that they were very white, as though the kisses of the stern Dragon
floating in the hot sky had left no traces upon their tender skin.
Both the little boy and the little girl were staring with a motionless
but attentive gaze. Their chaste look seemed to penetrate into the
very depth of one's soul; this rather disconcerted Elisaveta. She
whispered to Elena:

"Look, what strange beings!"

Elena looked in the direction of Elisaveta's glance and said
indifferently:

"Monsters!"

Elisaveta was astonished at her sister's observation--the faces of
these hiding children seemed to her like the faces of praying angels.

By this time the children who had escorted the sisters ran back,
jostling each other and laughing. Only one boy remained with them. He
opened the gate and waited for the sisters to go out so that he could
shut it again. Elisaveta quietly asked him:

"Who are these?"

With a light movement of her head she indicated the bushes, where the
boy and the girl were hiding. The cheerful urchin looked in the
direction of her glance, then at her, and said:

"There's no one there."