Sergei Pavlowitz was one of the most popular students at the Cadet School. His quick intellect, which had enabled him to comprehend the abstruse debates of the Talmud, stood him in good stead in mastering the details of military science, while his handsome figure in the neat Russian uniform and his polite and obliging ways were universally pleasing. In due course of time he graduated as a lieutenant of artillery. His career in the army justified the expectations of his student years. He combined the two most requisite military qualities, high capacity and rigid fidelity to duty. He became in rapid succession a captain and then a colonel of artillery. While holding the latter office he attracted the attention and then aroused the love of Olga, the beautiful daughter of General Wladimir de Mitkiewicz. Shortly afterward the General sent for him, and in due form and in the most flattering terms offered to make him his son-in-law. Such a distinguished honor could not be refused. To be sure, a momentary pang went through the heart of the young colonel; and the shadowy faces of his father and mother seemed to rise from the gloomy recesses of the past and gaze at him reproachfully, but these sensations were too dim and faint to have any effect. He accepted the offer of the venerable General, which was, indeed, a most complimentary one, and because of which he became the object of many congratulations and no little envy. In the magnificent cathedral of Kurski-Kazan the nuptials of the dashing Colonel Pavlowitz and the beautiful and accomplished Olga de Mitkiewicz were consummated with all the gorgeous ceremonial of the Greek Church, and amidst an unprecedented display of wealth and luxury. The vast edifice was crowded with representatives of the noblest and finest families of the province, while the streets surrounding the cathedral were thronged with a vast multitude of the baser sort; and the personal interest and gratification which all displayed were quite extraordinary. It cannot be denied that the striking attentions and adulations of which Colonel Pavlowitz became the recipient did almost turn his head. In no other country are honors so much appreciated as in Russia; and those he had received were quite exceptional, both in extent and in cordiality.