uch a gust struck them at the moment when Vasili Andreevich,
having recovered his breath, got out of the sledge and went up to
Nikita to consult him as to what they should do. They both bent down
involuntarily and waited till the violence of the squall should
have passed. Mukhorty too laid back his ears and shook his head
discontentedly. As soon as the violence of the blast had abated a
little, Nikita took off his mittens, stuck them into his belt, breathed
onto his hands, and began to undo the straps of the shaft-bow.

'What's that you are doing there?' asked Vasili Andreevich.

'Unharnessing. What else is there to do? I have no strength left,' said
Nikita as though excusing himself.

'Can't we drive somewhere?'

'No, we can't. We shall only kill the horse. Why, the poor beast is not
himself now,' said Nikita, pointing to the horse, which was standing
submissively waiting for what might come, with his steep wet sides
heaving heavily. 'We shall have to stay the night here,' he said, as if
preparing to spend the night at an inn, and he proceeded to unfasten the
collar-straps. The buckles came undone.

'But shan't we be frozen?' remarked Vasili Andreevich.

'Well, if we are we can't help it,' said Nikita.

VI

Although Vasili Andreevich felt quite warm in his two fur coats,
especially after struggling in the snow-drift, a cold shiver ran down
his back on realizing that he must really spend the night where
they were. To calm himself he sat down in the sledge and got out his
cigarettes and matches.

Nikita meanwhile unharnessed Mukhorty. He unstrapped the belly-band
and the back-band, took away the reins, loosened the collar-strap, and
removed the shaft-bow, talking to him all the time to encourage him.

'Now come out! come out!' he said, leading him clear of the shafts. 'Now
we'll tie you up here and I'll put down some straw and take off your
bridle. When you've had a bite you'll feel more cheerful.'

But Mukhorty was restless and evidently not comforted by Nikita's
remarks. He stepped now on one foot and now on another, and pressed
close against the sledge, turning his back to the wind and rubbing his
head on Nikita's sleeve. Then, as if not to pain Nikita by refusing his
offer of the straw he put before him, he hurriedly snatched a wisp out
of the sledge, but immediately decided that it was now no time to think
of straw and threw it down, and the wind instantly scattered it, carried
it away, and cove