2o6 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



than whole volumes of pedantic scribbling the Russian 

 idea of government. 



" Now," said the police officer, when we called again 

 to see about our passports, very politely and in the 

 manner of a man who had no doubt but that he had at 

 length discovered a thoroughly invincible argument, 

 "a Governor is master in his province just as a man is 

 master in his own home. Is it right that you should 

 go into a man's house without obtaining his permission, 

 and go to taking photographs of his pictures, his statues, 

 his ikons, his carpets, and furniture, and take notes and 

 write letters and books about what you have seen ? 

 Tell the American gospodin this." 



And as Sascha proceeded to explain, the officer made 

 a French-like gesture, pantomiming : " There you are; 

 now you see who is in the wrong ! " 



" Tell him," I said to Sascha, in reply, " that it is 

 true we are here without the Governor's permission, 

 but we come into the province and go out again with- 

 out stealing anything or killing anybody, and leave 

 everything exactly as we found it. What harm is there 

 in photographing moujiks and moujiks' houses?" 



My argument, however, was American, and his un- 

 compromisingly Russian. My position was as illogical 

 to him as his was impossible for me. Yet this man, 

 and several millions like him, are living under the re- 

 markable delusion that they and the Americans are 

 very much alike ! If there is any real attraction be- 

 tween Americans and Russians it seemed to me that 

 it must be of that character which sometimes draws 

 toward each other two persons of strangely opposite 

 natures. 



