第37章

TheCossackglancesather——thensmiles。

“Andwhereisthepartygoingtosleep？“heinquiresofthecrowd。

“Here，“someoneventures。

“Thenyoumustnot——someonemightbreakintothechurch。Go，rather，totheAtaman[Cossackheadmanormayor]，andyouwillbebilletedamongthehuts。“

“Itisamatterofnoconsequence，“Konevremarksashepacesbesideme。“Yet——“

“Theyseemtobetakingusforrobbers，“ismyinterruption。

“Asiseverywheretheway，“hecomments。“Itisbutonethingmorelaidtoourcharge。Cautiondecidesalwaysthatastrangerisathief。“

InfrontofuswalksthewomanfromRiazan，incompanywiththeyoungfellowofthebloatedfeatures。Heisdowncastofmien，andatlengthmutterssomethingwhichIcannotcatch，butinanswertowhichshetossesherhead，andsaysinadistinct，maternaltone:

“Youaretooyoungtoassociatewithsuchbrutes。“

Thebellofthechurchisslowlybeating，andfromthehutstherekeepcomingneatoldmenandwomenwhomakethehithertodesertedstreetassumeabriskappearance，andthesquathutstakeonawelcomingair。

Inaresonant，girlishvoicetheremeetsourears:

“Ma-am！Ma-amka！Whereisthekeyofthegreenbox？Iwantmyribands！“

Whileinanswertothebell’ssummons，theoxenlowadeepecho。

Thewindhasfallen，butreddishcloudsstillareglidingoverthehamlet，andthemountainpeaksblushinguntiltheyseem，thawing，tobesendingstreamsofgolden，liquidfireontothesteppes，where，asthoughcastinstone，astork，standingononeleg，islistening，seemingly，totherustlingoftheheat-

exhaustedherbage。

IntheforecourtoftheAtaman’shutwearedeprivedofourpassports，whiletwoofournumber，foundtobewithoutsuchdocuments，areledawaytoanight’slodginginadarkstorehouseinacornerofthepremises。Everythingisexecutedquietlyenough，andwithouttheleastfuss，purelyasamatterofroutine；yetKonevmutters，asdejectedlyhecontemplatesthedarkeningsky:

“Whatasurprisingthing，tobesure！“

“Whatis？“

“Apassport。Surelyadecent，peaceablemanoughttobeabletotravelWITHOUTapassport？Solongashebeharmless，lethim——“

“Youarenotharmless，“withangryemphasisthewomanfromRiazaninterposes。

Konevcloseshiseyeswithasmile，andsaysnothingmore。

Almostuntilthevigilserviceisoverarewekeptkickingourheelsaboutthatforecourt，likesheepinaslaughter-house。ThenKonev，myself，thetwowomen，andthefat-facedyoungfellowareledawaytowardstheoutskirtsofthevillage，andallottedanemptyhutwithbroken-downwallsandacrackedwindow。

“Nogoingoutwillbepermitted，“saystheCossackwhohasconductedusthither。“Elseyouwillbearreste

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