Sevastopol Read online

floor, he huddled down in a corner, from whichhe did not again emerge.

  And Volodya, when all the soldiers had placed themselves along the wallon the floor, and some had lighted their pipes, set up his bed in onecorner, lighted a candle, and lay upon his cot, smoking a cigarette.

  Shots were incessantly heard, over the bomb-proof, but they were notvery loud, with the exception of those from one cannon, which stoodclose by and shook the bomb-proof with its thunder. In the bomb-proofitself all was still; the soldiers, who were a little shy, as yet, ofthe new officer, only exchanged a few words, now and then, as theyrequested each other to move out of the way or to furnish a light for apipe. A rat scratched somewhere among the stones, or Vlang, who had notyet recovered himself, and who still gazed wildly about him, uttered asudden vigorous sigh.

  Volodya, as he lay on his bed, in his quiet corner, surrounded bythe men, and illuminated only by a single candle, experienced thatsensation of well-being which he had known as a child, when, in thecourse of a game of hide-and-seek, he used to crawl into a cupboard orunder his mother's skirts, and listen, not daring to draw his breath,and afraid of the dark, and yet conscious of enjoying himself. He felta little oppressed, but cheerful.

  XXI.

  After the lapse of about ten minutes, the soldiers began to changeabout and to converse together. The most important personages amongthem--the two gun-sergeants--placed themselves nearest the officer'slight and bed;--one was old and gray-haired, with every possible medaland cross except the George;--the other was young, a militia-man, whosmoked cigarettes, which he was rolling. The drummer, as usual, assumedthe duty of waiting on the officer. The bombardiers and cavalrymensat next, and then farther away, in the shadow of the entrance,the _underlings_ took up their post. They too began to talk amongthemselves. It was caused by the hasty entrance of a man into thecasemate.

  "How now, brother! couldn't you stay in the street? Didn't the girlssing merrily?" said a voice.

  "They sing such marvellous songs as were never heard in the village,"said the man who had fled into the casemate, with a laugh.

  "But Vasin does not love bombs--ah, no, he does not love them!" said onefrom the aristocratic corner.

  "The idea! It's quite another matter when it's necessary," drawled thevoice of Vasin, who made all the others keep silent when he spoke:"since the 24th, the firing has been going on desperately; and what isthere wrong about it? You'll get killed for nothing, and your superiorswon't so much as say 'Thank you!' for it."

  At these words of Vasin, all burst into a laugh.

  "There's Melnikoff, that fellow who will sit outside the door," saidsome one.

  "Well, send him here, that Melnikoff," added the old gunner; "they willkill him, for a fact, and that to no purpose."

  "Who is this Melnikoff?" asked Volodya.

  "Why, Your Honor, he's a stupid soldier of ours. He doesn't seem to beafraid of anything, and now he keeps walking about outside. Please totake a look at him; he looks like a bear."

  "He knows a spell," said the slow voice of Vasin, from the corner.

  Melnikoff entered the bomb-proof. He was fat (which is extremely rareamong soldiers), and a sandy-complexioned, handsome man, with a huge,bulging forehead and prominent, light blue eyes.

  "Are you afraid of the bombs?" Volodya asked him.

  "What is there about the bombs to be afraid of!" replied Melnikoff,shrugging his shoulders and scratching his head, "I know that I shallnot be killed by a bomb."

  "So you would like to go on living here?"

  "Why, of course, I would. It's jolly here!" he said, with a suddenoutburst of laughter.

  "Oh, then you must be detailed for the sortie! I'll tell the generalso, if you like?" said Volodya, although he was not acquainted with asingle general there.

  "Why shouldn't I like! I do!"

  And Melnikoff disappeared behind the others.

  "Let's have a game of _noski_,[M] children! Who has cards?" rang outhis brisk voice.

  [M] A game in which the loser is rapped on the nose with the cards.

  And, in fact, it was not long before a game was started in the backcorner, and blows on the nose, laughter, and calling of trumps wereheard.

  Volodya drank some tea from the samovar, which the drummer served forhim, treated the gunners, jested, chatted with them, being desirous ofwinning popularity, and felt very well content with the respect whichwas shown him. The soldiers, too, perceiving that the gentleman put onno airs, began to talk together.

  One declared that the siege of Sevastopol would soon come to an end,because a trustworthy man from the fleet had said that the emperor'sbrother Constantine was coming to our relief with the 'Merican fleet,and there would soon be an agreement that there should be no firingfor two weeks, and that a rest should be allowed, and if any one didfire a shot, every discharge would have to be paid for at the rate ofseventy-five kopeks each.

  Vasin, who, as Volodya had already noticed, was a little fellow, withlarge, kindly eyes, and side-whiskers, related, amid a general silenceat first, and afterwards amid general laughter, how, when he had gonehome on leave, they had been glad at first to see him, but afterwardshis father had begun to send him off to work, and the lieutenant ofthe foresters' corps sent his drozhki for his wife.

  All this amused Volodya greatly. He not only did not experience theleast fear or inconvenience from the closeness and heavy air in thebomb-proof, but he felt in a remarkably cheerful and agreeable frame ofmind.

  Many of the soldiers were already snoring. Vlang had also stretchedhimself out on the floor, and the old gun-sergeant, having spread outhis cloak, was crossing himself and muttering his prayers, preparatoryto sleep, when Volodya took a fancy to step out of the bomb-proof, andsee what was going on outside.

  "Take your legs out of the way!" cried one soldier to another, as soonas he rose, and the legs were pressed aside to make way for him.

  Vlang, who appeared to be asleep, suddenly raised his head, and seizedVolodya by the skirt of his coat.

  "Come, don't go! how can you!" he began, in a tearfully imploringtone. "You don't know about things yet; they are firing at us outthere all the time; it is better here."

  But, in spite of Vlang's entreaties, Volodya made his way out of thebomb-proof, and seated himself on the threshold, where Melnikoff wasalready sitting.

  The air was pure and fresh, particularly after the bomb-proof--the nightwas clear and still. Through the roar of the discharges could be heardthe sounds of cart-wheels, bringing gabions, and the voices of the menwho were at work on the magazine. Above their heads was the lofty,starry sky, across which flashed the fiery streaks caused by the bombs;an arshin away, on the left, a tiny opening led to another bomb-proof,through which the feet and backs of the soldiers who lived there werevisible, and through which their voices were audible; in front, theelevation produced by the powder-vault could be seen, and athwart itflitted the bent figures of men, and upon it, at the very summit, amidthe bullets and the bombs which whistled past the spot incessantly,stood a tall form in a black paletot, with his hands in his pockets,and feet treading down the earth, which other men were fetching insacks. Often a bomb would fly over, and burst close to the cave. Thesoldiers engaged in bringing the earth bent over and ran aside; butthe black figure never moved; went on quietly stamping down the dirtwith his feet, and remained on the spot in the same attitude as before.

  "Who is that black man?" inquired Volodya of Melnikoff.

  "I don't know; I will go and see."

  "Don't go! it is not necessary."

  But Melnikoff, without heeding him, walked up to the black figure, andstood beside him for a tolerably long time, as calm and immovable asthe man himself.

  "That is the man who has charge of the magazine, Your Honor!" he said,on his return. "It has been pierced by a bomb, so the infantry-men arefetching more earth."

  Now and then, a bomb seemed to fly straight at the door of thebomb-proof. On such occasions, Volodya shrank into the corner, and thenpeered forth again,
gazing upwards, to see whether another was notcoming from some direction. Although Vlang, from the interior of thebomb-proof, repeatedly besought Volodya to come back, the latter sat onthe threshold for three hours, and experienced a sort of satisfactionin thus tempting fate and in watching the flight of the bombs. Towardsthe end of the evening, he had learned from what point most of thefiring proceeded, and where the shots struck.

  XXII.

  On the following day, the 27th, after a ten-hours sleep, Volodya, freshand active, stepped out on the threshold of the casement; Vlang alsostarted to crawl out with him, but, at the first sound of a bullet, heflung himself backwards through the opening of the bomb-proof, bumpinghis head as he did so, amid the general merriment of the soldiers,the majority of whom had also come out into