FLIGHT FROM THE PRINCE'S CASTLE 323 



naturally. The unreal is so easily seen through. 

 Tenderness is so beautiful. A man may give kisses in 

 the heat of the moment, raining them on eyes and 

 head and hair, and they may be but the passion of that 

 moment, taking as much as they give, asking and 

 receiving a returning satisfaction. They have a 

 mixture of the carnal — Yes, no man can delude himself 

 that they have not. A man may make costly gifts — 

 Ah, that is commonplace ! It is a matter of credit, 

 and is tacitly recorded in his mind as a credit to him- 

 self, for which love is expected in return. Vain 

 expectation ! A woman will do much for presents, 

 but she cannot bestow love at will, for it is not legal 

 tender, and goes not even by favour. It is spon- 

 taneous. Then, cannot a man take long journeys — 

 well, perhaps they are not in such category. He may 

 write her clever letters to please himself, to plume 

 himself, to say, " See how knowledgeable I am ! " 



But it is not so with tenderness, which asks for 

 nothing in return, and goes out straight from the 

 heart. It is perhaps the most unselfish thing in all the 

 world. 



The Starshina's wife entertained us as we passed 

 through the Russian settlement — her lord and master 

 lay atop of the petchka sleeping off the effects of a 

 " prasnik." His feet hung over the end — such vast 

 feet ! And his sonorous snores shook the domicile. 



He was often asleep, said the good wife, always 

 after a prasnik. Had we prasniks in England, and if 

 so how many ? And did the English husbands snore 

 like this ? In Russia prasniks come often. It is nice 



