Then Malva said—

"They will soon be ringing the bell for work."

"I am going," said Vassili, rising.

And they all rose with him.

"Good-bye, Sereja. If you ever come to the Volga, perhaps you will remember to come and see me?... The District of Simbirsk, the village of Malso, near Nikolo-Livolvsk."

"All right," said Sereja.

He shook Vassili's hand, holding it for a long time in his big, thick-veined paw, covered with red hairs. He smiled into the sad, serious face of Vassili.

"Nikolo-Livolvsk is a big town, every one knows it, and we are only four versts from there," the peasant explained.

"All right, I will come and see you if I am that way."

"Good-bye."