14 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



horses. Clinging close to each other, the mother and 

 children listened anxiously ; they thought again and 

 again that they could hear the bells of the tarantass. 

 At last it appeared in the distance, and the children 

 joyously whispered, " There they are ! " They 

 hastened to inform Dmitri Ivanovitch of what had 

 happened. He at once went with his cousin towards 

 the crowd, and negotiations were opened, but for a 

 long time without result. 



At last the cousin had a happy idea ; he declared 

 he would go back to his aunt's house in the neigh- 

 bourhood and borrow the thousand roubles from her. 

 The peasants consented to let him go alone, keeping 

 the other travellers as hostages. After a time, which 

 to the children seemed endless, the sound of the 

 tarantass bells was again heard, accompanied this 

 time by numerous heavy footsteps, and the vehicle 

 reappeared, escorted by a company of soldiers com- 

 manded by two officers. Instead of going to his 

 aunt's, the cousin had gone to a neighbouring military 

 camp and was bringing assistance. 



There was a sudden change of scene. Emilia 

 Lvovna and Katia furtively made the sign of the 

 cross. Ilia had let go of his mother's hand and was 

 no longer clinging to her, but, stretching his head 

 forward and opening his eyes wide, eagerly waited to 

 see what was going to happen. " Now," he thought, 

 " we shall not be captured ; it is their turn ; I am 

 glad ! " And, perhaps for the first time in his life, 

 his little heart was moved by feelings of hatred. 



In the meanwhile a repulsive scene was going on : 

 a hand-to-hand struggle, invectives and screams. The 

 peasants were securely bound. Men and women 

 hastened from a neighbouring village ; one of the 



