time
of sunset, a peasant family was startled by the entrance of a strange
visitor, a female figure, dressed as St. Barbara is commonly represented
in the religious pictures. All present were very much astonished by this
apparition; but the figure told them, in a low, soft voice, to be of
good cheer, for she was St. Barbara, and had come to honour the family
with a visit as a reward for their piety. The peasant thus favoured was
not remarkable for his piety, but he did not consider it necessary to
correct the mistake of his saintly visitor, and requested her to be
seated. With perfect readiness she accepted the invitation, and began at
once to discourse in an edifying way.

Meanwhile the news of this wonderful apparition spread like wildfire,
and all the inhabitants of the village, as well as those of a
neighbouring village about a mile distant, collected in and around the
house. Whether the priest was among those who came my informant did not
know. Many of those who had come could not get within hearing, but those
at the outskirts of the crowd hoped that the saint might come out before
disappearing. Their hopes were gratified. About midnight the mysterious
visitor announced that she would go and bring St. Nicholas, the
miracle-worker, and requested all to remain perfectly still during her
absence. The crowd respectfully made way for her, and she passed out
into the darkness. With breathless expectation all awaited the arrival
of St. Nicholas, who is the favourite saint of the Russian peasantry;
but hours passed, and he did not appear. At last, toward sunrise, some
of the less zealous spectators began to return home, and those of them
who had come from the neighbouring village discovered to their horror
that during their absence their horses had been stolen! At once they
raised the hue-and-cry; and the peasants scoured the country in all
directions in search of the soi-disant St. Barbara and her accomplices,
but they never recovered the stolen property. "And serve them right, the
blockheads!" added my informant, who had herself escaped falling into
the trap by being absent from the village at the time.

It is but fair to add that the ordinary Russian peasant, though in some
respects extremely credulous, and, like all other people, subject to
occasional panics, is by no means easily frightened by real dangers.
Those who have seen them under fire will readily credit this statement.
For my own part, I have had opportuniti