Page:Taras Bulba. A Tale of the Cossacks. 1916.djvu/272

266 jacket and discoloured braid, thrusting his head above the throng, was the first to grasp it with the aid of his long arms, and kissed his booty, pressed it to his heart, and finally put it in his mouth. A hawk, suspended beneath the balcony in a gilded cage, was also a spectator; with beak inclined to one side, and one foot raised, he, also, watched the people attentively.—But suddenly a murmur ran through the crowd, and a rumour spread: "They're coming! they're coming! The kazáks!"

The kazáks walked with uncovered heads, and their long scalp-locks floating. Their beards had grown. They walked neither timidly nor surlily, but with a certain haughtiness. Their garments of handsome cloth were threadbare and hung about them in tatters. They neither looked at nor saluted the populace. At the head of all walked Ostap.

What were old Taras's feelings when he beheld his Ostap! What was in his heart then! He gazed at him from among the crowd, and lost not a single one of his movements. The men had already approached the place of execution.