In fact, one watchman in Kolomna saw with his own eyes the apparition come from behind a house. But being rather weak of body, he dared not arrest him, but followed him in the dark, until, at length, the apparition looked round, paused, and inquired: “What do you want?” at the same time showing such a fist as is never seen on living men. The watchman said: “It’s of no consequence,” and turned back instantly. But the apparition was much too tall, wore huge mustaches, and, directing its steps apparently toward the Obukhoff Bridge, disappeared in the darkness of the night. THE RENDEZVOUS AND THE COUNTING-HOUSE BY IVAN TURGENEV [Illustration] _The greatest of Russian authors was born in 1818, and, expatriated from Russia, died in the suburbs of Paris in 1883. His literary method reversed the usual process. The plot of a story was something he never thought of. His short stories are wonderful character drawings of individuals or groups that show a complete, a brooding absorption in his subjects. The spirit of the great Slav race lives in his work, and though his stories are sombre his characters have a vitality that only genius can give. An aristocrat, and possessed of some means, Turgenev’s stories concern themselves with the old racial traits of character, but do not touch on the revolutionary element._ [Illustration] THE RENDEZVOUS BY IVAN TURGENEV Translated by Herman Bernstein. Copyright, 1907, by P. F. Collier & Son.