l and smiling, Nilovna kept on calling her wares:

"Hot! Hot! Sour soup! Vermicelli soup! Porridge!"

She thought of how she would tell her son about her first experience;
and the yellow face of the officer was still standing before her,
perplexed and spiteful. His black mustache twitched uneasily, and his
upper lip turned up nervously, showing the gleaming white enamel of his
clenched teeth. A keen joy beat and sang in her heart like a bird, her
eyebrows quivered, and continuing deftly to serve her customers she
muttered to herself:

"There's more! There's more!"

Through the whole day she felt a sensation of delightful newness which
embraced her heart as with a fondling caress. And in the evening, when
she had concluded her work at Marya's house, and was drinking tea, the
splash of horses' hoofs in the mud was heard, and the call of a
familiar voice. She jumped up, hurried into the kitchen, and made
straight for the door. Somebody walked quickly through the porch; her
eyes grew dim, and leaning against the doorpost, she pushed the door
open with her foot.

"Good evening, mother!" a familiar, melodious voice rang out, and a
pair of dry, long hands were laid on her shoulders.

The joy of seeing Andrey was mingled in her bosom with the sadness of
disappointment; and the two contrary feelings blended into one burning
sensation which embraced her like a hot wave. She buried her face in
Andrey's bosom. He pressed her tightly to himself, his hands trembled.
The mother wept quietly without speaking, while he stroked her hair,
and spoke in his musical voice:

"Don't cry, mother. Don't wring my heart. Upon my honest word, they
will let him out soon! They haven't a thing against him; all the boys
will keep quiet as cooked fish."

Putting his long arm around the mother's shoulders he led her into the
room, and nestling up against him with the quick gesture of a
squirrel, she wiped the tears from her face, while her heart greedily
drank in his tender words.

"Pavel sends you his love. He is as well and cheerful as can be. It's
very crowded in the prison. They have thrown in more than a hundred of
our people, both from here and from the city. Three and four persons
have been put into one cell. The prison officials are rather a good
set. They are exhausted with the quantity of work the gendarmes have
been giving them. The prison authorities are not extremely rigorous,
they don't order you about rough