SUSPICIOUS PEASANTS. 169 



After detaining us till eleven o'clock next morning, 

 they announced that the chief objection to allowing 

 us to proceed on our way was Sascha's house-that-Jack- 

 built paper. This was a plain enough bid for a 

 modest contribution to the official pocket, and as the 

 quickest way of settling the difficulty we applied for a 

 paper that would enable him to avoid any further in- 

 terference. The result was that we obtained another 

 responsibility-dodging document, stating that Sascha 

 had appeared to this police-station with a paper which 

 he said he had obtained at Kurskh, where he had said 

 that he had lost his passport, which he said he had 

 obtained in Moscow, in which citv he had said he re- 

 sided, and in which city he had said he received his 

 education, etc., etc., etc. (!) 



