Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/105

 98 Elissey moved in the direction of the boy, when the child sprang forward and snatched the food violently from his hand, devouring it like a hungry wolf. The girl, who had come from the oven, looked longingly at the bread, and Elissey gave some to her also. Cutting another slice, he handed it to the woman who sat by the table, and, eating it ravenously, she said:

"Water! Give us water! Our tongues are parched! I went to-day—or yesterday, I don't remember—to bring a pail of water, but fell exhausted on the way to the well. I left the pail, for I was unable to carry it; and perhaps some one has taken it away."

After some difficulty Elissey learned the location of the well and proceeded thither. He found the pail, and filling it with water he returned to the house, giving each of the starving people a drink. The children ate some more bread, and on receiving some water the woman did likewise.