1 82 RETURN TO KERTCH. 



road the relays of horses were scarcer than usual, 

 and in one place I was warned that at the next 

 station there was only one relay, and congratulated 

 by the postmaster (an old acquaintance) on being 

 in time to get it. As he spoke, a Russian officer 

 with a similar pass to mine and having heard the 

 same story from the yemstchiks, made vigorous 

 efforts to get off first and secure it. In this he 

 failed, and I started with a lead of half a verst or 

 more. But in a short time he came in sio;ht, and 



O 



to my horror \ found he had, by paying extra, 

 obtained another horse, thus driving four to my 

 three, a serious advantage over these fearfully heavy 

 roads. 



The course was a long one, nearly twenty 

 versts, and by promising my driver a large ' pour- 

 boire ' if we were in first, I so roused him that 

 before ten versts were done our rival was again out 

 of sight. As darkness had set in, [ made myself 

 as cozy as I could on my bundle of straw, and 

 thanks to long practice slept none the worse for 

 the jolting. 



1 woke with a start. Those confounded bells 

 that the horses wear seemed to surround me ; for 

 whilst my own horses were shaking them furiously 

 in front in a last desperate struggle to keep the 

 lead, my rival's four-in-hand was jingling them 

 triumphantly just behind, as he momentarily 

 gained on us. It was no good, our horses were 



