CHAPTER VII.

IT was now the second half of March; the grass was
growing luxuriantly, the field-roller was blooming, the
steppe--was stirring with life. In the morning the lieuten-
ant, travelling at the head of his men, rode as if over a sea
whose moving wave was the wind-stirred grass. Every place
was filled with joy and the voices of spring, --- chirruping,
whistling, clattering, the shaking of wings, the glad hum
of insects; the steppe sounded like a lyre touched by the
hand of the Lord. Above the heads of the horsemen floated
falcons motionless in the blue ether, like suspended crosses,
triangles of wild geese, lines of storks; and on the ground
the coursing of flocks run wild. Behold, a herd of steppe
horses rush on! They move like a storm, stop before the
mounted men in a half-circle suddenly, as if spiked to the
earth, their manes spread to the wind, their nostrils dilated,
their eyes full of wonder. You would say they are here
to trample the unbidden guests. But a moment more
they are gone, vanishing as suddenly as they came. Now
we have only the sound of the grass and the gleam of the
flowers; the clatter is still. Again nothing is heard save
the play of birds. The land seems full of joy; yet a kind of
sadness is in that joy. It seems crowded, and it is an empty
land. Oh, it is wide. and it is roomy! With a horse you
cannot surround it; in thought you cannot grasp it,--unless
you love the sadness, the desert, and the steppes, and with
yearning soul circle above them, linger upon their grave-
mounds, hearken to their voices, and give answer.

It was early morning. Great drops glittered on the grass
and reeds; the quick movement of the wind dried the
ground, on which after the rains broad ponds were spread,
like lakes shining in the sun. The retinue of the lieu-
tenant moved on slowly, for it was difficult to hasten
when the horses sank to their knees at times in the soft
earth; and he gave them only short resting-spells on the
grave-mounds, for he was hastening to a greeting and a
parting.

The second day, about noon, after he had passed a strip
of forest, he saw the windmills of Rozlogi scattered on the