60 RUSSIA THEN AND NOW 



ceived outside assistance; they were accounted 

 rich peasants. 



Five hours were required for this inspection 

 business and now it was nine o'clock. Our tramp 

 ended where it began, at the abode of the peasant 

 Chief Elder. By this worthy man we were invited 

 to enter and partake of his hospitality. This home 

 differed in nothing from the others we had visited. 

 His family comprised twenty persons. The elder's 

 wife and five sons bade us welcome. Three 

 comely young women, wives of as many of the sons, 

 stood within, each with a baby in her arms. A 

 group of younger children, chickens running about 

 the floor, and two pet rooks, comprised the family 

 circle. Three little heads, with half a dozen 

 bright, wondering eyes, looked down upon us from 

 a broad shelf, high up, two or three feet below the 

 roof, where they had been put to bed. The table, 

 a single board, a foot and a half by four feet, in a 

 corner, surrounded by rough wooden seats, was 

 quickly spread with a coarse white cover. The 

 samovar was brought out, a charcoal fire kindled 

 within it, a draft being secured by connecting 

 a tin pipe between it and the stove ; glass tumblers 

 for the tea were placed before us, for tea is always 



