!" he shouted, trying to shout above the roar. "Honoured friends!
I have only just come from the station! My granny's kicked the
bucket and left me a fortune! There is something very heavy in the
box, it must be gold, ha! ha! I bet there's a million here! We'll
open it and look. . . ."

The lock of the box clicked. The bright light dazzled Auntie's eyes,
she jumped out of the box, and, deafened by the roar, ran quickly
round her master, and broke into a shrill bark.

"Ha!" exclaimed her master. "Uncle Fyodor Timofeyitch! Beloved Aunt,
dear relations! The devil take you!"

He fell on his stomach on the sand, seized the cat and Auntie, and
fell to embracing them. While he held Auntie tight in his arms, she
glanced round into the world into which fate had brought her and,
impressed by its immensity, was for a minute dumbfounded with
amazement and delight, then jumped out of her master's arms, and
to express the intensity of her emotions, whirled round and round
on one spot like a top. This new world was big and full of bright
light; wherever she looked, on all sides, from floor to ceiling
there were faces, faces, faces, and nothing else.

"Auntie, I beg you to sit down!" shouted her master. Remembering
what that meant, Auntie jumped on to a chair, and sat down. She
looked at her master. His eyes looked at her gravely and kindly as
always, but his face, especially his mouth and teeth, were made
grotesque by a broad immovable grin. He laughed, skipped about,
twitched his shoulders, and made a show of being very merry in the
presence of the thousands of faces. Auntie believed in his merriment,
all at once felt all over her that those thousands of faces were
looking at her, lifted up her fox-like head, and howled joyously.

"You sit there, Auntie," her master said to her, "while Uncle and
I will dance the Kamarinsky."

Fyodor Timofeyitch stood looking about him indifferently, waiting
to be made to do something silly. He danced listlessly, carelessly,
sullenly, and one could see from his movements, his tail and his
ears, that he had a profound contempt for the crowd, the bright
light, his master and himself. When he had performed his allotted
task, he gave a yawn and sat down.

"Now, Auntie!" said her master, "we'll have first a song, and then
a dance, shall we?"

He took a pipe out of his pocket, and began playing. Auntie, who
could not endure music, began moving uneasily in her chair and
howled. A roar of applause