II.
AFTER their arrival in France the Russian sailors spent a fortnight going from one festivity to another, and in the middle or at the end of each festivity they ate and they drank and they talked. And the news of what and where they drank on Wednesday, and what and where on Thursday, and what was said on the occasion, was telegraphed all over Russia. Any Russian captain had only to drink to the health of France for the fact to become known immediately to all the world, and the Russian admiral had only to say, " I drink to la belle France!" for the words to be carried all over the world. But that is not all: the zeal of the newspapers was such that they reported not merely the toasts but even the menus of the dinners with all the tarts and savouries that were served at them.
Thus, for example, in one newspaper it was stated that the dinner had been a work of art:
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