; but as soon as he crossed the Russian frontier he
felt at home again, and enjoyed the run through the thickly-wooded
country lying between Wilna and St. Petersburg. As he stepped out at the
station everything seemed to come back vividly to his memory. It was
late in October and the first snow had fallen, and round the station
were a crowd of sledges drawn by rough little horses. Avoiding the
importunities of the drivers of the hotel vehicles he hailed an
Isvostchik in furred cap and coat lined with sheepskin. His portmanteaus
were corded at the back of the sledge; he jumped up into the seat behind
the driver, pulled the fur rug over his legs, and said, "Drive to the
Vassili Ostrov, 52, Ulitsa Nicolai." The driver gave a peculiar cry,
cracked his whip half a dozen times, making a noise almost as loud as
the discharge of a pistol, and the horse went off at a sharp trot.

"I thought your excellency was a foreigner," the driver said, "but I see
you are one of us."

"No, I am an Englishman, but I lived here till I was ten years old. The
snow has begun earlier than usual, has it not?"

"It won't last," the Isvostchik said. "Sometimes we have a week at this
time of year, but it is not till December that it sets in in earnest. We
may have droskies out again to-morrow instead of the sledges."

"The sledges are the pleasantest," Godfrey said.

"Yes, your excellency, for those that travel, but not for us. At night
when we are waiting we can get into the drosky and sleep, while it is
terrible without shelter. There are many of us frozen to death every
winter."

Godfrey felt a sense of keen enjoyment as the sledge glided along. There
were many rough bumps and sharp swings, for the snow was not deep enough
to cover thoroughly the roughness of the road below; but the air was
brisk and the sun shone brightly, and he looked with pleasure at the
people and costumes, which seemed, to his surprise, perfectly familiar
to him. He was quite sorry when the journey came to an end at the house
of Ivan Petrovytch. The merchant, whose office was on the ground-floor
and who occupied the floor above (the rest of the house being let off by
floors to other families), came out to greet him. "I am glad to see you,
Godfrey Bullen," he said. "I should have sent to the station to meet
you, but your good father did not say whether you would arrive by the
morning or evening train; and as my driver did not know you, he would
have missed you. I hope th