pictures like that!"

And after that the gilt cornices, the Venetian looking-glasses with
flowers on them, the pictures of the same sort as the one that hung
over the piano, and also her husband's and Kostya's reflections
upon art, aroused in her a feeling of dreariness and vexation, even
of hatred.

Life went on its ordinary course from day to day with no promise
of anything special. The theatrical season was over, the warm days
had come. There was a long spell of glorious weather. One morning
the Laptevs attended the district court to hear Kostya, who had
been appointed by the court to defend some one. They were late in
starting, and reached the court after the examination of the witnesses
had begun. A soldier in the reserve was accused of theft and
housebreaking. There were a great number of witnesses, washerwomen;
they all testified that the accused was often in the house of their
employer--a woman who kept a laundry. At the Feast of the Exaltation
of the Cross he came late in the evening and began asking for money;
he wanted a pick-me-up, as he had been drinking, but no one gave
him anything. Then he went away, but an hour afterwards he came
back, and brought with him some beer and a soft gingerbread cake
for the little girl. They drank and sang songs almost till daybreak,
and when in the morning they looked about, the lock of the door
leading up into the attic was broken, and of the linen three men's
shirts, a petticoat, and two sheets were missing. Kostya asked each
witness sarcastically whether she had not drunk the beer the accused
had brought. Evidently he was insinuating that the washerwomen had
stolen the linen themselves. He delivered his speech without the
slightest nervousness, looking angrily at the jury.

He explained what robbery with housebreaking meant, and the difference
between that and simple theft. He spoke very circumstantially and
convincingly, displaying an unusual talent for speaking at length
and in a serious tone about what had been know to every one long
before. And it was difficult to make out exactly what he was aiming
at. From his long speech the foreman of the jury could only have
deduced "that it was housebreaking but not robbery, as the washerwomen
had sold the linen for drink themselves; or, if there had been
robbery, there had not been housebreaking." But obviously, he said
just what was wanted, as his speech moved the jury and the audience,
and was very much liked. When they