4.1S IX THE DIPLOMATIC SERYICE-I 



"Wlion those river pirates who murdered a sailor in 

 Xew York harbor liad to be hanged, the sheriff of the 

 county hadn't the courage to do it and ordered me to 

 hang them. I rather hated the business, hut I made every- 

 thing ready, and when the time came 1 took an extra glass 

 of brandy, cut the rope, and off they swung/' 



The two Russians started back in consternation. Xot 

 all their politeness could conceal it : horror of horrors, 

 they were 1 dining with a hangman! Besides their sense 

 of degradation in this companionship, superstitions had 

 been bred in them which doubled their distress. A dead 

 silence fell over all. I was the first to break it by remark- 

 ing to my Russian neighbor: 



"You may perhaps not know, sir, that in the State of 

 Xew York the taking of life by due process of law is 

 considered so solemn a matter that we intrust it to the 

 chief executive officers of our counties, to our sheriffs, 

 and not to hangmen or executioners." 



lie looked at me very solemnly as I announced this 

 truth, and then, after a solemn pause, gasped out in a 

 dubious, awe-struck voice, "^lerci bien, monsieur." But 

 this did not restore gaiety to the dinner. Henceforth it 

 was cold indeed, and at the earliest moment possible the 

 Russian officials bowed themselves out, and no doubt, for 

 a long time afterward, ascribed any ill luck which befell 

 them to this scene of ill omen. 



Another case in which this irrepressible compatriot 

 figured was hardly less peculiar. Having decided to re- 

 turn to America, and the blockade being still in force, he 

 secured a place in the post-coach for the seven days and 

 seven nights' journey to the frontier. The opportunities 

 to secure such passages were few and far between, since 

 this w;is virtually the only public conveyance 1 out of the 

 empire. As he was obliged to have his passport vised 

 ;it the Russian Foreign Office in order that he might leave 

 the country, it had been sent by the legation to the Rus- 

 <\',\]\ authorities a fortnight before his departure, but 

 under various pretexts it was retained, and at last did not 



