" Well, send him here, that Melnikoff," added" the old gunner; " they will kill him, for a fact, and that to no purpose."
"Who is this Melnikoff.?" asked Volodya.
" Why, Your Honor, he's a stupid soldier of ours. He doesn't seem to be afraid of anything, and now he keeps walking about outside. Please to take a look at him; he looks like a bear."
N" AUGUST. ' 23 1
" He knows a spell," said the slow voice of Vasin, from the corner.
Melnikoff entered the bomb-proof. He was fat (which is extremely rare among soldiers), and a sandy-complexioned, handsome man, with a huge, bulging forehead and prominent, light blue eyes.
" Are you afraid of the bombs? " Volodya asked him.
" What is there about the bombs to be afraid of! " replied Melnikoff, shrugging his shoulders and scratching his head, " I know that I shall not be killed by a bomb."
** So you would like to go on living here? "
"Why, of course, I would. It's jolly here!" he said, with a sudden outburst of laughter.
" Oh, then you must be detailed for the sortie! I'll tell the general so, if you like } " said Volodya, although he was not acquainted with a single general there.
" Why shouldn't I like! I do! "
And Melnikoff disappeared behind the others.
[fragment illegible in the scan of the first edition]
* A game in which the loser is rapped on the nose with the cards.
And, in fact, it was not long before a game was started in the back corner, and blows on the nose, laughter, and calling of trumps were heard.
Volodya drank some tea from the samovar, which the drummer served for him, treated the gunners, jested, chatted with them, being desirous of winning popularity, and felt very well content with the respect which was shown him. The soldiers, too, perceiving that the gentleman put on no airs, began to talk together.
One declared that the siege of Sevastopol would soon come to an end, because a trustworthy man from the fleet had said that the emperor's brother Constantine was coming to our relief with the 'Merican fleet, and there would soon be an agreement that there should be no firing for two weeks, and that a rest should be allowed, and if any one did fire a shot, every discharge would have to be paid for at the rate of seventy-five kopeks each.
Vasin, who, as Volodya had already noticed, was a little fellow, with large, kindly eyes, and side-whiskers, related, amid a general silence at first, and afterwards amid general laughter, how, when he had gone home on leave, they had been glad at first to see him, but afterwards his father had begun to send him off to work, and the lieutenant of the foresters' corps sent his drozhki for his wife.
All this amused Volodya greatly. He not only did not experience the least fear or inconvenience from the closeness and heavy air in the bombproof, but he felt in a remarkably cheerful and agreeable frame of mind.
Many of the soldiers were already snoring. Viang had also stretched himself out on the floor, and the old gun-sergeant, having spread out his cloak, was crossing himself and muttering his prayers, preparatory to sleep, when Volodya took a fancy to step out of the bomb-proof, and see what was going on outside.
" Take your legs out of the way! " cried one soldier to another, as soon as he rose, and the legs were pressed aside to make way for him.
Viang, who appeared to be asleep, suddenly raised his head, and seized Volodya by the skirt of his coat.
**Come, don't go! how can you! " he began, in a tearfully imploring tone. " You don't know about things yet; they are firing at us out there all the time; it is better here."
But, in spite of Viang's entreaties, Volodya made his way out of the bomb-proof, and seated himself on the threshold, where Melnikoff was already sitting.