Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/178

 Rh you eat. I once had little children myself," continued Martin, "and know how to take care of them and amuse them." The woman took a seat beside the table, the one which Martin had indicated, and, after crossing herself, she began to eat.

Martin seated himself on the bed beside the little one. He chirped to the child several times, but owing to the loss of his teeth the sound was not an agreeable one and the babe began to cry. Martin then tried another means of amusement, by dangling his fingers in its face and then quickly withdrawing them without touching the child. The little trick pleased the babe and it soon ceased to cry, and, becoming quiet, it watched Martin until a smile spread over its little face, and Martin was happy. Meanwhile the woman was enjoying her meal and relating her family history to Martin, telling him who she was and where she came from. "I," she said, "am a soldier's wife, and eight months ago my husband was ordered a long distance from here,