CHAPTER XI 



T AM EOF AN 13 KIRS AN OF 



General Gardenin Colonel Hubbenet Kindness all round Kirsanof General 

 Veljaminof-Zernof Russian Cold General Petrovsky Sorry to part. 



MY next station was Tambof, where I received nothing 

 but kindness and proofs of interest in my work. 

 The commanding officer, General Gardenin, is a beau sabreur 

 and agreeable man of the world, on on s amuse. He came 

 to the manege only one day, as he was called away on duty 

 or pleasure to the gay city of Moscow. Before he departed, 

 he assured -me that he greatly appreciated my teaching, and 

 he made me over with kind expressions of goodwill, to his 

 second in command, Colonel Hubbenet. He had a merry 

 twinkle in his eyes when he said to me at our first meeting 

 that his officers were the nicest fellows in the world, but that 

 I must not pay attention to all they said ; for they were, so he 

 remarked, " im peu bavards" After I heard some of their 

 funny yarns, when our acquaintance had ripened and when 

 the Krimski wine was flowing freely, I kept -wondering to 

 myself what a clever man the General was to have known 

 what they would talk about. 



General Gardenin is a most cheerful optimist as regards 

 horses. He told me that in his brigade they never have the 

 slightest difficulty in giving the remounts good manners, and 

 that every one of the twelve hundred and odd animals he 

 sends each year to the regiments is absolutely quiet to ride 



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