They follow him and then turn to the right. Why? Then they will not be together, they won't meet? Then their acquaintance has really come to an end? Where is he going? Mimotchka will not on any account inquire. Perhaps mamma will help her. Precisely so; mamma asks the driver:
"Where does that road lead to?"
"To Piatigorsk."
"Then we shall not pass by Piatigorsk?"
"And Jeleznovodsk—is it yet in sight?" asks Vava.
"There it is."
And the driver points with his whip to a little white hamlet nestling at the foot of the green mountain.
Presently the carriage enters a green grove of oaks and birch-trees. They all inhale the pure morning air delightedly. Vava throws back her head and looks for the larks in the sky....
Mamma sympathises with her; mamma also loves nature, loves forests and groves. Mimotchka doesn't understand it. She only likes trees round where the music plays, and then only when they stand in tubs and are kept in nice order, and no spiders, chrysalides, or other nasty things fall off them. At length, after passing the post-office, the carriage stops at the entrance of Mitroff's Hotel. Thank God, they have arrived!
"What a funny little place Jeleznovodsk is!" says Mimotchka. "Quite a country village!"