There was no one
else near the prison. On the impulse of the moment the mother
walked straight up to them. As she came near she shouted:
"Soldiers! didn't you see a goat anywhere around here?"
One of them answered:
"No."
She walked slowly past them, toward the fence of the cemetery,
looking slantwise to the right and the back. Suddenly she felt her
feet tremble and grow heavy, as if frozen to the ground. From the
corner of the prison a man came along, walking quickly, like a
lamplighter. He was a stooping man, with a little ladder on his
shoulder. The mother, blinking in fright, quickly glanced at the
soldiers; they were stamping their feet on one spot, and the horse
was running around them. She looked at the ladder--he had already
placed it against the wall and was climbing up without haste. He
waved his hand in the courtyard, quickly let himself down, and
disappeared around the corner. That very second the black head of
Mikhail appeared on the wall, followed by his entire body. Another
head, with a shaggy hat, emerged alongside of his. Two black lumps
rolled to the ground; one disappeared around the corner; Mikhail
straightened himself up and looked about.
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