Just then the voice of the commander of the battalion was heard outside the tent : " With whom are you there, Nikolay Fedorovich ? "

Bolkhov gave him my name, and thereupon three officers entered the booth : Major Kirsanov, the adjutant of his battalion, and the captain, Trosenko.

Kirsanov was a short, plump man, with a black mous- tache, ruddy cheeks, and sparkling eyes. His small eyes were the most prominent feature of his face. Whenever he laughed, all there was left of them were two moist little stars, and these stars, together with his stretched lips and craning neck, assumed a very strange expression of blankness. Kirsanov conducted himself in the army better than anybody else ; his inferiors did not speak ill of him, and his superiors respected him, although the common opinion was that he was exceedingly dull. He knew his duties, was exact and zealous, always had money, kept a carriage and a cook, and very naturally knew how to pretend that he was proud.

" What are you chatting about, Nikolay Fedorovich ? " he said, upon entering.

" About the amenities of the service in the Caucasus."

But just then Kirsanov noticed me, a yunker, and, to let me feel his importance, he asked, as though not hear- ing Bolkhov's answer, and glancing at the drum :

" Are you tired, Nikolay Fedorovich ? "

" No, we — " Bolkhov began.

But again the dignity of the commander of the bat- talion seemed to demand that he should interrupt and propose a new question.

" Was it not a fine engagement we had to-day ? "

The adjutant of the battahon was a young ensign, who had but lately been promoted from yunker, — a modest and quiet lad, with a bashful and good-naturedly pleasant face. I had seen liim before at Bolkhov's. The young man used to call on him often, when he would bow, take a seat in the corner, for hours roll cigarettes and smoke them in silence, get up again, salute, and walk away. He was a type of a poor Eussian yeoman, who had selected the military career as the only possible one with his cul- ture, and who placed the calling of an officer higher than anything else in the world, — a simple-hearted, pleasing type in spite of its ridiculous inseparable appurtenances, the tobacco-pouch, the dressing-gown, the guitar, and the mustache brush, with which we are accustomed to con- nect it. They told of him in the army that he had boasted of being just, but severe with his orderly, that he had said, "I rarely punish, but when I am provoked they had better look out," and that, when his drunken orderly had stolen a number of things of him and had even begun to insult him, he had brought him to the guard- house, and ordered him to be chastised, but that when he saw the preparations for the punishment, he so completely lost his composure that he was able only to say, " Now, you see — I can — " and that in utter confusion he ran home, and never again was able to look straight into the eyes of his Chernov. His comrades gave him no rest, and teased him about it, and I had several times heard the simple-minded lad deny the allegation, and, blushing up to his ears, insist that it was not only not true, but that quite the opposite was the fact.

The third person, Captain Trosenko, was an old Cau- casus soldier in the full sense of the word, that is, a man for whom the company which he was commanding had become his family, the fortress where the staff was stationed his home, and the singers his only amusement in life, — a man for whom everythmg which was not the Cau- casus was worthy of contempt, and almost undeserving belief; but everything which was the Caucasus was divided into two halves, ours, and not ours; the first he loved, the second he hated with all the powers of his soul, and, what is most important, he was a man of tried, quiet bravery, rare kindness of heart in relation to his comrades and inferiors, and of an aggravating straight- forwardness and even rudeness in relation to adjutants and bonjours, whom he for some reason despised. Upon entering the booth, he almost pierced the roof with his head, then suddenly lowered it, and sat down on the ground.

" Well ? " he said, and, suddenly noticing my unfamiliar face, he stopped, gazing at me with his turbid, fixed glance.

" So, what were you talking about ? " asked the major, taking out his watch and looking at it, though I was firmly convinced that there was no need for his doing so.

" He was asking me why I was serving here."

" Of course, Nikolay Fedorovich wants to distinguish himself here, and then go back home."

" Well, you tell me, Abram Ilich, why do you serve in the Caucasus ? "

" Because, you see, in the first place, we are all obhged to serve. What ? " he added, though all were silent. "Yesterday I received a letter from Eussia, Nikolay Fedorovich," he continued, evidently desiring to change the subject. "They write to me — they make such strange inquiries."

" What inquiries ? " asked Bolkhov.

He laughed.

• • Eeally, strange questions — they want to know

whether there can be any jealousy without love — What ? " he asked, looking at all of us.

" I say ! " said Bolkhdv, smiling.

" Yes, you see, it is good in Eussia," he continued, as though his phrases naturally proceeded each from the previous one. " AVlien I was in Tambdv in '52, I was everywhere received Ике an aid-de-camp. Will you believe me, at the governor's ball, when I entered, don't you know, I was beautifully received. The wife of the governor, you know, talked with me and asked me about the Caucasus, and all — really I did not know — They looked at my gold saber as at a rarity, and they asked me what I got the saber for, and for what the Anna cross, and for what the Vladimir cross, and I told them — What ? — This is what the Caucasus is good for, Nikolay Fedorovich ! " he continued, not waiting for an answer. " There they look at us, Caucasus officers, very well. Young man, you know, a staff-officer with an Anna and a Vladimir cross, — that means a great deal in Eussia — What ? "

" I suppose you did a httle bragging, Abram Ilich ? " said Bolkhov.

" He-he ! " he laughed his stupid smile. " You know one must do that. And I did feast during those two months ! "

" Is it nice there, in Eussia ? " asked Trosenko, inquir- ing about Eussia as though it were China or Japan.

" Yes, it was an awful lot of champagne we drank during those two months ! "

" I don't believe it. You must have drunk lemonade. If I had been there, I would have burst drinking, just to show them how officers of the Caucasus drink. My repu- tation would not be for nothing. I would have showed them how to drink — Hey, Bolkhov ? " he added.

"But you, uncle, have been for ten years in the Caucasus," said Bolkh6v, " and do you remember what Ermoldv said ? And Abram Ilich has been only six — "

" Ten years ? It is nearly sixteen."

" Bolkhov, let us have some of your sage. It is damp, bmr ! Hey ? " he added, smiling. " Let us have a drink, major ! "

But the major was dissatisfied with the first remarks of the old captain, and now was even more mortified, and sought a refuge in his own grandeur. He tuned a song, and again looked at his watch.

"I will never travel to Eussia," continued Trosenko, paying no attention to the frowning major. " I have forgotten how to walk and talk like a Eussian. They will say, * What monster is this that has arrived.' I say, this is Asia. Is it not so, Nikolay Fedorovich ? What am I to do in Eussia? All the same, I shall be shot some day here. They will ask, ' Where is Trosenko ? ' Shot. What are you going to do with the eighth com- pany — eh ? " he added, addressing the major all the time.

" Send the officer of the day along the battalion ! " shouted Kirsanov, without replying to the captain, though I was again convinced that he had no orders to give.

" I suppose you are glad, young man, that you are receiving double pay now ? " said the major, after a few minutes' silence, to the adjutant of the battalion.

" Of course, very much so."

" I find that our pay is now very large, Nikolay Fedorovich," he continued. "A young man can hve quite decently, and even allow liimself some luxuries."

" No, really, Abram Ilich," timidly said the adjutant, " though the pay is double, yet — one must keep a horse — "

" Don't ten me that, young man ! I have myself been an ensign, and I know. Believe me, one can Hve, with proper care. Now, figure up," he added, bending the little finger of his left hand.

" We take all our pay in advance, — so here is your calculation," said Trosenko, swallowing a wine-glass of brandy.

« Well, what do you want for that — What ? "

At this moment a white head with a flat nose was thrust through the opening of the booth, and a sharp voice with a German accent said :

" Are you here, Abram Ilich ? The officer of the day is looking for you."

" Come in, Kraft ! " said Bolkhov.

A long figure in the coat of the general staff squeezed through the door, and began to press everybody's hands with great fervor.

" Ah, dear captain ! you are here, too ? " he said, addressing Trosenko.

The new guest, in spite of the darkness, made his way toward him, and to the captain's great surprise and dissat- isfaction, as I thought, kissed his lips.

" This is a German who wants to be a good comrade," I thought.