They all laughed, and there were tears of mirth in Yourii's eyes, so
absurd did the little man seem with his tufted grey beard and his
sunken jaws.
The old fellow laughed, too, till his little eyes watered. "Very nearly
killed myself! He! He!"
In the darkness, and beyond the circle of light, one could hear
laughter, and the voices of girls whom shyness had kept at a distance.
A few feet away from the fire, and in quite a different place from
where Yourii imagined him to be seated, Sanine struck a match. In the
reddish flare of it Yourii saw his calm, friendly eyes, and beside him
a young face whose soft eyes beneath their dark brows looked up at
Sanine with simple joy.
Riasantzeff, as he winked to Kousma, said: "Grandfather, hadn't you better keep an eye on your granddaughter, eh?"
"What's the good!" replied Kousma, with a careless gesture. "Youth is
youth."
"He! He!" laughed the old man in his turn, as with his fingers he
plucked a red-hot coal from the fire.
Sanine's laugh was heard in the darkness. The girls may have felt
ashamed, for they had moved away, and their voices were scarcely
audible.
"It is time to go," said Riasantzeff, as he got up. "Thank you,
Kousma."
"Not at all," replied the other, as with his sleeve he brushed away the
black melon-pips that had stuck to his grey beard. He shook hands with
both of them, and Yourii again felt a certain repugnance to the touch
of his rough, bony hand. As they retreated from the fire, the gloom
seemed less intense. Above were the cold, glittering stars and the vast
dome of heaven, serenely fair. The group by the fire, the horses, and
the pile of melons all became blacker against the light.
Yourii tripped over a pumpkin and nearly fell.
"Look out!" said Sanine. "Good-bye!"
"Good-bye!" replied Yourii, looking round at the other's tall, dark
form, leaning against which he fancied that he saw another, the
graceful figure of a woman. Yourii's heart beat faster. He suddenly
thought of Sina Karsavina, and envied Sanine.
Once more the wheels of the droschky rattled, and once again the good
old horse snorted as it ran.
The fire faded in distance, as did the sound of voices and laughter.
Stillness reigned. Yourii slowly looked upwards to the sky with its
jewelled web of stars. As they reached the outskirts of the town,
lights flashed here and there, and dogs barked. Riasantzeff said to
Yourii: "Old Kousma's a philosopher, eh?"