soon
the closely cropped head of Vankin, the assistant school instructor,
appeared in the doorway. "Whom have you been kissing here? A-a-ah! Very
good! Sergey Kapitonich! A fine old man indeed! With the female sex
tete-a-tete!"

"I wasn't kissing at all," said Akhineyev, confused; "who told you,
you fool? I only--smacked my lips on account of--in consideration of my
pleasure--at the sight of the fish."

"Tell that to some one else, not to me!" exclaimed Vankin, whose face
expanded into a broad smile as he disappeared behind the door. Akhineyev
blushed.

"The devil knows what may be the outcome of this!" he thought. "He'll go
about tale-bearing now, the rascal. He'll disgrace me before the whole
town, the brute!"

Akhineyev entered the parlor timidly and cast furtive glances to see
what Vankin was doing. Vankin stood near the piano and, deftly bending
down, whispered something to the inspector's sister-in-law, who was
laughing.

"That's about me!" thought Akhineyev. "About me, the devil take him!
She believes him, she's laughing. My God! No, that mustn't be left like
that. No. I'll have to fix it so that no one shall believe him. I'll
speak to all of them, and he'll remain a foolish gossip in the end."

Akhineyev scratched his head, and, still confused, walked up to Padekoi.

"I was in the kitchen a little while ago, arranging things there for the
supper," he said to the Frenchman. "You like fish, I know, and I have
a sturgeon just so big. About two yards. Ha, ha, ha! Yes, by the way, I
have almost forgotten. There was a real anecdote about that sturgeon
in the kitchen. I entered the kitchen a little while ago and wanted to
examine the food. I glanced at the sturgeon and for pleasure, I smacked
my lips--it was so piquant! And just at that moment the fool Vankin
entered and says--ha, ha, ha--and says: 'A-a! A-a-ah! You have been
kissing here?'--with Marfa; just think of it--with the cook! What a
piece of invention, that blockhead. The woman is ugly, she looks like a
monkey, and he says we were kissing. What a queer fellow!"

"Who's a queer fellow?" asked Tarantulov, as he approached them.

"I refer to Vankin. I went out into the kitchen--"

The story of Marfa and the sturgeon was repeated.

"That makes me laugh. What a queer fellow he is. In my opinion it is
more pleasant to kiss the dog than to kiss Marfa," added Akhineyev, and,
turning around, he noticed Mzda.

"We have been speaking about Vankin," he sa