Vaninka filled them to the brim herself, and then, as they hesitated to drink, “Come, drink to my health, friends,” said she.

“Hurrah!” cried the drinkers, reassured by the kind and familiar tone of their noble visitor, as they emptied their glasses at a draught.

Vaninka at once poured them out another glass; then putting the bottle on the table, “Empty the bottle, my friends,” said she, “and do not trouble about me.  Annouschka and I, with the permission 2668 of the master of the house, will sit near the stove till the storm is over.”

Gregory tried to rise and place stools near the stove, but whether he was quite drunk or whether some narcotic had been mixed with the brandy, he fell back on his seat, trying to stammer out an excuse.

“It is all right,” said Vaninka:  “do not disturb yourselves; drink, my friends, drink.”

The revellers profited by this permission, and each emptied the glass before him.  Scarcely had Gregory emptied his before he fell forward on the table.

“Good!” said Vaninka to her maid in a low voice:  “the opium is taking effect.”

“What do you mean to do?” said Annouschka.

“You will soon see,” was the answer.

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!”