at my chair of state. And such an escort and
such a reception, both of ceremony and of curiosity, no Russian had
ever boasted before. Flags waved, kettledrums beat, fans were flung
into my very lap to autograph. The bay, the hills, were a blaze of
color and a confusion of sound. The barracks were hung with tapestries
and gay silks. I, with my arms folded and in full uniform, my features
composed to the impassivity of one of their own wooden gods, was the
central figure of this magnificent farce; and it may be placed to the
ever-lasting credit of the discipline of courts that not one of my
staff smiled. They stood with their arms folded and their eyes on the
inlaid devices at their feet.

"When this first act was over and I was locked in for the night and
felt myself able to kick my way through the flimsy walls, yet as
completely a prisoner as if they had been of stone, I will confess that
I fell into a most undiplomatical rage; and when I found myself played
with from month to month by a people I scorned as a grotesque mixture
of barbarian and mannikin, I was alternately infuriated, and consumed
with laughter at the vanity of men and nations."

His voice dropped from its light ironical note, and became harsh and
abrupt with reminiscent disgust. "And the end of it all was failure.
The superb presents of the Tsar were rejected. These presents: coats
of black fox and ermine, vases of fossil ivory and of marble, muskets,
pistols, sabers, magnificent lustres, table services of crystal and
porcelain, tapestries and carpets, immense mirrors, a clock in the form
of an elephant, and set with precious stones, a portrait of the Tsar by
Madame le Brun, damasks, furs, velvets, printed cotton, cloths,
brocades of gold and silver, microscopes, gold and silver watches, a
complete electrical machine--presents in all, of the value of three
hundred thousand roubles, were returned with scant ceremony to the
Nadeshda and I w