The Doctor answered in the negative, and the servant went away.
"That is what I was about to mention," said Doctor Bronson, as soon as the door was closed. "The first time I came to St. Petersburg I was riding along the Nevski Prospect, and saw an old acquaintance going in the other direction. He did not see me, and before I could turn to follow him he was lost in the crowd of vehicles. But in two hours I found him, and we had a delightful afternoon together. How do you suppose I did it?
"Why, I sent to the Police Bureau, paid two cents, and obtained a memorandum of his address. For a fee of two cents you can get the address of any one you name, and for two cents each any number of addresses. In numerous instances I found it a great convenience, and so have other travellers. If you wanted to find a friend in New York or London, and didn't know his address, you would have a nice time about it; but in Moscow or St. Petersburg there would be no trouble whatever."
As soon as they had removed the dust of the journey our friends went out for a stroll before dinner. The Hôtel de l'Europe is on the corner of the Nevski Prospect and one of the smaller streets, and only a short distance from the Kazanski Sobor, or Church of Kazan. But before they enter this celebrated edifice we will look with them at the grand avenue, the Nevski Prospect.
"It is straight as a sunbeam for three miles," said Fred in his note-book, "with the Admiralty Buildings at one end, and the Church of St. Alexander Nevski at the other, though the latter is a little way from the line. It is perfectly level from end to end, like a street of New Orleans or Sacramento. St. Petersburg is built on a marsh, and through its whole extent there isn't a hill other than an artificial one. It is a broad avenue (one hundred and thirty feet in width), reminding us of the boulevards of Paris, and the crowd of vehicles coming and going at all hours of the day and far into the night makes the scene a picturesque one.
RUSSIAN WORKMEN ON THEIR WAY HOME.
"All classes and kinds of Russians are to be seen here, from the mujik, with his rough coat of sheepskin, up to the officer of the army, whose breast is covered with decorations by the dozen or even more. The vehicles are of many kinds, the drosky being the most frequent, and there is hardly one of them without the duga, or yoke, over the horse between the shafts. The horses are driven furiously, but they are completely under the control of their drivers, and accidents are said to be very rare. Perhaps this is owing to the fact that a driver is liable to severe punishment if he causes any injury to a pedestrian.