Page:Henryk Sienkiewicz - In Vain.djvu/71

Rh would be a long tale to tell how much and what he passed through before he reached the University and began to be the man whom we know at present.

His parents returned his love a hundred-fold.

In truth, they were a pair of doves whitened by age, loving each other, in agreement and happiness.

Happiness and peace dwelt in that cottage. Such bright spots on the earth are met with, though rarely, like oases in a desert. The old people enjoyed each other, and went side by side as in the first days after marriage; they called each other falcon and berry. What joy there was when that son came home for vacation, no tongue can tell, no pen can describe. With Vasilkevich came Karvovski. The old people loved and petted him also, but he was not for them as their Yasek, whom they simply called "Ours."

Often when the young men were tired from racing a whole day through the wilderness, the old people after going to bed talked in a low voice about them. This is what Karvovski heard once through their chamber partition,—

"He is a handsome boy, that Karvovski," said the old man.