of the column, which
consisted of over a hundred women from all the cells. They all had
white 'kerchiefs on their heads, and some few wore their own colored
dresses. These were the wives and children of convicts. The procession
covered the whole stairway. A soft clatter of prison shoes was heard,
here and there some conversation, and sometimes laughter. At a turn
Maslova noticed the malicious face of her enemy, Bochkova, who was
walking in the front row, and pointed her out to Theodosia. At the
foot of the stairs the women became silent, and, making the sign of
the cross and bowing, they filed into the open door of the empty,
gold-bedecked chapel. Their place was on the right, where, crowding
each other, they began to arrange themselves in rows, standing. Behind
the women came the male convicts who were serving terms or detained
for transportation under sentence by the communities. Loudly clearing
their throats, they formed a dense crowd on the left and the middle of
the chapel. Above, on the gallery, were other convicts with heads half
shaven, whose presence was manifested by a clanking of chains.

This prison chapel had been rebuilt and remodeled by a rich merchant,
who had spent about thirty thousand rubles on it, and it was all
ornamented with gilt and bright colors.

For a few seconds there was silence, which was broken only by the
blowing of noses, coughing, and clanking of chains. Suddenly the
prisoners who stood in the middle began to press back, making a
passage for the inspector, who walked to the middle of the chapel, and
the services commenced.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Nekhludoff left the house early. A peasant was driving along a side
alley, shouting in a strange voice: "Milk! milk! milk!"

The first warm, spring rain had fallen the evening before. Wherever
there was a patch of unpaved ground the green grass burst forth; the
lindens were covered with green nap; the fowl-cherry and poplar
unfolded their long, fragrant leaves. In the market-place, through
which Nekhludoff had to pass, dense crowds in rags swarmed before the
tents, some carrying boots under their arms, others smoothly pressed
trousers and vests on their shoulders.

The working people were already crowding near the traktirs
(tea-houses), the men in clean, long coats gathered in folds in the
back of the waist, and in shining boots; the women in bright-colored
silk shawls and cloaks with glass-bead trimmings. Policemen, with
pistols attac