"No, it isn't. We can have a good time, and not be under the nose of any one. While the rest of them go to Moscow, we will go down to Nijni and Kazan." "But I want to see Moscow." "We will see that by and by. We will go down the river, and keep out of the way till all hands have returned to the ship. Then we will go it to Berlin or Warsaw." "I haven't money enough to go such a trip." "I will lend you some when you are short." De Forrest argued the matter until Beckwith yielded the point, but rather reluctantly. They wore their pea-jackets, and had their bags in their hands, for the purser said they would change their seats when they returned to the train. Retreating from the station, they kept out of sight till the cars had started, and then hastened to find the steamer on the river. The captain was a Finn, and spoke a little English, so that they had no difficulty in obtaining tickets and places. As De Forrest had declared that they intended to change their places, the two students with whom they had occupied a compartment in the car, did not suspect that they had been left behind when the train moved off, and they were not missed till the party arrived at Moscow, at ten o'clock. The students piled into the droskies,--two on the seat, and one with the driver,--and were driven to the Hôtel d'Hambourg, which is kept by Madame Billet, an English lady, in the Rue Lubianka, near the centre of the city. The lady proprietor is a most excellent woman, very attentive to her guests, able and willing to give all needed information in regard to the city. Either she or her charming sister presides at the table, and to an American or an Englishman there is no more home-like establishment on the continent. When the roll of the first division was called, in assigning rooms to the party, the absence of De Forrest and Beckwith was discovered; but it was not supposed that they had absconded, and a servant was sent back to the station to find them. The chaplain was very much troubled; but the surgeon assured him that no possible harm could have come to the absentees. Lincoln, Scott, and Billy Bobstay were assigned to one room. It was in no respect different from a chamber in an English hotel, except that a large stove or furnace was set in the wall, the fire-door opening into the hall. Every room was provided with this heating apparatus. Having arranged their toilets, the party gathered again in the coffee-room for breakfast. The meal was in English style, consisting of cold tongue, cold chicken, and capital coffee. When it was finished, Dr. Winstock gave a brief description and historical account of Moscow.