structions."

For a minute or two Jakoff was silent. Then his fingers began to twitch
with extraordinary rapidity, and, changing the expression of deferential
vacancy with which he had listened to his orders for one of shrewd
intelligence, he turned his tablets back and spoke.

"Will you allow me to inform you, Peter Alexandritch," he said, with
frequent pauses between his words, "that, however much you wish it, it
is out of the question to repay the local council now. You enumerated
some items, I think, as to what ought to come in from the mortgage, the
mill, and the hay (he jotted down each of these items on his tablets
again as he spoke). Yet I fear that we must have made a mistake
somewhere in the accounts." Here he paused a while, and looked gravely
at Papa.

"How so?"

"Well, will you be good enough to look for yourself? There is the
account for the mill. The miller has been to me twice to ask for time,
and I am afraid that he has no money whatever in hand. He is here now.
Would you like to speak to him?"

"No. Tell me what he says," replied Papa, showing by a movement of his
head that he had no desire to have speech with the miller.

"Well, it is easy enough to guess what he says. He declares that there
is no grinding to be got now, and that his last remaining money has gone
to pay for the dam. What good would it do for us to turn him out? As to
what you were pleased to say about the mortgage, you yourself are aware
that your money there is locked up and cannot be recovered at a moment's
notice. I was sending a load of flour to Ivan Afanovitch to-day, and
sent him a letter as well, to which he replies that he would have been
glad to oblige you, Peter Alexandritch, were it not that the matter is
out of his hands now, and that all the circumstances show that it would
take you at least two months to withdraw the money. From the hay I
understood you to estimate a return of 3000 roubles?" (Here Jakoff
jotted down "3000" on his tablets, and then looked for a moment from the
figures to Papa with a peculiar expression on his face.) "Well, surely
you see for yourself how little that is? And even then we should lose if
we were to sell the stuff now, for you must know that--"

It was clear that he would have had many other arguments to adduce had
not Papa interrupted him.

"I cannot make any change in my arrangements," said Papa. "Yet if there
should REALLY have to be any delay in the recovery of these sums, we
co