866, was finished a few days before my arrival, and the furnaces
were utterly devoid of heat. In the yard at the zavod, I saw a dozen
or more sleds, and on each of them there was an iron-bound box filled
with bars of gold. This train was ready to leave under strong guard
for St. Petersburg.

The morning after my visit to the zavod it was reported that a soldier
guarding the sled train had been killed during the night. The incident
was a topic of conversation for the rest of my stay, but I obtained no
clear account of the affair. All agreed that a sentinel was murdered,
and one of the boxes plundered of several bars of gold, but beyond
this there were conflicting statements. It was the first occurrence of
the kind at Barnaool, and naturally excited the peaceful inhabitants.

The doctor trusted that the affair would not be associated with our
visit, and I quite agreed with him. It is to be hoped that the future
historian of Barnaool will not mention, the murder and robbery in the
same paragraph with the distinguished arrival of Dr. Schmidt and an
American traveler.

The rich miners send their gold once a year to Barnaool, the poorer
ones twice a year. Those in pressing need of money receive
certificates of deposit as soon as their gold is cast into bars, and
on these certificates they can obtain cash at the government banks.
The opulent miners remain content till their gold reaches the capital,
and is coined. Four or six months may thus elapse after gold has left
Barnaool before its owner obtains returns.

[Illustration: TAIL PIECE.]

CHAPTER XLIV.

The society of Barnaool consists of the mining and other officers,
with a larger proportion of families than at Irkutsk. It had a more
quiet and reserved character than the capital of Eastern Siberia, but
was not the less social and hospitable. Many young officers of the
mining and topographical departments pass their summers in the
mountains and their winters in Barnaool. The cold season is therefore
the gayest, and abounds in balls, parties, concerts, and amateur
theatricals. The former theatre has been converted into a club-room.

There is a good proportion, for a Siberian town, of elegant and
luxuriant houses. The furniture and adornments were quite as extensive
as at Irkutsk or Tomsk, and several houses that I visited would have
been creditable in Moscow or St. Petersburg. It is no little wonder to
find all the comforts and luxuries of Russian life in the