And the Princess agreed.

Oh! the pleasure Tamara found when presently they were flying over the
snow, the side horses galloping with swift, sure feet. And under the
furs she and her godmother felt no cold, while Gritzko, this wild
Prince, sat facing them, his splendid eyes ablaze.

Presently they stopped and looked out on the Gulf of Finland and a vast
view. Above were countless stars and a young, rising moon.

It was striking seven as they went to their rooms.

Such was Tamara's first outing in this land of the North.




CHAPTER IX


Six days went past before Tamara again saw the Prince. Whether he was
busy or kept away because he wished to, she did not know--and would not
ask--but a piqued sensation gradually began to rise as she thought of
him.

"I must arrange for you to go to Tsarsköi-Sélo to see the ceremony of
the Emperor blessing the waters on the 6th of our January, Tamara," her
godmother said, a day or two after the Bohemian feast. "I have seen it
so often, and I do not wish to stand about in the cold, but Sonia's
husband is one of the aides-de-camp, and, as you know, she lives at