RKHAM IN RUSSIA; OR, THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN THE LAND OF THE CZAR,
BY W H G KINGSTON.

CHAPTER ONE.

A Trip to Russia proposed--Cousin Giles and his History--Preparations
for the Voyage--Journey to Hull--The Steamer described--The Voyage
commenced--A Fog at Sea.

"Thank you, thank you; it will be very delightful," said Fred Markham.

"It will be jolly, that it will!" exclaimed his younger brother Harry;
and home they ran as fast as their legs could carry them to find their
father and mother.

"Oh, father, father!--mother, mother!--may we go? May we go?" they
exclaimed in a breath together. "Cousin Giles has asked us, and he says
that he will take very good care of us, and that he is not joking; that
he is in real earnest, and that, if you will give us leave to go, he
wishes to set off immediately."

"But you have not told us where you wish to go to," said Captain
Markham. "If it should chance to be to Timbuctoo, to the Sandwich
Islands, or to the antipodes, I fear that I must refuse your request."

"Even should Cousin Giles be answerable for your safe return, I could
not part with you for so long a time as would be required to go to
either of those regions of the world," added their mother, smiling.

"But it is not to Timbuctoo, nor to the Sandwich Islands, nor to any
place near so far off that Cousin Giles wants to take us," replied Fred
eagerly. "It is only to Russia, and that is no distance at all, he
says."

"Only to Russia!" exclaimed Captain Markham, with an emphasis on the
only. "That country used to be thought a long way off from England in
my younger days; but railways and steamers have worked a great change in
our notions of distances. We must, however, hear what Cousin Giles has
to say before we decide on the subject."

The lads had not to endure their uncertainty very long before Cousin
Giles made his appearance, his somewhat weather-beaten countenance
beaming with a glow of benevolence and vivacity which seldom forsook it.
Now it must be understood that Cousin Giles was not really the young
Markhams' cousin, any more than he was that of several other families in
the county who called him by the same affectionate name. He was a
lieutenant in the navy, but, having received a severe wound in battle,
which incapacitated him, he considered, from doing his duty properly, he
retired from the service, though he ultimately recovered sufficiently to
travel about without inconvenience. As i