258
DIAMONDS TO SIT ON
‘ Seize him ! ’ shouted Bender. ' He’s taken our food ! ’ yelled Hippolyte as he ran after Bender. ‘ Stop ! ’ roared Bender. ‘ Stop, I teU you ! ’ But these words only added fresh energy to Father Theodore, and a few minutes later he was some seventy feet above the highest inscription on the rock. ‘ Give us that sausage back,’ yelled Bender, ‘ and I’ll forgive you everything ! ’ But Father Theodore could not hear what was being said, for he had managed to climb up a rock that had never been climbed before. He found he was on a small, flat space at the top of the rock, and as he looked down he was horrified. He suddenly realized that he would never be able to get down again ; that it was an absolutely sheer drop from where he was down to the high road, and it was hopeless even to think of trying to descend. He looked down and saw Bender and Hippolyte far below on the road. ‘ I’ll give you the sausage back,’ shouted Father Theodore. ‘ Only help me to get down.’ But no one could hear what he said. ‘ Help me down ! ’ cried Father Theodore piteously. He could see Bender and Hippolyte, and judging from their gestures they were furiously angry. An hour later he lay down on his stomach and craned his neck over the edge of the rock. Bender and Hippolyte were moving away; they were evidently walking towards Tiflis. Night fell. Father Theodore shivered and wept in the darkness as he lay under the clouds. He was ready to give up all earthly treasures; he only wanted one thing, and that was to be taken down from the rock. He shouted and bellowed all night, and in the morn ing, after fortifying himself with sausage and bread, he roared with demoniac laughter as he saw motor-cars chasing along the road. He spent the rest of the day in contemplating the mountains and the sun.
