Along the Kief Road
143
Oh that Russian lack of system!
In Kief I was held three days.
And I thought:
—I will rest my eyes till Dovsk. And then once more the grey river, the nightmare.
But that was not my lot.
At Brovari, Kozelets,—three versts along the high-road, stand mounted sentries.
That gives to the entry to the town an uncommonly important aspect.
—What's the matter? Are they expecting the approach of the Governor?
—Not at all. The fugitives.
And ahead, at all the little towns and villages, we came on the sentries standing outside.
—In order that the fugitives might not be delayed in the towns and villages, but pass on.
As the corpse of a drowned man floats downstream.
