Page:Andreyev - The Little Angel (Knopf, 1916).djvu/241

Rh He stationed himself at the stove and began to cry.

Mitrofan turned furiously to her and asked:

"Am I a spy? Well! Speak! Am I a spy, or am I not?"

"How do I know? Perhaps you are a spy."

Avoiding certain details, Mitrofan confusedly told his wife the story of the student girl and of that meeting.

"Nonsense!" exclaimed Maria carelessly. "I thought there was really something seriously wrong. Is it worth bothering about this? Just shave yourself, take off your spectacles, and there's the end of it. And at school, during the lesson, you may even wear your spectacles."

"Do you think so? Is this what you call a beard?"

"Never mind it. Say what you like, you leave the beard alone. I have always said that your beard was all right, and I will say so now, too."

Mitrofan recalled that the students called him "goat," and he was very glad now. If his beard were not a good one they would never have nicknamed him "goat." And in this joy he kissed his wife and, jestingly, even tickled her ear with his beard.

At about twelve o'clock at night, when all grew quiet in the house, and his wife had gone to sleep, Mitrofan brought a mirror, warm water, and soap into his study and sat down to shave himself. In addition to the lamp, he had to light