ODESSA AND MISKITCHEE. 45 



the while the yemstchik laughing and swearing, 

 and not minding one bit. Two of his crimson 

 velvet cushions dropped off into darkness behind 

 him, and this probably sobered him. At last we 

 got on to the track, and though the pace was still 

 violent, we were comparatively safe here. Once we 

 collided with a droshky, the driver of which was 

 unusually moderate in his oaths at the accident, 

 and passed on quickly and disappeared. We dis- 

 covered afterwards that a valuable piece of the 

 harness of our own troika had been lost, carried 

 away by the droshky in the collision probably, 

 seeing which the droshky man had held his tongue, 

 and made off with his prize. 



But our troubles were not yet over. As we 

 neared Odessa there was a sharp turn in the track. 

 As we turned I saw our danger, but there was no 

 time to avert it ; and in the twinkling of an eye we 

 charged a telegraph post. The tall thin post passing 

 between our off leader and the shaft horse, cut clean 

 through every atom of harness, and set the young 

 one free. For a moment he stood stunned and 

 trembling, and then with a snort betook himself off 

 into the darkness as fast as legs could carry him. 

 This finally restored our driver to a state of most 

 solemn sobriety, and for the rest of our journey we 

 were conveyed at a safe and moderate pace by the 

 remaining two horses. The fellow was lucky 

 enough to recover his horse next day, but not 



