When the old man, was carried out, burning straw fell on him and scorched him. He was taken to the elder's house in a distant part of the village. This part did not burn. When Iván came to his father, only the elder's wife was there, and the children on the oven. The rest were all at the fire. The old man was lying on a bench, with a taper in his hand, and looking toward the door. When his son entered, he stirred a little. The old woman went up to him and said that his son had come. He told her to have him come closer to him. Iván went up, and then the old man said: "What have I told you, Iván? Who has burned the village?" "He, father," said Iván, "he,--I caught him at it. He put the fire to the roof while I was standing near. If I could only have caught the burning bunch of straw and put it out, there would not have been anything." "Iván," said the old man, "my death has come, and you, too, will die. Whose sin is it?" Iván stared at his father and kept silence; he could not say a word. "Speak before God: whose sin is it? What have I told you?" It was only then that Iván came to his senses, and understood everything. And he snuffled, and said: "Mine, father." And he knelt before his father, and wept, and said: "Forgive me, father! I am guilty toward you and toward God." The old man moved his hands, took the taper in his left hand, and was moving his right hand toward his brow, to make the sign of the cross, but he did not get it so far, and he stopped. "Glory be to thee, O Lord! Glory be to thee, O Lord!" he said, and his eyes were again turned toward his son. "Iván! Oh, Iván!" "What is it, father?" "What is to be done now?" Iván was weeping. "I do not know, father," he said. "How am I to live now, father?" The old man closed his eyes and lisped something, as though gathering all his strength, and he once more opened his eyes and said: "You will get along. With God's aid will you get along." The old man was silent awhile, and he smiled and said: "Remember, Iván, you must not tell who started the fire. Cover up another man's sin! God will forgive two sins." And the old man took the taper into both hands, folded them over his heart, heaved a sigh, stretched himself, and died. * * * * * Iván did not tell on Gavrílo, and nobody found out how the fire had been started. And Iván's heart was softened toward Gavrílo, and Gavrílo marvelled at Iván, because he did not tell anybody. At first Gavrílo was afraid of him, but later he got used to him. The peasants stopped quarrelling, and so did their families. While they rebuilt their homes, the two families lived in one house, and when the village was built again, and the farmhouses were built farther apart, Iván and Gavrílo again were neighbours, living in the same block.