LIEUTENANT DANENHOWKIt'.S LETTER. 151 



for the best, and I am disposed to look upon the bright side. 

 That sort of philosophy has carried me through very trying- 

 experiences during the past three years when there seemed 

 to be a very forlorn hope for me. 



a We are passing the time quietly, but impatiently. I will 

 give you an idea of how we live. It is daylight here about 

 eight A. M. We get up and have breakfast at a little hotel 

 that is handy by. The forenoon I spend in reading a little, 

 writing a little, and in attending to any business that 1 may 

 happen to have on hand. About two P. M. General Tcher- 

 nieff's sleigh arrives, and I go to dine with him ; generally 

 return about four p. M.,and if I do not have visitors I take a 

 nap and kill time as well as I can until nine P. M., when we 

 have supper at the little hotel and then go to bed. 



" As I have told you before, I have found nice people in 

 every part of the world that I have visited, and this place is 

 by no means an exception. Last evening, for example, we 

 spent very pleasantly at the house of a Mr. Carrilkoff, an 

 Irkutsk merchant, who entertained us very well. His wife is 

 a charming lady, and it was very pleasant to see their three 

 beautiful children. They have a fine piano, the first one we 

 have seen since leaving San Francisco. 



" I took our sick man, Jack Cole, with me to give tiim a 

 little diversion. He behaved very well and the visit did 

 him good. After my experience of the night before I was 

 very glad to have him quiet yesterday. Some time after 

 midnight I was awakened by a noise in my room. It was 

 the 'old man' looking for a match. I took him to task 

 sharply and sent him to bed. He went quietly, but after a 

 little while I heard him go out ; I waited five minutes, 

 and, as he did not return, 1 awoke the Cossack and sent him 

 to look for the 'old man.' He returned without finding him ; 

 I immediately dressed and went to the office of the Police 

 Master and had the town searched for him. I was afraid 

 that he would lie down on the snow, as he did on one occa- 

 sion in the mountains. He was brought back within an 

 hour with his toes frozen. I immediately applied snow to 



