IV
THE case was as follows: the sentry, a private of the Ismailovsky regiment named Postnikov, who was standing on guard at the outer door of the Palace, now called the "Jordan" entrance heard that a man was drowning in the open spaces which had appeared in the ice just opposite the Palace, and was calling for help in his despair.
Private Postnikov, a domestic serf of some great family, was a very nervous and sensitive man. For a long time he listened to the distant cries and groans of the drowning man, and they seemed to benumb him with horror. He looked on all sides, but on the whole visible expanse of the quays and the Neva, as if on purpose, not a living soul could he see.
There was nobody who could give help to the drowning man, and he was sure to sink . . .
All this time the man struggled long and terribly.
It seemed as if there was but one thing left for him—to sink to the bottom without further struggle, but no! His cries of exhaustion were
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