The Cossacks had hid themselves in the wood a couple of versts from the meeting. Many of them had managed to take several drinks. As they sat around their bonfires they began to sing a gay, noisy, indecent song, but their officers enjoined silence.
A spy came running; he whispered something to the colonel. Soon a command was given. The Cossacks jumped quickly on their horses and rode away, leaving the half-consumed bonfire behind them. The dry faggots and the grass smouldered a long time. The forest caught fire.[19]
“What’s the matter?” asked Elisaveta.
Some one whispered quickly:
“Do you hear, it’s the Cossacks! I wonder which side they are coming from. It’s hard to tell which way to run.”
“They are coming from town,” said some one. “The only thing to do is to go towards Opalikha.”
The leaders began to give orders:
“Comrades, be calm. Scatter as quickly as possible. Don’t jostle. The road to Dubky is clear.”
A number of horses’ heads suddenly appeared from among the trees quiet close to Elisaveta, and their dumb but good eyes looked on incomprehensibly. The crowd of young people began to run, and carried Elisaveta along with them. She was seized by a feeling of stupor. She thought:
“What’s the use of running? They’ll overtake us and drive us wherever they will.”