AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 237

covered at high tides, and was unfit to bear the foundations
of even the slightest buildings. Piles are being driven
in as close as they will stand over every foot of ground in
it. Over this a coating of concrete many feet thick will
be laid, and on this the fortress, which is to be the centre
and heart of Russia, will rise. In the fort will stand a pile
which will be the tomb of the future czars of Russia, and
there in front of us, where you see fifty thousand peasants
at work, shall be the future capital of the empire.”

“But it is a swamp,” Charlie said in astonishment, alike
at the vastness of the scheme and the energy with which
it was being prosecuted.

“Nature has made it a swamp,” his companion said
calmly, “but man is stronger than nature. The river will
be embanked, the morass drained, and piles driven every-
where, as has been done in the island, and the capital will
rise here. The fort has already been named the Fortress
of St. Peter and St. Paul. The capital will be named alike
after the patron saint and its founder—Petersburg.”’

They had now reached the spot. ‘The carriage stopped
and they alighted. Charlie saw with astonishment that
a wide deep cut had been driven between the road and the
river in a straight line. Looking down into it he saw that
it was paved with the heads of piles, and that carts were
already emptying loads of concrete down upon it.

“very bag of cement, every stone that you see, has
been brought from a great distance,” his companion said.
“There is not a stone to be had within fifty miles of this
spot. The work would seem well-nigh impossible, but it
is the work of a nation. In another month there will be
a hundred and fifty thousand peasants at work here, and
well-nigh as many carts bringing materials for the work
and provisions for the workers.”

“Tt is stupendous! But it will take years to complete,
and it will surely be terribly unhealthy here?”

”