plain and as irrefutable as the day.

But the chance, brief, sincere love had given her the strength to
oppose the inevitability of a second fall. In her heroic courage she
even went so far as putting in a few notices in the newspapers, that
she was seeking a place with "all found." However, she had no
recommendation of any sort. In addition, she had to do exclusively with
women when it came to the hiring; and they also, with some sort of an
inner, infallible instinct, surmised in her their ancient foe--the
seductress of their husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons.

There was neither sense nor use in going home. Her native Vassilkovsky
district is distant only fifteen versts from the state capital; and the
rumour that she had entered that sort of an establishment had long
since penetrated, by means of her fellow-villagers, into the village.
This was written of in letters, and transmitted verbally, by those
village neighbours who had seen her both on the street and at Anna
Markovna's place itself--porters and bell-hops of hotels, waiters at
small restaurants, cabbies, small contractors. She knew what odour this
fame would give off if she were to return to her native haunts. It were
better to hang one's self than to endure this.

She was as uneconomical and impractical in money matters as a
five-year-old child, and in a short while was left without a kopeck;
while to go back to the brothel was fearful and shameful. But the
temptations of street prostitution turned up of themselves, and at
every step begged to be seized. In the evenings, on the main street,
old hardened street prostitutes at once unerringly guessed her former
profession. Ever and anon one of them, having come alongside of her,
would begin in a sweet, ingratiating voice:

"How is it, young lady, that you're walking alone? Let's be mates.
Let's walk together. That's always more convenient. Whenever men want
to pass the time pleasantly with girls, they always love to start a
party of four."

And right here the experienced, tried recruiting agent, at first
casually, but after that warmly, with all her heart, would begin to
praise up all the conveniences of living at your own landlady's--the
tasty food, full freedom of going out, the possibility of always
concealing from the landlady of your rooms the surplus over the agreed
pay. Here also much of the malicious and the offensive was said, by the
way, against the women of the private houses, who were called