"Till I die, I shall not forget you, since you loved Litka so much. I know, from Marynia, that Litka united you and her; and for that reason I know that you will be happy, otherwise God would not have inspired her. As often as I see you in life, I shall think that Litka made you happy. Let her wish be accomplished at the earliest, and God bless you both!" Pan Stanislav said nothing; but, when returning home, he thought,-- "Litka's will! She does not even admit that Litka's will can remain unaccomplished; and how was I to tell her that the other is not for me now what she once was?" Still Pan Stanislav felt with increasing distinctness that it was not right to remain as he was any longer, and that those bonds connecting him with Marynia ought soon to be tightened, or broken, so as to end the strange condition, and the misunderstandings and sorrows which might rise from it. He felt the need of doing this quickly, so as to act with honor; and new alarm seized him, for it seemed that, no matter how he acted, his action would not bring him happiness. When he reached home, he found a letter from Mashko, which read as follows,-- "I have called on thee twice to-day. Some lunatic has insulted me before my subordinates on account of the oak which I sold thee. His name is Gantovski. I need to speak with thee, and shall come again before evening." In fact, he ran in before the expiration of an hour, and asked, without removing his overcoat,-- "Dost thou know that Gantovski?" "I know him; he is a neighbor and relative of the Plavitskis. What has happened, and how has it happened?" Mashko removed his overcoat, and said,-- "I do not understand how news of the sale could get out, for I have not spoken of it to any one; and it was important for me that it should not become known." "Our agent, Abdulski, went to Kremen to look at the oak. Gantovski must have heard of the sale from him." "Listen; this is the event. To-day Gantovski's card is brought into my office; not knowing who he is, I receive the man. A rough fellow enters, and asks if 't is true that I sold the oak, and if I wish to depopulate a part of Kremen. Evidently I reply by asking how that may concern him. He answers that I have bound myself to pay old Plavitski a yearly annuity from Kremen; and that, if I ruin the place by a plundering management, there will be nothing through which to compel me. In answer, as thou canst understand, I advise him to take his cap, button up closely, in view of the frost, and go to the place whence he came. Hereupon he falls to making an uproar, calling me a cheat and a swindler. At last he says that he lives in the Hotel Saxe, and goes out. Hast thou the key to this? Canst thou tell me its meaning?" "Of course. First, this Gantovski is of limited mind, by nature he is rude; second, for whole years he has been in love with Panna Plavitski, and has wished to be her knight."