house and on my property, and are to be
defended from injury with all the means I
possess. Now therefore, my friend, advance, and
as you cross this bear trample him under your
feet."

Harry stepped forward, swinging his great
arms about as if he did not know where to put
them, crossed the barrier, was received at the
table by the two ladies, and warmly greeted by the
countess in good English as the preserver of her
son; the black bread and salt (previously blessed
by the priest) were offered to him, and then
he was hurried off to the bath by two attendants
in red shirts. Sanderson followed as the second
bear-killer, and went through the same process,
with the exception of the bath. It was my turn
next, and, as I accepted the bread and salt, the
countess said, with a sweet smile, "You are very
welcome; I cannot tell you how much. Your
family is all gone to rest till morning. There,
Constantine, show the baron the bath."

THE RUSSIAN BATH.

I was conducted to the rear of the building,
and introduced into a very comfortable room,
where two strong fellows were waiting to
commence operations upon my poor wearied body.
This outer room was very well furnished. It
might measure about five yards by eight. The
floor was covered with some kind of soft
matting, on which a clean canvas cloth was
spread. There were two excellent large
luxurious sofas, a wardrobe, tables, chairs, looking-
glass, towels, and all the necessaries for the
toilet. I perceived also a suit of my own
clothes spread out on one of the tables. I
threw myself on a sofa, exhausted, and from
that moment became a passive lump of human
material in the hands of my two attendants.
My fur boots were dragged off and tossed into
the wardrobe; fur coat and under-clothes shared
the same fate. As each article was removed I
felt relief inexpressible. These garments had
not left my body for nine days and nights, and,
as the last was taken from me, my sense of
enjoyment reached its climax. But the relief
was too much. I felt a total prostration of
body. The energies so long kept on the stretch,
the nerves so long braced to the perils of the
journey, gave way, and I swooned for the first
and only time in rny life.

I think I may be forgiven this weakness
when it is remembered through what roads we
had come, the fatigue being enhanced in my
case a hundredfold by the care and responsibility
attaching to the party of women and children
accompanying me, and more especially by
the fact that being chancellor of the exchequer,
and having to pay the yeamshick money at
every station, besides other small matters, I had
not enjoyed two hours' consecutive sleep for
nine days and nights. This is the paymaster's
grief on a long Russian journey.

But I am lying naked and insensible in the
outer room of a Russian bath. The two
moosheeks had emptied a bottle of eau-de-
Cologne from my lady's repository over my head
and face, and were applying a brandy stimulant
when I recovered.

"You are tired, baron. But we will soon
mend you. Don't stir." Without more ado
they lifted me up like an infant, and carried
me into the inner room, where the atmosphere
was considerably warmer. Into a bath lined
with lead, and nearly filled with water, I was
then plunged without ceremony. At first the
water felt so hot that I thought I must be
scalded, but after a time it became so delicious
that I felt willing to remain, so bathed, for ever.
But my present possessors were of another
mind. I was lifted out and placed on a bench
like a flat trough beside the bath. There I was
rolled and turned, and firmly rubbed all over
with handfuls of mat fibres and soap dipped
every second or two into the hot water. I was
scrubbed remorselessly by my determined nurses;
I might kick and struggle, but it was all one.
They grinned, held me down, and scrubbed on for
a mortal quarter of an hour. I thought the skin
would be peeled off my body, and felt sharp
prickly shooting needle-point pains at every
pore. Then I was plunged into the bath again
in hotter water, and forcibly held there for five
minutes. I was in hope this might end the
process, and signified a determination to get
back to the outer room—but no.

"We have received orders to make you clean
and well. Heaven help us, how angry you are!
Our orders must be obeyed. You must now
go into the 'stove-room.'" It was of no use
to resist. I resigned myself to my fate, was
lifted out of the bath and carried into the
vapour den, the essential part of a Russian bath.

What I had gone through had been only
preparatory. This place might be twelve feet
high, lined with closely-fitting boards on the
roof and all round, so that no steam might
escape. In the centre of the floor there rose
broad steps of wood, commencing from two
sides, and terminating in a large flat board on
the top. This board crowning the edifice was
about two feet below the roof. The steam or
vapour was raised in this manner: A large
stove of brick, like a baker's oven, stood in a
corner and nearly filled one-fourth of the apartment.
It had been heated almost red-hot, the
red charred embers of the burnt wood remaining
in it. One of the men seized an iron ladle and
with it cast water into the fiery gulf. The
steam or vapour thus generated rushed out,
rising to the roof for vent, and finding none
it filled the place. I was laid at first on the
bottom step of the centre erection as being the
coolest, the vapour increasing in density and
power the higher it rose. Even here I felt nearly
suffocated with the steam. The rubbing
recommenced with fresh vigour, and now buckets of
cold water were poured over me, each bucketful
having the effect of a shock from a powerful
galvanic battery.

Step by step was I lifted up, while the
rubbing and dashing of cold water went on
alternately, and additional water was thrown into the
oven, increasing the density of the steam at