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“They are talking about the war; it’s going to be a big fight.”

“Then Germany and Austria will both fight Russia?”

“Yes, but Russia is backed up by England and France.”

“Has England joined in the war, too?”

“She joined yesterday; she and France are Russia’s allies, and they are bound to help her.”

At that moment the officer in charge of the unloading called out sharply and the sailor hurried along with his load. After the boat had left the wharf at Kazan, the boys took every opportunity to speak to the sailor, it was so pleasant to be able to talk English with some one. They asked information about the country through which they were passing, and about the strange people on the boat. The topic that would have interested them most was the war, but the sailor could tell them very little about that. The man, though a Russian, had served on English ships, and had been in many English and American ports, in that way learning to speak English well. In the course of the voyage to Astrakhan the boys picked up many Russian words and phrases and soon began to feel that they were prepared to travel anywhere in the empire.