he white back, now clearly
visible, against which the Terek rippled.

'He was swimming with a log on his back. I spied him out! ... Look
there. There! He's got blue trousers, and a gun I think.... Do you
see?' inquired Luke.

'How can one help seeing?' said the old man angrily, and a
serious and stern expression appeared on his face. 'You've killed a
brave,' he said, apparently with regret.

'Well, I sat here and suddenly saw something dark on the other side. I
spied him when he was still over there. It was as if a man had come
there and fallen in. Strange! And a piece of driftwood, a good-sized
piece, comes floating, not with the stream but across it; and what do I
see but a head appearing from under it! Strange! I stretched out of the
reeds but could see nothing; then I rose and he must have heard, the
beast, and crept out into the shallow and looked about. "No, you
don't!" I said, as soon as he landed and looked round, "you won't get
away!" Oh, there was something choking me! I got my gun ready but did
not stir, and looked out. He waited a little and then swam out again;
and when he came into the moonlight I could see his whole back. "In the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost"... and through
the smoke I see him struggling. He moaned, or so it seemed to me. "Ah,"
I thought, "the Lord be thanked, I've killed him!" And when he drifted
onto the sand-bank I could see him distinctly: he tried to get up but
couldn't. He struggled a bit and then lay down. Everything could be
seen. Look, he does not move--he must be dead! The Cossacks have gone
back to the cordon in case there should be any more of them.'

'And so you got him!' said the old man. 'He is far away now, my lad!
...' And again he shook his head sadly.

Just then the sound reached them of breaking bushes and the loud voices
of Cossacks approaching along the bank on horseback and on foot. 'Are
you bringing the skiff?' shouted Lukashka.

'You're a trump, Luke! Lug it to the bank!' shouted one of the Cossacks.

Without waiting for the skiff Lukashka began to undress, keeping an eye
all the while on his prey.

'Wait a bit, Nazarka is bringing the skiff,' shouted the corporal.

'You fool! Maybe he is alive and only pretending! Take your dagger with
you!' shouted another Cossack.

'Get along,' cried Luke, pulling off his trousers. He quickly undressed
and, crossing himself, jumped, plunging with a splash into the river.
Then with long st