Page:John Feoktist Dudikoff - Beasts in Cassocks (1924).djvu/33

 Alexander were now members of the Holy Synod, they too, were remembered. To make the Captain feel at home, they drank the health of the Army and Navy. After the roster of the living was exhausted, they began to drink to the memory of the dead. Goblets were filled, both for "Long Life" and for "Eternal Memory." In other words, the ancient custom was carried out in every detail.

Less than an hour after the beginning of the party, the telephone rang. I was about to answer it, when Bishop Alexander told me to fetch another bottle of rum and said, addressing Father Snegirev: "That must be for you, Sergius." Father Snegirev went to the telephone, hung up and declared sadly: "Pardon me, but I must go.



Darling," he added, turning to his wife, "you stay here for a little while. Archbishop Platon wishes to see me." Bishop Alexander then whispered into Madam Snegirev's ear in Ukrainian: "See, I told you so." I heard those words clearly, but their real meaning was a puzzle to me then.

Father Snegirev left. Father Slunin started a conversation on a political subject and such loud arguments ensued that Bishop Alexander could say whatever he pleased to Madam Snegirev. Nobody