Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/62

40 of the Berózef gold mines. I had brought a letter of introduction to him from one of his friends in St. Petersburg; but upon reaching Ekaterínburg I discovered that he lived ten or fifteen miles away in what was known as the Berózef mining district. I sent the letter to him, however, at the first opportunity, and on Monday, June 15th, he drove into the city with a carriage and took us out to his house. The route thither lay through a rather wild, lonely region, not noticeably mountainous but densely wooded, with a still, black pond here and there in the midst of the evergreens, and a thin fringe of buttercups or golden trollius on either side of the road to relieve a little the somber gloom of the forest. Mr. Nesterófski's house, which was situated in rather a large mining village of unpainted log cabins, was a complete surprise to travelers who had expected to find in that wild part of the Ural little more than the bare necessaries of life. Although built of squared logs, it was high and spacious, with a metallic roof, ornamented window-casings, and a substantial storm house at the head of the front steps. Our host pressed an electric bell button at the door, and in a moment we were admitted by a neatly dressed maid-servant to a spacious hall, where we removed our overcoats and goloshes. We were then shown into the drawing room, a beautiful apartment hung with paper of a delicate gray tint, lighted by three long windows, filled with the perfume of fuchsias, geraniums, and splendid cinnamon pinks, and luxuriously furnished with rugs, easy chairs, long mirrors, and a grand piano. Before I recovered from the state of breathless surprise into which I was thrown by this unexpected display of luxury, I found myself shaking hands with Mrs. Nesterófski, a pleasant-faced lady thirty or thirty-five years of age, who welcomed us with warm-hearted hospitality, insisted that we must be hungry after our long ride, and invited us to come out at once to luncheon. We took seats in the dining-room at a cozy little table, just big enough for four, upon which were vodka, excellent sherry