The engineer showed him his plan.

The road wound by slight curves from one town to another.

This did not suit the emperor at all.
He took his ruler, put it down upon the table, and said: 'I choose to have my roads run so.' Of course the engineer assented--he had his large fund granted; a straight road was much cheaper to build than a curved one.

As a consequence, he built and furnished an excellent road.
"At every 'verst,' which is not quite a mile, a small house is placed at the roadside, on which, in very large figures, the number of versts from St.Petersburg is told.

The train runs very smoothly and very slowly; twenty miles an hour is about the rate.