eered up, and suddenly gazed intently at me and
burst out laughing.

"'Why, what on earth can have possessed you to come and see ME,
Terentieff?' he cried, with his usual pleasant, sometimes audacious, but
never offensive familiarity, which I liked in reality, but for which I
also detested him. 'Why what's the matter?' he cried in alarm. 'Are you
ill?'

"That confounded cough of mine had come on again; I fell into a chair,
and with difficulty recovered my breath. 'It's all right, it's only
consumption' I said. 'I have come to you with a petition!'

"He sat down in amazement, and I lost no time in telling him the medical
man's history; and explained that he, with the influence which he
possessed over his uncle, might do some good to the poor fellow.

"'I'll do it--I'll do it, of course!' he said. 'I shall attack my uncle
about it tomorrow morning, and I'm very glad you told me the story. But
how was it that you thought of coming to me about it, Terentieff?'

"'So much depends upon your uncle,' I said. 'And besides we have always
been enemies, Bachmatoff; and as you are a generous sort of fellow, I
thought you would not refuse my request because I was your enemy!' I
added with irony.

"'Like Napoleon going to England, eh?' cried he, laughing. 'I'll do it
though--of course, and at once, if I can!' he added, seeing that I rose
seriously from my chair at this point.

"And sure enough the matter ended as satisfactorily as possible. A month
or so later my medical friend was appointed to another post. He got his
travelling expenses paid, and something to help him to start life with
once more. I think Bachmatoff must have persuaded the doctor to accept
a loan from himself. I saw Bachmatoff two or three times, about this
period, the third time being when he gave a farewell dinner to the
doctor and his wife before their departure, a champagne dinner.

"Bachmatoff saw me home after the dinner and we crossed the Nicolai
bridge. We were both a little drunk. He told me of his joy, the joyful
feeling of having done a good action; he said that it was all thanks to
myself that he could feel this satisfaction; and held forth about the
foolishness of the theory that individual charity is useless.

"I, too, was burning to have my say!

"'In Moscow,' I said, 'there was an old state counsellor, a civil
general, who, all his life, had been in the habit of visiting the
prisons and speaking to criminals. Every party of convicts on its