was a young man whose face was evidently
heated with fever; the other was an old man, who never left off
groaning.

The Englishman asked whether the young man had been sick for a long
time. The superintendent replied that he had been taken sick that very
same morning, that the old man had had convulsions for a long time,
and that they kept him in prison because there was no place for him in
the hospital.

The Englishman shook his head discontentedly, said that he would like
to say a few words to the prisoners, and asked Nekhludoff to translate
his remarks. It turned out that, besides the aim of his journey, which
was the description of the exile system--he had another one--the
preaching of the gospel, of salvation through faith.

"Tell them that Christ pitied and loved them," he said to Nekhludoff,
"and that He died for them. He who will believe in Him will be saved."

While he was saying this, all the prisoners were standing erect with
their hands by their sides.

"Tell them," continued the Englishman, "that all I said will be found
in this book. Are there any among them who can read?" It turned out
that there were more than twenty who could.

The Englishman took out a few leather-bound Bibles from his traveling
bag, and soon a number of muscular hands, terminating in long black
nails, were stretched out toward him, pushing each other aside in
order to reach the Testaments. He left two Testaments in this room,
and went to the next one.

There the same thing occurred. There prevailed the same dampness and
ill-smells. But in this room, between the windows, an image of the
Virgin, before which a small lamp burned dimly, was hung up. To the
left side of the door stood the large vat. Here the prisoners were
stretched out on their berths, and in the same way they rose and
placed themselves in a row. Three of them remained in their places.
Two of these three lifted themselves and sat up, but the third one
remained stretched out, and did not even look at the visitors. These
latter ones were sick. The Englishman addressed them in the same
manner, and left two Testaments.

From the cells in which those condemned to hard labor were imprisoned,
they passed over to the cells of the exiles, and finally those in
which the relatives who escorted the prisoners to Siberia were
awaiting the day appointed to start hence.

Everywhere the same cold, hungry, idling, sickly, degraded, brutalized
human beings could be seen.

The