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224 soberly," he thought. "It isn't so bad, after all. The deuce take that girl. She thinks that I am a spy; well, let her think what she pleases. But she does not know me. And the students didn't see me either. I am no fool—I raised the collar of my coat!"

He laughed for joy, and even opened his mouth—but suddenly he stood still as though petrified by a terrible thought.

"My God! But she saw me! I demonstrated my face to her for a whole hour. She may meet me somewhere——"

And a long series of possibilities occurred to Mitrofan Krilov; he was an intelligent man, fond of science and art; he frequented theatres, attended various meetings and lectures, and he might meet that girl at any of those places. She never goes alone to such places, he thought; such girls never go alone, but with a whole crowd of student girls and audacious students—and he was terrified at the thought of what might happen when she pointed her finger at him and said: "Here's a spy!"

"I must take off my spectacles, shave off my beard," thought Mitrofan. "Never mind the eyes—it may be that the doctor was lying about them. But will my face be changed any if I remove my beard? Is this a beard?"

He touched his thin little beard with his fingers and felt his face.