The mother counted them, and mentally gathered them together into a
group around Pavel. In that throng he became invisible to the eyes
of the enemy.
One day a vivacious, curly-haired girl appeared from the city,
bringing some parcel for Andrey; and on leaving she said to Vlasova,
with a gleam in her merry eyes:
"Good-by, comrade!"
"Good-by!" the mother answered, restraining a smile. After seeing
the girl to the door, she walked to the window and, smiling, looked
out on the street to watch her comrade as she trotted away, nimbly
raising and dropping her little feet, fresh as a spring flower and
light as a butterfly.
"Comrade!" said the mother when her guest had disappeared from her
view. "Oh, you dear! God grant you a comrade for all your life!"
She often noticed in all the people from the city a certain
childishness, for which she had the indulgent smile of an elderly
person; but at the same time she was touched and joyously surprised
by their faith, the profundity of which she began to realize more
and more clearly. Their visions of the triumph of justice captivated
her and warmed her heart. As she listened to their recital of
future victories, she involuntarily sighed with an unknown sorrow.
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