bought the material, and superintended the building of them. When he talked
about them his eyes kindled, and it was evident that if he had had the
means he would have built, not three, but a multitude.

At the opening of the school at Novoselka, the peasants brought him the
ikon and offered him bread and salt. Chekhov was much embarrassed in
responding to their gratitude, but his face and his shining eyes showed
that he was pleased. Besides the schools he built a fire-station for the
village and a belfry for the church, and ordered a cross made of
looking-glass for the cupola, the flash of which in the sun or moonlight
was visible more than eight miles away.

Chekhov spent the year 1894 at Melihovo, began writing "The Seagull," and
did a great deal of work. He paid a visit to Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana,
and returned enchanted with the old man and his family. Chekhov was already
changing; he looked haggard, older, sallower. He coughed, he was tortured
by intestinal trouble. Evidently he was now aware of the gravity of his
illness, but, as before, made no complaint and tried to hide it from
others.

In 1896 "The Seagull" was performed at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in
Petersburg. It was a fiasco. The actors did not know their parts; in the
theatre there was "a strained condition of boredom and bewilderment." The
notices in the press were prejudiced and stupid. Not wishing to see or meet
anyone, Chekhov kept out of sight after the performance, and by next
morning was in the train on his way back to Melihovo. The subsequent
performances of "The Seagull," when the actors understood it, were
successful.

Chekhov had collected a large number of books, and in 1896 he resolved to