th a load, consisting, in nine cases out of ten, of a
fat old gentleman in military uniform, a very ugly old lady with a
lapdog, or a very dashy young lady glittering with jewels, on her way,
perhaps, to the Confiseur's or somewhere else. But in a city like St.
Petersburg, where it is at least two or three miles from one place to
another, every body with twenty kopecks in his pocket uses the drosky.
It is the most convenient and economical mode of locomotion for all
ordinary purposes, hence the number of them is very large. On some of
the principal streets it is marvelous how they wind their way at such
a rattling pace through the crowd. To a stranger unacquainted with
localities, they are a great convenience. And here, you see, commences
the gist of the story.

[Illustration: ISTROVOSCHIKS.]

On a certain occasion I called a drosky-man and directed him to drive
me to the United States Consulate. Having never been there myself, I
depended solely upon the intelligence and enterprise of the
istrovoschik. My knowledge of the Russian consisted of three
words--the name of the street and _dratzall kopeck_, the latter being
the stipulated fare of twenty kopecks. By an affirmative signal the
driver gave me to understand that he fully comprehended my wishes,
and, with a flourish of his whip, away we started. After driving me
nearly all over the city of St. Petersburg--a pretty extensive city,
as any body will find who undertakes to walk through it--this adroit
and skillful whipster, who had never uttered a word from the time of
starting, now deliberately drew up his drosky on the corner of a
principal street and began a conversation. I repeated the name of the
street in which the consulate was located, and _dratzall kopeck_. The
driver gazed in my face with a grave and placid countenance, stroked
his long beard, tucked the skirts of his long blue coat under him, and
drove on again. After rattling over a series of the most frightful
cobble-stone pavements ever designed as an improvement in a great
city, through several new quarters, he again stopped and treated me
to some more remarks in his native language. I answered as before, the
name of the street. He shook his head with discouraging gravity. I
then remarked _dratzall kopeck_. From the confused answer he made,
which occupied at least ten minutes of his time, and of which I was
unable to comprehend a single word, it was apparent that he was as
ignorant of his own language