Peasant Tales of Russia Part 4

"Comrades!" the chief miner exclaimed joyfully. "There is no doubt about it! We are in the Znamensky mine!"

So true is it that one man's grief is another man's happiness.

Old Ivan himself was forgotten. They saw that he had guided them all to the old mine, which had been long abandoned, but which he remembered from his childhood. As the mine had been dug in the rock itself, the shaft was undamaged, but they had to find the entrance to it.

The old man remained motionless where he was, his eyes fixed on the place where his mother had perished. The chief miner, who had recovered his collectedness of mind, approached him.

"Well, old man, has Jesus gone without you?"

"No ... He is there.... He waits for me. Here I am, Lord, here I am."

He resumed his march, and the miners followed him cheerfully.

IX

This last part of the journey was not very long. The old mine was not so narrow as the one they had just left. Large and lofty galleries led directly to the shaft; it had not been necessary to dig very deep here in order to find copper ore, and the shaft, which was of a moderate depth and dry, remained as it had always been. Although they no longer needed the old man, he still continued to lead them. The exaltation of spirit which he had shown, gave no sign of sinking, his walk was firm, and he held with a steady hand his brilliantly-burning torch. There still seemed to be some living occupants of the mine, though it had been quite abandoned, for now and then, as the miners proceeded, something fled out of their path, either a mole frightened by the unexpected sight of men, or a pole-cat which had made its home in these subterranean pa.s.sages.

Ivan continued to see in front of him the white Apparition, and he believed that he heard Jesus calling and inviting him to follow.

The ground they were now pa.s.sing over was almost entirely dry. It was evident that if here water had ever streamed from the roofs and the walls, it had long ago drained off down the slanting pa.s.sages, probably into the neighbouring mine. Here and there some water-drops were visible s.h.i.+ning on the stones, but one did not hear the loud noise of the water-springs, nor the roar of the torrents rus.h.i.+ng down the creva.s.ses.

When the miners reached the shaft they beheld above their heads a greyish light, a certain indication that they were no longer very far from the surface of the earth.

"Well, now, how are we to get up?"

"There are still ladders left, but so rotten that they would not support us."

"Listen to me," said the chief miner. "One of us must try to get up there. Once he has got up, he will go and get help from the village.

Hullo! Where is the old man?"

Still under the impression of his fixed idea, the old man had seen Jesus mounting the ladders and did not wish to remain behind. He thought no more of his comrades; he had forgotten them. However, the higher he climbed, clinging to the ladders, the more weary he felt. His weakness overcame him again, and long-forgotten phantoms seemed to be climbing at his side--he did not know whether they were phantoms or living beings.

He saw his mother; she was wearing the same miner's boots which he had seen projecting from the ma.s.s of earth which covered her. He saw also the old man who had loved and petted him when he was a child. He saw him with his beard just as he used to be, wearing the same coa.r.s.e s.h.i.+rt with unb.u.t.toned collar, showing his chest covered with grey hair. Both these dumb companions smiled affectionately at him.

Overhead the orifice of the shaft continued to grow larger. The old man could already distinguish a fragment of pure blue sky, for what seemed from below the grey light of morning was, above the surface, the splendour of a sunny day. And in this splendour, Jesus was continually ascending, and was now well above the opening of the shaft.

He reached the last rung of the ladder. The earth was basking under the bright autumnal sun. The gra.s.s, although withered, appeared rejuvenated by it; yellowed leaves hung thickly on the branches of the birches.

Birds were winging a zigzag flight through the cloudless sky. On the horizon mountains showed their forest-clothed summits. The air was impregnated with a pleasant warmth.

Ivan gazed above him with an expression of astonishment. The Apparition ascended higher and higher, inviting him to follow. His mother stood on one side, the old man on the other, gazing at him....

The miners had seen the old man scale the ladders of the shaft. Then, without listening to the chief miner, they hastened to follow him. They followed so close one after the other that they seemed to be climbing on each others' backs. When they reached the surface of the ground, they suddenly paused and remained without moving, after having uncovered their heads. They did not dare to disturb by a word the mystery which was being consummated before their eyes. Nor was the consummation long in coming. The miners formed a circle in the midst of which lay old Ivan stretched on the ground, his face turned towards the sky, his arms already numb, stretched far apart; his wide-open eyes saw no one; they were intently fixed on the blue vault above him as though following some one who was mounting in infinite s.p.a.ce. His lips were seen to be feebly moving, and when the chief miner bent over him, his keen ear caught the dying old man's last whispers, "Here I am, Lord.... I am following You!"

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_MAHMOUD'S FAMILY_

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Your prediction is fulfilled. The Turk has escaped."]

_MAHMOUD'S FAMILY_

I. MAHMOUD

A fusillade of musketry fire had just broken out between the Russian and Turkish advance-posts.

The fog was so dense that the confused ma.s.ses of the Balkan mountains could hardly be distinguished. They seemed more like clouds which had descended on the earth to pa.s.s the night there. A red light showed through the fog from a distance; perhaps it was a Turkish bivouac-fire or the conflagration of some lonely farm. The Cossacks turned their piercing eyes in this direction, but in vain, for it was absolutely impossible to make out what it was in such dense gloom.

It was the Turks who had begun firing; the Russians were content with merely replying. Neither side was visible to the other, but they fired, fearing lest, owing to the denseness of the fog, the enemy might approach close to them without being seen. On such occasions one fires involuntarily; it is a kind of mutual warning, "I am not asleep, you understand; take care!"

The sounds of firing died away in the damp and heavy atmosphere. Slowly the night fell, gradually blotting out from view the field of battle, and the corpses still lying on the snow. Everything was silent; only a groan from a wounded man or the death-rattle of a horse was audible from time to time. But that was all, and the soldiers, exhausted by marching during the day and fighting in the evening, had not sufficient energy left to think of carrying away the bodies of their comrades. They wished for nothing but a night of rest and sleep.

"Not very cheerful for us, the night of the New Year, eh, Major?" said the Colonel, a short stout man addressing a tall thin one, who had his arm in a sling. The two were sitting on the balcony of a Turkish house.

"No, it isn't! And no letters from home either."

"That is the least of my anxieties; I know our military post too well."

"Ah, how gladly one would see those one loves, were it only for a single moment! But to spend Christmas in the s.h.i.+pka Pa.s.s and the New Year here, sapristi! there is no fun in that. In our house the Christmas tree is lighted and the children are running round it. Your wife and children are sure to be with mine, and they will be talking of us. Probably they are anxious because of our silence. As if we could write--we who only rush on, like madmen, at the risk of breaking our heads! By the way, how is your arm?"

"Not very grand, you know."

"Well, make use of it!"

"To do what?"

"To go away. Apply for leave for health's sake."

"_You_ ought not to say so to me."

"Why?"

"Because we are already short of officers as you know very well. In my battalion there are sub-lieutenants commanding whole companies.

Moreover, you and I are not in the habit of separating. We will return home together, that is all. Don't let us talk any more about it."

It was now quite dark, and the horizon was hidden. Here and there the darkness was pierced by the luminous points of some windows in the village which were still lit up. Suddenly there appeared in the street the red moving flame of torch and in the circle of light formed by it a red face wearing a pair of moustaches. At moments there also came to view in the same luminous circle a horse's head with its ears erect.

"Panteleieff!" cried the Colonel in the direction of the torch. The torch entered into the courtyard, and soon the horse stood before the officers, snorting and sc.r.a.ping the hard snow with its hoofs. The Cossack who was riding it reversed his torch, and clouds of black smoke, rising heavily, surrounded his arm.

"Where are you going like that?"

"To the advance-posts, Colonel."

"Why?"