t him was that he wore his hair cut so close that
the skin showed through.

At the University his tall figure and physical strength had won him
the nickname of "the pounder" among the students. He had taken his
degree with the Laptev brothers in the faculty of philology--then
he went in for science and now had the degree of _magister_ in
chemistry. But he had never given a lecture or even been a demonstrator.
He taught physics and natural history in the modern school, and in
two girls' high schools. He was enthusiastic over his pupils,
especially the girls, and used to maintain that a remarkable
generation was growing up. At home he spent his time studying
sociology and Russian history, as well as chemistry, and he sometimes
published brief notes in the newspapers and magazines, signing them
"Y." When he talked of some botanical or zoological subject, he
spoke like an historian; when he was discussing some historical
question, he approached it as a man of science.

Kish, nicknamed "the eternal student," was also like one of the
family at the Laptevs'. He had been for three years studying medicine.
Then he took up mathematics, and spent two years over each year's
course. His father, a provincial druggist, used to send him forty
roubles a month, to which his mother, without his father's knowledge,
added another ten. And this sum was not only sufficient for his
board and lodging, but even for such luxuries as an overcoat lined
with Polish beaver, gloves, scent, and photographs (he often had
photographs taken of himself and used to distribute them among his
friends). He was neat and demure, slightly bald, with golden
side-whiskers, and he had the air of a man nearly always ready to
oblige. He was always busy looking after other people's affairs.
At one time he would be rushing about with a subscription list; at
another time he would be freezing in the early morning at a ticket
office to buy tickets for ladies of his acquaintance, or at somebody's
request would be ordering a wreath or a bouquet. People simply said
of him: "Kish will go, Kish will do it, Kish will buy it." He was
usually unsuccessful in carrying out his commissions. Reproaches
were showered upon him, people frequently forgot to pay him for the
things he bought, but he simply sighed in hard cases and never
protested. He was never particularly delighted nor disappointed;
his stories were always long and boring; and his jokes invariably
provoked laughter just