Page:Leo Tolstoi - Life Is Worth Living and Other Stories - tr. Adolphus Norraikow (1892).djvu/67

 60 an was alone at the time and her lot must have been an extremely unhappy one.

"The morning after this event I went to visit my neighbor, to learn if there was anything I could do for her. I was too late to be of any assistance, for I found her body already stiff and cold. In her death-struggle she had turned over on this child [pointing to the lame girl] and crushed her tender little foot.

"On learning the state of affairs I went among the village folk and informed them of the sad occurrence,and between us we obtained a cheap coffin. After washing and dressing the body we gave it decent burial. The helpless babes were still to be cared for, and it was a difficult matter for us to know what to do with them, as we were all poor people struggling for a living. I alone of all the women present had but one child. It was my first—a boy just eight weeks old.

"The men of the village called an assembly of the people to discuss what would be best to do