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DIAMONDS TO SIT ON

One by one the chairs were demolished and Father Theodore’s feverish excitement grew to an alarming degree. The storm was growing and huge waves were beginning to lap Father Theodore’s feet. The sea was raging and foaming. The Black Sea was in a turmoil, and Father Theodore stood bathed in sweat, hacking the last chair to pieces. A minute later all was over. Father Theodore was seized with despair. He looked with horror at the mound of legs, backs, and springs. He stepped back, but his feet were in water. He ran forward and on to the road. A large wave dashed over the place on which he had been standing, and as it rolled back it took with it the wreckage of General Popov’s suite of furniture. But Father Theodore did not realize this ; his back was bent, and as he stumbled down the road, he kept beating his breast with his fist. He found himself in Batum without knowing how he had got there. He was in a terrible position : five thousand kilometres away from home, twenty roubles in his pocket, and absolutely no way of getting back to his native town. He wandered through the Turkish bazaar, where merchants tried to persuade him to buy face powder, silk stockings, and contraband tobacco, until at last he dragged himself to the railway station and was soon lost in the crowd of porters and passengers.