Elena blushed. Elisaveta calmly bowed and said:

"Yes, we are an inquisitive pair. This house once belonged to a
relative, but it was left abandoned. It is said that many changes have
been made."

"Yes, many changes have been made," said Trirodov quietly, "but the
greater part remains as it was."

"Every one was astonished," continued Elisaveta, "when you decided to
settle here. The reputation of the house did not hinder you."

Trirodov led the sisters through the house and the garden. The
conversation ran on smoothly. The sisters' embarrassment was soon
gone. They felt quite natural with Trirodov. His calm, friendly voice
put them wholly at ease. They continued to walk and to observe. But
they felt conscious that another life, intimate yet remote, hovered
round them all the while. Sounds of music came to them at intervals;
sometimes it was the doleful tones of a violin, sometimes the quiet
plaint of a flute; again it was the reed-like voice of some unseen
singer which sang a tender and restful song.

Upon one small lawn, in the shade of old trees, whose foliage
protected them from the hot glare of the Dragon, making it pleasantly
cool and pleasantly dark there, a number of small boys and girls,
dressed in white, had formed a ring and were dancing. As the sisters
approached them the children dispersed. They scampered off so quietly
that they barely made a sound even when they brushed against the
twigs; they vanished as though they had not been there.