328 THROUGH RUSSIA ON A MUSTANG. 



ready to admit in tones of self-reproach after the cloud 

 had rolled by; yet when, at parting, I wished him to 

 sign a receipt for money that 1 gave him to pay his way 

 back home, his ridiculous suspicions immediately came 

 again to the surface. 



Though he understood that I only wanted some- 

 thing to prove to his people in Moscow that I had 

 treated him fairly and liberally, in case anything should 

 befall him, Sascha objected. And the reason he gave 

 was singularly Russian. 



11 It is quite right," he said, " that you should have 

 such a receipt." . - 



" Then why do you hesitate about givii?g it ? ' 



" You will promise not to be offended if I tell you ?' 



" Certainly." 



" Well, then, with such a paper you could make me 

 pay the money back again in Moscow ! " 



When arranging for the trip in Moscow, Sascha's 

 elder brother, a city merchant, had asked me to give him 

 fifteen rubles a month spending money beyond ex- 

 penses. I had been so well pleased with his intelligence 

 and readiness to talk about Russian affairs as we rode 

 along that I had given him fully three times the amount, 

 besides which I had gained from him both admiration 

 and respect. Yet the strange mistrust of his fellow- 

 men, that seems to be latent in the heart of every 

 Russian, obscured in a moment all our pleasant relation- 

 ship and transformed me into a most uncomplimentary 

 character. 



This I pointed out, and Sascha, blushing with honest 

 contrition, gave me the receipt without a moment's 

 further hesitation. I was always rallying him about 



