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"Sonya! What is it? What is the matter?... Oo... Oo... Oo...!"

And Natasha's large mouth widened, making her look quite ugly,

and she began to wail like a baby without knowing why, except

that Sonya was crying. Sonya tried to lift her head to answer but

could not, and hid her face still deeper in the bed. Natasha

wept, sitting on the blue-striped feather bed and hugging her

friend. With an effort Sonya sat up and began wiping her eyes and

explaining.

"Nicholas is going away in a week's time, his... papers... have

come... he told me himself... but still I should not cry," and

she showed a paper she held in her hand-with the verses Nicholas

had written, "still, I should not cry, but you can't... no one

can understand... what a soul he has!"

And she began to cry again because he had such a noble soul.