her lips burned; she would give him a
hearty kiss, many, many hearty kisses. It was nice to be able to kiss
somebody whom you were very fond of.

Marianna had washed her head the night before with soft soap, and
rubbed pomade well into the hair, so that it should shine brightly and
be smooth when Mikolai came. As Rosa did not wish to be outdone by [Pg
179] her, she had put her head into a basin of water. But she could not
make up her mind to use the greasy pomade, so her dry hair--brittle
like that of all anaemic people--was twice as dry as usual, and stood
out like a reddish, curly mane round her head. Her blue ribbon could
hardly keep the plait together, and the dry, curly mass emitted
hundreds of sparks as soon as a sunbeam fell on it.

As they drove through Starawie['s] they saw Mr. Boehnke coming out of
the rectory. They were stopping for a moment at the inn, as Mr. Tiralla
felt so chilly that he wanted a glass of gin. They called to him, that
is, Mr. Tiralla shouted with a loud voice, "Little Boehnke, heigh,
little Boehnke. _Psia krew!_ where are your ears?"

The schoolmaster gave a start. He hesitated for a moment; there was the
corner, should he not get out of the way quickly, as though he had not
heard the call? However, he crossed the street.

There sat Mr. Tiralla in the carriage, fat and red as usual, and there
was nothing in his face, neither pallor nor lines of suffering round
his mouth, to betray that he had eaten mushrooms, poisonous mushrooms.
Or had she not given him any? If only she had not--oh, if only she had
not!

Boehnke came slowly across the broad village street, as though something
were holding him back. He had a shrinking feeling when he looked at Mr.
Tiralla. The man had received him hospitably, had been delighted to see
him, had put food and drink before him, and he had----No, he was a
rough customer, a hog, a bully, quite a vulgar fellow, for whom he had
no pity. Had she not set the mushrooms before him? She intended doing
so.

Boehnke had not heard anything of Mrs. Tiralla for [Pg 180] a long time,
as Rosa no longer came to school. He could have gone to Starydwor, as
he had so often done before, but he had not ventured to do so. She
would be sure to give him a sign. However, she had not given him one,
and in spite of his great longing to see her, he was glad she had not.
He did not want again to see Mr. Tiralla alive.

But there he was, sitting in his carriage in high spirits, tip