Following him, the master of the house in a new Circassian coat with an officer's stripes on the shoulders and with polished boots (quite exceptional among Cossacks) entered the room, swaying from side to side, and congratulated his lodger on his safe arrival.
The cornet, Elias Vasilich, was an educated Cossack.

He had been to Russia proper, was a regimental schoolteacher, and above all he was noble.

He wished to appear noble, but one could not help feeling beneath his grotesque pretence of polish, his affectation, his self-confidence, and his absurd way of speaking, he was just the same as Daddy Eroshka.

This could also be clearly seen by his sunburnt face and his hands and his red nose.

Olenin asked him to sit down.
'Good morning.