This new-comer, who had very black eyes and hair, was tall and slender; she was dressed in a gown of coloured calico and wore on her head a handkerchief arranged after the fashion of the women belonging to the lesser nobility. She held in her hand a closed knife, a basket in which to put mushrooms, and some provisions wrapped in a white linen bag.
Iermola, when he saw her, was as much surprised as she was; he opened his mouth, was about to exclaim, to pronounce a name, then stopped, hesitated in doubt, and looked again.
But the stranger, starting back a few steps, cried at the same time,--
"Are you old Iermola?"
"Is it you, Horpyna? Is it you, my dear lady?" answered the old man, correcting himself quickly.
"What are you doing here?"
The unhappy creature, full of trouble, was silent, not knowing what to reply.
"You are here alone?"
"No, madame, with Radionek."
"You have run away from Popielnia? Tell me, then, what has happened to you?"