In his method of working, Tolstoy may be likened to the old painters. Having settled upon a plan of work, and collected a large number of studies, he first makes a charcoal sketch, as it were, and writes rapidly without thinking of particulars. He then has a clean copy of the work made by his wife or one of his daughters, and this is again subjected to careful remodelling. It is still in the nature of a charcoal sketch. The MS. is speedily covered with erasures and interpolations. Whole sentences replace others. The work is then copied again, and some chapters Tolstoy writes more than ten times. He usually writes on quarto sheets of cheap plain paper in a large involved hand, and sometimes covers as many as twenty pages in one day. He regards the interval between nine o’clock and three as the best time for work. [Sidenote: =Tolstoy at work in his study at Yasnaya Polyana= _see page_ 13] His study at Yasnaya Polyana is a small room with an uncarpeted floor, a vaulted ceiling, and thick stone walls. Formerly it was a store-room, and on the ceiling are heavy black iron rings, on which hams used to hang and which were used later for gymnastic exercises. The study is very cool and quiet, and contains various implements of labour, such as a scythe, a saw, pincers, tiles, etc. [Sidenote: =Tolstoy with his bicycle= _see page_ 6] After his morning labours, Tolstoy generally goes out, often riding on horseback or on his bicycle, according to the state of the weather. He is strict vegetarian, eating only the simplest food and avoiding all stimulants. He long ago ceased to smoke. Attaching great importance to manual labour, he takes a share in the housework, lighting his own fire and carrying water. At one time he learned bootmaking, and it is wonderful what an amount of physical exertion he was able to undergo at the age of seventy in the way of heavy labour in the field, of riding scores of versts on his bicycle, or of playing for hours at lawn tennis. [Sidenote: =A portrait of Tolstoy= _see page_ 16] [Sidenote: =Tolstoy in the grounds of Yasnaya Polyana= _see page_ 24]