happy at the war," I added.

"I want you to like him," Nikitin said. "He's a splendid man ... I
have known him many years. He is merry and simple and
it is easy to laugh at him, but it is always easy to laugh
at the best people. You must like him, 'Mr.'... He likes you
very much."

I felt as though Nikitin were here forming an alliance
between the three of us. Well, I liked Nikitin, I liked
Andrey Vassilievitch. I listened to the battery, now some
way behind us, then said:

"Of course, I am his friend if he wishes."

Nikitin repeated solemnly: "Andrey Vassilievitch is a
splendid fellow."

Then we arrived. Here, beside the broad path of the forest
there was a clearing and above the clearing a thick pattern
of shining stars curved like the top of a shell. Here, in
the open, the doctors had made a temporary hospital,
fastening candles on the trees, arranging two tables on
trestles, all very white and clean under a brilliant full
moon. There were here two Sisters whom I did not know,
several doctors, one of them a fat little army doctor who
had often been a visitor to our Otriad. The latter greeted
Nikitin warmly, nodded to me. He was a gay, merry little man
with twinkling eyes. "_Noo tak._ Fine, our hospital, don't
you think? Plenty to do this night, my friend. Here,
_golubchik_, this way.... Finger, is it? Oh! that's nothing.
Here, courage a moment. Where are the scissors?... scissors,
some one. One moment.... _One_ ... moment. Ah! there you
are!" The finger that had been hanging by a shred fell into
the basin. The soldier muttered something, slipped on to his
knees, his face grey under the moon, then huddled into
nothing, like a bundle of old clothes, fainted helplessly
away.

"Here, water!... No, take him over there! That's right.
Well, 'Mr.'--how are you? Lovely night.... Plenty of work
there'll be, too. Oh! you're going down to the _Vengerovsky
Polk_? Yes, they're down to the right there
somewhere--across the fields.... Warm over there."

The noise just then of the batteries was terrific. We were
compelled to shout at one another. A battery behind us
bellowed like a young bull and the shrapnel falling at some
distance amongst the trees had a strange splashing sound as
of a stone falling into water.[