erplexed)_

Talk sense. Stop blubbering.

KONDRATY _(waving his hand)_

I am not angry with you. I bear you no grudge. Who are you that I
should bear any resentment against you?

SAVVA

Talk sense.

KONDRATY

I'll tell Miss Olympiada. I won't speak to you. You knew me as a
drunkard, Miss Olympiada, a mean, worthless creature. Now listen. _(To
Speransky)_ And you, young man, may listen also. It will teach you a
lesson. It will show you how God works His will unseen.

LIPA

I see, Father Kondraty. Forgive me.

KONDRATY

God will forgive you. Who am I to forgive you? So that's the way it
was, Miss Olympiada. I followed your advice and went to the Father
Superior with the infernal machine. It was indeed an infernal machine!
And I told him everything, just the way I felt, with a perfect candor
and purity of heart.

SPERANSKY _(guessing)_

Is that how it happened? What a remarkable event!

FRIAR _(quietly)_

Keep quiet. What are you butting in for?

KONDRATY

Ye-es. The Father Superior turned pale. "You scamp," he said, "do you
know with whom you have had dealings?" "I do," I said, trembling all
over. Well, they called together the whole brotherhood and discussed
the matter in secret. And then the Father Superior said to me: "It's
this way, Kondraty," he said. "God has chosen you as the instrument
of His sacred will. Yes. _(Weeps)_ God has chosen you as the
instrument--"

LIPA

Well? Go on.

KONDRATY

Ye-es, hm. "Go," he said, "and put down the machine as you were told
to do, and set it going according to the directions. Carry out the
devil's plot in full. I and the other brothers will sing a hymn
quietly as we carry the ikon away. Yes, that's what we'll do. We'll
carry the ikon away. And thus the devil will be made a fool of."

SAVVA

Ah!

LIPA _(astonished)_

But, Father Kondraty, how can that be?

_[Savva laughs heartily._

KONDRATY

Patience, patience, Miss Olympiada. "And when," said the Father
Superior, "the devil's plot shall have been carried out, then we'll
put the ikon--the dear, precious ikon--back in His place." Well, I
won't attempt to describe the scene that took place when we carried
the ikon away. It's beyond my power. The brothers sobbed and wept.
Not one of them was able to sing. The little candles burned with tiny
little flames. And then when we carried Him out to the gate, and when
we began to think and remembered--who is now in His sacred place--we
lay around t