The two moujiks followed the example of the master of the house, and fell down side by side on the ground. Ivan was left struggling against sleep, and trying to sing a drinking song; but soon his tongue refused to obey him, his eyes closed in spite of him, and seeking the tune that escaped him, and muttering words he was unable to pronounce, he fell fast asleep near his companions. Immediately Vaninka rose, fixed them with flashing eyes, and called them by name one after another. There was no response. Then she clapped her hands and cried joyfully, “The moment has come!” Going to the back of the room, she brought thence an armful of straw, placed it in a corner of the room, and did the same in the other corners. She then took a flaming brand from the stove and set fire in succession to the four corners of the room. “What are you doing?” said Annouschka, wild with terror, trying to stop her. “I am going to bury our secret in the ashes of this house,” answered Vaninka. “But my brother, my poor brother!” said the girl. “Your brother is a wretch who has betrayed me, and we are lost if we do not destroy him.” “Oh, my brother, my poor brother!” “You can die with him if you like,” said Vaninka, accompanying the proposal with a smile which showed she would not have been sorry if Annouschka had carried sisterly affection to that length. “But look at the fire, madam—the fire!” “Let us go, then,” said Vaninka; and, dragging out the heart-broken girl, she locked the door behind her and threw the key far away into the snow. “In the name of Heaven,” said Annouschka, “let us go home quickly: I cannot gaze upon this awful sight!” “No, let us stay here!” said Vaninka, holding her back with a grasp of almost masculine strength. “Let us stay until the house falls in on them, so that we may be certain that not one of them escapes.” “Oh, my God!” cried Annouschka, falling on her knees, “have mercy upon my poor brother, for death will hurry him unprepared into Thy presence.” “Yes, yes, pray; that is right,” said Vaninka. “I wish to destroy their bodies, not their souls.” Vaninka stood motionless, her arms crossed, brilliantly lit up by the flames, while her attendant prayed. The fire did not last long: the house was wooden, with the crevices filled with oakum, like all those of Russian peasants, so that the flames, creeping out at the four corners, soon made great headway, and, fanned by the wind, spread rapidly to all parts of the building. Vaninka followed the progress of the fire with blazing eyes, fearing to see some half-burnt spectral shape rush out of the flames. At last the roof fell in, and Vaninka, relieved of all fear, then at last made her way to the general’s house, into which the two women entered without being seen, thanks to the permission Annouschka had to go out at any hour of the day or night.