Anna stood up, took a small earthenware jar from a side shelf, dusted it carefully and placed it upon the mantel. From a knotted cloth about her neck she took a ruble and dropped the coin into the jar. Big Ivan looked at her curiously.
"It is to make legs for your Dream," she explained. "It is many versts to America, and one rides on rubles."
"You are a good wife," he said. "I was afraid that you might laugh at me."
"It is a great dream," she murmured. "Come, we will go to sleep."
The Dream maddened Ivan during the days that followed. It pounded within his brain as he followed the plow. It bred a discontent that made him hate the little village, the swift-flowing Beresina and the gray stretches that ran toward Mogilev. He wanted to be moving, but Anna had said that one rode on rubles, and rubles were hard to find.
And in some mysterious way the village became aware of the secret. Donkov, the tailor, discovered it. Donkov lived in one-half of the cottage occupied by Ivan and Anna, and Donkov had long ears. The tailor spread the news, and Poborino, the smith, and Yanansk, the baker, would jeer at Ivan as he passed.
"When are you going to America?" they would ask.
"Soon," Ivan would answer.
"Take us with you!" they would cry in chorus.
"It is no place for cowards," Ivan would answer. "It is a long way, and only brave men can make the journey."