Page:Complete Works of Count Tolstoy - 02.djvu/104

86 horses, and pulled the reins. The frozen sleigh squeaked over the snow.

"This Olénin is a fine fellow," said one of the two. "But what pleasure is there in going to the Caucasus, and as a yunker at that? I would not do it for anything. Will you dine at the club to-morrow?"

"Yes."

And the friends parted.

The departing man felt warm, even hot, in his fur coat. He sat down in the bed of the sleigh and stretched himself; and the shaggy stage-horses flew from one dark street into another, past houses he had never seen. It appeared to Olénin that only those who departed travelled through these streets. Around him it was dark, speechless, gloomy, and his soul was full of recollections, love, regrets, and of pleasurable tears that choked him.