Page:Leskov - The Sentry and other Stories.djvu/262

 246 recalled to Russia he did not insist on retaining his adroit baptizer. The Zyryan was sent to me: he was large, bearded, and loquacious, an oily man. I sent him at once to the desert and already two weeks later received joyful news: he informed me that he had baptized the people everywhere. There was only one thing he feared: would he have sufficient crosses, though he had taken a very fair sized boxful with him. From this I did not fail to conclude that the draught caught in the net of this successful fisherman was very considerable.

I thought: "Now at last I have found the right man for this work!" I was very glad of it. Very glad indeed. I will tell you frankly—from quite an official point of view—because, gentlemen, a bishop is also a man, and he becomes wearied, when one authority tells him, "Baptize," and another says "Let it alone." A plague on them all, I thought. It is best to settle it in one way or the other, and as I have come across a skilful baptizer, let him baptize the whole lot of them together; perhaps people will be quieter then.

But Kiriak did not share my opinion; and one evening when I was crossing the yard from the bath-house we met; he stopped and greeted me:

"Good evening, Vladyko,"