THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 155 



of that girl ? ' Charming !' he exclaimed ; 'what is her 

 name ?' ' Her name is Bela,' I answered. And beautiful 

 indeed she was ! tall, slender, with eyes as black as 

 the gazelle's, that seemed to look into your very soul. 

 Petchorin, completely captivated, never took his eyes 

 off her, and she frequently shot a stolen glance upon 

 him from beneath her jetty eyelashes. But Petchorin 

 was not the only one whose gaze was riveted on the 

 lovely princess : there was another pair of eyes in the 

 corner of the room, that glared upon her incessantly, 

 with passionate fire. I looked sharply that way, and 

 recognized my old acquaintance, Kasbitch. Now 

 things were in such a position, you must know, with 

 respect to this man, that he could neither be regarded 

 as decidedly friendly to the Russians, nor be pro- 

 nounced decidedly the reverse. There were many 

 suspicious against him, though nothing definite could 

 ever be brought home to him. It often occurred, that 

 he brought us sheep into the fort, and offered them at 

 a low price; but he would never higgle: whatever 

 price he asked first, we had always to give him, for he 

 would sooner have let his head be chopped off, than 

 bate a kopeck. It was whispered that he was fond of 

 knocking about with the Abreks beyond the Kuban, 

 and to say the truth of him, he had very much the 

 cut of a robber: rather small, well knit, broad 



