How could I sleep?
My uncle gave out a false bulletin, with the last batch that the gossips carried away in the evening.

He told them that we were not going to start till the second day.

This he did in the hope of smuggling us quietly out, and so saving us the wear and tear of a public farewell.

But his ruse failed of success.

Half of Polotzk was at my uncle's gate in the morning, to conduct us to the railway station, and the other half was already there before we arrived.
The procession resembled both a funeral and a triumph.