re already gathering; and we entered, and walked up
the steps among them, without encountering an unfriendly glance. At the
door stood two Cossack soldiers, specially placed there to prevent the
worshippers from being insulted by curious Christians. (Those who have
witnessed the wanton profanation of mosques in India by the English
officers will please notice this fact.) If we had not put off our shoes
before entering the hall of worship, the Cossacks would have performed
that operation for us.

I am happy to say that none of our party lacked a proper reverence for
devotion, though it was offered through the channels of an alien creed.
The ladies left their gaiters beside our boots, and we all stood in our
stockings on the matting, a little in the rear of the kneeling crowd.
The priest occupied a low dais in front, but he simply led the prayer,
which was uttered by all. The windows were open, and the sun poured a
golden flood into the room. Yonder gleamed the Kremlin of Novgorod,
yonder rolled the Volga, all around were the dark forests of the
North,--yet their faces were turned, and their thoughts went southward,
to where Mecca sits among the burning hills, in the feathery shade of
her palm-trees. And the tongue of Mecca came from their lips, _"Allah!"
"Allah akhbar!"_ as the knee bent and the forehead touched the floor.

At the second repetition of the prayers we quietly withdrew; and good
Monsieur D., forgetful of nothing, suggested that preparations had been
made for a dinner in the great cosmopolitan restaurant. So we drove back
again through the Chinese street, with its red horned houses, the roofs
terminating in gilded dragons' tails, and, after pressing through a
dense multitude enveloped in tobacco-smoke and the steam of tea-urns,
found ourselves at last in a low room with a shaky floor and muslin
ceiling. It was an exact copy of the dining-room of a California hotel.
If we looked blank a moment, Monsieur D.'s smile reassured us. He had
given all the necessary orders, he said, and would step out and secure a
box in the theatre before the _zakouski_ was served. During his absence,
we looked out of the window on either side upon surging, whirling,
humming pictures of the Great Fair, all vanishing in perspectives of
dust and mist.

In half an hour our friend returned, and with him entered the zakouski.
I cannot remember half the appetizing ingredients of which it was
composed: anchovies, sardines, herrings, cape