Page:Morgan Philips Price - Siberia (1912).djvu/90

 58 quartered on him for a fortnight. After several unsuccessful attempts a meek-looking man informed us that he had an empty top storey over his shop which he would be pleased to place at our disposal. Thither we repaired, and found a nice lot of empty rooms suitable for us and our baggage. We arranged with the apparent owner of the house to pay the sum of one rouble a day for this, and as the bargain seemed extraordinarily cheap we got to work at once and began hauling our baggage in.

Suddenly there was a bolt from the blue in the shape of an old woman, who appeared, spluttering with rage, and said the house was hers, and she would allow no one in under four roubles a day. Meanwhile the first man had decamped, which made the situation decidedly awkward, but our sharp Caucasian servant was equal to it. He disappeared for five minutes, leaving us to the tender mercies of verbal avalanches, and in fear of having our eyes scratched out. He then returned accompanied by a police officer whom he had called in as an umpire, having duly squared him with a couple of roubles and a glass of vodka. The case was then presented to this impartial legal tribunal, and after much verbal warfare the decision went in favour of the defendants, which meant that our bargain of one rouble held good.

We then wanted to find out the real owner of the house, so as to know whom to pay, and to be sure that no third party would turn up and claim fresh rights. But having given judgment for the defendant the police officer seemed more favourably inclined for another glass of vodka than for any more verdicts, and disappeared forthwith, leaving us still hopelessly mystified.