PLANNING THE RIDE. 39 



revelation to the foreigner. One is bewildered and 

 yet amused at the many ways the people have of dis- 

 playing their affection, one toward another, and the 

 utter absence of restraint. 



Not the least amusing thing to the beholder are the 

 ludicrous mistakes of the uninitiated. Several warn- 

 ings are given before the train leaves, and half the peo- 

 ple think each warning the last. I remember one wo- 

 man who was saying the parting words to her husband 

 through the open window of her car. The bell rung. 

 The lady passenger leaned out ; the husband's arms 

 twined lovingly around her neck ; their lips met—one ! 

 two ! ! three ! ! ! — ah ! Between the first kiss and the 

 third the woman's mouth had expanded from a tempt- 

 ing smile to a grin so broad that a fourth was impossi- 

 ble. So, drawing back into the car, both expected the 

 train to move off. 



The train didn't move, however, and an officer told 

 the man they had fifteen minutes to wait yet and 

 that there would be another signal. Instead of one, it 

 turned out that there were two. And so this loving 

 couple treated the subscriber, and an Englishman who 

 was seeing me off, to the above delightful little tab- 

 leaux no less than three times, two of which were the 

 result of false alarms. 



The Russian passenger coaches are a compromise 

 between the English and American. You can pass 

 from one end of the train to the other as with us, but 

 by closing a door you can shut yourself up in a little 

 apartment, as in England. Only forty pounds of bag- 

 gage is carried free, but bundles are allowed to be 

 taken in the passenger cars. The consequence is that 



