The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1879-10-16

}, 10 OOs
The shades gradually deepened
the room. The young woman ro
and lighted the lamp before the shrir
of images in the eastern corner. The
she crossed herself three times, an
pronounced in a solemn voice: Go
have mercy on the departing soul {
thy servantl'
'Amen!' responded The dying maj
This was his last word. An hou
later he was dead. Then the viii
threw herself on her knees and bega
according to the old custom, to mour
over the corpse:
oh, light of my life, which neve
could have enjoyed long enough I
Why do you leave me, an orphan, 81
soon2 What have l done to offend
yo1 SOP Why do You punish me b,
leaving the earth?'
! /, And 90 on, one invocation, one Ia
ment succeeding the other, until th,
whole formula prescribed by custom
was exhausted. Then the woman
rose. ,and bowling before me and
Mashka, almost to the ground, said:
E Il thank thee,m Batinshky,I thank
thee, Matushka, for the care you haye
given to my husband. And now, leave
me alone with him for the last time.
I must dress him, not for the bridal
bed, but for the grave. f.5a
We both stepped ont silently into
the starry night, e -
There, look. . star has just dropped
from the skyP exclaimed Mashka.
Perhaps it is Stepan's souf You
know, people say that each man has
his star mp there. and when the soul
goes to Heaven the star drops and dis
appears. H
I answered nothing, but as I looked
into the young, upturned face of my
gazing at the stars, l
thought of all she had done, of all her
and self-sacrifice, and com.
pared the labor of love and charity
daily accomplished by this ssinful wo-
man with the miserable cowardice of
the village .priest-the so-called SER
want of God of love and charity
who since the third day of the epi.
demic had shut himself up in his
house, pretending to be sick.
tWhst miserable sham our world
is exclaimed involuntarily.
She looked at me with surprise.
Yes, barin. But on such starry
night don't you feel so very, very
small in all the boundless depth of
heaven?
Yes, Mashka, but the soul of one
man can be greater and nobler than all
his endless universe.
She evidently did not understand
exactly what 1 meant. The poor man
IS tired, she probably thought /; 'he be-
gins to wander;' and at a. turning OF
he road Mashka Soldatka hid me
rood night.
This night went home determined
o get at last thorough rest. The
ioctor remained at the hospital. After
glass of stcaming hot
ca Gavrilytch had prepared for me,
topped out on the balcony to enjoy
'nce more the fresh night air before
'oing 10 bed. The night was dark and
aim. That absolute, mystic stiffness
to the summer nights of the
North prevailed everywhere. 1 sat
own on garden chair and listened
o what? i knew not. Not sound
anne to trouble the almost awful still.
ess, and still waited and listened,
istened-to silence. i
A strange. anxious feeling, some.
That similar to the thrill experienced
y nervous persons on listening to
at night, came over one.
he more I resisted this strange spell,
he more completely it mastered me.
held my breath; I was afraid to
love least I should trouble the great
alm of night. Thus sat motionless,
oell-bound, my own pulse ringing in
" ears, all my faculties turned NOR
idly to one pnrpose, to listen to
,und which did not come. At last
came; . low, dismal moan in the
IL, seeming to hoat somewhere in
race between heaven and earth.
,rang up, shfvering az If with cold.
nervous awe, doubtless attributable
} the fatigue I had undergone during |
le last few days, crept upon me, and
remained standing, not daring to
owe. For several minutes all was
ill. Thcn came again that quaint, ,un-
Irthly moan. It sounded like the
y of some dying animal. Though I
'ming from distance, there were
lid. discordant notes in that sound
hich grated on, the ear, aud the orig
of which, to me, was utterly mex.
lcable. A few moments later an
her sound, still more horrible, still
ore discOrdant, ran through the
ght-a sound as of hundreds of
hives rubbed against one another.
1 could bear 1t no longer, and was
to wake up old Guvirly-
b and ask him what he thought
'out these strange noises. I had
st stepped back into my room when !,
e door opened and Gavritytch him.
If, hastily and imperfectly clad in an
d tulup (sheep skin), appeared.
Il see you are not yet in bed, barin, {
remarked in low tone. 'Have
~ heard?
Yes; was just going to call you, {
what can that be 2
knOwp exclaimed the veteran.