others kept on the rails without difficulty; they ran off at the slightest obstacle. other houses were governed by a timid routine; theirs was somehow different. perhaps lizabetha prokofievna was alone in making these fretful observations; the girls, though not wanting in intelligence, were still young; the general was intelligent, too, but narrow, and in any difficulty he was content to say, "h’m!" and leave the matter to his wife. consequently, on her fell the responsibility. it was not that they distinguished themselves as a family by any particular originality, or that their excursions off the track led to any breach of the proprieties. oh no.