country, Siberia! Rich, fertile--every one will tell you the same. I
liked it very much there. The natives were put under my rule; they're a
harmless lot of people; but as my ill-luck would have it, they took it
into their heads, a dozen of them, not more, to smuggle in contraband
goods. I was sent to arrest them. Arrest them I did, but one of them,
crazy he must have been, thought fit to defend himself, and treated me
to the arrow.... I almost died of it; however, I got all right again.
Now, here I am going to get completely cured.... The government--God
give them all good health!--have provided the cash.'

Pasinkov let his head fall back on the pillow, exhausted, and ceased
speaking. A faint flush suffused his cheeks. He closed his eyes.

'He can't talk much,' Elisei, who had not left the room, murmured in an
undertone.

A silence followed; nothing was heard but the sick man's painful
breathing.

'But here,' he went on, opening his eyes, 'I've been stopping a
fortnight in this little town.... I caught cold, I suppose. The
district doctor here is attending me--you'll see him; he seems to know
his business. I'm awfully glad it happened so, though, or how should we
have met?' (And he took my hand. His hand, which had just before been
cold as ice, was now burning hot.) 'Tell me something about yourself,'
he began again, throwing the cloak back off his chest. 'You and I
haven't seen each other since God knows when.'

I hastened to carry out his wish, so as not to let him talk, and
started giving an account of myself. He listened to me at first with