He then drank a glass of punch, smacked his lips, stamped his feet, and set his glass on the window- sill; then he seated himself on a wretched chair, which he tormented in an unworthy manner, while he complacently picked his nose, and whistled an air which he seemed to be intentionally rendering unintelligible.

“We must be careful with the prince until the voting is over,” said Zazhmurin to his friends, “for he can talk rather disagreeably when he likes.”

“Yes; but he can be prevented from doing anything foolish, can’t he? A man of that kind——”

“Where the deuce did he get that coat?” asked another of the card-players. “It does not belong to him. Look at the two big creases down the back.”

“Oh, Barantzoff lent him that coat for the elections.”

“Speak lower,” rejoined another person. “Someone said a word to the prince yesterday about that very coat. ‘It’s my coat!’ he cried. ‘No one will wear it after me. I never take it off. When I went to bed last night I would not permit my servants to take it off. I had a fancy for sleeping in my coat. Has anyone any remarks to make on it?’ That is just what he said, speaking too with great violence.”

“What are you muttering among yourselves?” at this moment asked the prince. “It strikes me that you are reviling me. Order me some punch and tobacco, or beware of my blackballing you all. Forward, march! Left wheel! Make haste with the liquor.”

“Stop that, prince; your jokes are not quite the thing.”

“Bitter, eh? Well, in the company of clever people, my wit is light and sweet. It varies according to my surroundings, you see. You will all be served with black balls, remember; for, being a prince, I detest demagogues. To-morrow comes the oath. There will be no drawing back. I must do as my conscience dictates. You want office; you set yourselves up as candidates for the magistracy, and you belong to a party; you put yourself at the head of a band. And why do you covet these positions? In order to coin money out of them. Ah! we know all about it, and I’ll settle your business, that I will!”

“What an odd idea of yours to irritate him, gentlemen,” remarked someone in a corner of the room.

“Ah! very true. So you are there, my little hare,” said the prince, addressing the person who had just spoken. “Well, let us see what you want. You have just been married, hey? And to whom, you fool? And now you want to be an auditor, eh?” The prince then went and whispered in the ear of his little hare, and finally resumed in a louder key, “Now, speak out! You know that I am pretty well off as regards connections —that I am an aristocrat, an ultra-aristocrat, poor though I am; I have free entrance to the governor’s house and the marshal’s, so I have plenty of means of procuring people protectors. Let us suppose that Barantzoff or someone else makes me a present of a nobility uniform with some embroidery of pure gold, such as befits my rank. Where is the general who would have a grander air than I? Barantzoff has a high opinion of me, as you know, and for the time being, we lodge here together. But that is not always the case. I have an apartment of my own all to myself. Faith, I pay seven roubles for the sake of occupying it during the elections. Barantzoff feeds me as a matter of course. But that’s only right. Neither on the journey nor here have I fasted for a single hour.” Then in a very low voice the prince added, “Barantzoff wants to be a councillor; only think of it!”

“Another candidate! But he has been holding office for eighteen years already. Surely that’s long enough.”

“Let him hold his pockets well open, and I will provide him with plenty of black balls. Only don’t you say anything about it —you understand—ts, ts. But, wait a bit, I must embrace you. Do you know, your wife is very pretty! Ugh, ugh! I’ve got the stomach-ache. I don’t know what that animal Barantzoff gives us to eat, but I feel quite upset.”