"Let God and our gweat monarch judge me afterwards!" said Denisov going out, and Rostov heard the hoofs of several horses splashing through the mud.

He did not even trouble to find out where Denisov had gone.

Having got warm in his corner, he fell asleep and did not leave the hut till toward evening.

Denisov had not yet returned.

The weather had cleared up, and near the next hut two officers and a cadet were playing svayka, laughing as they threw their missiles which buried themselves in the soft mud.