Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III ST. PETERSBURG TO MOSCOW St. Petersburg, April 20, 1902. HAVING secured (through our Embassy) a servant who speaks German, and, of course, Russian, I have booked upon the Siberian Express, which leaves Moscow on Wednesday evening next at 10 P. M. It is some thirty-four hundred miles to Irkutsk, and we shall be nine days en route. Not a rapid journey, being but about 377 miles in twenty-four hours. But things are never in a hurry in Russia, save the drosky drivers, and the road is not built for such speed as Western Europe is accustomed to. To Irkutsk I have paid 244 roubles, which includes my fare first-class—a compartment to myself —and a passage second-class (sleeper included) for my man. If you are willing to have some one in your compartment you will pay out 111 roubles. Of course, to these figures you must add the charges for your meals and luggage. The latter is very costly. I regret that I could not find place on the train of Saturday last, as some friends were going out on it, but it was crowded, and though there were more than enough applications to fill up another car, therailway authorities would not consider the proposition for an instant,—having, I suppose, good reason for their refusal. I am assured by the agents in Petersburg that there is no difference between that train and the one I am booked for on Wednesday next. I have interviewed several of the officials on that point, and all tell the same tale, but people outside say differently. Mr. , of our legation, being desirous of seeing the "great train," went to the station in Moscow for the purpose, having been told that it would start on that night. When it backed in it was only an ordinary train, and then the officials confessed that they would not tell upon what day the '' great t... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.