board during the fair, and at the end of the season they will be engaged to carry return cargoes to distant ports on the rivers or on the Caspian."

"How long is this fair open?" asked Miss Gray.

"It opens on the 5th of August, and closes on the 15th of September. Perhaps you can distinguish the governor's house, with two white flags flying in front of it. At the close of the last day those flags are lowered, and their disappearance is a signal for the merchants to pack up their goods and return to their own towns and villages."

"I did not know that Nijni-Novgorod was so much of a place," said Mr. French; "but the Kremlin, with its high walls, its gay, fantastic towers and domes, gives the impression of a good-sized town. How many inhabitants has it?

"About forty thousand, permanently," returned Mr. Skalkovski; "but at this season of the year it is nearly a quarter of a million."

Their first visit to the fair-grounds was a surprise to them. The crowd was large, but only a few unfamiliar nationalities were noticeable. The most striking of these strangers were the Persians and Armenians, whose long, flowing robes and quaint headdresses formed a strong contrast to the ordinary European, as well as to the national peasant costumes. The Tartars, who acted as workmen and as waiters in the tea-houses, were new to our friends. These had marked Mongolian features, shaved their heads, and wore close-fitting skull-caps.

The low tongue of land which separates the two rivers is regularly laid out with straight streets crossing each other at right angles. Each article of merchandise is assigned to its own street, iron being in one, cotton in another, and so on. In one place our party came upon a row of shops filled with trunks.

"Such trunks!" ejaculated Mrs. Cartmell.

"Would you

dare use one in your own country? See that light-green one with yellow decorations, or the red one with bright-blue trimmings. Do people really buy them?"

"Indeed they do, thousands of them; and very happy is the peasant bride who has such a gorgeous receptacle for her wardrobe and wedding finery."

"I should think there would be more buying and selling going on than we see here," remarked George. "Most of the shops are very quiet."

"You will see the reason for that if you remember that most of the dealers have the Oriental disposition to haggle over a bargain. When a customer comes along, the dealer sets a price far above what he expects to receive. The customer, in turn, offers much less than he intends to give. They both protest and demur, and then, Russian fashion, go to a teahouse, where, with a samovar between them, they drink and haggle till the bargain is completed and the samovar empty."

Turning from the section where heavy goods were sold, they found themselves surrounded by dealers in Persian and Turkish textiles. Elegant shawls and rich draperies were displayed which delighted the ladies, while the gentlemen were equally enthusiastic over the thick, soft rugs they saw. "I would buy one if I dared. Do you think it would be safe?" said Mr. French, appealing to Mr. Skalkovski.

"Better not do it," warned that gentleman. "You would be cheated outrageously, and very likely have your rug stolen before you left town."

A little farther on they were startled by what sounded' like pistol-shots fired in quick succession. Turning a corner, they found it was only a Tartar, who, armed with a long willow stick, was vigorously beating furs.

"See all that Astrakhan fur," said Mrs. Cartmell.

"Isn't that what we call Persian lamb, mamma? " queried

Nellie.

"Yes; and the latter name is better, for it is the skin of a new-born lamb. The younger the poor little creature is, the greater the value of the fleece. These skins are brought to the chief port on the Caspian, and the fur being shipped from there, has taken the name of the city, rather than of the animal from which it comes."

The gems which were offered for sale were beautiful, and gave a still clearer idea of the immense wealth of the Ural Mountains than the young folks had yet had. Topazes were shown, varying in color; yellow was the most common, but some white ones almost rivalled diamonds in beauty, while some were blue or green. Garnets ranged in hue from a light cinnamon stone to one which looked almost black, but on being held in the sun showed a deep red. Diamonds, amethysts, agates, rubies, and sapphires were also shown from the same mountains, as well as malachite and other copper ores, gold, lead, and silver.

"We think this display is very rich," said Mr. Cartmell; "yet they say that iron is the most valuable article brought to the fair, and the trade in that is the greatest."

The heat in the streets was so intense that the tourists were obliged to return to their hotel before noon of each day, and not venture out again until near night.

"We don't associate such tropical weather with Russia in our minds," said Miss Gray. "Is this the usual summer temperature?"

"Yes. In Nijni-Novgorod they experience the extremes. Mercury freezes here in winter, and in summer the heat is correspondingly great."

"One of the things that seems to me especially strange," said Mr. Cartmell, after several days had been spent in sightseeing, "is the silence of the people. In an American crowd, under the same circumstances, there would be constant hurry and bustle, laughter, shouting, and noise of all sorts; but here

they take life seriously, and scarcely seem to speak as they move about in their leisurely fashion."

"The flocks of pigeons have interested us," observed Mrs.

66

Wolves attacking Travellers.

Cartmell. They have been noticeable all through Russia, but are particularly so here. Is it a favorite bird in this country?"

"It is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, and is therefore regarded as sacred," replied Mr. Skalkovski. "No one would think of killing one, or harming it in any way."

"You haven't spoken of one thing that we boys have noticed," said Fred. "That is, that instead of eating peanuts, as they do in our country, every one has sunflower seeds, which they eat with as great a relish as as we do our nut."

On their way back to Moscow the conversation naturally turned to hunting. Mr. Skalkovski told Fred that certain parts of Russia were much visited by sportsmen, who came to shoot wolves.

"Are there many of those here?" asked Nellie, looking half fearfully into the dense forests through which they were riding.

"A great many, and they are very troublesome to the farmers. They will kill the smaller animals, but except in winter the villagers are not in great danger from them. During that season they get very hungry, and then make short work of the man or horse that meets a pack of them when travelling."

The Cartmells spent a day or two in Moscow, and then visited Warsaw in Poland, where we must bid them adieu for the present.