From this day they became friends, and the "creatures that once
were men," seeing them together, said: "The teacher is friendly
with Tyapa . . . He wishes his money. Kuvalda must have put this
into his head . . . To look about to see where the old man's
fortune is . . ."

Probably they did not believe what they said. There was one
strange thing about these men, namely, that they painted
themselves to others worse than they actually were. A man who
has good in him does not mind sometimes showing his worse nature.

* * * * *

When all these people were gathered round the teacher, then the
reading of the newspaper would begin.

"Well, what does the newspaper discuss to-day? Is there any
feuilleton?"

"No," the teacher informs him.

"Your publisher seems greedy . . . but is there any leader?"

"There is one to-day. . . . It appears to be by Gulyaeff."

"Aha! Come, out with it. He writes cleverly, the rascal."

"'The taxation of immovable property,"' reads the teacher, "'was
introduced some fifteen years ago, and up to the present it has
served as the basis for collecting these taxes in aid of the city