152 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



** Pooh ! she only talks that way," returned he ; " the 

 reason she wouldn't let me go is because I do more 

 work than both of them together." 



This young man was well-nigh the last of the " pop- 

 pies " seen in the roadside fields, though red-shirts are 

 numerous in the cities of the South as well as in the 

 northern part of the Empire. 



All through this part of the country an article in 

 great request among the moujiks was paper for the 

 making of rude cigarettes. Shepherds, particularly, 

 would come running to the road from considerable dis- 

 tances to beg pieces of paper. One day we asked one of 

 these shepherds whether it was likely to be wet weather, 

 the shepherds being regarded as the best weather- 

 prophets in the country. His test, in reply to our 

 query, was to moisten his forefinger with his mouth, 

 then hold it up for a few seconds, — a primitive sort of 

 barometer, indeed. 



