kward."

Yegor laughed hoarsely.

"You're a young girl yet, granny."

"May I visit you in the hospital?"

He nodded his head, coughing. Liudmila glanced at the mother with her
dark eyes and suggested:

"Do you want to take turns with me in attending him? Yes? Very well.
And now go quickly."

She vigorously seized Vlasova by the hand, with perfect good nature,
however, and led her out of the door.

"You mustn't be offended," she said softly, "because I dismiss you so
abruptly. I know it's rude; but it's harmful for him to speak, and I
still have hopes of his recovery." She pressed her hands together
until the bones cracked. Her eyelids drooped wearily over her eyes.

The explanation disturbed the mother. She murmured:

"Don't talk that way. The idea! Who thought of rudeness? I'm going;
good-by."

"Look out for the spies!" whispered the woman.

"I know," the mother answered with some pride.

She stopped for a minute outside the gate to look around sharply under
the pretext of adjusting her kerchief. She was already able to
distinguish spies in a street crowd almost immediately. She recognized
the exaggerated carelessness of their gait, their strained attempt to
be free in their gestures, the expression of tedium on their faces, the
wary, guilty glimmer of their restless, unpleasantly sharp gaze badly
hidden behind their feigned candor.

This time she did not notice any familiar faces, and walked along the
street without hastening. She took a cab, and gave orders to be driven
to the market place. When buying the clothes for Nikolay she bargained
vigorously with the salespeople, all the while scolding at her drunken
husband whom she had to dress anew every month. The tradespeople paid
little attention to her talk, but she herself was greatly pleased with
her ruse. On the road she had calculated that the police would, of
course, understand the necessity for Nikolay to change his clothes, and
would send spies to the market. With such naive precautions, she
returned to Yegor's quarters; then she had to escort Nikolay to the
outskirts of the city. They took different sides of the street, and it
was amusing to the mother to see how Vyesovshchikov strode along
heavily, with bent head, his legs getting tangled in the long flaps of
his russet-colored coat, his hat falling over his nose. In one of the
deserted streets, Sashenka met them, and the mother, taking leave of
Vyesovshchikov with a nod of