this was a great relief to him. 'I must certainly buy a dog from the
miller to-morrow, as fierce a one as I can get; they've taken theirs
away,' he said to himself, as he tossed from side to side, and all at
once he raised his head quickly ... he fancied that someone had passed
by the window ... he listened ... there was nothing. Only a cricket
from time to time gave a cautious churr, and a mouse was scratching
somewhere; he could hear his own breathing. Everything was still in
the empty room dimly lighted by the little glass lamp which he had
managed to hang up and light before the ikon in the corner.... He let
his head sink; again he thought he heard the gate creak ... then a
faint snapping sound from the fence.... He could not refrain from
jumping up; he opened the door of the room and in a low voice called,
'Fyodor! Fyodor!' No one answered.... He went out into the passage and
almost fell over Fyodor, who was lying on the floor. The man stirred
in his sleep with a faint grunt; Naum roused him.
'What's there? What do you want?' Fyodor began.
'What are you bawling for, hold your tongue!' Naum articulated in a
whisper. 'How you sleep, you damned fellows! Have you heard nothing?'
'Nothing,' answered the man.... 'What is it?'
'Where are the others sleeping?'
'Where they were told to sleep.... Why, is there anything ...'
'Hold your tongue--come with me.'
Naum stealthily opened the door and went out into the yard. It was
very dark outside.... The roofed-in parts and the posts could only be
distinguished because they were a still deeper black in the midst of
the black darkness.
'Shouldn't we light a lantern?' said Fyodor in a low voice.
But Naum waved his hand and held his breath.... At first he could hear
nothing but those nocturnal sounds which can almost always be heard in
an inhabited place: a horse was munching oats, a pig grunted faintly
in its sleep, a man was snoring somewhere; but all at once his ear
detected a suspicious sound coming from the very end of the yard, near
the fence.
Someone seemed to be stirring there, and breathing or blowing. Naum
looked over his shoulder towards Fyodor and cautiously descending the
steps went towards the sound.... Once or twice he stopped, listened
and stole on further.... Suddenly he started.... Ten paces from him,
in the thick darkness there came the flash of a bright light: it was a
glowing ember and close to it there was visible for an instant the
front part of a face with lips thrust out.... Quickly and silently,
like a cat at a mouse, Naum darted to the fire.... Hurriedly rising up
from the ground a long body rushed to meet him and, nearly knocking
him off his feet, almost eluded his grasp; but Naum hung on to it with
all his strength.
'Fyodor! Andrey! Petrushka!' he shouted at the top of his voice. 'Make
haste! here! here! I've caught a thief trying to set fire to the
place....'
The man whom he had caught fought and struggled violently ... but Naum
did not let him go. Fyodor at once ran to his assistance.
'A lantern! Make haste, a lantern! Run for a lantern, wake the
others!' Naum shouted to him. 'I can manage him alone for a time--I am
sitting on him.... Make haste! And bring a belt to tie his hands.'
Fyodor ran into the house.... The man whom Naum was holding suddenly
left off struggling.
'So it seems wife and money and home are not enough for you, you want
to ruin me, too,' he said in a choking voice.
Naum recognised Akim's voice.
'So that's you, my friend,' he brought out; 'very good, you wait a
