to supply their masters with food and drink and constant amusement.
Sometimes the young people from the master's house came to the shed,
and Vassily offered them the choicest apples, juicy and red. The young
ladies used to take large bites out of the apples on the spot, praising
their taste, and spoke French to one another--Vassily quite understood
it was all about him--and asked Vassily to sing for them.

Vassily felt the greatest admiration for his master's mode of living,
which reminded him of what he had seen in Moscow; and he became more and
more convinced that the only thing that mattered in life was money.
He thought and thought how to get hold of a large sum of money. He
remembered his former ways of making small profits whenever he could,
and came to the conclusion that that was altogether wrong. Occasional
stealing is of no use, he thought. He must arrange a well-prepared plan,
and after getting all the information he wanted, carry out his purpose
so as to avoid detection.

After the feast of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the last crop
of autumn apples was gathered; the master was content with the results,
paid off Vassily, and gave him an extra sum as reward for his faithful
service.

Vassily put on his new jacket, and a new hat--both were presents from
his master's son--but did not make his way homewards. He hated the very
thought of the vulgar peasants' life. He went back to Moscow in company
of some drunken soldiers, who had been watchmen in the orchard together
with him. On his arrival there he at once resolved, under cover of
night, to break into the shop where he had been employed, and beaten,
and then turned out by the proprietor without being paid. He knew the
place well, and knew where the money was locked up. So he bade the