had something else to think about. First of all he shook himself free of snow, then he sought for the whip in the drift—it had escaped from his hand when he had plunged down into the chasm. Having at last found the whip he tried to climb back the straightest way—the way by which he had fallen. But there an ascent was impossible. He kept on slipping back, so that he was obliged to grope his way about below in order to find an exit from the chasm. Three or four fathoms from the place where he had rolled down he with difficulty crept to the top on all-fours, and came out on that side of the chasm where the horse ought to have been. But he saw no trace either of the horse or the sledge. When, however, he turned his face towards the wind, before he saw them, he heard the shouting of Vasily Andreich and the neighing of Brownie.
"I'm coming. I'm coming!" cried he.
As soon as he got near the sledge he perceived the horse, and Vasily Andreich standing beside it—he loomed forth hugely.
"Where the deuce have you been hiding, eh? We must go back, even if we return to Grishkino." It went against him to bandy words with his serving-man.
"I should be glad to turn back, Vasily Andreich, but whither shall we go? The place is full of holes, and if we fall into one we should never get out again. I stuck so fast yonder that only with difficulty did I struggle out again."
"Well, don't stand there doing nothing. We must go somewhere, I suppose," cried Vasily Andreich.
43
