Explore "The Sowers" by Henry Seton Merriman on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Between Petersburg and the sea there are several favorite islands more or less assigned to the foreigners residing in the Russian capital. Here the English live, and in summer the familiar cries of the tennis-lawn may be heard, while in winter snowshoeing, skating, and tobogganing hold merry sway.
It was here, namely, on the island of Krestovskiy, that a great ice fête was held on the day preceding the departure of the Howard Alexis household for Tver. The fête was given by one of the foreign ambassadors -- a gentleman whose wife was accredited to the first place in Petersburg society. It was absolutely necessary, Steinmetz averred, for the whole Howard Alexis party to put in an appearance.