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14 thee poor and me rich. We need each other. Do thou thy duty, and thou wilt find me just and considerate. Disobey me, and than wilt find that this short arm may be stretched from Ilitch to Petersburg."

Ivan turned pale at this hidden threat of mine; but I deemed it necessary to make it, for I as well as Bulger had scented treachery and rebellion about this boorish fellow, whose good trait was his love of his horses, and it has always been my rule in life to open my eyes wide to the good that there is in a man, and close them to his faults. But in spite of kind words and kind treatment, Ivan grew surlier and moodier the moment we had passed the hundredth milestone.

Bulger watched him with a gaze so steady and thoughtful that the man fairly quailed before it. Hour by hour he became more and more restive, and upon leaving a roadside tavern, for the very first time since we had left Ilitch on the llitch, I noticed that the fellow had been drinking too much kwass. He let loose his tongue, and raised his hand against his horses, which until that moment he had been wont to load down with caresses and pet names.

"Look out for that driver of thine, little baron," whispered the tavern-keeper. "He's in a reckless mood. He'd not pull up if the Giants' Well were gaping in front of him. St. Nicholas have thee in his safe keeping!"