n or shame or the gleam of the
firelight had caused his hitherto dead eyes to gather life and grow
brighter--aye, and sterner. Somehow, as I looked at him, I felt awkward
and abashed.

A cough twisted his broad nose. Then he wiped his beard on the palm of
his hand, and his hand on his knee; whereafter, as he stretched forth
the pair of senile, dark-coloured hands, and held them over the embers,
he said:

"How cold the water of the rivulet is! It is absolutely icy."

With a glance from under his brows Silantiev inquired:

"Are you very badly hurt?"

"No. Merely a man caught me a blow on the bridge of the nose, where the
blood flows readily. Yet, as God knows, he will gain nothing by his
act, whereas the suffering which he has caused me will go to swell my
account with the Holy Spirit."

As the man spoke he glanced across the rivulet. On the opposite bank
two men were staggering along, and drunkenly bawling the tipsy refrain:

"In the du-u-uok let me die, In the au-autumn time!"

"Aye, long is it since I received a blow," the old man continued,
scanning the two revellers from under his hand. "Twenty years it must
be since last I did so. And now the blow was struck for nothing, for no
real fault.. You see, I have been allowed no nails for the doing of the
work, and have been obliged to make use of wooden clamps for most of
it, while battens also have not been forthcoming; and, this being so,
it was through no remissness of mine that the work could not be
finished by sunset tonight. I suspect, too, that, to eke out its wages,
that rabble has been thieving, with the eldest leading the rest. And
that, again, is not a thing for which I can be held responsible. True,
this is a Government job, and some of those fellows are young, and
young, hungry fellows such as they will (may they be forgiven!) steal,
since everyone hankers to get something in return for a very little.
But, once more, how is that my fault? Yes, that rabble must be a
regular set of rascals! Just now they deprived my eldest son of a saw,
of a brand-new saw; and thereafter they spilt my blood, the blood of a
greybeard!"

Here his small, grey face contracted into wrinkles, and, closing his
eyes, he sobbed a dry, grating sob.

Silantiev fidgeted--then sighed. Presently the old man looked at him,
blew his nose, wiped his hand upon his trousers, and said quietly:

"Somewhere, I think, I have seen you before."

"That is so. You saw me one evening when I