“Perhaps.”
Grusha caught Masha’s hand as she turned from her with a gesture of anger.
“Come back, Masha, listen to me. Ask Anna Evauovna what I mean to do. She knows all things, the old witch!”
Masha crossed herself, glancing over her shoulder.
“And she will know you have said that,” she answered.
Grusha’s face wore a reflected uneasiness for a moment.
“Bah!” she replied, shaking herself. “What harm can she do me!”
Masha nodded her head gravely.
“That was what Marusa said, and how did the Njania punish her? Has she a child to call hers? And look at poor Julina. She defied the Njania also, and has had children showered on her faster than she can breathe. Her isba is like a beehive. Anna Evauovna can give you a draught that will cure any sickness if she will, and oh! what fortunes she can tell, Grusha! And what do we here in the village that she does not know of at once?”