'Yes.'

'What, is it pleasant there?'

'Rather pleasant.'

'Has he any children?'

'Yes. Three by the German, and a son and daughter by his first wife.'

'And how old is the eldest daughter?'

'About five-and-twenty,'

I fancied Fustov bent lower over his lathe, and the wheel turned more
rapidly, and hummed under the even strokes of his feet.

'Is she good-looking?'

'That's a matter of taste. She has a remarkable face, and she's
altogether... a remarkable person.'

'Aha!' thought I. Fustov continued his work with special earnestness,
and to my next question he only responded by a grunt.

'I must make her acquaintance,' I decided.


VI