THE RUSSIAN' ATMOSPHERE 159

Mongolian, face, and he spoke Russian very slowly. He
came from the East, but I couldn't gather from where.
I asked him where he had come from. c From Moscow.'
4 And do you have to stay on your place in case someone
else takes it from you?' * At the stations we keep places
for each other by turns.' ' And what do you do,at night? *
He pointed to the roof. ' Or', he said, ' if the weather is
bad we bind ourselves on here with rope.'

At the next station were half-a-dozen gypsies. They
looked to be fairly pure-blooded, with dark shining hair,
quite unlike Russian hair, and dark eyes; and with kerchiefs
and blouses of yellow and red and brown. They stood be-
low the officers' carriage and offered to dance and sing for
us in exchange for bread (they do not want money). I
threw down some bread, and one woman danced a gypsy
dance while the others clapped their hands and sang.
Then a big gypsy woman came below the window and
/offered to tell our fortunes for bread. We refused. She
flauntingly opened her shawl and revealed a child at her
breast. She held up her hand again and called for bread.
Sasha produced som& and threw it to her. With the child
still at her breast she dived under the train, and a minute
later she was begging on the other sidef

Another flaxen-haired Russian child came up to the
window for bread. I was going to give him some when
Sasha quite fiercely stopped me. ' Give bread to gypsies,
if you like, but not to Russian children. All Russian
children are well fed. It only spoils them to give them
bread. They don't need it. They all get plenty.'

The price of bread at the booths on the station was ten
roubles for a piece about half a pound in weight.

At 10 o'clock we turned in under our blankets. We had
left the Archangel line and turned westwards toward the
southern tip of the White -Sea.