The Portland daily press., 1899-09-23
BY L !. MltropOIski.


veins and stirs up whole mountains of
snow in front of it-heaven and earth
amalgamated in an endless fog, an UNI
limited darkness, nowhere broken by SO
much as twinkle of light.
Inside, in the officers room, the lieu
tenant en- guard lies dreaming on the
leather couch. A sudden noise of heavy
steps. The sergeant stands before him.
''Well, what is it?'
Il have to report to your honor that
the cold is still increasing. The Their
mometer has gone down to % degrees
below zero"
whats TO be done, brother?" the lieu
tenant yawns. "As 1t is, the sentries
are relieved every hour"
"At your honor's seryice-but it's get
ting rather difficult at post 5. The men
just came back sweating as if they had
been in vapor bath-they had to wade
In snow up to their hips"
Post 5 was situated on q distant re-
doubt, which served as a powder maya
zine. Directly in front of it was the
river, now frozen to its lowest depths,
which, on the other shore, gradually
turned into series of swamps. The
latter were bounded for miles around by
thick, undergrown woods.
well, they'll have to be patient to-
night, that's ALL" said the officer. "Havc
you anything more to report?"
Nothing, your honor"
"You may go, then"
In the mems room there was good
deal of noise. The relieved sentries had
come back; they were stamping the snow
from their waterproof boots, shaking ii
off their sheepskin coats and disentan-
.rlit. tbai chi fl,ntt. md
neeks.
"Wcll, brothers, how do you like this
weather. asked one of the soldiers.
thickset fellow with bright eyes and
grin on his good natured face.
wait till you're frozen-you won't feel
like laughing then" growled another as
he hung his heavy sheepskin on hook.
The others had approached the table,
where one of their comrades sat read
ing aloud from small volume entitled
Soldier Life" The men formed circle
around him, their eyes fixed intently upon
the lips of the reader, from which issued
detached words:
"And-then-they-w through-with
-such-a-maneuver"
AS the newcomers stepped into the cir
Gle Of light thrown by a small lamp shad-
ed by tin reflector the reader stopped.
''Is it bad outsider he asked.
''Vassili Petroyitch almost got frozen
at post 6-the storm is awful-it even
fills the sentry box with snow You can't
get away from it,
xviii you stop tallling?" cried the SER
geant, looking Up from his guardbook.
z That's no more than your duty. It's
what you swOre to DO"
The men remained silent. Nothing was
l,,k 4 a.,
side.
What was that?" said one of them
suddenly i'll a .)w yoice-"yonder, from
across the river|
What was itY
Don't you hear it, brothers? It's
wolvesr'
The men looked at each other. Then
one of them said derisively: evolves?
Nonsense! 1t was nothing but the storm"
But the first speaker insisted: 1T was
the bowling of wolves; nothing else. They
are on the other side of the river, oppo-
site the powder redoubt."
That was where post stood Who
was the next to relieve him?
All looked at Pankratieff, young re-
cruit, who rose from his seat with a look
of dismay.
The men laughed, as II to Danish their
own fears.
you had better look out-the wolves
will tear you to pieces"
One of the fellows went down on all
tours, showed his teeth and approached
the recruit, uttering a low growl
At this, however, the sergeant started
up angrily.
''Be quiet" he shouted, cor you'll be
sorry! nice way, this, to behave on
guard. Quick, get the next relief readyl''
The soldiers wrapped themselves in
their sheepskins and bashliks and seized
their muskets. Their faces had grown
graver as the foremost threw open the
door. They were met by a cloud of whirl-
Ing snow and an icy temperature as they
stepped out. To their eyes. dazzled by
the light, the darkness outside seemed
impenetrable.
forward and bracing themselves against
the storm and disappeared in the gloom.
Halt! Who goes thereY'
From somewhere in the moat the voice
of post came out of the darkness,
hoarse and indistinct, for the snow dust
filled the mouth Of every one who at
tempted to call or shout.
The sentries were exchanged in silence.
The one relieved CROPPED and waded
away with the others through the storm
The young recruit remained behind alone
at POST 8.
lie entered the sentry box, which at
least sheltered him from the tempest, il
mot from the cold. Inside he sat down
and set his musket by his side in the deep
snow, which had drifted in through the
door, and listened in silence to the chaos
of sounds outside in the darkness.
What were they doing at home now?
There was snow, plenty Of snow there,
too, in the lonely village Of the steppe.
The low cabins would be buried in it.
1t was hard work to dig a passage from
the door to the street and keep it open.
Well, what of that? Snow keeps you
warm. And what happy time they are
having in the village now, in the winter
season! They 60 from house to house, In
disguise, to visit their neighbors, They
skiIn. in their three horse sleighs, across