about noon
Often , while comparing the position of the landlord with that of the owner of serfs , Nekhludoff found a parallel in the renting of the land to the peasants , instead of working it by hired labor , to what the slave-owners did when they substituted tenancy for serfdom . That did not solve the question , but it was a step toward its solution ; it was a transition from a grosser to a less gross form of ownership of man . He also intended to act thus . Nekhludoff arrived at Kusminskoie about noon . In everything simplifying his life , he did not wire from the station of his arrival , but hired a two-horse country coach . The driver was a young fellow in a nankeen regulation coat , belted below the waist , sitting sidewise on the box . He was the more willing to carry on a conversation because the broken-down , lame , emaciated , foaming shaft-horse could then walk , which these horses always preferred .