Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/145

 138 saying who he was, and we knew not upon whom to ask God to let his blessing rest. I can recall that happy morning as if it had occurred only yesterday. As I lay there awaiting death, I saw the old man come in. He was bald, though there was nothing unusual in his appearance. He said he had come to ask for a drink of water, but, sinning even in my misery, I thought to myself, 'Why do they go tramping around?' Yet it was this man who saved our lives, for as soon as he realized our pitiable state he put down his sack on this very spot and proceeded to open it."

Here the little girl interrupted her, saying:

"No, grandma; he first put it in the middle of the room, and afterward placed it on the bench."

Thus the grateful peasants began to dispute with each other, as they recalled every word that Elissey had said to them—what he had done, where he used to sit, and where he slept.

As the night wore on the man of the peasant