she
never discovered any dishonesty. When wearied out by this sort of thing,
I took charge of the proceedings, that I might escape from her agonized
groans and grimaces at my extravagance. After choking down her emotion
in gulps all the way home, she would at last clasp her hands, and moan
in a wheedling voice:--

"Please, _barynya_,* how much did you pay that robber?"

* Mistress.

"Two kopeks* apiece for the eggs. They are fine, large, and fresh, as
you see. Twenty kopeks a pound for the strawberries, also of the first
quality."

* About one cent.

Then would follow a scene which never varied, even if my indiscretion
had been confined to raspberries at five cents a pound, or currants at a
cent less. She would wring her hands, long and fleshless as fan handles,
and, her great green eyes phosphorescent with distress above her hollow
cheeks and projecting bones, she would cry:--

"Oh, _barynya_, they have cheated you, cheated you shamefully! You must
let me protect you."

"Come, don't you think it is worth a few kopeks to be called 'a pearl,'
'a diamond,' 'an emerald'?"

"Is _that_ all they called you?" she inquired, with a disdainful sniff.

"No; they said that I was 'a real general-ess.' They knew their
business, you see. And they said '_madame_' instead of '_sudarynya_.'*
Was there any other title which they could have bestowed on me for the
money?"

*_Sudarynya_ is the genuine Russian word for "madam," but, like
_spasibo_, "thank you," it is used only by the lower classes. Many
merchants who know no French except _madame_ use it as a delicate
compliment to the patron's social position.

She confessed, with a pitying sigh, that there was not, but returned to
her plaint over the sinfully wasted kopeks. Once I offered her some
"tea-money" in the shape of a basket of raspberries, which she wished to
preserve and drink in her tea, with the privilege of purchasing them
herself. As an experiment to determine whether bargaining is the outcome
of thrift and economy alone, or a distinct pleasure in itself, it was a
success. I followed her from vender to vender, and waited with exemplary
patience while she scrutinized their wares and beat down prices with
feverish eagerness, despite the fact that she was not to pay the bill. I
put an end to the matter when she tried to persuade a pretty peasant
girl, who had walked eight miles, to accept less than four cents a pound
for superb berries. I think it really spoiled m