With all his might Yourii strove to form a conception of this state
which no man finds it possible to support, yet which every man
supports, just as Semenoff had done.

"He did not die of fear, either," thought Yourii, smiling at the
strangeness of such a reflection. "No, he was laughing at us all, with
our priest, and our chanting, and tears. How was it that Semenoff could
laugh, knowing that in a few moments all would be at an end? Was he a
hero? No; it was not a question of heroism. Then death is not as
terrible as I thought."

While he was musing thus Ivanoff suddenly hailed him in a loud voice.

"Ah! it's you! Where are you going?" asked Yourii, shuddering.

"To say a mass for our departed friend," replied Ivanoff, with brutal
jocularity. "You had better come with us. What's the good of being
always alone?"

Feeling sad and dispirited, Yourii did not find Sanine and Ivanoff as
distasteful to him as usual.

"Very well, I will," he replied, but suddenly recollecting his
superiority, he thought to himself, "what have I really in common with
such fellows? Am I to drink their vodka, and talk commonplaces?"

He was on the point of turning back, but he felt such an utter horror
of solitude that he went along with them. Ivanoff and Sanine proffered
no remarks, and thus in silence they reached the former's lodging. It
was already quite dark. At the door, the figure of a man could be dimly
seen. He had a thick stick with a crooked handle.