Pagina 717 di 3800

They had not met for nearly half a year and, being at the age

when young men take their first steps on life's road, each saw

immense changes in the other, quite a new reflection of the

society in which they had taken those first steps. Both had

changed greatly since they last met and both were in a hurry to

show the changes that had taken place in them.

"Oh, you damned dandies! Clean and fresh as if you'd been to a

fete, not like us sinners of the line," cried Rostov, with

martial swagger and with baritone notes in his voice, new to

Boris, pointing to his own mud-bespattered breeches. The German

landlady, hearing Rostov's loud voice, popped her head in at the

door.

"Eh, is she pretty?" he asked with a wink.