"There are exceptions to that rule," thought I, for I remembered the stories which I had heard in the cabin; and I also recollected the conduct of their narrator, Captain Blake, towards the starving little thief in London. "I have been trying," said Whiskerandos, "to count the servants in this house; but no sooner do I think that my task is done, than in comes some new one, speaking some different language, wearing some different costume, and puts all my calculations to fault." "It would puzzle even one possessing the talents of my brother to count the number of the servants here," replied Wisky. "Why, even I, who, before my visit to England, spent months amongst the household, can scarcely number them now. To begin with the inmates of a higher rank, who never appear in the kitchen, there are the French governess and the German tutor, to polish up the minds of the children, and the family physician to look after their health. Then there are the superintendent of accounts, the secretary, the dworezki-- he who has charge of the whole establishment, the valets of the lord, the valets of the lady, the overseer of the children, the footmen, the buffetshik or butler, the table-decker, the head groom, the coachman and postilions of the lord, the coachman and postilions of the lady,--" "What!" cried Whiskerandos, "are their carriages so small that they will not hold two, or are the grandees afraid of quarrelling, that husband and wife cannot travel together!" "Surely, Sir Wisky," exclaimed I, "you must have come to the end of your list!" "Pardon me, little brother, not yet. There are the attendants on the boys and on the tutor, the porter, the head cook and the under cook, the baker, brewer, the waiting-maids and wardrobe-keeper of the lady, the waiting-maid who attends the French governess, the nurses that take care of the children, and the nurses that once took care of the children, the kapell-meister or head musician, and all the men of his band!" "Well!" cried I, much amused, "at any rate a Russian noble must be well served. If he calls for his shoes, I suppose that half-a-dozen servants start off in a race to fetch them, and knock their heads together in their eagerness to get them!" A valet at this moment entered the kitchen, where, secure in our hiding-place, we were watching all that passed. "Where's Ivan?" said he, "where's Ivan?" The coachman, who was playing at draughts with the head groom, looked up for an instant, then silently made his move. "My lady's a-fainting, and my lord's calling for water! Where's Ivan, I say? 'tis his business to fetch it." "There's Ivan," said the cook, pointing contemptuously to a sandy-haired figure fast asleep under the table. "Get up, ye lazy fellow!" exclaimed the valet; "my lady's fainting, my lord's calling for water; take a glass of it on a silver salver directly."