During my subsequent visits to Petrograd I chiefly gave recitals of songs, many of them by Russian composers, which I sang in the original. I learned the meaning of every word of a song, and a very nice young lawyer, Ivan Ivanovitch, coached me in the pronunciation, which, owing not unlikely to the portion of Polish blood in my veins, came comparatively easy to me. I had been told of the generous enthusiasm of Petrograd audiences, and how it often materializes in the shape of a valuable present, so that, for instance, it is not at all unusual for officers of a " crack " regiment to club together and throw to a foreign prima donna, singing at the opera house as a guest, and who may have been fortunate enough to captivate their ears and hearts, a diamond bracelet or some other precious piece of jewellery, hidden in a bouquet of flowers, across the footlights. And sure enough, when I returned to Germany after my second visit, my valise was considerably the heavier for containing several silver and gold cigarette-cases and match-boxes, a silver tankard, a silver bowl, a scarfpin, and other presents given to me by people I hardly knew.