st seemed to need a vent, I could see.

"'If I--' he began, breaking off abruptly every other moment, and
starting another sentence. 'I-I am so very grateful to you, and I am so
much to blame in your eyes, I feel sure, I--you see--' (he pointed to
the room again) 'at this moment I am in such a position-'

"'Oh!' I said, 'there's nothing to see; it's quite a clear case--you've
lost your post and have come up to make explanations and get another, if
you can!'

"'How do you know that?' he asked in amazement.

"'Oh, it was evident at the first glance,' I said ironically, but
not intentionally so. 'There are lots of people who come up from the
provinces full of hope, and run about town, and have to live as best
they can.'

"He began to talk at once excitedly and with trembling lips; he began
complaining and telling me his story. He interested me, I confess; I sat
there nearly an hour. His story was a very ordinary one. He had been a
provincial doctor; he had a civil appointment, and had no sooner taken
it up than intrigues began. Even his wife was dragged into these. He was
proud, and flew into a passion; there was a change of local government
which acted in favour of his opponents; his position was undermined,
complaints were made against him; he lost his post and came up to
Petersburg with his last remaining money, in order to appeal to higher
authorities. Of course nobody would listen to him for a long time; he
would come and tell his story one day and be refused promptly; another
day he would be fed on false promises; again he would be treated
harshly; then he would be told to sign some documents; then he would
sign the paper and hand it in, and they would refuse to receive it, and
tell him to file a formal petition. In a word he had been driven about
from office to office for five months and had spent every farthing he
had; his wife's last rags had just been pawned; and meanwhile a child
had been born to them and--and today I have a final refusal to my
petition, and I have hardly a crumb of bread left--I have nothing left;
my wife has had a baby lately--and I-I--'

"He sprang up from his chair and turned away. His wife was crying in the
corner; the child had begun to moan again. I pulled out my note-book and
began writing in it. When I had finished and rose from my chair he was
standing before me with an expression of alarmed curiosity.

"'I have jotted down your name,' I told him, 'and all the rest of
it--the p