A SUMMER ON THE YENESEI 271 



back of his head, beamed at us in the saloon ; but the 

 cook and most of the sailors had been taken for the 

 war. Eussia needed every man, and from Yenesiesk 

 alone a thousand men had been sent to the front. 



Everyone from Golchika was on board, whether 

 southward bound or not. There was the chubby Micha, 

 who had eyes for nobody but Marusia Prokopchuk, the 

 Jew, Cherniavinsky, from the fish station, and my 

 acquaintances from the Kuria balagan. They were all 

 going to Yenesiesk, as also was the pope. Old Sylkin 

 and his boys had come to see the steamer, and also 

 Anastasia and Nill. Here, too, we took leave of 

 Michael Petrovitch and his wife. Their unfailing kind- 

 ness and fun are among the pleasantest of my Siberian 

 recollections. It was sad to say good-bye to all these 

 good friends, and know that we might never meet them 

 again. However, in almost every case we left them 

 prosperous. Anastasia was so relieved that her Nill 

 would not be taken for a soldier that there would be 

 no more domestic tiffs for a long time. The Antonoffs 

 had rebuilt their house and were lookiug forward to a 

 busy and cheerful winter. Nura was to go to a situa- 

 tion in Yenesiesk, but little Tania, much against her 

 will, was to remain behind and finish her schooling. 

 However, with the matchmaking instincts of our sex, 

 we thought that Tania would not find her studies with 

 the exiled student as irksome as she expected ! 



The only family whose affairs did not run smoothly 

 were the Prokopchuks. The Giant was fully resolved 

 to brave his father's anger and go out into the world, 

 but unfortunately Anastasia Ivanowna had guessed his 



