vista of a new, wide, spacious life, and that life, still obscure
and full of mysteries, beckoned her and attracted her.

She went upstairs to her own room to pack, and next morning said
good-bye to her family, and full of life and high spirits left the
town--as she supposed for ever.


FROM THE DIARY OF A VIOLENT-TEMPERED MAN

I AM a serious person and my mind is of a philosophic bent. My
vocation is the study of finance. I am a student of financial law
and I have chosen as the subject of my dissertation--the Past and
Future of the Dog Licence. I need hardly point out that young ladies,
songs, moonlight, and all that sort of silliness are entirely out
of my line.

Morning. Ten o'clock. My _maman_ pours me out a cup of coffee. I
drink it and go out on the little balcony to set to work on my
dissertation. I take a clean sheet of paper, dip the pen into the
ink, and write out the title: "The Past and Future of the Dog
Licence."

After thinking a little I write: "Historical Survey. We may deduce
from some allusions in Herodotus and Xenophon that the origin of
the tax on dogs goes back to . . . ."

But at that point I hear footsteps that strike me as highly suspicious.
I look down from the balcony and see below a young lady with a long
face and a long waist. Her name, I believe, is Nadenka or Varenka,