” I shared to the full his dislike of “certain people.”

“Ask Mamma to let us go hunting too,” Katenka whispered to me, as she caught me by the sleeve just when the elders of the family were making a move towards the dining-room.

“Very well. I will try.”

Grisha likewise took a seat in the dining-room, but at a little table apart from the rest. He never lifted his eyes from his plate, but kept on sighing and making horrible grimaces, as he muttered to himself: “What a pity! It has flown away! The dove is flying to heaven! The stone lies on the tomb!” and so forth.

Ever since the morning Mamma had been absent-minded, and Grisha’s presence, words, and actions seemed to make her more so.