have the factory torn down. This, you see, you ass, is what it means to encroach on other people’s property. It is a splendid piece of luck for you. Smash, indeed! It will cost him a penny to smash or move a thing like that. He’ll want to settle. That will be the moment to bring pressure to bear on Judas. We will calculate in detail how much it will cost to bring the factory down, crushed brick, foundation, all! Even the time will be taken account of. Then, Judas, if you please, hand over two thousand rubles!”

“He will never give it!” cried Vaviloff, his eyes anxiously blinking and shining with a greedy light.

“Fiddlesticks! He will give it.…Use your brains.… What else can he do? Tear it down? But look here, Egorka, mind you don’t let yourself be done in. They are sure to try to buy you off. Don’t sell yourself cheap. They will probably use threats, but rely upon us…”

The Captain’s eyes were alight with a fierce happiness, and his face, red with excitement, twitched nervously. He worked upon Vaviloff’s greed, and urging upon him the importance of immediate action in the matter, went away in a very triumphant and unrelenting frame of mind.

In the evening everyone was told of the Captain’s discovery, and they all began to discuss Petunikoff’s future predicament, painting in vivid colors his anger and astonishment on the day the court messenger would hand him the copy of the summons. The Captain felt himself a hero. He was happy and all his friends intensely pleased. The large heap of dark and tattered figures lay in the court-yard and made noisy demonstrations of pleasure. They all knew the merchant, Petunikoff, who passed them every day, contemptuously half-closing his eyes and giving them no more attention than he bestowed on the other rubbish in the street. He reeked with satiety, which exasperated them still more. He shone with superiority even down to his boots; and now one of them had struck a hard blow at his purse and pride! Was that not enough reason for rejoicing? Malice had a particular attraction for these men. It was the only weapon in their hands which they could handle. They all had fostered a subconscious, vague but sharp hostility towards well-fed and well-dressed people.

For a fortnight the inhabitants of the doss-house lived in expectation of further developments, but Petunikoff never once visited his building during that time. It became known that he was not in town and that the copy of the petition had not yet reached him. Kuvalda raged at the delays of the civil court. Surely nobody had ever awaited the merchant with such concentrated impatience as did this bare-footed brigade.

“He doesn’t dream of coming, oh my darling! He does not love me, he does not!” sang Deacon Taras, resting his chin on his hand and casting a humorously sorrowful glance towards the hill.

At last one evening Petunikoff appeared. He came in a very presentable cart with his son playing the rôle of a groom. The latter was a red-cheeked youngster, in a long checkered overcoat. He wore dark eyeglasses. They tied the horse to a post of the scaffolding, the son took a measuring instrument out of his pocket and gave it to his father, and they began to measure the ground. Both were silent and looked preoccupied.

“Aha!” shouted the Captain, gleefully.

All those present in the doss-house at the moment came to the gate to watch and expressed themselves loudly in reference to the matter.

“What a strange thing the habit of thieving is. A man may steal without any intention to do so and lose thereby more than he gets,” said the Captain, causing much laughter among his staff and eliciting various murmurs of assent.

“Take care, you devil!” shouted Petunikoff, exasperated at last by the jeers, “lest I have you in the police court for your words!”