“Ihadjustbeengoingtoresorttothecarpenters，fortheywouldhavegivenussomebread，Isuppose？LongisitsinceI
tastedanything。“
Thesamewordsherepeatedonourapproachingtheex-soldier；
muchasthoughhetookapleasureintheirphraseology。
“Yousupposethattheywouldhavegivenusbread？“echoedtheex-
soldierasheunfastenedhiswallet。“Notthey！Noloveislostbetweenthemandourselves。“
“Whomdoyoumeanby’ourselves’？“
“Ushere——youandmyself——allRussianfolkwhomayhappentobeintheseparts。Fromthewayinwhichthosefellowskeepsingingaboutpalms，IshouldjudgethemtobesectariansofthesortcalledMennonites。“
“OrMolokans，rather？“theothermansuggestedasheseatedhimselfinfrontofthefire。
“Yes，orMolokans。MolokansorMennonites——they’reallone。ItisaGermanfaithandthoughsuchfellowsloveaTeuton，theydonotexactlywelcomeUS。“
UponthisthemanwiththeCossackforelocktookasliceofbreadwhichtheex-soldiercutfromaloaf，withanonionandapinchofsalt。Then，asheregardeduswithapairofgood-humouredeyes，hesaid，balancinghisfoodonthepalmsofhishands:
“ThereisaspotontheSunzha，nearhere，wherethosefellowshaveacolonyoftheirown。Yes，Imyselfhavevisitedit。True，thosefellowsarehardenough，butatthesametimetospeakplainly，NOONEinthesepartshasanyregardforussinceonlytoomanyofthesortofRussianfolkwhocomehereinsearchofworkarenotoverly-desirable。“
“Wheredoyouyourselfcomefrom？“Theex-soldier’stonewassevere。
“FromKursk，wemightsay。“
“FromRussia，then？“
“Yes，Isupposeso。ButIhavenogreatopinionevenofmyself。“
Theex-soldierglanceddistrustfullyatthenewcomer。Thenheremarked:
“Whatyousayiscant，sheerJesuitism。ItisfellowslikeTHOSE，rather，thatoughttohaveapooropinionofthemselves。“
Tothistheothermadenoreply——merelyheputapieceofbreadintohismouth。Foramomentortwotheex-soldiereyedhimfrowningly。Thenhecontinued:
“YouseemtometobeanativeoftheDoncountry？“
“Yes，IhavelivedontheDonaswell。“
“Andalsoservedinthearmy？“
“No。Iwasanonlyson。“
“Ofamiestchanin？“[Amemberofthesmallcommercialclass。]
“No，ofamerchant。“
“Andyourname——？“
“IsVasili。“
Thelastreplycameonlyafterapause，andreluctantly；
wherefore，perceivingthattheKurskanhadnoparticulardesiretodiscusshisownaffairs，theex-soldiersaidnomoreonthesubject，butliftedthekettlefromthefire。
TheMolokansalsohadkindledablazebehindthecornerofthebarraque，andnowitsglowwaslickingtheyellowboardsofthestructureuntiltheyseemedalmosttobeliquescent，tobeabouttodissolveandflowoverthegroundinagoldenstream。
Presently，astheirfervourincreased，thecarpenters，invisibleamidtheobscurity，felltosinginghymns——thebassesintoningmonotonously，“Sing，thouHolyAngel！“andvoicesofhigherpitchresponding，coldlyandformally。
“Singye！
SinggloryuntoChrist，thouAngelofHoliness！
Singye！
OursingingwillweadduntoThine，ThouAngelofHoliness！“
Andthoughthechorusfailedaltogethertodullthesplashingoftherivuletandthebabblingoftheby-cutoverabedofstones，itseemedoutofplaceinthisparticularspot；itarousedresentmentagainstmenwhocouldnotthinkofalaymoreatunewiththeparticularliving，breathingobjectsaroundus。
Graduallydarknessenvelopedthedefileuntilonlyoverthemouthofthepass，overthespotwhere，gleamingabrilliantblue，therivuletescapedintoacleftthatwasoverhungwithamistofadeepershade，wastherenotyetsuspendedthecurtainoftheSouthernnight。
Presently，thegloomcausedoneoftherocksinourvicinitytoassumetheguiseofamonkwho，kneelinginprayer，hadhisheadadornedwithapointedskull-cap，andhisfaceburiedinhishands。Similarly，thestemsofthetreesstirredinthefirelightuntiltheydevelopedthesemblanceofafileoffriarsentering，forearlyMass，theporchoftheirchapel-of-ease。
Tomymindtherethenrecurredacertainoccasionwhen，onjustsuchadarkandsultrynightasthis，Ihadbeenseatedtale-
tellingundertheboundary-wallofarowofmonasticcellsintheDoncountry。SuddenlyIhadheardawindowabovemyheadopen，andsomeoneexclaiminakindly，youthfulvoice:
“TheMotherofGodbeblessedforallthisgoodlyworldofours！“
AndthoughthewindowhadclosedagainbeforeIhadhadtimetodiscernthespeaker，Ihadknownthattherewasresidentinthemonasteryafriarwhohadlargeeyes，andalimp，andjustsuchafaceashadVasilihere；wherefore，inallprobabilityithadbeenhewhohadbreathedthebenedictionuponmankindatlarge，forthereasonthatmomentstherearewhenallhumanityseemstobeone’sownbody，andinoneselfthereseemstobeattheheartofallhumanity……
Vasiliconsumedhisfooddeliberatelyas，breakingoffmorselsfromhisslice，andneatlypartinghismoustache，heplacedthemorselsinhismouthwithacuriousstirringoftwoglobuleswhichunderlaytheskinneartheears。
Theex-soldier，however，merelynibbledathisfood——heatebutlittle，andthatlazily。Thenheextractedapipefromhisbreastpocket，filleditwithtobacco，lititwithafaggottakenfromthefire，andsaidashesethimselftolistentothesingingoftheMolokans:
“Theyarefilledfull，andhavestartedbleating。AlwaysfolklikethemseektobeontherightsideoftheAlmighty。“
“Doesthathurtyouinanyway？“Vasiliaskedwithasmile。
“No，butIdonotrespectthem——theyarelesssaintsthanhumbugs，thanprevaricatorswhosefirstwordisGod，andsecondwordrouble。“
“Howdoyouknowthat？“criedVasiliamusedly。“AndeveniftheirfirstwordISGod，andtheirsecondwordrouble，wehadbestnotbetooharduponthem，sinceiftheychosetobeharduponUS，whereshouldWEbe？Yes，wehaveonlytoopenourmouthstospeakawordortwoforourselves，andweshouldfindeveryfistatourteeth。“
“Quiteso，“theex-soldieragreedas，takingupasquareofscantling，heexamineditattentively。
“WhomDOyourespect？“Vasilicontinuedafterapause。
“Irespect，“theex-soldiersaidwithsomeemphasis，“onlytheRussianpeople，thetrueRussianpeople，thefolkwholabouronlandwhereonlabourishard。YetwhoarethefolkwhomyoufindHERE？Inthispartoftheworldthebusinessoflivingisaneasyone。Muchofeverysortofnaturalproduceistobehad，andthesoilisgenerousandlight——youneedbuttoscratchitforittobear，andforyourselftoreap。Yes，itisindulgenttoafault。
Rather，itislikeamaiden。Dobuttouchher，andachildwillarrive。“
“Agreed，“wasVasili’sremarkashedrankteafromatinmug。
“YettothisverypartoftheworldisitthatIshouldliketotransporteverysoulinRussia。“
“Andwhy？“
“Becauseheretheycouldearnaliving。“
“ThenisnotthatpossibleinRussia？“
“Well，whyareyouyourselfhere？“
“BecauseIamamanlackingties。“
“Andwhyareyoulackingties？“
“Becauseithasbeensoordered——itis，sotospeak，mylot。“
“ThenhadyounotbetterconsiderWHYitisyourlot？“
Theex-soldiertookhispipefromhismouth，letfallthehandwhichheldit，andsmoothedhisplainfeaturesinsilentamazement。Thenheexclaimedinuncouth，queruloustones: