ir houses, he speedily made a large number
of acquaintances. At the end of the fortnight he took his place in the
office. At first he was of very little use there; for although he could
talk and understand Russian as spoken, he had entirely forgotten the
written characters, and it took him some little time before he could
either read the business correspondence or make entries in the office
books. Ivan Petrovytch did his best to assist him, and in the course of
a month he began to master the mysteries of Russian writing.

At five o'clock the office closed. Godfrey very frequently dined out,
but if he had no engagement he took his meal with the merchant and his
wife, and then sallied out and went either alone or with some of his
acquaintances to a Russian theatre. With December, winter set in in
earnest. The waters were frozen, and skating began. The season at St.
Petersburg commenced about the same time, and as Godfrey was often sent
with messages or letters to other business houses he had an opportunity
of seeing the streets of St. Petersburg by day as well as by night. He
was delighted with the scene on the Nevski Prospekt, the principal
street of St. Petersburg. The footways were crowded with people: the
wealthy in high boots, coats lined with sable, and caps to match; the
poorer in equally ample coats, but with linings of sheep, fox, or rabbit
skins, with the national Russian cap of fur with velvet top, and with
fur-lined hoods, which were often drawn up over the head.

The shops were excellent, reminding Godfrey rather of Paris than London.
But the chief interest of the scene lay in the roadway. There were
vehicles of every description, from the heavy sledge of the peasant,
piled up with logs for fuel, or carrying, perhaps, the body of an elk
shot in the woods, to the splendid turn-outs of the nobles with their
handsome fur wraps, their coachmen in the national costume, and horses
covered with brown, blue, or violet nets almost touching the ground, to
prevent the snow from being thrown up from the animals' hoofs into the
faces of those in the sledge. The harness was in most cases more or less
decorated with bells, which gaily tinkled in the still air as the
sledges dashed along. Most struck was Godfrey with the vehicles of the
nobles who adhered to old Russian customs. The sledge was drawn by three
horses; the one in the centre was trained to trot, while the two outside
went at a canter. The heads of the latter wer