A WINTER SCENE Between Petersburg and the sea there are several favorite islands more or less assigned to the foreigners residing in the Russian capital.

Here the English live, and in summer the familiar cries of the tennis-lawn may be heard, while in winter snow-shoeing, skating, and tobogganing hold merry sway.
It was here, namely, on the island of Christeffsky, that a great ice fete was held on the day preceding the departure of the Howard Alexis household for Tver.

The fete was given by one of the foreign ambassadors--a gentleman whose wife was accredited to the first place in Petersburg society.

It was absolutely necessary, Steinmetz averred, for the whole Howard Alexis party to put in an appearance.
The fete was supposed to begin at four in the afternoon, and by five o'clock all St.Petersburg--all, c'est a dire, worthy of mention in that aristocratic city--had arrived.

One may be sure Claude de Chauxville arrived early, in beautiful furs with a pair of silver-plated skates under his arm.