Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/123



day long Euthymus waited in vain for the coming of Elissey—not even imagining the errand of mercy that detained him. He had not gone very far when he sat down to wait for him. Alternately he would fall asleep and wake up again, but without seeing anything of his companion. He would look everywhere—but the vain search had already made his eyes weak and feverish.

The sun had set behind the forest, and still there was no trace of Elissey. "It may be that he has passed me by," thought Euthymus; "or perhaps he was riding with some one while I was asleep and did not recognize me. Yet it is impossible that he could not have seen me. In the Steppes you can see for a great distance. Now if I should retrace my steps to look for