des
which, it was said that numbers of people were kept working on several
Sundays to get them finished in time. If such was the case, a national
sin was added to a national folly."

Cousin Giles' conjectures with regard to the uselessness of the feast
prepared for the mujicks were realised. No sooner each day were the
tables covered, than the mob rushed forward and bore off whatever they
could lay hands on, so that the later comers had nothing to eat; while
fountains of vodka refused to supply sufficient liquid to quench the
thirst of the vast multitudes which thronged round them. There was,
therefore, far more complaint and grumbling, than love or gratitude
exhibited towards the supposed provider of the entertainment--the Czar.

About half a mile farther, in front of this scene of barbaric festivity,
across the plain, over fields which had been beaten down to supply an
open space of sufficient extent, was seen a sea of white tents, forming
an encampment which at that time contained fifty thousand men, to whom
many more were afterwards added.

Before them was a line of artillery, the muzzles of the guns turned
towards the spot where the mujicks were expected to assemble--
significant, as a cynical friend of Cousin Giles observed, of the way in
which people in the parts there are governed. He may, however, have
been wrong in his conjecture.

The travellers drove towards the tents, in front of which they found the
bands of all the regiments practising together. They made a great deal
of noise, but the music was not so good as they expected.

They got out of their carriage, and walked into the encampment without
let or hindrance. They felt a curious sensation as they found
themselves among the troops of those with whom their countrymen had so
lately been engaged in deadly strife. Not only were they secure from
receiving any insult, but they were treated everywhere with the greatest
courtesy.

One thing is certain, that although a large amount of barbarism remains
in Russia, the army, in certain respects, has attained a high state of
civilisation. The younger officers are invariably well educated, and
generally polished in their manners. The material comforts of the men
are much attended to in many regiments, though not perhaps in all, and
they have been brought into a good state of discipline.

The tents were arranged in long lines, with broad, well-gravelled roads
at intervals between them, with a draine