tch of giant toadstools, shadowy and strange. The
air was damp and a cold wind blew over the snow drifts. Along the road,
in the full teeth of the blast, trudged two boys, the one a little behind
the other, and the taller of the two shielding the younger with his body.

"Is it far now, Velasco?"

"Not far, if you peep through the folds of your cloak you will see the
domes over yonder. Are you weary, Kaya?"

"No--Velasco."

The voice came in little gasps, as if blown by the gale, fluttering like
a leaf that is tossed hither and thither. The older boy bent his head,
struggling forward.

"The wind is like a dagger," he stammered, "it cuts through the cloak
like an edge of fine steel, like a poignard piercing the heart. Come
closer, Kaya, and let me put my arm around you. Your body sways like a
frail stem, a flower. You are stumbling and your breath freezes, even as
it comes through your lips. Come closer, or you will fall, Kaya. Let me
put my arm around you."

"It is nothing, Velasco; only the snow that whirls before my eyes and
blinds them. Is that the dawn, those faint, grey streaks in the
distance?"

"You are stumbling again, Kaya! It is wonderful the way you have tramped
the whole night through. We are almost there."

"It is only my feet, Velasco; they are frozen a little by the snow, and
numb. That is nothing for a boy. Let us run a race together. Come!"

"The wind mocks at you, little one. Run in such a blast--fight rather!
Put your head down and battle with it. The demon! Keep behind me a
little; use my cloak and my arm as a shield. It is not far now."

"Shall we stop at the inn, Velasco; is it safe, do you think? There is
one on the market-place."

"Yes, why not?"

"I was there once before, Velasco, with my--with my maid!" The girl
laughed.

"You pant, Kaya, and your breath comes in jerks. Are you frightened?"

"No, Velasco--no!"

"They will look for us in the trains and the boats, but never in the
snow-fields and the market-places. Kaya, we will tramp as long as you
are able to bear it, and then--"

"Then--Velasco?"

"We will take the train at some smaller station--Dvisk, Vilna--wherever
we can."

"You, Velasco, but not I."

"Both of us. I will never leave you again. In my pocket are passports,
blank; I bribed the official. We will fill them in together: two
gypsies, one dark and one fair. Ha, Kaya--keep up--a little further!
See, the domes are bigger now and nea