Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/116

 Rh while the peasant man and the old woman were watching the scene from the window.

Awaking suddenly, Elissey said to himself: "To-morrow I will redeem the meadow and rye-field, after which I will buy a horse and cow for the children. It is no use to go beyond the seas to look for Christ, for you may lose your self. I must make one more effort to give these people another start." And Elissey went to sleep again and rested quietly till morning.

Early the next day he arose and visited the rich peasant. He cancelled the mortgage and bought back the scythe which the poor peasant had previously sold to the rich man, returning it to its former owner. Elissey then sent the peasant into the field to mow, going himself to the village in search of a horse and wagon which had been sold to the inn-keeper. After repurchasing them he went to buy also a cow.

Elissey overheard the gossiping of two Little Russian women as he passed along the street, and he became convinced that they were talk-