t go into the wood," said
Nastasia, smiling.

"But, pardon me, Mr. Ferdishenko, is it possible to make a game out of
this kind of thing?" persisted Totski, growing more and more uneasy. "I
assure you it can't be a success."

"And why not? Why, the last time I simply told straight off about how I
stole three roubles."

"Perhaps so; but it is hardly possible that you told it so that it
seemed like truth, or so that you were believed. And, as Gavrila
Ardalionovitch has said, the least suggestion of a falsehood takes all
point out of the game. It seems to me that sincerity, on the other hand,
is only possible if combined with a kind of bad taste that would be
utterly out of place here."

"How subtle you are, Afanasy Ivanovitch! You astonish me," cried
Ferdishenko. "You will remark, gentleman, that in saying that I
could not recount the story of my theft so as to be believed, Afanasy
Ivanovitch has very ingeniously implied that I am not capable of
thieving--(it would have been bad taste to say so openly); and all the
time he is probably firmly convinced, in his own mind, that I am very
well capable of it! But now, gentlemen, to business! Put in your slips,
ladies and gentlemen--is yours in, Mr. Totski? So--then we are all
ready; now prince, draw, please." The prince silently put his hand into
the hat, and drew the names. Ferdishenko was first, then Ptitsin, then
the general, Totski next, his own fifth, then Gania, and so on; the
ladies did not draw.

"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" cried Ferdishenko. "I did so hope the prince would
come out first, and then the general. Well, gentlemen, I suppose I
must set a good example! What vexes me much is that I am such an
insignificant creature that it matters nothing to anybody whether I have
done bad actions or not! Besides, which am I to choose? It's an embarras
de richesse. Shall I tell how I became a thief on one occasion only, to
convince Afanasy Ivanovitch that it is possible to steal without being a
thief?"

"Do go on, Ferdishenko, and don't make unnecessary preface, or you'll
never finish," said Nastasia Philipovna. All observed how irritable and
cross she had become since her last burst of laughter; but none the less
obstinately did she stick to her absurd whim about this new game. Totski
sat looking miserable enough. The general lingered over his champagne,
and seemed to be thinking of some story for the time when his turn
should come.

XIV.

"I have no wit, Nastasia Phili