第49章

“Silence！“athreateningvoicenearthebarraquebrokein。“I

amtheforemanhere。“

Thevoiceoftheex-soldierreplied:

“Whatworkmenaretheseofyours？Theyaremeresectarians，fellowswhoareforeversinginghymns。“

Towhichsomeoneelseadded:

“Besides，olddevilthatyouare，aren’tyouboundtofinishallbuildingworkbeforethebeginningofaSunday？“

“Letusthrowtheirtoolsintothestream。“

“Yes，andstartariot，“wasSilantiev’scommentashesquattedbeforetheembersofthefire。

Aroundthebarraque，pickedoutagainsttheyellowofitsframework，anumberofdarkfiguresweresurgingtoandfroasaroundaconflagration。Presentlyweheardsomethingsmashedtopieces——atallevents，weheardthecrackingandscrapingofwoodagainststone，andthenthestrident，hilariouscommand:

“Holdonthere！I’LLsoonputthingstorights！Carpenters，justhandoverthesaw！“

Apparentlytherewerethreemeninchargeoftheproceedings:theoneared-beardedmuzhikinaseaman’sblouse；thesecondatallmanwithhunchedshoulders，thinlegs，andlongarmswhokeptgraspingtheforemanbythecollar，shakinghim，andbawling，“Whereareyourlathes？Bringthemout！“(whilenoticeablealsowasabroad-shoulderedyoungfellowinaraggedredshirtwhokeptthrustingpiecesofscantlingthroughthewindowsofthebarraque，andshouting，“Catchholdofthese！Laythemoutinarow！“)；andthethirdtheex-soldierhimself。Thelast-named，ashejostledhiswayamongthecrowd，keptvociferating，viciously，virulently，andwithacurioussystemofdivisionofhissyllables:

“Aha-a，ra-abble，secta-arians。Yo-ouwouldhavenothingtosaytome，youSe-erbs！YetIsaytoYOU:Goalong，mychickens，forthere-estofusareti-iredofyou，andcometosa-ayso！“

“Whatdoeshewant？“askedSilantievquietlyashelitacigarette。“Vodka？Oh，THEY’LLgivehimvodka！……Yetareyounotsorryforfellowsofthatstamp？“

Throughthebluetobacco-smokehegazedintotheglowingembers；

untilatlasthetookacharredstick，andcollectedtheembersintoaheapglowingred-goldlikeabouquetoffierypoppies；andashedidso，hishandsomeeyesgleamedwithjustsuchareverentaffection，suchaprayerfulkindliness，asmusthavelurkedintheeyesofprimeval，nomadicmaninthepresenceofthedancing，beneficentsourceoflightandheat。

“AtleastIamsorryforsuchfellows，“Vasilicontinued。

“Aye，theverythoughtofthemany，manyfolkwhohavecometonothing！Theverythoughtofit！Terrible，terrible！“

Atouchofdaylightwasstilllingeringonthetopsofthemountains，butinthedefileitselfnightwasbeginningtoloom，andtolu

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