"Damn rot!" snarled the general and went into the kitchen and shook
Leontyevna, explaining to her about the pipes.
"I will go to the Exchange and complain! Not even letting one rest!…Stealing in to an undressed woman!…"
Lina jabbered her words after her like a parrot. Sergius ran in.
"Leave off, please," he begged. "It is I who am responsible. Let
Leontyevna sleep."
"Certainly, I am not one of the heirs," the general retorted smoothly.
The night and the frost swept over the Volga, the Steppe, and Saratov. The general was unable to sleep. Kseniya and Lena were crying in the attic. Constantine arrived home late, and noiselessly crept in to Leontyevna.
Bluish patches of moonlight fell in through the windows.
The water pipes froze in the night and burst.
THE CROSSWAYS
Forest, thickets, marshes, fields, a tranquil sky—and the crossways! The sky is overcast at times with dove-coloured clouds; the forest now gabbles, now groans in the glittering summer sunshine.