“And were the French officers saved at last?”
“Yes; by freely giving her money as she had freely risked her safety, after a while the lady contrived the escape of the fugitives beyond the frontier. When a considerable time had elapsed, a present of a piece of plate, which she received from France, showed that the officers were not ungrateful to their preserver.”
“She was a generous enemy, papa, and a noble woman. But are not the common people in Russia very ignorant and bad?”
“Very ignorant I believe they are, but it would be harsh and wrong to call them very bad. They are cheerful and good-tempered, and even when intoxicated they do not show the ferocity which disgraces a drunkard in England.”
“But are they not dreadful thieves?”
“They are said to be very skilful in cheating, and singularly dexterous in picking pockets. But here again it would be unjust to brand a whole nation with a disgraceful stigma.[4] I have another true story for you, Neddy, and this time it shall be of a poor Russian, a messenger, or as they call him, an Isdavoi.
“An English lady living at St. Petersburg gave five hundred rubles[5] in charge to an Isdavoi to deliver to her daughter, who dwelt at some distance. On the following day the Russian returned, kissed the lady’s hand after the fashion of his country, and said, ‘Pardon me, I am guilty. I cannot tell how it has happened, but I have lost your money, and cannot find it again. Deal with me as you please.’”
“The poor fellow,” continued the captain, “probably expected a severe flogging, or dismissal from his office, but the lady had no inclination to punish him with such rigour. Unwilling to ruin the Isdavoi, she made no mention of his offence, considered the money as gone for ever, and after a while lost sight of the messenger entirely. After six years had elapsed he came to her one day with a joyful face, laden with six hundred rubles, which he brought in the place of those which had been intrusted to his care. On inquiry it was found that this honest Russian had for those six years been denying himself every little pleasure, and by resolute economy had saved up his wages until he had collected about half of the sum required. He had then married a wife whose feelings of honour appeared to have been as delicate as his own, for not only her dower of one hundred rubles was added to his hard-earned savings, but her little valuables had been sold to make up the full amount of the money that had been lost!”
“Oh, papa! what honest people! But did the English woman take all their money!”
“No entreaties on her part could induce the poor Isdavoi to take back the rubles to save up which had been for so long the object of his life. The lady, however, generously placed the money in a public bank to accumulate for the benefit of his children.”