theless appointed a meeting with Mr. Razumov at a
certain address in town which seemed to be that of an oculist.

Razumov read it, finished shaving, dressed, looked at the note again,
and muttered gloomily, "Oculist." He pondered over it for a time, lit
a match, and burned the two envelopes and the enclosure carefully.
Afterwards he waited, sitting perfectly idle and not even looking at
anything in particular till the appointed hour drew near--and then went
out.

Whether, looking at the unofficial character of the summons, he might
have refrained from attending to it is hard to say. Probably not. At any
rate, he went; but, what's more, he went with a certain eagerness, which
may appear incredible till it is remembered that Councillor Mikulin was
the only person on earth with whom Razumov could talk, taking the Haldin
adventure for granted. And Haldin, when once taken for granted, was no
longer a haunting, falsehood-breeding spectre. Whatever troubling power
he exercised in all the other places of the earth, Razumov knew very
well that at this oculist's address he would be merely the hanged
murderer of M. de P--- and nothing more. For the dead can live only
with the exact intensity and quality of the life imparted to them by
the living. So Mr. Razumov, certain of relief, went to meet Councillor
Mikulin with he eagerness of a pursued person welcoming any sort of
shelter.

This much said, there is no need to tell anything more of that first
interview and of the several others. To the morality of a Western reader
an account of these meetings would wear perhaps the sinister character
of old legendary tales where the Enemy of Mankind is represented holding
subtly mendacious dialogues with some tempted soul. It is not my part to
protest. Let me but remark that the Evil One, with his single passion
of satanic pride for the only motive, is yet, on a larger, modern view,
allowed to be not quite so black as he used to be painted. With what
greater latitude, then, should we appraise the exact shade of mere
mortal man, with his many passions and his miserable ingenuity in error,
always dazzled by the base glitter of mixed motives, everlastingly
betrayed by a short-sighted wisdom.

Councillor Mikulin was one of those powerful officials who, in a
position not obscure, not occult, but simply inconspicuous, exercise
a great influence over the methods rather than over the conduct of
affairs. A devotion to Church and Throne is not in