"My patron saint is my witness that I did so."

"Very well then, I believe you, but mark me now! for that money you had to give your honey; you perhaps spent a whole year in gathering it, and perhaps with much care, trouble, and anxiety too; you have been watching your bee-hives during the summer and have been obliged to nurse them throughout our long winter months, whilst your dead serfs are neither goods nor chatties of this world. With them you had no cares, no troubles nor anxieties, and if they have left this wicked world for a better one, it was by a decree of Providence that you have sustained a loss in your household. Therefore, and as I have said before, there you received those twelve roubles for your troubles, whilst I am now offering you money for a mere nothing, and if you please not twelve roubles but fifteen, and not in silver, but in three beautiful new imperial bank notes."

CHAPTER XVI.

After such strong arguments as those with which we concluded the last chapter, Tchichikoff could not doubt any longer that the old lady would give way and consent to his proposal.

"Truly," replied the old matron, with an air of simplicity, "and considering that I am a poor and inexperienced widow, who have no regular insight into business matters, I think it will be better for me not to be in a hurry in this bargain; I shall wait a little time, some other purchaser may come, and, meanwhile I should be able to obtain some information about the prices."

"For shame, for shame, my good lady! It's really a shame. What are you speaking now, pray consider? Who ever will come upon the idea of buying your dead serfs? What benefit could possibly be derived from them?"

"They might perhaps be turned to some account in a household—" replied the old woman, but did not finish her phrase, but looked him into the face as if frightened at the idea herself, and yet anxious to know what he would say in reply.

"Turn the dead to account in a household! Wherever have you heard of that before? Would you perhaps use them as guys in your orchards to frighten the sparrows away?"

"The holy powers be with us! What strange language you douse to be sure!" exclaimed the widow whilst crossing herself.

"Where else would you like to put them? however, I will leave you their skeletons as well as their graves; I only want you to transfer them to me on paper. Well then, what do you say? Will you agree? pray give me an answer at least!"

The old lady began to reflect again.

"What are you thinking about, Anastasia Petrovna?"

"I really do not know what to decide upon, you had better buy some flax of me."

"What am I to do with your flax? I am really surprised at you; I speak to you of quite a different matter, and you want to stuff me with flax! Everything in proper time, I will call at some other time, and then I shall have no objection to deal with you for your flax. Now, then, Anastasia Petrovna, how is it to be?"

"By my saints, the goods you want, are so very strange, so very unusual!"

Here Tchichikoff outstepped the bounds of patience, and rising from his chair, he upset it in his fury, and wished the old woman to the devil.

At the name of the devil, the old woman became unusually alarmed.

"Oh, pray do not mention him! the Lord preserve us!" she exclaimed, whilst trembling violently with a pale face. "It is only three nights ago since I dreamt of the evil one all night long. I happened to come upon the idea of wishing to tell my own fortune by a pack of cards, just shortly after I had said my evening prayers, and it seems that the Lord has sent him out against me to punish me for my wickedness. Oh, he was so frightfully ugly; and his horns seemed by far larger than those of my oxen."

"I am only surprised that you don't dream of them by scores. Prompted by a feeling of Christian humanity, I intended, on seeing a poor and lonely widow striving against difficulties—no, I will not do it now, and may what will become of you and of your whole village!"

"Oh, how you do swear, to be sure!" said the widow, whilst looking terrified.

"But it is quite impossible to keep my temper with you. Without wishing to give you offence, I cannot help quoting an old proverb, and compare you to a farm-yard animal,—the species of which, out of respect for you, I will forbear mentioning—lying on a hay-stack, not eating itself, and preventing others from doing so. I should have liked to purchase even some of your household produce, because I am in the habit of contracting also for imperial supplies."

In saying this he slightly imposed upon the old lady; however, it seemed to slip quite accidentally from his tongue, without any premeditation; it served, however, to further his views, quite unexpectedly. Contractors for the supply of the imperial army, the sense which these words conveyed, had a very strong effect upon the nervous system of Anastasia Petrovna, at least, it made her articulate the following words in almost a nearly supplicating voice:

"But, my good Sir, what is the cause of your great anger and impatience? If I had known beforehand that you were a gentleman of such a hot temper, I would, of course, not have given you the slightest provocation."

"I too have a reason to be angry with you? Bah, you are mistaken, the thing is not worth an egg-shell, and wherefore should I lose my good temper?"

"Very well, then, my good Sir, I am ready to let you have them for fifteen roubles, in bank notes; but pray remember me in your contracts of supply; if you should want to purchase some rye-flour, oatmeal, or some wheat, and some cattle, then please do not forget to treat me as a friend."

"I shall not take any advantage over you, my worthy woman," said Tchichikoff; meanwhile he used his hand to wipe away the perspiration from his forehead, which was running down his face in three large streams. He inquired of her, if she had perchance, an agent in town, or a friend whom she could intrust with the signature of the contract of sale in her name, and any other authorization that might be deemed necessary in the completion of the document.

"To be sure I have, the proto-pope's father, Kirilla's son, serves in the very government office in which you will have to sign the papers," answered the widow. Tchichikoff asked her to address him a letter of authorization, and in order to avoid her any further trouble, offered to compose and write it out for her.

"It would be a good thing," thought Lady Korobotchka, "if he would contract for some of my grains and cattle, I must try to please him now: let me see? yes, there is some of yesterday's paste still left. I'll go and tell Fetinia to make him some pancakes; it would be also a good idea to bake him a sweet cake stuffed with eggs, I know they bake it well in my house, and besides it will take but little time and trouble."

The good old lady left the room with the intention of carrying out her hospitable projects about the sweet egg cakes, to which no doubt she meant to make the addition of a few more of the eatables that are generally stored up in the household of Russian families living in the country. Tchichikoff made use of this opportunity, and entered the reception-room in which he had passed the night, with the intention of taking the necessary writing materials from his dressing-case. The reception-room was already swept, and in good order, the luxurious feather-bed had been removed, a table was placed before the sofa, and covered with a white cloth. After depositing his dressing-case upon the table, Tchichikoff sat down to rest himself a little, because he felt himself as wet from perspiration as if he had been plunged into the river; every article of his dress, beginning from the shirt down to his stockings, was ringing wet.

"Ough! how mercilessly the old tiger cat has treated me to be sure!" said he, after taking breath again, and opening his dressing-case.

The author is of opinion, that there are a great many readers, who are sufficiently inquisitive to wish to know something more about the construction of the inner compartments of this dressing-case, made in the French style by some Russian mechanic. If we are right, why should we not gratify them? Here then is the interior arrangements: in the centre, you may imagine you behold the shaving apparatus, such as brushes and soap box, next to them, six or seven partitions for razors; then on either side, a square opening for ink and sand-stands, with a hollow or curved shelf for pens, pencils, sealing wax, and all such things of longitude; then again a few more partitions, with and without covers, for such articles as are of a shorter kind, and they were filled with visiting cards, invitations to christenings and funerals, playbills, and a variety of other small articles, which he secured to keep as souvenirs. All this upper division, with its various compartments could be taken out, and you would have seen a space occupied by heaps of writing paper of all sizes, then followed a small but hidden box of money, which was opened by a secret spring fixed in the side of the case. He always had the habit of opening this money-safe so hurriedly, that it was quite impossible to see how much money he carried about with him when travelling. After having produced the necessary material, Tchichikoff arranged his pen and began to write. At that moment Lady Korobotchka entered the room.

"What a pretty dressing-case you have, my good Sir," said the widow to him, whilst sitting down close to him. "No doubt you bought that pretty box in Moscow?"

"Yes, my lady, in Moscow," answered Tchichikoff, continuing to write.

"Thought as much; for everything is well made there. About three years ago, my sister bought some warm shoes for her children, and they were so well made, that they have lasted them even till now; the material is excellent in Moscow! Oh, ye saints, what a collection of stamped papers you have there!" she continued, whilst casting a look into his dressing-case.

And she was right, he had a large quantity of stamped paper.

"I wish you would make me a present, if but of a sheet! I am quite out of it for the present; it might happen that I shall have to write a petition, and have no suitable paper."

Tchichikoff explained to her that the paper was not of that description, that it could only be used for the purpose of drawing up contracts of sale, but not petitions. However, in order to quiet as well as to please her, he presented her with an old sheet of trifling value.

When he had written the letter he requested her to sign it, and demanded at the same time a list of the names of those of her dead serfs, as he was shortly about to consider as his property. It appeared, however, that Lady Korobotchka was not in the habit of keeping any accounts or lists, but could remember the name of everyone by heart; Tchichikoff was, therefore, obliged to note them down as she dictated their names in due rotation.

The names of a few of his future dependants did puzzle him considerably, but much more so their surnames, which seemed to have been given to them by their lawful mistress as distinguishing marks of their various professions. After having taken down their names with the different items, Tchichikoff stopped to take breath, and inhaled a savoury perfume, like that of melted butter.

"Will you please to come and take a little luncheon now?" said his amiable hostess.

Tchichikoff looked round, and saw the table covered with a variety of good things, such as mushrooms, fish, pies, muffins, pancakes, to which there was a variety of sweet and fat sauces, sauces mixed with sweet onions, sauces mixed with poppy-seed, cream and butter sauces, sprat and other small fish sauces.

"Pray taste this pie with egg and meat stuffing, first," said Lady Korobotchka.

Tchichikoff seated himself at once to the strongly-recommended pie with egg and meat stuffing, and after having eaten nearly the half of it, he began to praise it very much. And indeed, the pie was really very excellently prepared, and considering the bother he had to come to an understanding with the old lady, it seemed particularly delicious.

"And now some pancakes or muffins, if you please?" said she again.

In reply to this, Tchichikoff rolled up three pancakes at once, and after dipping them in the melted butter, he dispatched them into his mouth, and wiped his greasy lips and hands upon the clean napkin. After repeating this operation twice or three times, he begged his hostess to order his horses to be put to his britchka. Anastasia Petrovna immediately called her servant Fetinia, gave her the necessary instructions, and ordered her at the same time to bring a fresh supply of hot pancakes.

"Your pancakes are delicious, indeed," said Tchichikoff, whilst helping himself freely to some more of the hot ones that were put before him.

"Yes, they bake them well at my house," replied his hostess; "it is only a pity that we have such bad harvests, which makes the flour so very dear. But why do you hurry yourself so much, my dear Sir?" she said to Tchichikoff, when she saw him take up his travelling-cap, "your carriage cannot yet be ready and waiting?"

"That will soon be done, my good lady. I keep my coachman always alive to his duty."

"Well, then, pray do not forget me in your contracts for the imperial supplies."

"I shall not forget you, my excellent lady, I shall not forget you," repeated Tchichikoff, whilst walking out of the house.

"Do you by chance buy pig's grease?" inquired the widow, whilst following him from behind.

"Why should I not buy some? of course I do, but that will be at some other time."

"I shall have some pig's grease to offer to you at Christmas."

"I will buy some of you, I will, indeed, I am ready to buy anything of you later, even pig's grease."

"You may, perhaps, also like to buy some birds' feathers of all descriptions of me. I shall have a quantity at Michaelmas next."

"Very well, very well, my good lady," answered Tchichikoff.

"There, you see, my good Sir, your britchka is not yet ready," said his hostess, when they had arrived upon, the door-step.

"Oh, never mind, it will soon be ready. Pray tell me only how we shall have to drive to come upon the high road?"

"How should I explain that to you? Let me see," said the old lady after a moment's reflection; "it is rather difficult to describe because there are so many turnings; perhaps I had better give you a little girl to show you the road. I dare say you will have a small seat for her to sit upon on your carriage?"

"Yes, to be sure I have."

"Very well, then, I will intrust you with one of my little girls; she knows the road well enough, but look you here! do not decoy her, for some of the merchants have already carried one of my girls off."

Tchichikoff promised her that he would not kidnap the girl, and Lady Korobotchka, tranquillized by his assurance, began now to look around her in the court-yard of the house; she fixed her eyes, first upon the housekeeper, who was carrying across the court a large vessel with honey, and then upon a peasant who made his appearance at the gates, and by degrees the old lady was soon completely devoted to her household concerns.

"Ah, here is my britchka at last," exclaimed Tchichikoff, as be saw his carriage driving up. "Well, you idiot, what the deuce has kept you so long? It seems the fumes of yesterday have not yet quite evaporated."

Selifan made no reply to this observation.

"Farewell, my excellent lady! But stop, where is your little girl?"

"Come here, Pelagey," said the widow addressing herself to a little girl of about eleven years, who was standing close by, dressed in a home-woven woollen frock, and with bare feet, which, at a distance might have been mistaken for boots, so much they were besmeared with fresh mud. "Go with this gentleman, and lead him upon the high road."

Selifan assisted her to get upon his seat, in doing this she put one of her dirty feet upon the carriage steps, and after leaving a mark behind, she at last took her seat next to Selifan. After he had seen her safely seated, Tchichikoff in his turn put his foot upon his carriage steps, and after making it visibly incline on the right hand side—because he was rather weighty—he at last took his seat comfortably, and said: "Oh! now I am all right! farewell, my good lady!"

The horses moved on, and the carriage left the court-yard. Selifan was sulky during the whole journey, but at the same time very careful and attentive in the observance of his duty as a driver, which always happened when he had been negligent or drunk. His horses were exceeding clean, as well as their harness and the britchka. The horse collar of one of the three horses, which was usually put on its neck in so dilapidated a state, that the hemp was visible under the leather, was now cleverly sewn up. During the whole time he continued to be speechless, and now and then only lifted his whip, but without addressing any lecture to his tiger-spotted idler, who stood as much as ever in want of a correction; however, the usually talkative driver, held his reins loosely in his hand, and used the whip only occasionally, and then only passed it across their backs as a matter of form. Yet from his sulkily-compressed lips were heard at intervals monosyllables of an ill-tempered meaning, such as, "Now then, now, you raven! take care! speed on!" but nothing else.

Even the other side horse, as well as the leader seemed to feel some discontent, when they heard nothing of that to which they had been accustomed: either words of reproof or approbation. The tiger-spotted idler seemed rather disgusted, because he felt the most unpleasant touches tickling his fat sides.

"Now then, now then, what the deuce is the matter with him! he is harder at me than ever!" thought the idler to himself, whilst pointing his ears. "He knows where to hit, and no mistake! He won't beat me in a straight-forward manner upon the back, but picks and chooses the most sensible parts, he hits my ears, and keeps annoying my flanks."

"Is it to the right?" was the dry question which Selifan addressed to the little girl sitting next to him, whilst pointing with his whip towards a dark road, looming in the distance among some verdoyant com fields.

"No, no, I will show you where," answered the little girl.

"Where is it?" demanded Selifan, after having driven for some distance.

"That is the road," replied the child, whilst pointing with her hand.

"Eh, you little stupid!" said Selifan; "that is to the right; she does not even know what right and left means."

Although the day was fair, the road was wet and heavy, and so muddy, that the wheels of the britchka were soon thickly covered with it, which considerably increased the weight of the carriage; besides, the soil was of a dayish nature and exceedingly sticky. This was the chief cause that they could not reach the high road before mid-day. Without the assistance of the little girl, they would not have been able to progress so fast, because the narrow paths and turnings were innumerable, and led in all directions, like captured lobsters when thrown out of a bag, and Selifan, if alone, might have driven heaven knows where. Soon after, the little girl pointed to some building at a distance and said, "There is the high road!"

"And what are those buildings?" inquired Selifan.

"That is an inn," answered the child.

"Now we shall be able to find the road ourselves," said Selifan, "you can be off home again." He stopped his horses, and helped her to get down from his seat, murmuring through his teeth, "Eh, you little black-leg!"

Tchichikoff gave her some coppers, the value of about a penny, and she soon disappeared in one of the next turnings. The poor little child seemed overjoyed, not so much about the trifle which she had received, as from the pleasure she had enjoyed in sitting and riding in such a beautiful carriage, drawn by such handsome horses.

CHAPTER XVII.

On arriving at the inn, Tchichikoff ordered his coachman to halt, mainly for too reasons; on the one hand, he wished that his jaded horses should have a little rest, and on the other, that he himself should have something to eat, and recruit his exhausted strength.

The author must confess that he very much envies the appetite and the stomach of such men as his hero. He entertains the greatest indifference for all those gentlemen of the haut ton, who inhabit either St. Petersburgh or Moscow, and who waste their time in anxiously thinking about what they would like to eat to-morrow, and what dinner they could imagine for the day after, and preparing themselves for that dinner by undergoing the operation of swallowing a pill on the evening previous; who gulp down oysters and devour lobsters, together with a variety of other marine and land curiosities, and end by going on a journey for health, either to Baden Baden, or the Caucasus.

No, these gentlemen have never had the good fortune to excite my envy; but our men of the middle rank, who at one inn ask for cold ham, at another for roast pork, and at a third for a tail, or a head of a sturgeon, or a lump of smoked sausage with onions in it, and then, without any further ceremony, at any hour of the day sit down to table and eat and drink heartily, such men indeed enjoy the enviable blessings of heaven, a sound stomach and a good appetite. I remember many a gentleman belonging to, what we term in Russia, the haut ton, who would have gladly parted with the half of his numerous serfs, and the half of his mortgaged and non-mortgaged fortune, with all its foreign and domestic improvements, on one condition, namely: that he should receive in return, such a stomach and appetite as the gentlemen of the middle rank possesses; but what a pity that no monetary sacrifices, nor the gift of their estates with or without foreign improvements will ever obtain them in return such a stomach as the gentleman of the less exalted position can boast of.

The inn which received Tchichikoff under its hospitable wooden roof, had an entrance verandah which rested upon four pillars, resembling some old-fashioned church chandeliers; the aspect of the whole, was a dark, smoky-looking structure, altogether, not unlike the miserable huts of the peasantry, only in larger dimensions; the fresh workmanship of the carved cornices which ornamented the windows, and the large entrance door, formed a striking contrast with the dark walls of the gloomy house, upon the shutters of which a variety of flower-pots were painted upon, what was once, a sky-blue ground.

After ascending a narrow, dark and inconvenient staircase, Tchichikoff arrived at a spacious landing, where he opened a creaking door, and was encountered by an enormously stout old woman dressed in a yellow and flame coloured print dress, who officiously addressed the stranger with: "step in here if you please!" In this room his eye fell upon familiar objects, such as are to be met with at every small country inn, of which there are again uncountable numbers on the high roads of Russia.

Among these familiar objects we may mention, an immense hooped samovar, smoothly plained fir walls, a three legged, but large cupboard, covered with an array of tea-pots, cups and saucers standing in a corner, neatly painted china easter eggs, hanging before the images of the saints suspended by pink and blue ribbons, a large favourite cat with her new born offspring, a looking glass, which instead of reflecting two eyes showed the curious party to be in possession of four, and instead of a face something not unlike a muffin, and finally numerous small bundles of fine herbs, which had been hung up to dry close by the lamps burning before the images. Any one on approaching these simples, and inhaling their perfumes could not have resisted a sneeze in consequence.

"Have you a little bit of sucking pig?" such was the question with which Tchichikoff addressed himself to the fat old woman.

"I have some, your glory!" was the short reply.

"With cream and horse-raddish?"

"Yes, your glory! prepared with cream and horse-raddish."

"Let me have it then!"

The landlady hurried off, and soon returned again with a plate and a napkin so unmercifully stiffened, that it crackled like dried bark; she produced a knife with a bone handle, which from age and use had become of a very dark yellow colour, its blade was as thin as a penknife, a fork with two prongs only, and lastly a salt box, which it was impossible for her to make stand upright upon the table.

Our hero, begun immediately, as was his habit, to enter into conversation with the hostess, and inquired with apparent solicitude, if she kept the hotel herself, or whether it was her husband who did so; how large the income was, and whether her sons lived with her in the house; whether the eldest was a single, or married man, and what sort of wife he had got, whether she brought a large, or a small marriage portion into the family; and if the father-in-law was satisfied, or displeased that he received but trifling presents at the wedding, in a word, he omitted no question that could possibly have been put.

From these and similar inquiries, it will be obvious that he was also anxious to know what sort of landowners lived in her neighbourhood, and he was consequently informed that there existed in the vicinity a great variety of landed proprietors, for instance: the Blochins, the Potchitaeffs, the Milnoffs, Tcheprakoff, a Colonel in the army, Sobakevitch.

"Ah! you know Mr. Sobakevitch?" Tchichikoff demanded, interrupting her, and he was informed that the old woman knew, not only Sobakevitch, but also Mr. Maniloff, and that Maniloff was, in her opinion, more of a gentleman than Sobakevitch; that the former, when putting up at her inn, would always order a roast chicken, or demand some cold veal; and if she had any sheep's liver, he would even ask for that, and yet scarcely touch anything; whilst Sobakevitch was accustomed to ask for only one dish, but sit down to it, and eat it all, and even ask an addition of the same, and for the same price.

When he had thus questioned and conversed with the old landlady, whilst continuing to eat his sucking pig, of which there remained but one small piece more, the noise of carriage wheels arriving at the inn was heard. He rose and looked out of the window, and beheld a light britchka drawn by a troika, three beautiful and well-fed horses, pulled up before the inn.

Two gentlemen alighted from this carriage. The one was fair and of high stature; the other less tall and of dark complexion. The fair man was dressed in a dark cloth paletot; the other wore a simple Turkish morning coat, commonly called an archaluck. At a distance, a second miserable looking empty vehicle, drawn by four long-haired and poor looking horses, followed the first, the harness was in a wretched condition, and the horses' collars were tattered, and tied up with strings.

The fair complexioned gentleman immediately entered the house and walked up-stairs; whilst his darker companion remained below, seeking for something in his britchka, and speaking to the servant. At the same time he made signs with his hand to the driver of the other vehicle, which was now gradually approaching. The voice of the speaker below seemed familiar to Tchichikoff, and whilst he was frying to recognise him, the fair man had had already time to find the door, and entered the room.

He was a man of tall stature, with careworn or rather jaded features, and wore a pair of small Scotch-coloured moustachios. From his pallid complexion it could easily be perceived that if he had not smelled much gunpowder, he must have been perfectly familiar with the smoke of tobacco. He bowed civilly to Tchichikoff, which the other returned as civilly. In the course of a few minutes they would have infallibly spoken, and have become well acquainted one with other, because the commencement was already made, and they would have expressed at the same time, with mutual satisfaction, that the dust on the high road had been completely laid by the heavy rain of the preceding night, and that it was now cool and pleasant travelling, but at that moment the dark-complexioned traveller entered the room, threw his cap upon the table, and passed his hand through his rich black hair.

He was a man of the middle stature, well made, and of gentlemanly appearance, with a highly healthy-coloured complexion, with teeth as white as snow, and a pair of whiskers as black as ebony. He was fresh as milk and blood can possibly be; health seemed to gleam out of every one of his features.

"Bah! bah! bah!" he exclaimed suddenly, and opening his arms as he beheld Tchichikoff, "What good fortune."

Tchichikoff recognized in the speaker, Mr. Nosdrieff, the same gentleman with whom he had the pleasure of dining at the Procurator's house, and who in a very brief time indeed had placed himself on such a familiar footing with our hero, that he had called him several times thou, which is, by the bye, not unusual in Russia, though it would shock the ear of an Englishman. However, Tchichikoff on his side, had given no provocation to this familiarity.

"Where have you been?" said Nosdrieff; but without awaiting a reply, he continued: "My dear fellow, I have just returned from a fair. Congratulate me! I have nearly ruined myself by gambling. Would you believe it, I never lost so much in my life before? And the result is, that I have been obliged to travel with common post-horses. Just look through the window, and convince yourself, my dear fellow!"

Here he with his hand turned Tchichikoff's head towards the window, and nearly made him hit himself against the framework.

"Do you see what miserable looking wretches they are? I can assure you they had every difficulty in dragging themselves along the road, and I was therefore obliged to get into that fellow's britchka."

With this polite remark, he pointed with his finger towards his travelling companion.

"Are you not yet acquainted? My brother-in-law, Mr. Muschnieff. I have been speaking to him of you, my dear Tchichikoff all the morning. I told him, mind, we are sure to meet that delightful gentleman, Pavel Ivanovitch. But, my dear fellow, if you could only imagine how much I have lost by gambling! Would you believe it, I lost not only four of my finest race-horses, but also a considerable amount in bank-notes—all gone I Now I have neither my watch nor chain."

Tchichikoff looked at him, and really found it was as he said, he had neither his watch nor his chain. It even seemed to him as if one of his whiskers was less frill than the other.

"And if I had had but twenty roubles more in my pocket at the time," continued Nosdrieff, "but the trifling sum of a twenty-rouble note, I should have won back again, all, no, not merely all, but I am sure, that at this moment I should have had thirty or forty thousand roubles more in my pocket-book, this I can affirm, upon my word, as a gentleman!"

"Now then, softly, you said the same then and there," said the fair man, "and when I gave you a fifty-rouble note, you lost it in no time."

"I should not have lost it; by Heaven, I should not have lost it, without a mistake of my own, I could not have lost it. If I had only doubled my stake after the parole, I should have ruined the croupier."

"However, you did nothing of the kind," added his brother-in-law.

"Certainly not, because as I told you, I bent my corners too rashly. And you think, perhaps, that the major plays well?"

"I don't care how he plays, but the fact is, that he has won your money."

"Never mind with his infernal good luck, I could play as well. But let him come and try his chance with me at any other game, and you will soon be able to see how I shall treat him. I must confess this fair was one of the finest I have been at for some time. The tradesmen themselves agree that they never saw so many people in their town, and that seldom have they known such a run of business.

"All that I sent to the market, from my estate, has been sold at the most advantageous prices. I sincerely regret, that you, my dear fellow, were not with us. Imagine only, about three wersts from town, a regiment of dragoons was lying in their barracks. All the officers of that regiment and a few more from other places, in all, about forty men besides myself; we were always together, but when we sat down to drink—then it was, my dear fellow, that I should have liked to see you among us.

"What a nice fellow that Stabz-Capitän Pozelueff is!" Nosdrieff ran on. "We were always together. We had some excellent wine supplied to us by the celebrated merchant Ponomareff! But, by the bye, I must tell you, he is a great scoundrel, and you ought not to buy anything in his shop; he has the habit of mixing with his wines, heaven knows what stuff, he put in some sandal-wood, bad spirits, and even some of that raw Kahetian wine of the Caucasus, the rascal! but then I must confess, whenever he produces a bottle of what he calls extra fine, and which he usually keeps in a secret place, then you may depend on tasting something palateable, and fancy yourself in paradise. The champagne we had at his house was so delicious, that that with which the Lord Lieutenant treated us to the other day, was as bad as a bottle of stale ginger-beer compared with it. Only fancy, it was not Cliquot. He also produced from his usual hiding store an extra bottle of claret, which he called bonbon. Its flavour was that of a rose, or a whole bouquet if you like. Oh, we had such a spree with that fellow! and a prince, who happened to arrive after us demanded some champagne, and could not get any in the whole town, for we, I mean the officers and I, had drunk every bottle of it. Would you believe it, my dear fellow, that I for my own account drank seventeen bottles of champagne during our dinner!

"Now then, I am sure you could not have drunk seventeen bottles all by yourself," his brother-in-law interrupted him.

"On the faith of a gentleman, I did as I said, I drank them all," answered Nosdrieff.

"You may say what you like, but I tell you, that you could not even empty ten bottles of champagne."

"Very well then, will you lay a wager to that effect?"

"Why should I bet with you about it?"

"Now then, come, stake your new rifle, which you bought at the fair."

"No, I won't."

"Just lay me a wager about it!"

"I won't even try."

"It's well you won't try, else you would remain without your rifle as you now are without your cap. Oh, my dear fellow Tchichikoff, you can have no idea how much I regret that you were not with us! I know you could never have parted with my friend Lieutenant Kuvschinikoff, I am sure you would have soon become intimate. He is not such a man as our Procurator, or all the other niggards of our province, who tremble at each copek they spend. That fellow spends his fortune like a prince, and is ready to play any game. Ah, my dear Tchichikoff, why did you not come to the fair. Really you are a humbug! pardon my saying it, but I could not help it, allow me to embrace you, my dear fellow, because I like you amazingly!" and he embraced Tchichikoff, only to go on as follows.

"Muschnieff, my dear fellow, just look at us, here we are both, Providence brought us together; what is he to me and what am I to him? But my dear fellow, you have no idea, how many carriages there were at every evening party, all en gros. I joined a lottery and won two pots of pomatum, a china tea-cup and saucer, and a guitar; but I played later again and lost all, and six silver roubles besides.

"Yes, my dear fellow, we have been at some of the most delicious evening parties. I also made some purchases at the fair, fortunately I did so, whilst I had yet some money in my pockets. But by the bye, where are you driving to?"

"I am on the road to a gentleman's house in the neighbourhood," answered Tchichikoff.

"Cut him, my dear fellow! and come with me!"

"Thank you, but I cannot accept your invitation, I have some business."

"Bah, what business can you have! you only pretend that, oh, you sly old father Opodildoc Ivanovitch!"

"Really, I have some business to attend to of a very important nature too."

"I lay a wager, you are telling me a fib! now tell me at least where are you going to?"

"I have no objection to tell you that I am going to visit Sobakevitch."

Here Nosdrieff burst into a fit of laughter, with such a ringing voice as a man of perfect health only can enjoy, and at the same time displayed a range of teeth as white as sugar to the last; his cheeks became flushed and trembling, and the effect of his loud outburst could have caused a neighbour in a third room, separated by two doors, to startle from his slumbers, and exclaim: "What the deuce is the matter with that fellow?"

"What do you find so laughable in that," demanded Tchichikoff, partly vexed at the loud outburst.

But Nosdrieff continued to laugh as loudly as before, adding: "pray have mercy, or else I shall burst from laughing!"

"There is nothing laughable in that, I should think; besides I gave him a promise that I would come and visit him," said Tchichikoff.

"But, my dear fellow, allow me to assure you that you will be disgusted with your own existence, if you go to see him, he is a regular Jew killer! and I know your disposition; you are too hasty in your judgment, if you hope to meet there any playmen, or a bottle of good bonbon claret. Listen, my dear fellow! send Sobakevitch to the deuce, and come with me! I promise to give you a famous treat! I have some excellent wine from that scoundrel Ponomareff, who was immensely civil to me, and assured me that I should not be able to get any thing nearly so good as his claret and champagne, were I to search for it throughout the town and fair; for all that I believe him to be a great rogue, and that he has taken me in most unmercifully. I told him as much, and added besides; you and all the public contractors are, in my opinion, the greatest rogues on earth! At all this, my dear fellow, he used to laugh whilst stroking his carroty beard.

"But, my dear fellow, I nearly forgot to tell you; I know now you will not be able to refuse me your admiration, I am going to show you something, which I tell you beforehand, I won't part with, were you even to offer me ten thousand roubles on the spot.

"Halloa, Porphir," he shouted whilst approaching the window, and addressing his servant by this name, who was below, holding a knife and a crust of bread in one hand, and a piece of smoked sturgeon in the other, which piece he had contrived cleverly to cut off whilst fumbling about in his master's carriage.

"Halloa, Porphir," shouted Nosdrieff again, "bring me that little dog out of the carriage! You shall see, my dear fellow, what a beautiful dog that is," he said, while turning himself again towards Tchichikoff. "It is like a stolen dog, the owner would have rather liked to part with himself than with that dog. I gave him that wretched mare, which as you know, I took in exchange from Captain Hvostireff."

Tchichikoff, however, had never in his life known, or seen either the wretched mare, or the Captain Hvostireff.

"Would your glory like to take any thing?" asked the landlady civilly.

"Nothing. Oh, my dear fellow, what fun we had to be sure! However, old woman, let me have a small glass of something. What have you got?"

"Some anisette, if your glory wishes."

"Very well, let me have some anisette," said Nosdrieff.

"Give me a small glass as well!" said his fair brother-in-law.

"At the theatre, I heard an actress sing like a canary-bird; the lieutenant who sat next to me whispered his favorite motto into my ear, and said: 'this young bird would be an excellent subject for a favourable opportunity!' I fancy there were at least fifty large booths upon the Market Place. And Fenardi spun a windmill, at least four hours at a time."

Here he took a small glass of liqueur from the hands of the landlady, who bowed very low at the moment.

"Ah, give him here!" he exclaimed, as he beheld Porphir entering the room with a small dog in his hands. Porphir was, as nearly as possible, dressed like his master, namely, he wore a similar Turkish morning coat, with the only difference, that it looked greasy.

"Bring him here—put him on the floor!"

Porphir deposited the little dog upon the floor, who stretched out his fore paws and began to smell the ground.

"Here is the dog," said Nosdrieff, laying hold of his skin and holding him up in his hand. The young dog howled forth a rather plaintive tune.

"But you have not done what I told you," said Nosdrieff, turning towards Porphir, whilst minutely examining the dog's stomach; "it seems you have neglected to clean him?"

"Pardon me, Sir, I have combed him."

"Where then do those fleas come from?"

"I can't say, your glory. They must have got upon him somehow whilst he was lying in the carriage."

"Nonsense, stuff, you idle fellow, you appear to have forgotten to do as I told you, and have given him some of your own jumpers besides. Look here, my dear Tchichikoff, just examine his ears, now just feel them with your own hand."

"Never mind, I can see without feeling: he is of a good breed," answered Tchichikoff.

"Nay, oblige me, only just feel his ears!"

Tchichikoff, in order to oblige him, complied with the request, and felt the ears of the young dog, and then added: "yes, it will be a fine dog."

"And his nose, can you feel how cold it is? just try it with your hand."

Tchichikoff not wishing to offend him, even felt the dog's nose, saying: "yes, he seems to have a fine scent."

"A thorough-bred bull-dog," continued Nosdrieff, "and I must confess I longed to have a real English bull-dog, long ago. Here, Porphir, take him away again."

Porphir took the young bull-dog gently under the stomach, and carried it back again into the carriage.

"I say, Tchichikoff, you must now come as far as my house, it is only five wersts off, and we shall be there in no time, and later if you like you may proceed to Sobakevitch's."

"And why should I not," thought Tchichikoff to himself, "I'll really drive as far as Nosdrieff's estate and see what it is like. He is not worse than anybody else; he is a good a gentleman as any, and besides, he is a gambler and has lost. To judge by appearances he seems rather clever, consequently, it might easily happen that I shall easily obtain what I want."

"Very well then," he added aloud, "I will, but on the express condition that you will not detain me, because my time is precious."

"Ah, my soul, that is right! I am delighted my dear fellow, allow me to embrace you, to kiss you."

Hereupon Nosdrieff and Tchichikoff embraced and kissed one another on the cheek—as is the custom between intimate friends in Russia.

"And we shall all have a delightful journey home!"

"Pray, no, I hope you will excuse me," said his fair brother-in-law, "I must hasten homewards."

"Nonsense, stuff, my dear fellow, I shall not let you off."

"Really, I must, else my wife will be angry with me, and besides, now you will be able to take a seat in Mr. Tchichikoff's britchka."

"No, no, no, and don't you think of escaping us!"

Mushnieff, Nosdrieff's fair-complexioned brother-in-law, was one of those men whose dominant character seemed to be a spirit of contradiction. Scarcely has a person had time to open his mouth, when he will be already to contradict him, it is therefore obvious that they will never agree upon any point that is in just opposition to their different and separate opinion, they will therefore never call a foolish man a wise one, and especially such men would as a matter of course never consent to dance to another's whistle; but in the end, it will always appear that their general character is a weak disposition, and that at last they will agree upon the very thing they originally had been contradicting, namely, they will affirm the fool to be a wise man, and the next thing they will do, is to go and dance most heartily after another man's whistle, in a word, they begin roughly and end smoothly.

"Nonsense!" said Nosdrieff, in reply to some observation of his brother-in-law; he then took his travelling cap, put it on his head and the fair gentleman followed the two others.

"I hope you will excuse me, but your glories have not paid me for the liqueurs," said the old landlady.

"Ah, very well, my good woman. I say my dear brother-in-law, just pay that old woman will you. I have not a copek in my pocket," said Nosdrieff.

"How much is it?" demanded the brother-in-law.

"A rouble only, may it please your glory," said the hostess.

"Stuff! nonsense!" shouted Nosdrieff, "give her only half-a-rouble; that will be quite sufficient for the trash."

"It's rather little, your honour," said the old woman; however, she took the money with a curtsey, and hurried to open the door as fast as her bodily constitution would permit her. She had sustained no loss in taking what was given to her, because she took care to demand four times the value of her had spirits.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The travellers took their seats in their respective carriages. Tchichikoff's britchka drove in a line with that in which Nosdrieff was seated with his brother-in-law, and thus they had every facility for continuing their conversation during their journey to Nosdrieff's estate. These two carriages were followed at a slight distance behind by Nosdrieff's dilapidated conveyance. In it were seated his servant Porphir, and his new acquisition the young bull-dog.

As the conversation of the three travellers could be but of little interest to the reader, we will omit it altogether, and say a word instead about Nosdrieff, whose fate it will perhaps be to play an important part in this narrative.

Nosdrieff's face we premise to be already a little familiar to our reader. Men like him could easily be met with by everybody, who will take the trouble and travel in Russia. They are what are called men who have cut their eye teeth. Their reputation begins from their boyhood, when they were much admired by their school-fellows, but for all that never escaped a sound thrashing occasionally. In their face, there is always something open, straightforward, if not impudent, to be seen. They soon succeed in ingratiating themselves, and ere you have had time to recover from your surprise they call you already "my dear fellow." They seem to establish their friendly relations for an eternity; but it will always happen that those who have been imprudent enough to form an intimacy with them, will, on the very evening of the day, at some friendly supper or rout, fall out with them. They are always very great talkers, hard drinkers, and what is termed, jolly good fellows, and with all that, men of prepossessing appearance.

Nosdrieff, at thirty-five years of age, was in all these talents as accomplished as he was when only eighteen or twenty; exceedingly fond of dissipation. His marriage did not in the least interfere with his pleasures, nor change him, so much the less, since his wife, shortly after their marriage; quitted this world for a better one, leaving behind her two little children, which were of no earthly use or consolation to him. His infants, however, were properly taken care of by a housekeeper. He never could stay at home for more than twenty-four hours at a time. His sense of divination was so acute that he could smell at a distance of twenty or thirty miles where a fair was to be held, or a ball or rout to be given. In no time he was sure to be there, lead on a dispute, create a disturbance at the green table, because he, like other men of his description, had a passion for gambling. He was fond of card-playing, as we have seen already in the first chapter; and he did not play without a little cheating, because he knew so many different tricks and finesses, and for that very reason the game often ended in another sort of play; he either got a sound thrashing, or his full and glossy whiskers pulled about so much so, that very often he had to return home with only one of his hairy ornaments, and that even of a spare appearance.

But the constitution of his full and rosy cheeks was so excellent, that with an extraordinary fertility of growth, a new pair of whiskers soon made their appearance again, and even finer and stronger than the former.

But the strangest feature in his character was—and this could perhaps only happen in Russia—that a very short time after, he could coolly meet again the very same friends who had but recently horsewhipped him, and meet them as if nothing had been the matter between them; and as the phrase goes, he said nothing, and they said nothing about it.

Nosdrieff was in some respects also an historical personage. He never went to an evening party without there being some talk about him afterwards. Some event or another was sure to take place wherever he went; he would either be obliged to leave the room under an escort of strangers, or be forcibly led away by his own friends, who ventured to introduce him. If either of these cases did not happen, it might be depended upon that something else was sure to occur and make him notorious, and which to any other person would not happen under any circumstances; he would either get tipsy to such a degree as to do nothing else but laugh continually, or commit himself to such a degree that at last he will begin to blush at them himself.

Strange to say, he would try to impose upon persons without the least advantage to himself: he would of a sudden protest, that once he possessed a horse or a dog of a green or a blue colour, and such and similar nonsense; so that those who have been listening to him, will leave him and say, "what falsehoods that man is telling, to be sure!"

There are people, who have a passion for injuring their fellow-men frequently without any provocation. Some of us Russians, for an example, men of rank, of prepossessing appearance and with large decorations on their breasts, will often give you unquestionable assurances of friendship whilst pressing your hand warmly, speak to you about scientific things, which require deep study—and then, the very next moment, and in your presence, they will go and play you some base trick. And they will injure you as meanly as a man of the fifteenth degree of the Russian nobility—which by the bye is the lowest, though this was not at all what you could have expected from a man wearing a star or two on his breast, discussing scientific things which require deep study and serious meditation. So great will your surprise be at his conduct, that you will remain abashed, shrug your shoulders, and say nothing.

Nosdrieff had exactly such a passion, whoever was the more acquainted or befriended by him, was sure to be the chosen victim of this despicable passion of his; he launched some of his monstrous nonsense, anything more stupid could scarcely be imagined, yet he succeeded either in breaking off some promise of marriage or some contract of sale, and what not; and in doing all that, he never called himself your enemy; on the contrary, if fate would have it, that you should meet him again, he would accost you like an old friend, and even say, "halloah! here you are at last, but you are not my dear fellow, because you never come to see me."

Nosdrieff was in many respects also a multifarious man, to use a common phrase, we may call him, a man up to anything and everything. At the same instant he would propose to you, to go and drive wherever you like, If even to the end of the world, or in search of Sir John Franklin, then again he would be ready to enter into any speculation with you, exchange with you everything that could possibly be exchanged,—a rifle, a dog, a horse, not that he had any object of gain in it, not at all, it was simply another trait of his restless and foolish character.

If fate would have it so, that he might meet an inexperienced player or a flat at any of the towns or fairs which he used to visit, and that he should win of him his money in a gambling match, he would buy all and everything that would be first brought under his notice or be offered to him; he then purchased indiscriminately, horse-collars, perfumes, and neckerchiefs for the nurse of his children, a stallion, grapes, a silver mouth bason, Irish linen, buckwheat flour, tobacco, holster-pistols, Dutch herrings, oil paintings, mechanical instruments, pots and saucepans, boots, china tea-services—in fact, as long as his money lasted, he would continue his purchases.

However, it was a rare occurrence when any of this great variety of articles were ever sent to his home; it happened nearly invariably that all these goods passed the very day of their purchase into the hands of some more fortunate gambler, very frequently even he would have to make the addition of his favourite Turkish pipe, with its amber mouth-piece and other ornaments, and he had even known extreme cases, when he had to part with his carriage, horses, and coachman, so that he, the master, was left behind, possessing for the time being nothing he could call his own but his clothes, running about to find some friend to give him a place in his carriage and drive him home—and this seems very much to have been the case with him in this instance, when he met with Tchichikoff at the inn.

Meanwhile, the three carriages had arrived before the gates of Nosdrieff's house. In the house there had been no preparations made for their reception. In the centre of the dining room there was a scaffolding on which two mouzhiks were standing, and whitewashing the wall and ceiling, whilst singing the tune of some interminable song. Nosdrieff immediately gave orders that the workmen as well as the scaffoldings should quit the room, and hastened into an adjoining apartment to give the necessary instructions to that effect. His guests heard Him give his commands for the preparation of a dinner to his cook; when this was audibly heard by Tchichikoff, he began to feel an appetite, as well as the conviction that they should not be able to sit to table before five o'clock.

Nosdrieff, after returning to his guests offered to show them all and everything on his estate, and in his village; and, in little more than two hours he had positively shown them everything worth seeing, so that there remained nothing else to be looked at. First of all they went to examine his stables, where they saw two mares, the one a grey silver-coloured animal, the other a chesnut one, then a black stallion, not a showy looking horse at all, but for which Nosdrieff swore that he had paid ten thousand roubles.

"You could never have paid ten thousand roubles for that animal," his brother-in-law observed coolly. "It is not worth even a thousand."

"By Heaven, I gave ten thousand for him," said Nosdrieff.

"You may invoke Heaven as a witness as much as you like, I don't care," his fair-complexioned brother-in-law persisted.

"Very well then, let us have a wager about it," exclaimed Nosdrieff.

But his brother-in-law did not like to lay him a wager.

Nosdrieff then showed them some empty stalls, in which he used to keep excellent race-horses formerly. In the same stable they also saw a goat, who, according to a proverbial faith, was deemed indispensable in a stable near the horses, and it seemed that this goat was on excellent terms with his fellow-animals, for it walked about under their stomachs as if quite at home. After this, Nosdrieff led them away, showed them a young wolf, whom he kept tied to a pole.

"Here is a whelp," said he, "I feed him purposely with raw meat. I want to bring him up to become a perfect wild beast."

They then went to look at a pond, in which, according to Nosdrieff, there were such enormously large fish, that two men would have every difficulty in pulling out one of them.

In this, however, his brother seemed not inclined to contradict him.

"Tchichikoff, my dear fellow, come along, I'll show you a pair of beautiful dogs," said Nosdrieff, whilst leading on; "their muscular strength will amaze you, their power of scent is as sharp as—a needle!"

"Just look at that plain," said Nosdrieff, whilst pointing with his finger to a field before them, "there is such a number of hares that you can scarcely see the ground; I caught one the other day with my own hands by his hind legs."

"I venture to say, that you will never catch a hare with your hands!" observed his brother-in-law.

"But I tell you I caught one, and caught one purposely with my own hands!" answered Nosdrieff. "But now come along and I will show you, my dear fellow," he continued whilst turning towards Tchichikoff, "the frontier line of my estate."

When they had walked a considerable distance, they really arrived at the boundary mark of his estate, which consisted of a wooden post with a small board fixed to it.

"Here we are, at the frontier!" said Nosdrieff, "all, what you can possibly see on that side, is mine, and even on the other side, all that extensive forest which looms there in the distance, and that, which is beyond the forest, all is mine."

"But since when has that forest become yours?" inquired his brother-in-law. "You have bought it lately? for it was not yours some time ago?"

"Just so; I bought it quite recently," answered Nosdrieff.

"How did you manage to buy it so quickly, so suddenly?"

"It's a fact, I bought it about three days ago, and the deuce, I paid a handsome price for it."

"But, if I remember well, you were just at that time at the fair?"

"Oh, what a simpleton you are! Is it then impossible to be at the same time at a fair, whilst buying a piece of land? Well, then, I was at the fair, whilst my manager bought the forest and land."

"Ah, your manager! that is another affair," said his brother-in-law, but even then he seemed to question the matter as a fact, and shook his head.

CHAPTER XIX.

Nosdrieff's guests were obliged to return by the same wet and muddy road on which they came. When they had arrived at the house, Nosdrieff led them into his private cabinet, in which, however, there were no traces of such articles as one would expect to see in a private study: namely, books or papers; the principal ornaments seemed to be a collection of swords, and two rifles, the one the value of about three hundred roubles, the other might have cost eight hundred. The brother-in-law looked around him, shook his head, but said nothing.

After this Nosdrieff exhibited some Turkish daggers, upon the one of them was unfortunately the name of a celebrated Russian armourer of the name of Siberiakoff. The exhibition was concluded by a grinding organ, which the owner began to turn with the intention of entertaining his guests with some music. The organ had a rather pleasing tone, but there seemed to be something wrong with it, because the Mazurka which it was just playing ended with "The Marlborough March," and "Marlborough's March" again, was suddenly superseded by a mixture of one of Strauss' waltzes.

Nosdrieff had long since left off turning the handle, yet there seemed to be an obstinate flute in the organ, which would not cease to send forth a long and plaintive tone, which continued for some considerable time to whistle all by itself. To make up for this mishap, Nosdrieff produced his collection of pipes; there was a great variety of them, some of common red and white clay, some meerschaums already coloured, and some others quite new, some of them were carefully sown into doeskin, others again had no doeskin; he also showed them some cherry tubes of great beauty and length, with amber mouth-pieces, and without any; among those with mouth-pieces there was a very valuable one which he had but recently won in a raffle, he did not fail to boast of an embroidered tobacco-pouch, which he had received from a countess, whilst on his road to Smolensk, and who had fallen head over ears in love with him, and if we are to believe still further what he said about this adventure, the lady's hands were of such a beautiful shape that he could not find better words to express his appreciation, of their perfection but by calling them "fatally superfine," which no doubt meant with him the highest degree of perfection.

After having shown all he possessed to his guests, he led them into the dining-room, where they took a small glass of liqueur to excite the appetite, and then sat down to dinner, considerably after five o'clock in the afternoon. A good dinner seemed not to be the first condition in the happy existence of Nosdrieff; a variety of dishes did not play a principal rôle upon his table; some of the eatables were too much roasted, whilst others were not sufficiently cooked. It was obvious that his chef de cuisine was accustomed to a kind of freemasonry in his art, and that he had made up the dishes with the first comestibles that came under his hands or notice; if pepper was the nearest article in his reach, he would throw some pepper into the saucepan, if cabbage was at hand, he was sure to stuff the saucepan with cabbage, add some milk, ham, peas, in a word, everything was thrown pell-mell into the boiler, provided it was hot; as for the taste, he was sure that his cookery would have plenty of that.

To make up for any deficiencies of his cook, Nosdrieff stuck to the wine; soup was not yet served, when he had already supplied his guests with some port wine in two large tumblers, and some Haut Sauterne in two others, because in small provincial towns and country places they do not keep simple Sauterne. Nosdrieff then ordered his servant, Porphir—who served at table—to bring in a bottle of Madeira, of such an exquisite taste and dry quality that the Prince Field-Marshal Paskievitch would have been proud to taste it. The Madeira wine was really of a fiery taste, because the wine merchants were too well acquainted with the taste of landed proprietors, who like a strong and dry glass of Madeira, and for that reason they mix it unmercifully with brandy, and sometimes even with the monopolised imperial raw spirit, in the hope that the excellent constitution of a Russian stomach will be able to digest it.

A little later, Nosdrieff ordered that another bottle should be brought in of some particularly good wine, which, according to his words, was both Burgundy and Champagne; this wine he poured out very freely to the right and to the left, to his brother-in-law and to Tchichikoff; Tchichikoff, however, observed with a side glance, that Nosdrieff had taken but little himself of his extra wine. This made him become very cautious, and, as soon as Nosdrieff seemed warmly engaged in conversation with his brother-in-law, he immediately took advantage of the opportunity to pour some of that extra wine into his plate.

In the course of dinner, a roast heath-cock was put upon the table, which, according to Nosdrieff, would have its mild a taste as cream, but which, to the surprise of his guests, had a positive taste of a badly cooked sea-gull. They then tasted some French beaume, a sweet liqueur with such an extraordinary name that it was quite impossible to recollect it, for the host himself, called it the second time by a different appellation.

They had finished dining long since, and had been drinking all sorts of wine, yet the host and his guests remained seated at table. Tchichikoff did not like the idea of beginning a conversation with Nosdrieff, on his all-important subject, in the presence of his brother-in-law, whom he considered a stranger, and the matter on which he intended to speak to Nosdrieff demanded a private, confidential, and friendly interview.

However, the brother-in-law did not look like a dangerous man at the moment, because he seemed to have taken a copious libation, was moving to and fro in his chair, and continually twitching his nose with his left hand. He began to feel uneasy and as if he had a presentiment of an approaching hopeless condition; he at last begun to beg to be allowed to return home, but with such an idle and heavy voice, as if, to use a Russian phrase, "he was pulling a horse-collar upon the horse's neck with a pair of pincers."

"Oh, no, no, no! I shall not allow you to go!" said Nosdrieff.

"Pray do not offend me, my good friend, by detaining me, I really must leave you," his brother-in-law said, "you will very much offend me if you insist upon my staying any longer."

"Nonsense, folly! we will presently have a small game."

"Not I, my dear fellow, you may do as you like; my wife will have all sorts of ideas, I shall have to tell her of the fair. I really must give her some pleasant surprise after my long absence. No, oblige me, and do not try to keep me here any longer."

"Send your wife to the d—l! what's the use of your going home in your present state?"

"No, brother! she is such an excellent and virtuous wife; she is full of favours for me—would you believe me, I feel the tears coming into my eyes. No, do not keep me any longer, on my honour as a gentleman, I shall leave you, and I give you this assurance like an honest man."

"Let him depart, of what good could he be?" Tchichikoff whispered slowly to Nosdrieff.

"You are right, by Jove!" said Nosdrieff, "I cannot bear the sight of these nervous fools!" and he added aloud, "well, the d—l be with you; go and make love to your better-half, you slave to gynæocracy!"

"No, brother, you ought not to call me by any of those foreign names," his brother-in-law replied, "as for my wife, I owe her my existence. She is an amiable and loving woman and is full of such tenderness—she often moves me to tears; no, the more I think of her the more I wish to return to her; she is sure to ask me what I have seen and done at the fair, and I shall have to tell her all, for she is an angel of a woman!"

"Be off then, and tell her as much as you like! there is your cap."

"Nay, brother Nosdrieff, you are wrong in wanting respect for your own sister; by committing a breach of politeness towards her, you offend me as well, and you know well what an amiable woman my wife is."

"Therefore, I cannot advise you better than to hasten into her arms as soon as you like, and sooner if possible!"

"Yes, brother, I must leave you, excuse me, but really I cannot stay any longer. My heart would be rejoiced if I could stay, but I must not tarry any longer."

Nosdrieff's brother-in-law continued yet for a considerable time to express his regrets and excuses, without noticing that he had been already seated for some time in his own carriage, that he had long since departed from Nosdrieff's house, and that nothing but open fields and the high road were before him. It might be easily imagined, that his wife heard but little of what he had seen and done at the fair.

CHAPTER XX.

"What a stupid fellow!" said Nosdrieff, whilst standing at the window and looking after his brother-in-law's carriage as it was gradually disappearing in the distance. "Look here how he is driving off; one of his off horses is rather a fine animal, I have long had my eye upon it. However, it is quite impossible to come to any understanding with the man. He is such an odd fellow."

After saying this, Nosdrieff and Tchichikoff entered another room. Porphir brought in some candles, and Tchichikoff observed in the hands of his host a pack of cards, for the sudden appearance of which he could not possibly account.

"What do you say, my dear fellow," Nosdrieff remarked, whilst pressing the back of the pack with his fingers in such a manner, that they got slightly bent, and the wrapper in which they were broke; "Now then, and in order to pass our time pleasantly, I propose to hold the bank with three hundred roubles in it."

But Tchichikoff pretended not to have heard the other's proposal, and said, as if suddenly recollecting something: "Ah! by the bye, and ere I forget it again; I have request to make."

"What is it?"

"Give me first your promise to fulfil it."

"But what is your request?"

"Never mind, give me your promise!"

"'Tis granted."

"Your word of honour."

"My word of honour."

"And now hear my request: you have no doubt, my dear fellow, a number of dead serfs, that have not been yet struck out from the lists of the last census?"

"Yes, I have; but why?"

"Transfer them to me, to my name."

"And for what purpose do you want them?"

"Suffice it, if I tell you I want them."

"But for what purpose?"

"As I told you before I want them; the rest is my business, in a word then, I want to have them."

"No doubt you are up to something. Come, old fellow, confess it, eh?"

"To what should I be up? how could I be up to anything with such worthless trash, as dead serfs?"

"But why should you then tell me you want to have them?"

"Oh, what a curious fellow you are! you wish to touch everything, or rather thrash with your own hands, and smell at it besides!"

"But why don't you tell me?"

"And where would be the advantage if you knew it? well then if you must know it, it is a sudden fancy I have."

"Well then, look here, my dear fellow: unless you tell me the truth, you shall not have my dead serfs!"

"And now I must confess, that this is not honourable on your part: you gave me your word of honour, and now you try to back out of it."

"As you like, my dear fellow, but you shall not have them unless you tell me of what use they could be to you, dead as they are."