168 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 



(retinue of vassals) were some distance behind him. It 

 was dusk, and he was riding slowly along, as a man 

 in deep grief might do, when Kashitch sprang, like 

 a cat, from behind a bush, leaped up behind the old 

 man, stabbed and flung him on the ground, then seized 

 the reins and away ! Some usdens saw the whole 

 proceeding from a hill, and hotly pursued the mur- 

 derer, but in vain. 



[Honest Maxim Maximitch severely remonstrated 

 with his subaltern when he became aware of the 

 shameful act the latter had committed 5 but the mis- 

 chief was irreparable, and the good-natured captain 

 contented himself with trying to make the best of a 

 bad business. Bela herself, after her first resentful 

 emotions had subsided, yielded to her fate, and even 

 acknowledged that since she first saw Petchorin she 

 had never ceased to think of him. The Captain con- 

 tinued thus] : 



She was a charming girl, this Bela. I grew as 

 attached to her, at last, as if she were my own 

 daughter, and she was fond of me too. You must 

 know I have no family; I have heard nothing 

 these twelve years of my father and mother. For- 

 merly I had not sufficient means to maintain a wife, 

 and now, you know, the time is gone by when I 

 could fairly think of the like ; it was a godsend to 



