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Rh "We'll drop the subject till to-morrow," said the Doctor, and with this suggestion the conversation was suspended.

On their arrival at Nijni, where they expected to remain two or three days, the party went to the hotel as already stated, and then made a hasty survey of the stock sights of the place. They saw the Kremlin, which is a place of considerable strength, and contains the Governor's residence,

the military barracks, law-courts, telegraph station, and other public buildings. There is a fine monument to Minin and Pojarsky, and in a church not far off is the tomb of the patriotic cattle-dealer.

Our friends climbed to the top of Minin's Tower (Bashnia Minina), where they had a magnificent view of the surrounding country, including the valleys of the Volga and Oka for a long distance, the permanent town and its Kremlin, the site of the fair, with its miles of streets, and its thousands of boats and barges tied to the river-bank. Frank recalled the view from the hill near Hankow, at the junction of the Han and Yang-tse in China, and pointed out many features of similarity. Fred said he was reminded of the junction of the Ganges and Jumna at Allahabad, and an appeal to the Doctor brought out a reference to the union of the Alleghany and Monongahela at Pittsburg.

The permanent town was quickly disposed of, as the youths were impatient to inspect the great fair. For an account of what they saw we will again refer to their journals.

"What a cloud of dust there is here," said Frank, "and they say the dust turns to mud, and deep mud, too, after a heavy rain. They make a