rt and said:

"Well, God speed! Give my love to your mother, Mihailo. Give my love to
them all. And you, Ignatyev, mind you don't forget to give the parcel to
Bystretsov.... Off!"

The driver took the reins in one hand, blew his nose, and, arranging the
seat under himself, clicked to the horses.

"Give them my love," the postmaster repeated.

The big bell clanged something to the little bells, the little bells
gave it a friendly answer. The cart squeaked, moved. The big bell
lamented, the little bells laughed. Standing up in his seat the driver
lashed the restless tracehorse twice, and the cart rumbled with a hollow
sound along the dusty road. The little town was asleep. Houses and trees
stood black on each side of the broad street, and not a light was to be
seen. Narrow clouds stretched here and there over the star-spangled
sky, and where the dawn would soon be coming there was a narrow
crescent moon; but neither the stars, of which there were many, nor the
half-moon, which looked white, lighted up the night air. It was cold and
damp, and there was a smell of autumn.

The student, who thought that politeness required him to talk affably to
a man who had not refused to let him accompany him, began:

"In summer it would be light at this time, but now there is not even a
sign of the dawn. Summer is over!"

The student looked at the sky and went on:

"Even from the sky one can see that it is autumn. Look to the right.
Do you see three stars side by side in a straight line? That is the
constellation of Orion, which, in our hemisphere, only becomes visible
in September."

The postman, thrusting his hands into his sleeves and retreating up to
his ears into his coat collar, did not stir and did not glance at the
sky. Apparently the constellation of Orion did not interest him. He was
accustomed to see the stars, and probably he had long grown weary of
them. The student paused for a while and then said:

"It's cold! It's time for the dawn to begin. Do you know what time the
sun rises?"

"What?"

"What time does the sun rise now?"

"Between five and six," said the driver.

The mail cart drove out of the town. Now nothing could be seen on either
side of the road but the fences of kitchen gardens and here and there
a solitary willow-tree; everything in front of them was shrouded in
darkness. Here in the open country the half-moon looked bigger and the
stars shone more brightly. Then came a scent of dampness; the p