n
Peter's army-chest, and no way of getting any from Russia. Catherine was
not discouraged by that fact. She first got together all her own jewels,
and then went to all the officers' wives and asked each of them for
whatever she had that was valuable--money, jewels, and plate. She gave
each of them a receipt for what she took, and promised to pay them the
value of their goods when she should get back to Moscow. She went in
this way throughout the camp, and got together all the money, all the
jewelry, and all the silver plate that were to be found in the army. No
one person had much, of course; but when the things were collected
together, they made a very rich present, or bribe, for the Grand Vizier.

With this for a beginning, Catherine soon convinced the Turkish
commander that it was better to make peace with Russia than to run the
risk of having to fight the great armies that were already marching
towards Turkey. After some bargaining she secured a treaty which allowed
Peter to go back to Russia in safety, and thus she saved the czar and
the empire. A few years later Peter crowned her as Empress of Russia,
and when he died he named her as the fittest person to be his successor
on the throne.

Thus the peasant girl of Livonia, who was made a captive in war and a
servant, rose by her genius and courage to be the sole ruler of a great
empire--the first woman who ever reigned over Russia. It is a strange
but true story.

THE VIRGINIA WIFE-MARKET.

TWO SHIPLOADS OF SWEETHEARTS AND THE PRICES PAID FOR THEM.

The first English settlement in America that came to anything was made
in the most absurd way possible. A great company of London merchants set
about the work of planting an English colony in Virginia, and they were
very much in earnest about it too; but if they had been as anxious to
have the scheme fail as they were to make it succeed, they could hardly
have done worse for it than they did in some respects.

They knew that the colonists must have something to eat and must defend
themselves against the Indians, and so it ought to have been plain to
them that the first men sent out must be stout farmers, who could cut
down trees, plough the ground, raise food enough for the people to eat,
and handle guns well, if need be. The work to be done was that of
farmers, wood-choppers, and men who could make a living for themselves
in a new country, and common-sense ought to have led the London Company
to send out