Page:Russian sketches, chiefly of peasant life.djvu/184

168 I could observe unusual movement in the village as I looked down on it. Dark spots were moving, and the long shadows beside them added to the weirdness of the scene.

"Faster, come faster," cried Saul's wife, keeping her eyes fixed on the village. She seemed about to speak again, but pointed in front, and ran hastily to the bridge.

Meanwhile Saul walked on, with his head drooping on his breast, his eyes fixed on the ground, his brows twitching. Absorbed in his one thought, he seemed not to notice his wife's absence, but he quickened his steps as he neared his goal.

We reached the village just as the cattle were being driven in from the pastures. The herd met us, and a crowd of women, girls and children continually crossed our path, adding to the confusion in the street; some of them seemed pressing to a cottage at the end of the street, where a crowd had already assembled near the door. The lowing of the cattle, the bleating of the sheep, and the cries of the women driving the animals prevented our hearing the remarks of the passers-by, but sounds of lamentation seemed to meet us in the distance from the cottage.

"Never mind your horse, let it go; the old