tohimself.
“And what can I do for you, esteemed prince? Since I am told you sentfor me just now,” he said, after a few moments’ silence.
“Oh, it was about the general,” began the prince, waking abruptly fromthe fit of musing which he too had indulged in “and--and about the theftyou told me of.”
“That is--er--about--what theft?”
“Oh come! just as if you didn’t understand, Lukian Timofeyovitch! Whatare you up to? I can’t make you out! The money, the money, sir! The fourhundred roubles that you lost that day. You came and told me aboutit one morning, and then went off to Petersburg. There, _now_ do youunderstand?”
“Oh--h--h! You mean the four hundred roubles!” said Lebedeff, draggingthe words out, just as though it had only just dawned upon him whatthe prince was talking about. “Thanks very much, prince, for your kindinterest--you do me too much honour. I found the money, long ago!”
“You found it? Thank God for that!”
“Your exclamation proves the generous sympathy of your nature, prince;for four hundred roubles--to a struggling family man like myself--is nosmall matter!”
“I didn’t mean that; at least, of course, I’m glad for your sake, too,” added the prince, correcting himself, “but--how did you find it?”
“Very simply indeed! I found it under the chair upon which my coat hadhung; so that it is clear the purse simply fell out of the pocket and onto the floor!”
“Under the chair? Impossible! Why, you told me yourself that you hadsearched every corner of the room? How could you not have looked in themost likely place of all?”
“Of course I looked there,--of course I did! Very much so! I looked andscrambled about, and felt for it, and wouldn’t believe it was not there,and looked again and again. It is always so in such cases. One longs andexpects to find a lost article; one sees it is not there, and the placeis as bare as one’s palm; and yet one returns and looks again and again,fifteen or twenty times, likely enough!”
“Oh, quite so, of course. But how was it in your case?--I don’t quiteunderstand,” said the bewildered prince. “You say it wasn’t there atfirst, and that you searched the place thoroughly, and yet it turned upon that very spot!”
“Yes, sir--on that very spot.” The prince gazed strangely at Lebedeff.“And the general?” he asked, abruptly.
“The--the general? How do you mean, the general?” said Lebedeff,dubiously, as though he had not taken in the drift of the prince’sremark.
“Oh, good heavens! I mean, what did the general say when the purseturned up under the chair? You and he had searched for it togetherthere, hadn’t you?”
“Quite so--together! But the second time I thought better to say nothingabout finding it. I found it alone.”
“But--why in the world--and the money? Was it all there?”
“I opened the purse and counted it myself; right to a single rouble.”
“I think you might have come and told me,” said the prince,thoughtfully.
“Oh--I didn’t like to disturb you, prince, in the midst of your privateand doubtless most interesting personal reflections. Besides, I wantedto appear, myself, to have found nothing. I took the purse, and openedit, and counted the money, and shut it and put it down again under thechair.”
“What in the world for?”
“Oh, just out of curiosity,” said Lebedeff, rubbing his hands andsniggering.
“What, it’s still there then, is it? Ever since the day beforeyesterday?”
“Oh no! You see, I was half in hopes the general might find it. Becauseif I found it, why should not he too observe an object lying before hisvery eyes? I moved the chair several times so as to expose the purseto view, but the general never saw it. He is very absent just now,evidently. He talks and laughs and tells stories, and suddenly fliesinto a rage with me, goodness knows why.”
“Well, but--have you taken the purse away now?”
“No, it disappeared from under the chair in the night.”
“Where is it now, then?”
“Here,” laughed Lebedeff, at last, rising to his full height and lookingpleasantly at the prince, “here, in the lining of my coat. Look, you canfeel it for yourself, if you like!”
Sure enough there was something sticking out of the front of thecoat--something large. It certainly felt as though it might well be thepurse fallen through a hole in the pocket into the lining.
“I took it out and had a look at it; it’s all right. I’ve let it slipback into the lining now, as you see, and so I have been walking aboutever since yesterday morning; it knocks against my legs when I walkalong.”
“H’m! and you take no notice of it?”
“Quite so, I take no notice of it. Ha, ha! and think of this, prince,my pockets are always strong and whole, and yet, here in one night, is ahuge hole. I know the phenomenon is unworthy of your notice; but such isthe case. I examined the hole, and I declare it actually looks as thoughit had been made with a pen-knife, a most improbable contingency.”
“And--and--the general?”
“Ah, very angry all day, sir; all yesterday and all today. He showsdecided bacchanalian predilections at one time, and at another istearful and sensitive, but at any moment he is liable to paroxysms ofsuch rage that I assure you, prince, I am quite alarmed. I am nota military man, you know. Yesterday we were sitting together inthe tavern, and the lining of my coat was--quite accidentally, ofcourse--sticking out right in front. The general squinted at it, andflew into a rage. He never looks me quite in the face now, unless he isvery drunk or maudlin; but yesterday he looked at me in such a way thata shiver went all down my back. I intend to find the purse tomorrow; buttill then I am going to have another night of it with him.”
“What’s the good of tormenting him like this?” cried the prince.
“I don’t torment him, prince, I don’t indeed!” cried Lebedeff, hotly. “Ilove him, my dear sir, I esteem him; and believe it or not, I love himall the better for this business, yes--and value him more.”
Lebedeff said this so seriously that the prince quite lost his temperwith him.
“Nonsense! love him and torment him so! Why, by the very fact that heput the purse prominently before you, first under the chair and thenin your lining, he shows that he does not wish to deceive you, but isanxious to beg your forgiveness in this artless way. Do you hear? He isasking your pardon. He confides in the delicacy of your feelings, andin your friendship for him. And you can allow yourself to humiliate sothoroughly honest a man!”
“Thoroughly honest, quite so, prince, thoroughly honest!” said Lebedeff,with flashing eyes. “And only you, prince, could have found so veryappropriate an expression. I honour you for it, prince. Very well,that’s settled; I shall find the purse now and not tomorrow. Here, Ifind it and take it out before your eyes! And the money is all right.Take it, prince, and keep it till tomorrow, will you? Tomorrow or nextday I’ll take it back again. I think, prince, that the night afterits disappearance it was buried under a bush in the garden. So Ibelieve--what do you think of that?”
“Well, take care you don’t tell him to his face that you have found thepurse. Simply let him see that it is no longer in the lining of yourcoat, and form his own conclusions.”
“Do you think so? Had I not just better tell him I have found it, andpretend I never guessed where it was?”
“No, I don’t think so,” said the prince, thoughtfully; “it’s too latefor that--that would be dangerous now. No, no! Better say nothing aboutit. Be nice with him, you know, but don’t show him--oh, _you_ know wellenough--”
“I know, prince, of course I know, but I’m afraid I shall not carryit out; for to do so one needs a heart like your own. He is so veryirritable just now, and so proud. At one moment he will embrace me,and the next he flies out at me and sneers at me, and then I stick thelining forward on purpose. Well, _au revoir_, prince, I see I am keepingyou, and boring you, too, interfering with your most interesting privatereflections.”
“Now, do
be careful! Secrecy, as before!”
“Oh, silence isn’t the word! Softly, softly!”
But in spite of this conclusion to the episode, the prince remained aspuzzled as ever, if not more so. He awaited next morning’s interviewwith the general most impatiently.
IV.
The time appointed was twelve o’clock, and the prince, returning homeunexpectedly late, found the general waiting for him. At the firstglance, he saw that the latter was displeased, perhaps because he hadbeen kept waiting. The prince apologized, and quickly took a seat. Heseemed strangely timid before the general this morning, for some reason,and felt as though his visitor were some piece of china which he wasafraid of breaking.
On scrutinizing him, the prince soon saw that the general was quite adifferent man from what he had been the day before; he looked like onewho had come to some momentous resolve. His calmness, however, was moreapparent than real. He was courteous, but there was a suggestion ofinjured innocence in his manner.
“I’ve brought your book back,” he began, indicating a book lying on thetable. “Much obliged to you for lending it to me.”
“Ah, yes. Well, did you read
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