When to the sound of martial music Sarudine's remains were borne to the
churchyard, Yourii from his window watched the sad, imposing
procession. He saw the horses draped in black, and the deceased
officer's cap that lay on the coffin-lid. There were flowers in
profusion, and many female mourners, Yourii was deeply grieved at the
sight.

That evening he walked for a long while with Sina Karsavina; yet her
beautiful eyes and gentle caressing manner did not enable him to shake
off his depression.

"How awful it is to think," he said, his eyes fixed on the ground, "to
think that Sarudine no longer exists. A handsome, merry, careless young
officer like that! One would have thought that he would live for ever,
and that the horrible things of life, such as pain and doubt and
suffering, were unknown to him, would never touch him. Yet one fine day
this very man is swept away like dust, after passing through a terrible
ordeal known to none but himself. Now he's gone, and will never, never
return. All that's left of him is the cap on the coffin-lid."

Yourii was silent, and he still gazed at the ground. Swaying slightly
as she walked beside him, Sina listened attentively, while with her
pretty, dimpled hands she kept twisting the lace of her parasol. She
was not thinking about Sarudine. It was a keen pleasure for her to be
near Yourii, yet unconsciously she shared his melancholy mood, and her
face assumed a mournful expression. "Yes! wasn't it sad? That music,
too!"