Page:Siberia and the Exile System Vol 1.djvu/65

Rh earth churned and washed that day. We then drove back to Mr. Nesterófski's house, where we found dinner waiting for us. It consisted of "fifteen drops" to wash down a preliminary zakúska or appetizer of rye bread and pickled fish; then vegetable soup with little crescent-shaped meat pies; spinach and mashed potatoes served together as a course; cutlets of brains; small birds on toast; delicious charlotte russe; chocolate cake, and macaroons with sherry, claret, and white Crimean wine ad libitum.

I thought, after the delicious and tastefully served lunch at noon, that Mr. Nesterófski could hardly have any more surprises in store for us, but he was not yet at the end of his resources. After dinner he suggested, in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact sort of way, that we light cigarettes and take our coffee out in the garden. It did not seem to me possible that he could have much of a garden, on the 15th of June, in latitude 57° north, and in the mountains of the Urál; but I was quite willing, nevertheless, to go into the yard and see how, in that latitude and at that season of the year, he managed to have lettuce, radishes, and new potatoes. We went out upon a broad piazza in the rear of the house, and then descended a flight of steps into the prettiest and most tastefully arranged garden that I had seen in Russia. The winding walks were neatly graveled and bordered with beds of blossoming, verbena-like flowers; graceful birches, with snowy stems and drooping, feathery foliage, stood here and there in the grass plots, like fountains of foaming water breaking aloft into light-green, down-drifting spray; wild cherry trees, in full blossom, relieved the darker foliage with their nebulous masses of misty white; while currant bushes, raspberry bushes, and strawberry vines, in the outlying region away from the house, gave promise of an abundant summer fruitage. At the extreme end of the yard, beyond the vegetable garden, stood a large conservatory filled with plants, flowers, and fruits of various kinds, among which were dwarf palms and cactuses, good-sized oranges and lemons,