STOPPED BY THE POLICE. 187 



horses. By and by we received notice from the Chief 

 of Police that the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to 

 Animals had pronounced Sascha's horse unfit to travel, 

 owing to a saddle-sore on its back, and, therefore, 

 though very reluctant to detain us, he would have to 

 beg us to postpone our departure until further notice. 



This was really a clever move, thoroughly Russian, 

 not to say Oriental ; worthy of MahmoudYusuf Khan, 

 the Afghan chief, who once obstructed the author's 

 road through Afghanistan, not because he wished to 

 do so, but " for your own good " ; worthy indeed of 

 the wiliest of diplomats. 



It seemed odd, though, that there should be in 

 Ekaterinoslav, the head-center of Russian Jew-baiting 

 and sectarian persecution, a Society for the Prevention 

 of Cruelty to Animals. There was one, however — a 

 society of emotional old ladies, so far as we could learn. 

 They were certainly handy for the Chief of Police to 

 turn to in a case like ours, and the tchinovnik who 

 thought of them, and reasoned that horses that had 

 been ridden through the midsummer heat from Mos- 

 cow might perhaps not be in first-class form, deserved 

 promotion then and there. 



We proceeded to the police station on Sunday 

 morning, and spent an hour or so waiting for the ar- 

 rival of the chief. To the under police officers an 

 American was a rata avis, and his demeanor a positive 

 enigma. The spectacle of a human being in civilian's 

 clothes, and somewhat travel-worn clothes to boot, 

 presuming to conduct himself in a self-reliant, inde- 

 pendent manner in a room full of tchinovniks, filled 

 them with amazement. 



