Brownie, scenting the mare in front of him, rushed after her, and they emerged into the road. Once more they passed through the village by the same road, past the courtyard where the frozen white clothes were fluttering in the wind (now, however, they were no longer visible), past the outhouses which were snowed up almost to the roof, from which masses of snow plunged down incessantly; past those sadly rustling, whistling, and moaning vine-hedges, and once more came out into that vast snowy sea, where the tempest was raging up and down. The wind was now so strong that when the passengers sailed in the teeth of it, and it caught them sideways, it made the sledge heel over, and smote full upon the flank of the horse. Pete urged his good mare forward at a sharp trot, and shouted to her encouragingly. Brownie dashed after her.
Ten minutes or so elapsed. Pete turned round and shrieked something; neither Vasily Andreich or Nikita could hear him for the wind. They never guessed that they had arrived at the turning. In fact, Pete had turned to the right, and the wind which had been blowing sideways now once more struck them full in the face, and on the right, through the snow, something black was distinguishable. This was the bush at the turning.
"And now God be with you!"
"Thanks, Pete!"
"The lowering tempest hides the sky!" cried Pete, and with that he vanished.
"Quite a bit of a rhymester, eh?" observed Vasily Andreich, tugging at the reins.
39
