第50章

andrememberthatitisonlythesoulthatcanovercomeSatan。“

InresponseSilantievrosetohisfeet，shookhisfistattheoldman，andshoutedinarough，angryvoice，avoicethatwasnothisown:

“AllthatIhaveheardbefore，andfromothersbesidesyourself。

ThetruthisthatIholdallyoufather-confessorsinabhorrence。

“Moreover，“(thislastwasaddedwithaviolentoath)“itisnotSatanthatneedstoberesisted，butsuchdevil’sravens，suchdevil’svampires，asYOU。“

Whichsaid，hekickedastoneawayfromthefire，thrusthishandsintohispockets，andturnedslowlyonhisheel，withhiselbowspressedclosetohissides。Neverthelesstheoldman，stillsmiling，saidtomeinanundertone:

“Heisproud，butthatwillnotlastforlong。“

“Whynot？“

“BecauseIknowinadvancethat——“

Breakingoffshort，heturnedhisheaduponhisshoulder，andsatlisteningtosomeshoutingthatwasgoingonacrosstheriver。

Everyoneinthatquarterwasdrunk，and，inparticular，someonecouldbeheardbawlinginatoneofchallenge:

“Oh？I，yousay？A-a-ah！Thentakethat！“

Silantiev，steppinglightlyfromstonetostone，crossedtheriver。Thenhemingled——aconspicuousfigure(owingtohisapparenthandlessness)——withthecrowd。Somehow，onhisdeparture，Ifeltillatease。

Twitchinghisfingersasthoughperformingaconjuringtrick，theoldmancontinuedtositwithhishandsstretchedovertheembers。Bythistimehisnosehadswollenoverthebridge，andbruisesrisenunderhiseyeswhichtendedtoobscurehisvision。

Indeed，ashesatthere，satmouthingwithdark，bestreakedlipsunderacoveringofhoarybeardandmoustache，Ifoundthathisbloodstained，disfigured，wrinkled，asitwere“antique“faceremindedmemorethaneverofthoseofgreatsinnersofancienttimeswhoabandonedthisworldfortheforestandthedesert。

“Ihaveseenmanyproudfolk，“hecontinuedwithashakeofhishatlessheadanditssparsehairs。“Afiremayburnupquickly，andcontinuetoburnfiercely，yet，liketheseembers，becometurnedtoashes，and。soliesmoulderingtilldawn。Youngman，thereyouhavesomethingtothinkof。Noraretheymerelymywords。TheyarethewordsoftheHolyGospelitself。“

Everdescending，everweighingmoreheavilyuponus，thenightwasasblackandhotandstiflingasthepreviousonehadbeen，albeitaskindlyasamother。Stillthetwofiresontheoppositebankoftherivuletwereaflame，andsendinghotblastsofvapouracrossaseemingbrookofgold。

Foldinghi

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