2i8 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



roadway again, and with the renaissance of our servant 

 came the desire of our drivers to be off. We had 

 wasted hours aheady, they said, and they were not 

 paid by the hour, but by the distance between each 

 post-station. 



Our httle friend had recovered considerably. 

 He smiled at us wanly, and began a long speech 

 of thanks and gratefulness. How do I know ? Well, 

 there is but one way of saying " Thank you," and 

 its Volapuk is known to all nations, only some use 

 it so seldom they almost forget its vocabulary. 



I answered him in English and said we were glad the 

 brandy had done so much good, and we wished he 

 would always drink some when he tumbled off carts 

 and hurt his elbow badly. Whereon he smiled again, 

 and we all understood each other perfectly. 



Just as his great cart got started for Tiflis the 

 recovered Tatar, quite chirpy now, delved into the 

 mysteries of a bag hanging below the axle, and extri- 

 cated a black lambskin, the Astrakhan of our home 

 furriers, and a bit of something resembling coal. 

 These he bestowed on us with a flourish, and that we 

 should not quarrel, or waste our time in drawing lots 

 until each got what the other wanted, he gave the skin 

 to Cecily and the black substance to me. I found out 

 afterwards that it was a piece of gargat, a sort of jet 

 found in Daghestan. The word, I think, is most 

 probably a corruption of the Greek " Gargai," the 

 name of the town in Asia Minor where jet was first 

 obtained. 



As the moving fourgons passed out of sight qui 



