Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/246

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The President of the City Bank, Peter Semenych, his bookkeeper, his assistant, and two of the directors were arrested during the night. On the following morning, the merchant Avdeyev, who was a member of the control committee of the Bank, said to his friends as they were chatting in the merchant's store:

"It must be the will of God. You can't get away from fate. Just now we are sitting here, eating caviar, and to-morrow we may be in prison. All sorts of things happen. Take Peter Semenych, for example . . ."

As he spoke, he winked his eyes, and the friends drank their wine, ate the caviar, and listened to him attentively. After describing at length the disgrace and helplessness of Peter Semenych, who but yesterday was honored and respected by every one, Avdeyev continued with a sigh:

"Yes, the cat feels the mice's tears, all right. Serves them right, the rascals. They've stolen enough, the scoundrels, let them answer now."

"Look out, Ivan Danilych, you may get into trouble, too," remarked one of the friends.

"Who, I? What for?"

"You'll see. They stole all right, but what was your committee doing? You signed the reports, didn't you?"

"Well, what of that?" grinned Avdeyev. "Of course I signed them. They used to bring the reports to the store, and I signed them. How was I to know what they were about? I'll sign anything you give me. Just write out a paper saying that I killed a man, I'll sign that, too. I have no time to see what it is about; and, besides, I don't see anything without my glasses."

After spending a little more time talking about the failure of the Bank and of the fate of Peter Semenych, Avdeyev and his friends went to a birthday party held in honor of the wife of one of their acquaintances. At the party, the only topic discussed was the failure of the Bank. Avdeyev was more excited than anybody else; he assured everybody that he had been expecting the failure for some time past, and that even two years ago he knew that the affairs of the Bank were not running