's," said the thin one. "And so it is! Ah,
I remember. . . . I came here last week to buy some castor-oil.
There's a chemist here with a sour face and the jawbone of an ass!
Such a jawbone, my dear fellow! It must have been a jawbone like
that Samson killed the Philistines with."

"M'yes," said the big one in a bass voice. "The pharmacist is asleep.
And his wife is asleep too. She is a pretty woman, Obtyosov."

"I saw her. I liked her very much. . . . Tell me, doctor, can she
possibly love that jawbone of an ass? Can she?"

"No, most likely she does not love him," sighed the doctor, speaking
as though he were sorry for the chemist. "The little woman is asleep
behind the window, Obtyosov, what? Tossing with the heat, her little
mouth half open . . . and one little foot hanging out of bed. I bet
that fool the chemist doesn't realise what a lucky fellow he is. . . .
No doubt he sees no difference between a woman and a bottle of
carbolic!"

"I say, doctor," said the officer, stopping. "Let us go into the
shop and buy something. Perhaps we shall see her."

"What an idea--in the night!"

"What of it? They are obliged to serve one even at night. My dear
fellow, let us go in!"

"If you like. . . ."

The chemist's wife, hiding behind the curtain, heard a muffled ring.
Looking round at her husband, who was smiling and snoring sweetly
as before, she threw on her dress, slid her bare feet into her
slippers, and ran to the shop.

On the other side of the glass door she could see two shadows. The
chemist's wife turned up the lamp and hurried to the door to open
it, and now she felt neither vexed nor bored nor inclined to cry,
though her heart was thumping. The big doctor and the slender
Obtyosov walked in. Now she could get a view of them. The doctor
was corpulent and swarthy; he wore a beard and was slow in his
movements. At the slightest motion his tunic seemed as though it
would crack, and perspiration came on to his face. The officer was
rosy, clean-shaven, feminine-looking, and as supple as an English
whip.

"What may I give you? asked the chemist's wife, holding her dress
across her bosom.

"Give us . . . er-er . . . four pennyworth of peppermint lozenges!"

Without haste the chemist's wife took down a jar from a shelf and
began weighing out lozenges. The customers stared fixedly at her
back; the doctor screwed up his eyes like a well-fed cat, while the
lieutenant was very grave.

"It's the first time I've se