Walking along the steppe horizon, as if up on a mountain, was a tall, distant man; his entire torso was surrounded by air, only the soles of his feet barely touching the earth’s boundary line. It was toward this distant man that the Chevengurians were running—but he kept on walking and began to disappear on the far side of visibility. After rushing across half the steppe, the Chevengurians started back, alone as before. Chepurny appeared somewhat later, also at a run. He was alarmed and overwrought.
