Page:The Tsar's Window.djvu/46

 asked the proprietor, in his stiffest manner, if these were all "Yankee notions."

"American inventions, sir,—yes, certainly!" was the reply; and our English friend subsided.

We took our departure, promising to call again when we began housekeeping.

During the day we had the most glorious sunshine I ever saw; the sky was as blue as an Italian sky. As we crossed the river on our return, all the trees in the Summer Garden were glistening like diamonds; each branch, covered with ice, stood out distinctly against the blue. What are diamonds and turquoises, after such a sight as that? In the west the sun was setting in a flaming glory of orange and red, and opposite the moon was rising in calm beauty. We held our breath while we looked. It lasted only a few minutes: then the sun dropped below the horizon; and shortly after the scene became so gray and cold that we shivered, and buried our chins in the capacious fur collars about our necks. The collars, caps, and beards of the istvostchiks whom we met were white with frost, and all the horses looked gray. St. Isaac's golden dome was the only warm spot in the view.

The bells began to ring for vespers, as we drew near home. They are so wonderfully soft and sweet that one could imagine they were ringing in heaven.

St. Isaac's was covered with frost, except the dome. It looked smaller to me than it is by actual measurement.

"It is the most beautiful church in the world,"