"The spire alone is one hundred and twenty-eight feet high, and very slender in shape. It was erected more than a hundred years ago, and the church itself dates almost from the time of the foundation of the city. Fifty or more years ago the angel and cross on the top of the spire threatened to fall, and a Russian peasant offered to repair them for two hundred rubles. By means of a rope and a few nails, he climbed to the top of the spire and performed the work, and nobody will say he did not earn his money. A single misstep, or the slightest accident, would have dashed him to certain death.
"When we left the church and fortress," continued Frank, "we felt that we had had enough for the day of that kind of sight-seeing, so we drove through some of the principal streets and went to the Gostinna Dvor, where we wished to see the curiosities of the place and make a few purchases.
"Near St. Isaac's Church we passed the famous equestrian statue of the Emperor Nicholas, in which the sculptor succeeded in balancing the horse on his hind feet without utilizing the tail, as was done in the case of the statue of Peter the Great. The Emperor is in the uniform of the Horse Guards. The pedestal is formed of blocks of granite of different colors, and there are bronze reliefs on the four sides representing incidents in the Emperor's life and career. On the upper part of the pedestal at each of the corners are emblematical figures, and just beneath the forefeet of the horse is a fine representation of the Imperial eagle. The whole work is surrounded with an iron fence to preserve it from injury, and altogether the statue is one of which the city may well be proud."
While the party were looking at the Imperial arms just mentioned, Fred asked why the eagle of Russia is represented with two heads.
"It indicates the union of the Eastern and Western empires," the Doctor answered, "the same as does the double-headed eagle of Austria. The device was adopted about four centuries ago by Ivan III., after his marriage with Sophia, a princess of the Imperial blood of Constantinople.
"By-the-way," the Doctor continued, "there's a story of an Imperial grand-duke who went one day on a hunting excursion, the first of his life, and fired at a large bird which rose before him. The bird fell, and was brought by a courtier to the noble hunter.