I was about to breathe freely, when they
returned, and said something else--not a word did I understand; they
exchanged a look of amusement, and W. and I, one of amazement; then one
of them made signs to us to get out. The sign was unmistakable, and we
got out, and followed them into an immense room, where were tables all
around covered with luggage, and about a hundred travellers standing by;
and our books, shawls, gloves, etc., were thrown in a heap upon one of
these tables, and we awoke to the disagreeable consciousness that we
were in a custom-house, and only two out of a hundred travellers, and
that we did not understand one word of Russian.

"But, of course, it could be only a few minutes of delay, and if German
and French failed, there is always left the language of signs, and all
would be right.

"After, perhaps, half an hour, two or three officials approached us,
and, holding the passports, began to talk to us. How did they know that
those two passports belonged to us? Out of two hundred persons, how
could they at once see that the woman whose age was given at more than
half a century, and the lad whose age was given at less than a score of
years, were the two fatigued and weary travellers who stood guarding a
small heap of gloves, books, handkerchiefs, and shawls? Two of the
officials held up the passports to us, pointed to the blank page, shook
their heads ominously; the third took the passports, put them into his
vest pocket, buttoned up his coat, and motioned to us to follow him.

"We followed; he opened the door of an ordinary carriage, waved his hand
for us to get in, jumped in himself, and we found we were started back.
We could not cross the line between Germany and Russia.

"We meekly asked where we were to go, and were relieved when we found
that we went back only to the nearest town, but that the passports must
be sent to Konigsberg, sixty miles away, to be endorsed by the Russian
ambassador--it might take some days. W. was very much inclined to refuse
to go back and to attempt a war of words, but it did not seem wise to me
to undertake a war against the Russian government; I know our country
does not lightly go into an 'unpleasantness' of that kind....

"So we went back to Eydkuhnen,--a little miserable German village. We
took rooms at the only hotel, and there we stayed twenty-four hours.
Before the end of that time, we had visited every shop in the village,
and aired our German to most of our