r
three hours. He confessed everything, everything, told every detail,
everything he knew, every point, anticipating their questions, hurried
to make a clean breast of it all, volunteering unnecessary information
without being asked. It turned out that he knew enough, and presented
things in a fairly true light: the tragedy of Shatov and Kirillov, the
fire, the death of the Lebyadkins, and the rest of it were relegated
to the background. Pyotr Stepanovitch, the secret society, the
organisation, and the network were put in the first place. When asked
what was the object of so many murders and scandals and dastardly
outrages, he answered with feverish haste that "it was with the idea of
systematically undermining the foundations, systematically destroying
society and all principles; with the idea of nonplussing every one and
making hay of everything, and then, when society was tottering, sick
and out of joint, cynical and sceptical though filled with an intense
eagerness for self-preservation and for some guiding idea, suddenly to
seize it in their hands, raising the standard of revolt and relying on a
complete network of quintets, which were actively, meanwhile, gathering
recruits and seeking out the weak spots which could be attacked."
In conclusion, he said that here in our town Pyotr Stepanovitch had
organised only the first experiment in such systematic disorder, so to
speak as a programme for further activity, and for all the quintets--and
that this was his own (Lyamshin's) idea, his own theory, "and that he
hoped they would remember it and bear in mind how openly and properly
he had given his information, and therefore might be of use hereafter."
Being asked definitely how many quintets there were, he answered that
there were immense numbers of them, that all Russia was overspread with
a network, and although he brought forward no proofs, I believe his
answer was perfectly sincere. He produced only the programme of the
society, printed abroad, and the plan for developing a system of future
activity roughly sketched in Pyotr Stepanovitch's own handwriting. It
appeared that Lyamshin had quoted the phrase about "undermining the
foundation," word for word from this document, not omitting a single
stop or comma, though he had declared that it was all his own theory.
Of Yulia Mihailovna he very funnily and quite without provocation
volunteered the remark, that "she was innocent and had been made a
fool of." But, strange t