114 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



live long enough to finish all the work he wanted to 

 do. 



The wife of Tolstoi' is a buxom lady, who looked 

 about forty. She has a broad, matronly figure ; a kind, 

 motherly face, and was the daughter of a St. Peters- 

 burg physician. She is the mother of thirteen children, 

 of whom nine were living. The eldest daughter and 

 the two youngest children were at home. The others 

 were traveling or away visiting, and the eldest son 

 was officiating as Secretary on a Commission at the 

 Prison Congress, which was then sitting in St. Peters- 

 burg. He had just written a letter to his mother, ex- 

 pressing disgust at the round of speeches and dinners 

 that appeared to him to be the only probable outcome 

 of the Congress. 



The Countess acted as her husband's amanuensis 

 and copyist. She copied and corrected all of his manu- 

 scripts. She seemed to be a most excellent woman. 



The family life appeared to be altogether charming. 

 Both wife and children fairly idolize the Count. The 

 nieces also think their uncle the embodiment of wisdom 

 and goodness, and the only point on which they openly 

 take issue with him is, naturally enough, on the sub- 

 ject of romantic love as denounced in the " Kreutzer 

 Sonata." 



These young people do not always fathom the 

 Count, but they never doubt the wisdom of his actions 

 or the goodness of his motives. Everything he does 

 is right. If you venture to criticise anything the 

 Count has said or done, in their hearing, they defend 

 him stoutly. 



We stayed to lunch at twelve, then rode away. In 



