to hold the bridle while his successful rival, at the door
of the tent, mounted his horse. On their return to Moscow, Vassali was
crowned, with great pomp, in the church of Notre Dame. Youri, while at
the horde, dared not manifest the slightest opposition to the
decision, but, having returned to his own country, he murmured loudly,
rallied his friends, excited disaffection, and soon kindled the flames
of civil war.

Youri soon marched, with an army, upon Moscow, took the city by storm,
and Vassali, who had displayed but little energy of character, was
made captive. Youri proclaimed himself grand prince, and Vassali in
vain endeavored to move the compassion of his captor by tears. The
uncle, however, so far had pity for his vanquished nephew as to
appoint him to the governorship of the city of Kolomna. This seemed
perfectly to satisfy the pusillanimous young man, and, after partaking
of a splendid feast with his uncle, he departed, rejoicing, from the
capital where he had been enthroned, to the provincial city assigned
to him.

A curious result ensued. Youri brought to Moscow his own friends, who
were placed in the posts of honor and authority. Such general
discontent was excited, that the citizens, in crowds, abandoned Moscow
and repaired to Kolomna, and rallied, with the utmost enthusiasm,
around their ejected sovereign. The dwellings and the streets of
Moscow became silent and deserted. Kolomna, on the contrary, was
thronged. To use the expression of a Russian annalist, the people
gathered around their prince as bees cluster around their queen. The
tidings of the life, activity and thriving business to be found at
Kolomna, lured ever-increasing numbers, and, in a few months, grass
was growing in the streets of Moscow, while Kolomna had become the
thronged metropolis of the principality. The nobles, with their
armies, gathered around Vassali, and Youri was so thoroughly
abandoned, that, convinced of the impossibility of maintaining his
position, he sent word to his nephew that he yielded to him the
capital, and immediately left for his native principality of Galitch.

The journey of Vassali, from Kolomna to Moscow, a distance of two
hundred miles, was a brilliant triumph. An immense crowd accompanied
the grand prince the whole distance, raising incessant shouts of joy.
But Youri was by no means prepared to relinquish his claim, and soon
the armies of the two rivals were struggling upon the field of battle.
While th