fresh hoof-prints.

'Christ bless you,' answered the old man. 'The boar will be in the
hollow beyond the ditch,' he added. Til watch, and you can go.'

Lukashka pulled his cloak up higher and walked back alone, throwing
swift glances now to the left at the wall of reeds, now to the Terek
rushing by below the bank. 'I daresay he's watching or creeping along
somewhere,' thought he of a possible Chechen hillsman. Suddenly a loud
rustling and a splash in the water made him start and seize his musket.
From under the bank a boar leapt up--his dark outline showing for a
moment against the glassy surface of the water and then disappearing
among the reeds. Lukashka pulled out his gun and aimed, but before he
could fire the boar had disappeared in the thicket. Lukashka spat with
vexation and went on. On approaching the ambuscade he halted again and
whistled softly. His whistle was answered and he stepped up to his
comrades.

Nazarka, all curled up, was already asleep. Ergushov sat with his legs
crossed and moved slightly to make room for Lukashka.

'How jolly it is to sit here! It's really a good place,' said he. 'Did
you take him there?'

'Showed him where,' answered Lukashka, spreading out his cloak. 'But
what a big boar I roused just now close to the water! I expect it was
the very one! You must have heard the crash?'

'I did hear a beast crashing through. I knew at once it was a beast. I
thought to myself: "Lukashka has roused a beast,"' Ergushov said,
wrapping himself up in his cloak. 'Now I'll go to sleep,' he added.
'Wake me when the cocks crow. We must have discipline. I'll lie down
and have a nap, and then you will have a nap and I'll watch--that's the
way.'

'Luckily I don't want to sleep,' answered Lukashka.

The night was dark, warm, and still. Only on one side of the sky the
stars were shining, the other and greater part was overcast by one huge
cloud stretching from the mountaintops. The black cloud, blending in
the absence of any wind with the mountains, moved slowly onwards, its
curved edges sharply denned against the deep starry sky. Only in front
of him could the Cossack discern the Terek and the distance beyond.
Behind and on both sides he was surrounded by a wall of reeds.
Occasionally the reeds would sway and rustle against one another
apparently without cause. Seen from down below, against the clear part
of the sky, their waving tufts looked like the feathery branches of
trees. Close in front at h