VI
Yevséyitch
The city of B⸺ was some twenty versts distant. At first Proskuróf looked at his watch every instant, reckoning the distance already traversed, and once in a while he glanced over his shoulder; but at last, seemingly satisfied with the pace at which the troika was carrying us along, and convinced that no one was following us, he turned to me.
“Well, sir, what do you know about this affair?”
Then I told him about my adventure in the Hollow, and the driver’s apprehensions regarding a threat uttered by one of the robbers, whom I suspected to have been the merchant. Proskuróf drank it all in.
“Yes,” he said, when I paused, “all this will have its weight. But do you remember the faces of those men?”
“Yes, excepting the merchant’s.”
Proskuróf gave me one reproachful glance.
“Goodness!” he exclaimed, and his bitter disappointment revealed itself in his voice. “He of all others! Of course, you are not to blame; but he was just the one you ought to have remembered. Too bad! Too bad! However, he will not escape the clutches of the law.”
In less than an hour and a half we reached the station. Having given orders to have fresh horses harnessed as soon as possible, Proskuróf sent for the sótsky.
A small peasant, with a thin beard and roguish eyes, made his appearance. The expression of his face betokened a mixture of good-nature and rascality, but the general impression was favorable and attractive. In his well worn smock-frock and shabby clothes there were no signs of affluence. On entering the hut, he bowed, then looked behind the door, as though to assure himself that there were no eavesdroppers present, and finally approached us. He seemed ill-at-ease, as though he felt himself to be in danger in Proskuróf’s presence.
“How goes it, Yevséyitch?” was the cordial greeting of the official. “What news? Your bird hasn’t flown?”
“How could he fly?” replied Yevséyitch, shuffling his feet: “he is well guarded.”
“Have you tried to talk with him?”
“I have; indeed I have. … But he does not seem inclined to talk. I tried politeness, at first; but I must confess I couldn’t help threatening him, after a while. ‘Why do you behave like a statue, you good-for-nothing fellow? Do you realize who I am?’—‘And who are you, I should like to know?’—‘An authority, that’s who!—a sótsky!’—‘Such authorities as you we have slapped in the face.’ What can you do with such a desperate fellow? … a villain!”
“Yes, yes,” interrupted Proskuróf, impatiently; “be sure and keep a sharp watch over him. I shall return in a short time.”
“He won’t run away. And I must say, Your Excellency, that he is not troublesome. Most of the time he lies down and looks at the ceiling—whether asleep, or only resting, who can tell? … Once he got up and said he was hungry, and I gave him something to eat; then he asked for some tobacco to make a cigarette with, and stretched himself out again.”
“So much the better, my dear fellow. I rely on you, and when the surgeon arrives send him along.”
“I shall not fail to do so. But I was going to ask Your Excellency …”
And once more Yevséyitch went to the door, and looked cautiously around the vestibule.
“Well, what is it?” asked Proskuróf, who was on the point of leaving.
“I suppose we understand the matter,” began Yevséyitch, diplomatically, shuffling his feet, and casting side-glances at me; “if the peasants were to bring some pressure to bear now, it would be all right, would it? … the whole mir, I mean—all our society? …”
“Well?” said Proskuróf, inclining his head in order better to grasp the sense of this disconnected explanation of the peasant.
“Just consider. Your Excellency, and think how it must be! We cannot stand this sort of thing much longer. Such trouble! Think of the power they have in their hands, and how successful they are! … Now, for instance, take that very same rascal! … What is he? There is no doubt but that he was bribed; it must have been done for money. … And if he had refused, they would have found another man.”
“That’s so,” said Proskuróf, by way of encouragement, and evidently very much interested. “Go on, my dear fellow; I see you have a head on your shoulders. Well, what then?”
“Nothing; only if we peasants felt that we had some power behind us, … perhaps, then, we might dare to testify against them. … Think of their evil doings! … and the mir is influential.”
“Well, you must know, if you help justice, justice will help you,” remarked Proskuróf, with dignity.
“To be sure,” ejaculated Yevséyitch, thoughtfully; “but, then, on the other hand, we cannot help thinking that, if Your Excellency should not be able to hold your own with the powers that be, we and our children would be ruined; for the power is in their hands. …”
Proskuróf shuddered, as though touched by an electric current, and, hurriedly seizing his hat, he rushed out of the room. I followed him, leaving Yevséyitch in the same perplexed attitude. He continued to gesticulate, muttering to himself, while Proskuróf, indignant, took his seat in the cart.
“That’s the way it always is!” he said; “nothing but compromises, whichever way one turns! … If success is assured to them, then they will consent to uphold justice. … What do you say to that state of things! It is immoral—simply immoral! … It indicates that the sense of duty is deficient. …”
“If you ask my opinion, I must beg leave to differ from you. It seems to me that they have the right to demand from the authorities a guaranty of protection in all attempts to obtain justice. If this be denied, then what is the essence of authority?—what meaning does it convey? … Do you not think that, if mob-law is forbidden, that very fact implies the assumption of certain responsibilities? And if they are not discharged, then …”
Proskuróf turned suddenly toward me, and seemed about to make some remark; but he did not speak, remaining silent, and absorbed in his own thoughts.
We had travelled nearly six miles, and were now about three miles from the Hollow, when we heard the sound of a bell. “Aha!” said Proskuróf, “he has not changed his horses. So much the better; he has had no time to interview the prisoner. I thought as much.”