"Assja, have you had enough?" suddenly asked in Russian a man's voice behind me.
"Let us wait a little longer," answered another voice, a woman's, in the same tongue.
I turned hastily. My eyes fell on a handsome young fellow in a loose jacket and cap. On his arm hung a girl of medium height, with a straw hat which entirely hid the upper part of her face.
"You are Russians?" I said aloud involuntarily.
The young man smiled and answered, "Yes; we are Russians."
"I did not expect, in such an out-of-the-way place----" I began.
"Nor did we," he interrupted me. "But what does that signify? All the better. Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Gagin, and this is"--he paused for an instant--"my sister. May we ask your name?"
I told him, and we began a conversation. I learned that Gagin, like myself, was travelling for pleasure; that he had arrived at L---- the week previous, and was now staying there. To speak candidly, I was always unwilling to make the acquaintance of Russians in other countries. I could recognize them at any distance by their gait, the cut of their clothes, and more than all by the expression of their faces. The self-satisfied, scornful, and usually haughty expression would change suddenly to one timid and suspicious; in a moment the whole man is on his guard, his glance wanders about unsteadily. "Have I said anything ridiculous? Are they laughing at me?" this anxious look seems to say. But a moment more, and the majesty of the physiognomy is restored, only occasionally replaced by stupidity. Yes, I avoided Russians, but Gagin pleased me at once. There are such fortunate faces in the world. To look at them is a pleasure for every one. One feels at once cheered and caressed by them. Gagin had just such a gentle, attractive face, with great soft eyes and fine curly hair. When he spoke, even if you did not see his face, you felt by the mere sound of his voice that he was smiling.
The young girl whom he had called his sister also seemed to me at the first glance very lovely. There was something peculiar and remarkable in the traits of her round, brown face, with its thin, delicate nose, its round, almost babyish cheeks, and its clear, dark eyes. Her form was graceful, but apparently not yet fully developed. She did not in the least resemble her brother.