Helene had not yet reached her door, when she saw approaching her, like a red point in the darkness, some one carrying a lantern.
"Who comes there?" she asked.
"Is it you, Sister?" answered a youthful voice whose musical tones sounded strange in the blackness of the night.
"What! Is it you? You come to meet me?"
"Yes, I have prepared the samovar (tea-urn). As you did not come, I feared something had happened, and here I am."
"I had forgotten in the church how time passed, and Sister Seraphine made me come out."
"It was time; it has struck seven."
"And you—what have you been doing? I have not seen you the whole day."
"I have been painting; then I tried to read, but my head felt heavy. I think my John the Baptist is not a success."
"Why?"