ain's long and wise speeches. He did not distinctly
understand them, but only saw in front of him two merry eyes, felt
their encouraging influence, and knew that in the loquacious Captain he
had an arm that would assist him in time of need.

And really it happened very often that, for a month or so, some
ticket-of-leave client, under the strict surveillance of the Captain,
had the opportunity of raising himself to a condition better than that
to which, thanks to the Captain's co-operation, he had fallen.

"Now, then, my friend!" said the Captain, glancing critically at the
restored client, "we have a coat and jacket. When I had respectable
trousers I lived in town like a respectable man. But when the trousers
wore out, I too fell off in the opinion of my fellow-men and had to
come down here from the town. Men, my fine mannikin, judge everything
by the outward appearance, while, owing to their foolishness, the
actual reality of things is incomprehensible to them. Make a note of
this on your nose, and pay me at least half your debt. Go in peace;
seek, and you may find."

"How much do I owe you, Aristid Fomich?" asks the client, in confusion.

"One rouble and 70 kopecks.... Now, give me only one rouble, or, if
you like, 70 kopecks, and as for the rest, I shall wait until you have
earned more than you have now by stealing or by hard work, it does not
matter to me."

"I thank you humbly for your kindness!" says the client, touched to the
heart. "Truly you are a kind man....; Life has persecuted you in
vain.... What an eagle you would have been in your own place!"

The Captain could not live without eloquent speeches.

"What does 'in my own place' mean? No one really knows his own place
in life, and every one of us crawls into his harness. The place of the
merchant Judas Petunikoff ought to be in penal servitude, but he still
walks through the streets in daylight, and even intends to build a
factory. The place of our teacher ought to be beside a wife and
half-a-dozen children, but he is loitering in the public-house of
Vaviloff. And then, there is yourself. You are going to seek a
situation as a hall porter or waiter, but I can see that you ought to
be a soldier in the army, because you are no fool, are patient and
understand discipline. Life shuffles us like cards, you see, and it is
only accidentally, and only for a time, that we fall into our own
places!"

Such farewell speeches often served as a prefa