68 The Post and the Paddock, 



off-hand question which was put to him when he 

 entered ; and when he reflected on the nonchalance 

 with which both his customer and his brother, who 

 were seated at an early breakfast, received the news, 

 he did not altogether disbelieve the rumour that the 

 twain had with their own hands drawn the fatal scarlet 

 sash the night before. With true John Bull curiosity, 

 our hero joined in the privileged stream of Muscovites, 

 which flowed through the little room where the 

 tragedy was enacted. The ex-tyrant lay where he 

 fell, on a little sofa, in a morning gown and cap, with 

 a face as black as a Mulatto, and the left jaw all awry, 

 and broken by a fist-blow from a third conspirator, 

 who must have " blushed to find it fame." This pri- 

 vate view was succeeded by a public lying-in-state, 

 and the corpse, dressed in uniform with a blaze of 

 orders on its breast, met the fierce gaze of its late 

 subjects for three days and nights at the foot of the 

 throne. Koutightsoff retained his presence of mind 

 in money transactions to the last ; and when Mr. 

 Kirby gained an interview with him during the twenty- 

 four hours which were allowed him by the police to 

 set his house in order, he observed that it did not lie 

 in his mouth to dispute the valuation of the man who 

 knew better than any one in Russia what Brough was 

 worth, and that he was therefore, quite welcome to 

 have him back for 500/. ! Never was Yorkshireman 

 so checkmated before. 



The Emperors Alexander and Nicholas invariably 

 smiled on Mr. Kirby, whether his country was in 

 sunshine or in shade with them, and not only gave 

 him four valuable rings, but granted him permission 

 to emblazon the two-headed black eagle of Russia on 

 the front of his white jockey caps. His racing days 

 were over before the late Emperor visited Ascot Heath 

 in 1844, or he would have taken care that his " cho- 

 colate jacket and white cap" should have been un- 

 furled for the fray. It has always been a subject of 



