DEPRESSED CONDITION OF \VOKKS. 105 



' Now, while this is going on, as this managing steward 

 has a full power of attorney, and has by hook or by crook 

 to meet the constant harrying cry of :< Give ! Give ! " and 

 perhaps to stave off the evil clay, and to escape temporary 

 detection, as everything is going the wrong way, he pledges 

 and mortgages till at last the old cow is dry, and will 

 yield no more, having been drained to the tune of 

 4,000,000 roubles. 



' Well, when this rich stream at length ceases to flow, 

 he is at last compelled to make a clean breast of it, and 

 let them know that it is of no use attempting to pump any 

 more water out of a dry well. This soon brings the gay 

 couple home again, leaving many tradesmen's bills un- 

 settled abroad. Of course the stewardship alone is to 

 blame ; and the steward has to bear all the approbium of 

 mismanagement, rascality, and all the rest of it. But it 

 turned out in this case that the man in charge was not alto- 

 gether and alone in fault ; and he left their service, not 

 only a poor man, but like the one in " Timon of Athens," 

 he had ruined himself by his endeavours to stave off the 

 impending blow from the heads of his late beloved master's 

 sons. 



' As the next steward did not succeed in finding the 

 needful any better than did the last, nor even so well, this 

 soon brought the General, the husband of the proprietrix, 

 upon the spot, with plenary powers from .his wife, and 

 having also got himself appointed administrator by the 

 Court for the protection of the widow and orphans. How he 

 protected the widow and orphans you shall hear. There 

 was no more iron to pawn, no more money to be borrowed, 

 no more estates to mortgage, as these had been sequestrated 

 by the Government long before ; but, in the language of 

 the old play, this virtuous step-father says, " Money I want, 

 and money I'll have. If you don't give me money, I'll 

 sweep you all into the grave." I will give you a saying I 

 have often heard ironically among the Russians, but there was 

 a grim reality in this case " Seal unbroken, lock secure, 

 store-house empty, everything in the best condition. Glory 



