Page:Tolstoy - Tales from Tolstoi.djvu/108

Tales from Tolstoi Andreich to himself, as a cold shiver ran down his back, and buttoning and covering himself up again, he squeezed himself fast against the corner of the sledge. Suddenly, amidst the monotonous wail of the wind, he distinctly heard a sort of strange piercing sound. This sound gradually increased in volume, and after reaching its highest pitch began to diminish just as gradually. There could not be the least doubt that it was the howl of a wolf. And this wolf was so close that when the wind blew in the right quarter the stretching of the beast's jaws could be plainly heard as he modulated the sound of his voice. Vasily Andreich put aside his collar and listened intently. Brownie also listened fixedly, twitching his ears about the while; and when the wolf had ended its performance the horse shifted its feet uneasily and neighed. After that, Vasily Andreich not only could not sleep, but could no longer feel at his ease. However much he now might try to think of his accounts, of his affairs, of his glory, his dignity, and his riches, fear began to master him more and more, and from henceforth the thought, "Why did I not pass the night at Grishkino?" crept in among and dominated all other thoughts.

"If it hadn't been for this wood I'm after, plague take it! I should have passed the night there. Ah! why didn't I?" he thought to himself. "They say the tipsy are never frozen," he continued to meditate, "and I took a tidy drop myself." And paying more attention to his sensations, he became aware that he was beginning to tremble, and he himself did not know whether it was from cold or from fear that he 58