th his
foolish flourish, on a printed letter-head, and, of course, does not
consider himself guilty. The prison physician, who inspected the
convicts, has still less reason for considering himself guilty. He
carefully fulfilled his duties, separated the weak ones, and could not
possibly foresee either the terrible heat, or that they would be taken
away so late and in such a crowd. The inspector? But the inspector
only carried out the order that on such a day so many men and women
prisoners should be sent away. No more guilty was the officer of the
convoy, whose duty consisted in receiving so many people at such a
place and delivering them at another place. He led the party in the
usual way, according to instructions, and could not possibly foresee
that such strong men, like the two whom Nekhludoff had seen, would
succumb and die. No one was guilty, and yet the men were killed by
these very people who were innocent of their death.

"All this happened," thought Nekhludoff, "because all those
people--the governor, inspector and the other officers--saw before
them, not human beings and their duties toward them, but the service
and its requirements. Therein lies the difficulty."

In his meditation Nekhludoff did not notice how the weather had
changed. The sun had hidden behind a low strip of cloud, and from the
southern sky a light-gray mass, from which a slanting rain was already
pouring in the distance over the fields and forests, was coming on.
Now and then a flash of lightning rent the clouds, and the rattle of
the train mingled with the rattle of thunder. The clouds came nearer
and nearer, the slanting drops of rain, driven by the wind, pattered
on the platform of the car and stained Nekhludoff's overcoat. He moved
to the other side, and drawing in the fresh, humid air and the odor of
the wheat coming from the parched ground, he looked on the passing
gardens, forests; the rye fields just turning yellow, the emerald
streaks of oats, and the furrows of the dark-green, flowering potato.
Everything looked as if covered with varnish: the green and yellow
colors became brighter; the black became blacker.

"More, more," said Nekhludoff, rejoicing at the reviving fields and
gardens under the abundant rain.

The heavy rain did not last long. The clouds partly dissipated, and
the last fine shower fell straight on the wet ground. The sun came
forth again, the earth brightened, and a low but brilliant violet
tinged rainbow, br