THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER. 143 



THE CAPTAIN'S STORY. 



M. I was quartered, you see, with my company 

 in the fort beyond the Terek this was about five 

 years ago. One autumn a party arrived with pro- 

 visions, and accompanied by an officer, a young man 

 of about five and twenty, who reported that he was 

 ordered to remain with me in the fort. I could see at 

 once from his appearance, and the freshness of his 

 accoutrements, that he had not been long in the 

 Caucasus ; so I took him by the hand, and said, " Very 

 glad to see you ; you will find your quarters here rather 

 dull ; however, we will be as sociable with each other 

 as possible ; so call me, if you please, by my plain name, 

 Maxim Maximitch." His own, by the by, was Gregorii 

 Alexandrovitch Petchorin. He was a very fine young 

 fellow, I assure you, only a little odd. For instance, 

 he would hunt the whole day long in rain and cold ; 

 everybody else would be half frozen, and knocked 

 up, but he not a bit. Another turn he would sit in 

 his room, and if a breath of air was stirring he would 

 declare he was chilled to the bones ; if the window 

 shutter flapped to, he would start and turn pale, and 

 yet I have seen him dash at a wild boar all alone. 

 Ay, he had very odd ways, surely, and he must have 

 been very rich, for you never saw such a lot of costly 

 things as he had with him. He stayed with me a full 

 year, and good reason I have to remember that year, 



