CHAPTER IV

The Winter Palace--Its interior--Alexander II--A Russian Court Ball--The "Bals des Palmiers"--The Empress--The blessing of the Neva--Some curiosities of the Winter Palace--The great Orloff diamond--My friend the Lady-in-Waiting--Sugared Compensations--The attempt on the Emperor's life of 1880--Some unexpected finds in the Palace--A most hilarious funeral--Sporting expeditions--Night drives through the forest in mid-winter--Wolves--A typical Russian village--A peasant's house--"Deaf and dumb people"--The inquisitive peasant youth--Curiosity about strangers--An embarrassing situation--A still more awkward one--Food difficulties--A bear hunt--My first bear--Alcoholic consequences--My liking for the Russian peasant--The beneficent india-rubber Ikon--Two curious sporting incidents--Village habits--The great gulf between Russian nobility and peasants