Thou art our elder brother, our second father, do what thou see'st fit, and deemest best, and we will not fail thee, our own blood and bone." Part III.

picturesquely and vividly describes the scene of the encounter; the challenge to the combatants to stand forth, by command of the Tzar, with a promise in the latter's name that the victors shall receive from him rewards.

Then the redoubtable Lifeguardsman Kiribyeevitch steps forth.

Thrice the challenge is repeated before any one responds.

Then young Merchant Kalashnikoff comes forward, makes his reverence to the Tzar, and when Kiribyeevitch demands his name, he announces it, and adds that he was born of an honorable father and has always lived according to God's law; he has not cast his eyes on another man's wife, nor played the bandit on a dark night, nor hid from the light of heaven, and that he means to fight to the death.