beat his thighs with his
hands. "I should have stopped to snatch the bunch of burning straw, and,
throwing it on the ground, should have extinguished it with my feet!"

Ivan tried to cry out and arouse his people, but his lips refused to
utter a word. He next tried to run, but he could not move his feet, and
his legs seemed to twist themselves around each other. After several
attempts he succeeded in taking one or two steps, when he again began to
stagger and gasp for breath. It was some moments before he made another
attempt to move, but after considerable exertion he finally reached
the barn, the rear of which was by this time entirely consumed; and
the corner of his house had already caught fire. Dense volumes of smoke
began to pour out of the room, which made it difficult to approach.

A crowd of peasants had by this time gathered, but they found it
impossible to save their homes, so they carried everything which they
could to a place of safety. The cattle they drove into neighboring
pastures and left some one to care for them.

The wind carried the sparks from Ivan's house to Gavryl's, and it, too,
took fire and was consumed. The wind continued to increase with great
fury, and the flames spread to both sides of the street, until in a very
short time more than half the village was burned.

The members of Ivan's household had great difficulty in getting out of
the burning building, but the neighbors rescued the old man and
carried him to a place of safety, while the women escaped in only their
night-clothes. Everything was burned, including the cattle and all the
farm implements. The women lost their trunks, which were filled with
quantities of clothing, the accumulation of years. The storehouse and
all the provisions perished in the flames, not even the chickens being
saved.

Gavryl, however, more fortunate than Ivan, saved his cattle and a few
other things.

The village was burning all night.

Ivan stood near his home, gazing sadly at the burning building, and
he kept constantly repeating to himself: "I should have taken away the
bunch of burning straw, and have stamped out the fire with my feet."

But when he saw his home fall in a smouldering heap, in spite of the
terrible heat he sprang into the midst of it and carried out a charred
log. The women seeing him, and fearing that he would lose his life,
called to him to come back, but he would not pay any attention to them
and went a second time to get a lo