I kept
silent for a while, then I made a clean breast of it all. Anna
shook her head at me, and said with tears glistening in her eyes:
"Poor fellow, and where are you going to?"
"I am going to the sergeant's; if it has been decreed, let it be
done quickly."
"Why should you go hungry?"
"That does not matter." I waved my hand, and walked away slowly.
One the way I met some people, but I did not greet them; some people
overtook me, but I did not even notice them pass. I had nothing in
my mind except my own shoulders and the stinging rods. And for a
moment I really lost heart; I acted like a tenderfoot instead of a
Cantonist. I was ready to cry; my tears were choking me, as if I
were mamma's only darling. It was about a two hours' walk to the
sergeant's. When I arrived there, I stood outside and waited for
him. Then I thought I heard the sound of some not unfamiliar voice:
arguments, expostulations, again arguments. Somebody was talking
earnestly behind the closed door. I could not make out what was
said. Neither did I have any desire to know what it was all about.
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