Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/146

140 women, resembling shadows, knelt supporting themselves against the backs of the chairs and dark wooden benches in front of them, and drooping their exhausted heads upon them. A few men knelt sadly, leaning against the pillars which supported the side arches. The stained-glass window above the altar glowed with the rosy light of dawn; and from it, on the floor, fell circles of azure, yellow and other colours, suddenly illuminating the dim church. The entire altar, even to its furthest recesses, suddenly shone forth in a radiant halo; the smoke of the censers hung like an illuminated, rainbow-hued cloud in the air. Andríi gazed from his dark corner, not without surprise, at the wonders wrought by the light. At that moment the magnificent swell of the organ suddenly filled the whole church; it grew deeper and deeper, increased in volume, passed into heavy bursts of thunder; and then, all at once, turning into heavenly music, its singing tones floated high among the arches, suggesting the voices of young maidens, and again descended into a deep roar and thunder, and then ceased. And the thunderous pulsations echoed long and tremulously among the arches; and Andríi, with mouth agape, was amazed by the wondrous music.

At that moment he felt some one pluck the skirt of his kaftan. "'Tis time to be going," said the