‘Well, Piotr, not in sight yet?’ was the question asked on May the 20th, 1859, by a gentleman of a little over forty, in a dusty coat and checked trousers, who came out without his hat on to the low steps of the posting station at S-. He was addressing his servant, a chubby young fellow, with whitish down on his chin, and little, lack-lustre eyes.
The servant, in whom everything-the turquoise ring in his ear, the streaky hair plastered with grease, and the civility of his movements-indicated a man of the new, improved generation, glanced with an air of indulgence along the road, and made answer:
‘No, sir; not in sight.’
‘Not in sight?’ repeated his master.
‘No, sir, ‘ responded the man a second time.
His master sighed, and sat down on a little bench. We will introduce him to the reader while he sits, his feet tucked under him, gazing thoughtfully round.