their "Adieus," their "Au revoirs," and all their final,
drawn-out farewells. That dear little living domovoi certainly was a
rogue! Oh, that dear little domovoi who had been so affected by the
tears of Matrena Petrovna! The good, fat, sentimental, heroic woman
longed to hear, just then, his reassuring voice.

"It is I. Here I am," said the voice of her little living familiar
spirit at that instant, and she felt her skirt grasped. She waited
for what he should say. She felt no fear. Yet she had supposed he was
outside the house. Still, after all, she was not too astonished that he
was within. He was so adroit! He had entered behind her, in the shadow
of her skirts, on all-fours, and had slipped away without anyone
noticing him, while she was speaking to her enormous, majestic
schwitzar.

"So you were here?" she said, taking his hand and pressing it nervously
in hers.

"Yes, yes. I have watched you closing the house. It is a task well-done,
certainly. You have not forgotten anything."

"But where were you, dear little demon? I have been into all the
corners, and my hands did not touch you."

"I was under the table set with hors-d'oeuvres in the sitting-room."

"Ah, under the table of zakouskis! I have forbidden them before now
to spread a long hanging cloth there, which obliges me to kick my foot
underneath casually in order to be sure there is no one beneath. It is
imprudent, very imprudent, such table-cloths. And under the table of
zakouskis have you been able to see or hear anything?"

"Madame, do you think that anyone could possibly see or hear anything in
the villa when you are watching it alone, when the general is asleep and
your step-daughter is preparing for bed?"

"No. No. I do not believe so. I do not. No, oh, Christ!"

They talked thus very low in the dark, both seated in a corner of the
sofa, Rouletabille's hand held tightly in the burning hands of Matrena
Petrovna.

She sighed anxiously. "And in the garden--have you heard anything?"

"I heard the officer Boris say to the officer Michael, in French, 'Shall
we return at once to the villa?' The other replied in Russian in a way I
could see was a refusal. Then they had a discussion in Russian which I,
naturally, could not understand. But from the way they talked I gathered
that they disagreed and that no love was lost between them."

"No, they do not love each other. They both love Natacha."

"And she, which one of them does she love? It is nece