d gasped with rapture. . . .

After describing all the charms of the devil, the beauty of evil,
and the fascinating grace of the dreadful female form, the old man
cursed the devil, turned and shut himself up in his cell. . . .

When he came out of his cell in the morning there was not a monk
left in the monastery; they had all fled to the town.

IN TROUBLE

PYOTR SEMYONITCH, the bank manager, together with the book-keeper,
his assistant, and two members of the board, were taken in the night
to prison. The day after the upheaval the merchant Avdeyev, who was
one of the committee of auditors, was sitting with his friends in
the shop saying:

"So it is God's will, it seems. There is no escaping your fate.
Here to-day we are eating caviare and to-morrow, for aught we know,
it will be prison, beggary, or maybe death. Anything may happen.
Take Pyotr Semyonitch, for instance. . . ."

He spoke, screwing up his drunken eyes, while his friends went on
drinking, eating caviare, and listening. Having described the
disgrace and helplessness of Pyotr Semyonitch, who only the day
before had been powerful and respected by all, Avdeyev went on with
a sigh:

"The tears of the mouse come back to the cat. Serve them right, the
scoundrels! They could steal, the rooks, so let them answer for
it!"

"You'd better look out, Ivan Danilitch, that you don't catch it
too!" one of his friends observed.

"What has it to do with me?"

"Why, they were stealing, and what were you auditors thinking about?
I'll be bound, you signed the audit."

"It's all very well to talk!" laughed Avdeyev: "Signed it, indeed!
They used to bring the accounts to my shop and I signed them. As
though I understood! Give me anything you like, I'll scrawl my name
to it. If you were to write that I murdered someone I'd sign my
name to it. I haven't time to go into it; besides, I can't see
without my spectacles."

After discussing the failure of the bank and the fate of Pyotr
Semyonitch, Avdeyev and his friends went to eat pie at the house
of a friend whose wife was celebrating her name-day. At the name-day
party everyone was discussing the bank failure. Avdeyev was more
excited than anyone, and declared that he had long foreseen the
crash and knew two years before that things were not quite right
at the bank. While they were eating pie he described a dozen illegal
operations which had come to his knowledge.

"If you knew, why did you not give information?" a