It was the fire here that he aimed at," said
he.
"We must rouse the captain," said I, and gazed at Guskof.
He stood cowering close to the ground, and stammered, trying to say,
"Th-that's th-the ene-my's . . . f-f-fire--th-that's--hidi--." Further he
could not say a word, and I did not see how and where he disappeared so
instantaneously.
In the captain's tent a candle gleamed; his cough, which always troubled
him when he was awake, was heard; and he himself soon appeared, asking
for a linstock to light his little pipe.
"What does this mean, old man?" [Footnote: Batiushka] he asked with a
smile. "Aren't they willing to give me a little sleep to-night? First
it's you with your cashiered friend, and then it's Shamyl. What shall we
do, answer him or not? There was nothing about this in the instructions,
was there?"
"Nothing at all. There he goes again," said I. "Two of them!"
Indeed, in the darkness, directly in front of us, flashed two fires,
like two eyes; and quickly over our heads flew one cannon-ball and one
heavy shell. It must have been meant for us, coming with a loud and
penetrating hum. From the neighboring tents the soldiers hastened. You
could hear them hawking and talking and stretching themselves.
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