Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/377

Rh There was no danger of our losing the two teams which had been secured on the second-class paderojnias, but we were not at all certain about the other. If there had not been sufficient horses at the station for the post, our third team would have been taken from us, and we might have waited for hours before obtaining horses. The best way of solving the problem was to be out of the way when it came up for solution. As the man said of a railway accident, 'Presence of mind is good, but absence of body is better.'

"We obtained excellent speed from the horses where the roads were good, as we gave a fee to the drivers at the end of their routes, proportioning it according to the character of their service. My sleigh generally took the lead, and we always promised a liberal gratuity for extra rate of

progress. The regulations require that vehicles not on Government service shall go at a pace of ten versts (six and two-third miles) an hour, provided the roads are in good condition. If a driver just came up to the regulations and no more, we gave him eight or ten copecks; if he was accommodating and energetic, we increased his gratuity accordingly. Fifteen copecks was a liberal reward, twenty munificent, twenty-five princely, and