“Here’s the place,” they cried, “where he was last night!”
There was the place, but he wasn’t there! This way and that they rushed. Suddenly the cocks began to crow, the devils vanished, the witch lay stretched on the floor.
The Soldier stayed awhile to recover his breath, crept out of the stove, put the merchant’s daughter back in her coffin, and took to reading the psalter again. Presently he looks round, the day has already dawned. His host arrives:
“Hail, Soldier!” says he.
“I wish you good health, master merchant.”
“Has the night passed comfortably?”
“Glory be to God! yes.”
“Come along here, then.”
The merchant led him out of the room, gave him a hundred roubles, and said—
“Come, please, and read here a third night; I sha’n’t treat you badly.”