Then a sudden stillness settled down.

The mother listened for a sound, and whispered to Andrey: "He has something terrible in his mind!" "Yes, he's hard to understand!" the Little Russian assented, shaking his head.

"But you go to bed, mother, I am going to stay and read a while." She went to the corner where the bed was hidden from view by chintz curtains.

Andrey, sitting at the table, for a long while listened to the warm murmur of her prayers and sighs.

Quickly turning the pages of the book Andrey nervously rubbed his lips, twitched his mustache with his long fingers, and scraped his feet on the floor.