Who is Nikita Stepanych from Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy and what is their importance?

Nikita is the peasant laborer who tends to the needs of Vasili Andreevich, even to the extent of accompanying him in a blizzard to make a bid on some property he wants to add to his estate. His peasant common sense enables him to survive being stranded overnight on a highway covered with snow, while his master does not.