I went home at a very
slow pace, so that Marusya might overtake me on the road. I thought
she might talk to me then. I meant to ask her how she had gotten
ahead of me without my noticing her. The minutes seemed hours; I
thought she would never come out of the house. Then a crazy idea
struck me--to return to the sergeant's house and see what had
happened to Marusya. After all, I thought, what can the sergeant do
to me more than have me whipped? At that moment I thought little of
the rods; it seemed to me just then that the rods did not hurt so
much after all, and the pain they caused was only temporary; it was
hardly worth while giving the matter much thought. And, I am sure,
for the moment I had lost all sense of pain. Had they flogged me
then, I should not have felt any pain. I turned back. Luckily I
did not have to go as far as the sergeant's house; I met Marusya on
the way. She passed me, looking right and left, as if I were a mere
stone lying on the roadside.
"Marusya!" I called after her. But she kept on walking ahead, as if
she had not heard me.
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