20 R U S S IA N C EN TR A L A S IA .
whereupon I threw the parcel at his feet. After this I
it became dusk ; so we arranged our cushions and I
“ turned in ” for the night.
All went peaceably enough till the train stopped at I
Chusovaia, 80 miles from Perm, about two o’ clock in I
the morning, when a gendarme, on the track of a I
supposed Nihilist, put his head into the compartment; I
but, over-awed, I suppose, by the respectable appearance I
of the persons within, withdrew and closed the door, I
Presently he came again, but, his heart still failing him, I
he once more retired. On his third attempt, however, I
he caught sight of the tracts on the rack and asked if I
we had any books. Thinking, in the innocency of my!
heart, that he was in quest of spiritual food, I said!
“ Certainly,” and graciously offered him some. But he!
looked severe, and said that we and our baggage must!
all come out to be examined. I laughed,^and showed!
him, and the station-master who had entered, my official!
permission to distribute religious literature. T he !
station-master seemed to see that all was right, but the!
gendarme stuck to his prey like a leech, and pulled!
from behind his cuff a telegram sent from a previous!
station by one of his fraternity. I then went to the!
General, who was in another carriage, and asked his!
influence to set me right. His Excellency came, stood!
at his full height (which was not diminutive), and intro-!
duced himself to the station-master as “ the Governor!
of Irkutsk.” He also read the telegram, but, shaking!
his head, said he could not help me, for it was written!
in the despatch that “ proclamations” (that is Nihilistic!
pamphlets) had been found in the tracts I had given!
away. I replied that it was all “ stuff and nonsense.!
“ That is precisely what you have to go and prove, n*
answered. “ But it will lose me four-and-twentj!
I ¡hours,” I said. “ Better that,” he replied, “ than four-
Bmd-twenty days ” : upon which I gave in, and allowed
||iy hand baggage to be brought into the waiting-room,
whilst our tarantass, with portmanteaus, etc., went
Jorward.
We had now to wait for “ the next train up,” due in
Bibout two hours, thus giving us time to telegraph
Borward to a friend to look after our coming luggage,
B n d to Mr. Parsons, to say that we were returning
Binder arrest to Perm. As we sat in the restaurant we
Bvere curiously eyed by the public generally, and a posse
B f gendarmes, who at length suggested that we should
Bhange our quarters, for that it was “ infra d ig:' for
Gentlemen to be thus watched by policemen in a first-
ilass waiting-room ; to which I replied that we did not
Bsel in the least ashamed, and I put on a cheerful look
iccordingly. Further, to improve the occasion, and as
^Be gendarmes appeared to have nothing to do, we
Iffered them to read some of the dreadful pamphlets
^Bat had caused our arrest, but they were afraid
B^robably of each other), and said they dared not
accept them.
I When the train came up we were placed in a compartment
with a gendarme to guard us. He was a good-
Jatured, respectful sort of fellow, but not very clear
intellect. I said that we had sent forward many
Bousands of tracts to distribute, which intelligence he
*>mehow muddled up with the supposition that we
^■ere going to print them. Now the Russian word for
4 printing establishment, if transliterated into English,
B typography, and as this word was “ much o f a
Buchness ” with a similar word that had at some time
B s s e d through the gendarme’s brain, he inquired
» e t h e r we were going to set up a photography ! We