SPIR. They have arrested many suspicious people. All those who have no passports are being sent away to Siberia. FOMÁ. Ah! poor creatures! [_A patrol of soldiers passes the window quietly_]. SPIR. Why should you say "poor creatures"? If they were honest men they would not be without passports. Good-evening. FOMÁ. Wait till they have gone. SPIR. We honest men have nothing to fear from them. Good-evening. I will return again in an hour. [_Exit Spiridón._] FOMÁ. How glad Praskóvya will be. AST. Say nothing of this to any one. We will keep it as a surprise. [_Enter Varvára._] FOMÁ. Varvára, my pretty child, fetch the bottle of vodka from my room. VAR. Vodka in here? Praskóvya Petróvna will be angry. FOMÁ. No, she will not be angry; she will be glad. [_Exit Varvára._] Do you play patience here every night? AST. Every night for more than twenty years. FOMÁ. What is it called? AST. It is called the Wolf! FOMÁ. Does it ever come out? AST. It has come out twice. The first time I found a purse in the street which somebody had lost. The second time the man above me at the office died, and I got his place. FOMÁ. It brings good luck then? AST. To me at least. FOMÁ. How glad Praskóvya Petróvna will be! [_Enter Varvára with vodka bottle, which she sets on a table; no one drinks from it yet._] VAR. Do you not want to drink tea? FOMÁ. Very much, you rogue. VAR. Then I will set the samovar for both of you in here. [_She gets out tumblers, lemon and sugar._] AST. I did wrong in moving the seven. FOMÁ. Put it back then. AST. It is too late. Once it has been moved, it must not be put back. [_Enter Praskóvya from the street hurriedly with a lantern._] PRAS. [_crossing herself_]. Hóspodi Bózhe moy! VAR. [_running to her, frightened_]. Have you seen him again? PRAS. [_agitated_]. I do not know. There seemed to be men standing everywhere in the shadows.... Good-evening, Fomá Ilyitch, good-evening, Astéryi Ivanovitch. [_Varvára goes out, and brings in the samovar._] FOMÁ. I have been making myself at home; my stove smoked. PRAS. Sit down, sit down! What ceremony! Why should you not be here? And vodka too? What is the vodka for? AST. I will tell you when I have finished my patience. [_They all drink tea._] PRAS. So you are playing already. AST. If it comes out, the good luck that it brings shall be for you! PRAS. For me? [_They all watch Astéryi playing._] The knave goes on the queen. [_A pause._] FOMÁ. That is unfortunate. VAR. You should not have moved the ten. [_A pause._] AST. That will be better. [_A pause._] PRAS. How brightly the eikon lamp burns before the portrait of my boy. VAR. It does indeed. PRAS. It is the new fire from the Candlemas taper. FOMÁ. It is the new oil that makes it burn brightly. PRAS. [_crossing herself_]. Nonsense! it is the new fire.