iver did indeed resemble
some fussy, light-hearted old lady who loved to arrange affaires du
coeur both for her own private amusement and for the purpose of
enabling other folk to realise the joys of affection amid which she was
living, and of which she would never grow weary, and to which she
desired to introduce the rest of the world as speedily as possible.

Similarly, when we arrived at the barraque this man with the Cossack
face glanced at the rivulet, and then at the mountains and the sky,
and, finally, appraised the scene in one pregnant, comprehensive
exclamation of "Slavno!" [How splendid!]

The ex-soldier, who was engaged in ridding himself of his knapsack,
straightened himself, and asked with his arms set akimbo:

"WHAT is it that is so splendid?"

For a moment or two the newcomer merely eyed the squat figure of his
questioner--a figure upon which hung drab shreds as lichen hangs upon a
stone. Then he said with a smile:

"Cannot you see for yourself? Take that mountain there, and that cleft
in the mountain--are they not good to look at?"

And as he moved away, the ex-soldier gaped after him with a repeated
whisper of:

"The fool!"

To which presently he added in a louder, as well as a mysterious, tone:

"I have heard that occasionally they send fever patients hither for
their health."

The same evening saw two sturdy women arrive with supper for the
carpenters; whereupon the clatter of labour ceased, and therefore the
rustling of the forest and the murmuring of the rivulet became the more
distinct.

Next, deliberately, and with many coughs, the ex-soldier set to work to
collect some twigs and chips for the purpose of lighting a fire. After
which, having arranged a kettle over the flames, he said to me
suggestively:

"You too should collect some firewood, for in these parts the nights
are dark and chilly."

I set forth in search of chips among the stones which lay around the
barraque, and, in so doing, stumbled across the newcomer, who was lying
with his body resting on an elbow, and his head on his hand, as he
conned a manuscript spread out before him. As he raised his eyes to
gaze vaguely, inquiringly into my face, I saw that one of his eyes was
larger than the other.

Evidently he divined that he interested me, for he smiled. Yet so taken
aback by this was I, that I passed on my way without speaking.

Meanwhile the carpenters, disposed in two circles around the barraque
(a circle to eac